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Royce would be, of course, in the private section off the left side of his office--well he couldn't exactly just give up every single room he had to the club, now could he? Not with his hobbies, at least. Time found him cleaning his blades from their most recent use, some got oil...the rusty one's got water, most of them were sharpened back to perfection...but not all of them of course. He'd probably have just clicked one of many wooden boxes closed when Kyn walked into the area. Royce paid him very little mind, thinking him to be one of the security, at least until he heard the rustling of Tensa's tail leaves. "I thought I told you, No Sceptile!" He came up with a knife in hand, ready to throw it as he turned to face them.

Of course, he could probably use his normal voice since Royce hadn't heard him in quite some time, but just in case he decided to try out one of his new voices... one that he was sure Serena would rather disapprove of. He used Fred's voice. "Sorry Boss, it won't happen again." He hoped that Royce would turn around so he'd be able to use the Chloroform on him, but if not, then he'd pretend to escort Tensa back out.

Royce kind of twitched. He had brought new staff in...different variations of fighting types, and Blaziken were no exception to the rule, but normally they didn't...sound like that. His snout twitched, before he shrugged it off, and turned back around to get back to work cleaning the blade now in his hand. "It better not, or it'll be you in the room."

Of course, he had to act fast, and he didn't want to take any chances this time and so he poured a total of three ounces into the cloth, and crept up behind Royce. He'd taken the chain off just outside prior to entering, for obvious reasons. After he was close enough, he carefully and quickly moved the cloth over his muzzle, whilst using the other arm to wrap around under Royce's neck frill.

"Wha--" Whatever he was going to say was lost, even as he flicked the knife around and jabbed it backwards, luckily for his attacker that he went limp before the blade made contact, and clattered to the floor, even as his body fell unconscious, he still had fought until his body would no longer heed his commands.

After Royce collapsed to the floor, Kyn went to work. With Tensa's help, they moved Royce into the room he'd just threatened him with. Afterward, again, with Tensa's help, he applied the handcuffs, forcing his arms behind his back, and then bound Royce's legs, tail and chained him to a pipe. Then he went back into the office and released Serena.

Serena flicked her tail and stretched as she was released, and nearly scraped her horns against the ceiling as she raised up to try to work a kink from her back. "I am reminded that these rooms are meant for humanoid Pokémon, and not so much creatures of my height." She muttered.

"Alright Serena. I don't know how long Royce is going to be out. Do you have a way of knowing?" He then indicated the cloth that he had set on the floor.

"...can I torch it?" She asked carefully, she really didn't want to end up accidentally getting a whiff of it and knocking the both of them out. "As for Royce...I might be able to stimulate him back into an awakened status, but that means going into his head."

"No, you can't, let me just put it away, and then go wash my hands. Burning Chloroform is a big no. Erm well... if you can. I mean, you don't enjoy being in Royce's head." He then put the cloth underwater and then washed his hands thoroughly.

"I don't enjoy it, but I can." she confirmed, following him out into the hall, then tilting her head. "Okay, deadly curiosity...what would have happened had I torched it?"

"You would have poisoned us all. Especially since the room is sealed, essentially. Though technically, Chloroform isn't flammable in most cases." Kyn said, deathly neutral. "Let me put it another way. You don't want Chloroform in gaseous form in this room."

"Sealed? I'm not sure...what you're talking about. The Office isn't sealed...and while this hall IS technically soundproofed, that's due to the thick walls and Not due to poor ventilation." She flicked out her tongue, shaking her head, and followed the recent trail of scents to the room across the hall, where of course, she found Tensa, Heji and Lacu. "Kyn...go lock the office doors, if you haven't already, and close the false wall into this area, wont you? If you need help with the weight of anything, just ask...I'll wake him up, and then we'll remove the collars, if you'd like." She turned to look at Heji, and gave a smile. -You look good in a collar, for the record.-

Heji gave Serena quick smack on the rump with his right paw, claws extended, which he figured Serena would be able to take since he was wasn't scratching them across.

"How... do I close the false wall again...?" Kyn said, rubbing the back of his head in slight embarrassment.

-Frisky kitty- She teased at the slap, flicking her tongue out against his cheek. "It's like one of the doors on your 'vans', push until it's lined up and then press in...there should be a bar on the left side that you can quite literally bar the door with."

Kyn went out and locked the office doors. He tried on his own to close the wall, and then decided to just go all out and used Tensa's help. Afterward he waited for Royce to wake up. <Serena, I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing that my mouth is watering at the prospect of eating Royce's tail again.>

<Do you want it to be a good thing, or a bad thing? I see no difference.> She waited until both the boys were back, and then offered her lock picking skills to the others before delving into Royce's drugged mind. Of course both Heji and Kyn could feel how disgusted she was with having to be in his mind, but he did wake up with a start, or at least, as much of a start as his fogged mind would allow.

His eyes slowly came into focus, and he blinked to try to make his eyes work properly, it didn't help that he had a pounding headache...and then the first thing that he saw clearly was Serena's muzzle. Sluggish movements that simulated a jolt, he wasn't sure exactly how afraid he should be...and then his eyes fell on the others. " 'oi, didn't I tell you boys not to let this whore back here anymore? Ya sure don't...listen too good." He tried to move, and of course, found that he couldn't. "The...fuck?"

Kyn was behind Royce, and he of course, changed his voice back to normal since he didn't want to remind Serena of Fred. "I uh... take it you and Serena still aren't on the best of terms then?" If Royce attempted to look back he would see the Blaziken, as he had not told Lacu to drop the illusion, but even if he had, he still would have played a little game that he did as a child to avoid being seen behind someone, moving just out of their peripheral vision as they turned their head.

"How many months has it been since I last checked up on you and your dear...proteges, Royce? Maybe half a year now since I last carved into your hide? It's probably about time to go searching where you've hidden them this time...so that I know just how many stripes you're going to be taking instead of my hide, if the damage is unrepairable, if they're too far gone..." She trailed off with the threatening growl.

That voice...! He did attempt to look behind himself once, but when there was no one there, and as Serena began to speak, he began to sweat, dampening his palms.

Kyn noticed Royce's reaction and so he waited to see if Serena was going to say anything else, and if she wasn't he said, "So then, you still can't help yourself Royce."

Serena held her tongue, held everything as a matter of a fact, and simply got up to leave. "When I get back, I'll give you a death toll, You can decide what to do with it." She said at the door, and then she was gone to see which rooms wer occupied.

Royce twitched, who in the hell was that, it was on the edge of his memory, something attached to pain, but he just couldn't remember who it was..."I can help myself just fine."

"It has been far too long Royce. Even longer for you. Obviously you do not remember me. However, I remember you... I know you, and you know me. I helped unhinge you. Helped break you. Do you remember me now? Royce the Butcher." Kyn said, with quiet fury. He wasn't the least bit angry at not being remembered, Serena said he more than likely wouldn't. He was sure that being called Royce the Butcher would reawaken memories. If not, then he'd reveal his human form to him.

Royce twitched at the words. "Many people have 'broken' me, but only one has sped along my recovery in the way you did." He said coolly, the only thing that wasn't pinned down was his tail, and of course it did what anyone would do in the situation he was in, look for a way to get out. Of course he wasn't dumb enough to do it out in the open, covert movements checked his bonds, found the handcuffs even.

"I remember you, human. I remember how you tried to appeal to my 'better nature' though I haven't had one since before this casino started. No one can break what's already broken, only make it worse." Had Serena been there, she could have easily told them that he was trying to fend off his instincts, but as it was Heji was there, and as a predator, he should have been able to easily identify the fear coming off of him.

"Well then, I suppose it's time for me to just get down to business." Kyn stepped on part of Royce's tail and then unsheathed his swords, followed by starting to saw back and for about four inches into Royce's tail, very slowly.

"Nnng...Your own drug works...against you." he snarled out, his fists clenched, what claw he did have bit into his palm, helping him to bear the pain.

"How so, Royce? Did you discover some incredible secret about it?" He immediately stopped, wondering what Royce could possibly be speaking of that would have any bearing on the situation.

"Why don't you try it yourself and find out." he spat, his breathing had begun to get labored, and then of course, Serena...she was the whole reason he was even awake right now...and yet, she was the one who stopped Kyn from killing him, to live and start the cycle over and over again...he wasn't sure that he could bear that for too much longer...His hands relaxed a little, and his whole body tensed to the scratching of claws against tile, of tile almost giving way beneath the force that was put into each step.

"You've degraded back to using children, Royce? I would be ashamed of you, if that were even possible at this point." She turned her back on them, bloodied footprints and all. "Arming them though, that was a good one...making them believe that the only ones that would come in there would try to torture them or take their lives...that perhaps...well, it upped your total to double what it would have been..." Running water, clean claws, bloodstained fixtures as she turned around. "Thirty children, 10 laughing dead, 5 that turned their knives upon themselves when they heard the footsteps, 15 that no amount of therapy could fix...fifty children in total here within these walls." She didn't care if Kyn had begun cutting him again, her voice was cold, analytical, she knew what he was going to be doing regardless. "Raw or cooked, Kyn?"

"Both." Kyn stated, and with that he stood on Royce's tail with the the other foot on the sword, putting all of his weight on to it.

Serena had some cuts, admittedly she had merely only defended herself against the sharp blades of the knives the children had been swinging, kept things from vital parts of her body. She licked these wounds clean while sitting in front of Royce, and when he wasn't screaming at the pain of even having the sword cut against bone, her green eyes narrowed, and she dove into his mind, and found what she had neglected at the start, sensory clouding--since he was still supposed to be out, well, as soon as she cleared away the effects the screaming began.

He let out a string of curses as Serena withdrew from his mind, leaving him to bear the pain alone, and he spit at her in vain. "You bitch, you got what you deserved, those cuts will do more than just leave marks on your hide, they'll remind you that you killed those children." He managed between his screams in huffing breaths.

"Serena. Do you remember what I told you about Cyrus? He wanted to create an entire universe for himself. Now I believe that Miru can do something similar but not necessarily on a universal scale. Killing Royce will do no good. What I am thinking of, is a world, created by Miru, in which he is forced to relieve every single experience he's inflicted upon these 'mon, from their perspective. Dying, thousands of times over and over, but never actually being able to physically die." Once again his voice changed to a voice that was not his own, but something that he himself would more than likely not recognize as coming from him. This time, he walked over in front of Royce, and shoved the severed piece of his tail into Royce's mouth, backwards, so that his own blood would be flowing back into him, one way or another. For the first time, in a long time, he looked at Serena, and his eyes were blue.

"Noisy, even the Tauros I've hunted have died with more dignity than you display here. I no more killed those children than...." She trailed off. "Kyn, you need a mirror, now."

Royce gagged and coughed on his own tail, had he been able to spit it out he would have, and in fact did after a bit, his own blood spit out onto the ground as he heaved at the idea of being made to cannibalize himself, it was a very good thing that he hadn't eaten anything, as it was, it was just bile.

"I don't think there are any mirrors nearby, Serena." Kyn said, back in his normal voice. "Why would I need a mirror? Oh wait... there's probably something I forgot to check, isn't there?"

She was on her feet in a moment, she got to where it was just his face in focus, and then sent him a live feed from her own eyes. "Check, Kyn? No, I don't think this is something you would have consciously checked for in a long time...but I do know your eyes were purple when we walked in this room together." She ignored Royce in the background, he didn't matter at the moment.

Kyn dropped his sword in shock. "My-my eyes are blue again? What... why would that be? The...the only reason I could think of that they... they'd be that color again... Dialga....?"

She tilted her head, and closed her eyes, returning her vision back to just herself. "I wont claim to know the reason." She licked his cheek, over and over until it was almost sore from the contact. "However, it does prove that you are...or should be...by your own definition, sane." The feral grin that crossed her lips would have made most nervous. "Ah...I'm...taking Tensa's spot again..." She muttered, quickly backing up and moving off to the side; to a more...proper place for a family member. <I've got to stop doing that...he'll begin to think I'm trying to take you from him...>

"That's... interesting. Now then, I believe there is more to do here still. Royce, your own tail is going to act as your gag. I suggest you use it, otherwise you might annoy me with your screaming." He picked up his sword and then sliced off a small one in piece of Royce's tail by the method of stepping on it again, and then waited for a bit, before actually biting off pieces of it raw, in front of him.

Serena went to lay down beside Heji, practically curling around him, she certainly did put one clawed limb over his back--a sort of possessive claim. "Ah, I think he spit it out when his own taste made him gag, Kyn, a bit ironic, a gag making you gag." <Remind me to show you one of my favorite toys while we're here...when we're done, of course.> The shock of seeing Kyn's eyes suddenly blue had made her lose her quiet rage for the moment, but she hadn't forgotten it, or her promise to return a cut for every person lost.

An almost silent scream to human ears, given as more of his tail was cut off, and a spark of his own blood as he bit his tongue in effort 'not to annoy' the human torturing him. He already knew that after the human had had his fun, then it would be Serena's turn.

"Tell me Royce, which arm do you use most? I'm talking in the sense of writing... holding things... I've forgotten. Oh and please... be truthful now. I'm going to give you a minute to answer." He knew that it would be a bit difficult for him to answer, of course, but he would give him time.

Serena waited, her head resting on Heji's shoulder for the time being, listening, but only watching bits and pieces. <Right handed.> She answered, just in case Royce decided to lie.

"I...." Usually with these types of questions, the opposite was the one that got cut off...he really...didn't want to lose either of them. "Both of them are equally important, both do the labor the same. Different kinds of labor....but labor...none the less." he didn't meet Serena's eyes, actually he didn't look at any of them, choosing instead to look at the tail that had been put in his mouth....his tail.

"I see, well then." That was all Kyn said, before he took out his hunting knife, moved behind Royce, held his wrist in his hand, and then brought the knife through the center of his hand, as slowly as he could, pushing as hard as he could, until it went through. "Anana told me I can't cut off your hands."

"Nnnnnnng...." Of course his hands tensed, and he winced even at that action. "The yellow lizard wench is dead, has been for ten years. The whore killed herself, haven't you heard? Oh, no, you wouldn't have, neither you nor Serena were at her funeral!"

That got Serena to raise her head, and she even moved away from Heji, two steps towards Royce. "I'm getting tired of the way he chooses to use his tongue." She growled. "Maybe he would prefer to swallow that instead of his tail."

Before he even answered Serena, he did something that he wasn't even sure how she'd react to. He removed the blade from Royce's hand, and then pressed it through his cheek, roughly, and pushed back, ALL the way through, until he reached the shoulder, then he did the same thing to the other side of Royce's face. "You shut your filthy mouth, wretch. Don't you ever speak that way about Anana again."

"Well...that's one way of going about it, although the only way he'd be able to follow that command now is if you have wire to stitch his jaws shut." She snorted at the smell of the blood. <You're going to kill him if you keep letting your anger get the better of you. It's about time for you to back off Kyn.>

She examined the cuts to the muscle, the garbled noises that he was making could no longer be formed into words...She pulled the lower jaw back up into a position where it would normally sit, and examined the cuts again. "No, unfortunately for you Royce, you haven't found a legitimate 'mon that you've groomed to be your successor yet...without this whole dark side to you, you don't get to die. Swallow." She said it with a little more force than neccessary to make the instinct take over. <Yeah, no, he's going to drown in his own blood if this continues, either that or bleed out completely.>

"Serena. Do you know what would happen if I were to kick Royce in the jaw, right now, at this very moment, after what I just did to him?" Much to his unfortune, his eyes had returned to their new normal color, the purple.

Serena didn't even blink at the fact that his eyes had changed back. "I'm aware, I'm also aware that your eyes are purple again, now either stow your anger, behave and give me the liquid, or I'll hang you upside down again and beat your whole body until it's black and blue." She snarled at him, hating the fact that she was now having to put herself between Kyn and Royce in order to keep one of the creatures she hated the most, alive.

"He can't die. He can't die yet because of the fact that I promised him. I promised him eternal suffering. Nothing is going to change that Serena... nothing... ever..." He took the liquid from his chest and set it on the ground.

"What you promised is null until this is fixed. Two rooms down Kyn, go sit there, and leave everything here. Tensa, I don't have to tell you to watch him, do I?" She swiped the vial up in her claws and pulled out the cork, slashing through the chains as if they were paper to a sharp knife, and then adjusted Royce so that the drops would fall down his gullet. Her tail lashed behind her as she did let her emotions get the better of her, smoke curled from her nose, she hardly noticed it at all, and she stopped when Royce was stable, not enough to restore him all the way, but baseline. With the cork restored to it's proper place, and her claws on Royce, pinning him down, she worked on calming herself.

Kyn only followed one part of that order, and that was that he exited the room.

Tensa escorted him out, and despite everything, was still shocked by what his mate just did.

-I don't think I've ever seen Kyn like that before in my life. It's also interesting to note... that I think Royce no longer has a fear of death. Instead, he has a fear of life.-

She gave Royce a great push with her claws, shoving him up against the wall, and then went back to the sink, running cold water in it until it overflowed, and spit the blue hot flame into it until it was gone. -He......insulted Anana, Me, and Kyn...in the same sentence....- the cold water sizzled and then began start to boil around her feet, she dunked her head beneath the faucet and let the water beat away her fiery anger, making it clear that she wanted nothing to do with Royce at the moment. -I'm not even sure that I'm safe to touch right now...- The words hissed from her, but she did eventually turn off the water, and walked to the door, taking apart the knob in almost a blink of an eye, and reassembling it in the opposite fashion. -I can't be near him right now, and I'm not leaving you here alone with him, come along...- She grabbed what was left behind with her tail, keeping her eyes on Royce, who now looked at her with a pleading in his eyes.

Kyn meanwhile had been focusing too much on calming himself down that he didn't hear anything or anybody around him. For the first time, in the history of their time together Miru emerged from its ball of its own accord, and then, it took Kyn in its arms and gave him one of the longest embraces in the history of long embraces. If Serena and Heji were to walk in, they would be in for a very interesting sight.

Heji gave one last look at Royce, seeing him and wondering just how unfortunate it would be to be him at this current time, then followed Serena.

Serena walked the hall as if she knew them, and of course she did...she dropped the collars and things onto the floor of the room in which the others were, and then continued down the hall, she was still too volatile to be around the others at the moment, and she knew it, but that was the good thing, she knew that she was too dangerous to be around right now, and definitely too dangerous to be touched, the waves of heat coming off of her body was testament to that.

'That was a powerful display of emotion, to have reverberated like that. I completely understand that feeling. However, despite my already great increase in power... I cannot do that specific set of ideas. But there is one thing I can do, and that is give you a place where, if you had a skilled Psychic yo u could trap him in his own mind for all eternity, due to the characteristics of the realm in which I would have created. If my other had the Adamant orb... I cannot imagine what would be able to be done, considering what I am able to do with space AND time. Perhaps, oddly enough, it will gain the ability to bend space, in fact like I am able to slightly manipulate time. Evening our abilities out, however this still just speculation' Miru's idea was to try and calm Kyn as well as reassure him. It was well aware of how analytical Kyn could be at times, and this type of discussion would definitely cause him to go into that mode of thinking, instead of being an uncontrolled source of rage and vengeance.

Serena waited until she was as far away from everyone as she could be before sending a short -feeling- to Kyn that read something along the lines of 'emotions bouncing, link closing' and then did close off her side of the link as she tore into the walls with her claws, no restraint to keep anything in check, she just tore at the walls, some bloodstained, others not, she didn't even stop when her claws bled from the strain, and only when they threatened to tear from their joints did she give, her chest heaving. The rage in her blood, the rage that just took out twenty rooms in the back of the private area...added to Kyn's at that statement....and bounced and added, and bounced and added...how had she let it get so out of control? 10 minutes passed, 20....30....40...and finally she was calm enough to retrace her steps back to the rest of them, she probably looked quite a fright, curls of metal from pipes, wires from the electricity, plaster and brick dust, as well as other forms of isolation caked her like mud. She nudged the door open a bit wider with her limb, and walked inside the room with a sigh, choosing that moment to re-establish the link. <Kasib's right, this is getting dangerous.>

Instead of Kyn, she would be greeted with Miru's voice. 'You two are an interesting pair. I believe you will no doubt know what it means that I am speaking to you right now.'

She peeled at her rubble mask to look at him, she didn't answer him for a bit. "*The fact that he just behaved as a rampaging Salamence does little to ease my mind, Miru.*" She hissed. Her rage, without her training...and even she had resorted to violence in the end.

'He did more than just that Serena. Look into his mind again, and see. There was more than just...that, that rampaging.' It was an interesting way of looking at things. A human that has a connection with a Salamence, and that particular Salamence, having been put in a situation where the only thing to rampage upon would be something that was not allowed to be killed.

She proved just how young she was when she looked up at him with those green eyes in a way that said 'don't make me do this' and then looked away. Even being 74 years old, she was still young for one of her kin...but she wasn't going to go on with a wedge because she didn't understand--again--they had just gotten past that, and so, she let her body zone out and joined Kyn amid his mind, and the black canvas folded out before her. This made the second time that she had brought herself here...and this time without permission.

Kyn was so disconnected with disconnected still, but Miru was sure that that would soon be remedied. 'It reminds me of... one of those rather humany space defying, logic defying room paintings.'

Serena shrank, literally back into her Bagon stage. 'My mind might have looked like this once, to him...' She was, thankfully, a rather accomplished mind walker by now, able to compile her own pathways between two points, a bit of logic to the disarray. 'I'm going to have to repair this, huh?' she sighed knowingly.

'Well, I mean unless you like Kyn being the way he is." It waited for her answer before exiting Kyn's mind.

'Like this? No.' She exited for a moment. "Boys, go find something to do.......This is...gonna take a while." She moved closer to Kyn and Miru, shaking the rest of the rubble off, and craning her head down, wings spread protectively, if Kyn was passed into her arms, she'd accept him...she'd always accept him; and that truth rang in her mind like a bell.

At first she tried to make sense of what he had going on in his mind currently, but when that failed she left only pieces, and reassembled what she knew of him from scratch, his memories, everything he'd intentionally, or unintentionally shared, what he built his life upon, and finally, what made Kynexn, Kynexn. To be truthful...it didn't look much like his old mind, the pathways were the same, but it wasn't fragmented, not broken...and when the time came to put that core back on it's pedestal, a mental 'reboot' as it were...there was very little that she could do, but set it down and give it the spark required to send it back into motion....and hope that she had done a good enough job.

It wasn't until later that Kyn felt the familiar touch of Serena. <Serena... How long have I been at this place?> He wasn't entirely aware of exactly what had been going on in his head, but right now he just wanted to think about normal things.

<Long enough for me to be mentally exhausted...let me step back into my own mind and I'll see about answering you.> She didn't entirely fade from his mind, but the avatar was split, like she was reluctant to leave, and yet knew on some level that she needed to. She wasn't just mentally exhausted, but also physically exhausted...<16 hours...I'm surprised it's not been longer....>

<That's a new record. Even for me.> "Thank you both, for whatever you did. Though.... Miru being in the room is a bit of a shocker. That's never happened to me before, really." Kyn said, some semblance of his old self returning, even through the purple eyes.

She didn't let the human go, she just tipped her head back against the nearest wall. "*Not good enough.*" even in the language of dragons it was clear that it was filled with disdain. "*I still don't know enough about him...I know enough to be able to merge with him nearly body and soul, and yet I don't know enough to fix this...*"

'There is a distinct chance that you will never be able to fix this. You have to accept that Serena, that's just how things are sometimes.' Miru countered.

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to let me back into that room with Royce, just a brief moment? I do promise you that I will not lose myself again in that way, because that is another part that I have filed away for the future." He of course, wanted to see HOW Royce would react to seeing him again, especially after what he'd done. He'd never done something like that before in the history of their torture sessions, and he would now be able to do even more things to him with surgical precision.

"You're not going in there without me, and I'm not moving, I just spent 16 hours, un-moving, in your mind, exhausting myself." She wanted to curl up and sleep, honestly....she did reach out to her link with Heji. -Work is done...- She looked over at Miru, and then closed her eyes as a response. "*I will fix this...even if it takes an eternity to do so.*"

"Then sleep. Royce is obviously not going anywhere. But, I do suppose that counts as a partial yes. Yes, you will be coming in with me." He didn't reach out and place a hand or anything on Serena, he just sort of let her know that he appreciated what she'd done. What he didn't tell her was that one of the last times he'd done something like this, was one of the first times he'd ever felt switches to the point in which he'd bled.

Serena sighed. Amid the rubble that she had carried in with her, she rolled and laid her head down on the bed. She curled up as tight as possible in the room as to not make it difficult for any others to come in or leave. She wondered idly, if they could share dreams...that would make things awkward in the long run......and then she slept. Thankful for the lack of dreams, she spent the time examining her own mind, how the familiar shape had turned into something much more as she evolved....but she was awakened from this self observation far before it was over---16 hours....had she really put enough time into working on his mind to make it perfect? It had taken 22 years to shape him, how could she hope to do something like that in less than a day? Her eyes opened, and she looked around to see just who, and what was around her.

After it was thought that Serena had been asleep for more than at least half of the time she mentioned, Kyn said to her, not even really know if she'd respond, "Morning, afternoon, or whatever the hell the time is. Are you rested now?" Kyn said, having drank whole gallon of water by himself, via Tensa and the rest assisting him since he WAS rather adamant about not leaving Serena's side. Something he didn't know would more than likely be seen as ironic.

As an answer, Serena pulled her to her feet and stretched until most of her joints had cracked at least once; and she cracked a mild smile. "Evening....and yes. Hungry as a Hippowdon, but rested enough to be up...." <Later I'm going to go in and see If I can't...refine what I built further...I'm sure you noticed that that's not your...previous mind layout.> She looked around at the others, even checking to see if Miru was still...watching over them, trying to make her brain work. Relief and guilt mixed in her subconscious, and she was sure that it was almost being radiated from her as well.

"That is good. I think we're both going to be hungry still." He said, referring to both the fact that he literally hadn't eaten barely anything since he'd eaten Royce's tail, as well as the fact that from his perspective he hadn't eaten since his 'last supper' type meal with Anana.

"Right...I think I'm going to stop on the trip to Gambitville and hunt a couple Tauros...if you'd care to experience how that feels from the air...I expect to be out of here by noon tomorrow." She carefully weaved her way out of the room, her tail was loose, but he could probably run up it as he had to get to the DNA pin on Kyurem. She expressed the question of if he still wanted Royce to experience most everyone he had killed as a feeling to Kyn, unsure how to put it in words.

"Once again, that is my humanity kicking in again. It was implied, that most Pokémon that live in the Bay to Gambitville do not have vengeance in the sense that, like the hunting you and I might be about to do, death is something that comes to be expected as it is part of the natural cycle. However what he failed to realize, is that simply because it is part of the natural cycle, does not mean that he can use that as an excuse for the fact that he brought those into an unnatural part of it." The fact that he was getting analytical again was also another positive sign towards his incline, after his brief decline. "So yes, I still do."

She tilted her head back at him. "He lied." She actually stopped two steps from the door. "Just because he never has to face those that are vengeful due to his money and his position, does not mean that there are not those who are vengeful. They're paid off, or found in the alley later with their throats slit, or worse, simply not heard from again after coming after those who killed their child, or their parents..." She frowned. "Why do you think, that when I was a Bagon in Gambitville; I surrendered myself to the Pokémon there that wanted me dead? I had a debt to pay, I killed....and I paid it. One stripe for every 'mon I killed there..."

"Hm, see, what I don't think he realizes is... the more I find out he's lied to me, the less and less I'll be willing to listen to him. If there's one thing I know about you Serena... it's that you hate lies with a passion. That makes him on more than strike three with me. The reason why I suggested that, is because I meant it. Simply getting rid of Royce will mean nothing. He is beyond the point in which it does. He needs to know that there IS finally someone who is going to make him face his actions. That is why I need your assistance in closing the King's Rock Casino permanently. Something I will ask him... before I set up the method in which to carry out the actions in which I described. Now, let us sate our hunger." He said, after which, the complete normality of his voice could be heard and felt.

"I hate lies because I can't lie...I can omit things, but I can't outright lie to someone's face...The only way this casino will ever close...completely...Is if all of it's heads are dead. Completely, 100% dead, and if the casino is burned to the ground. That is the only way that my 'how can we get this done' mind, comes back with a true answer for." At the latter part of his words her mouth twitched. "Well, being as I can't lie...collars on boys, if you don't mind."

"Which is why my next step... was to order you to clear all the innocents from this Casino. Not all at once and right now of course." They all put their collars on. Kyn sighed, having to go back out in that area with the collar wasn't that bad; he wouldn't make a habit of it though.

"Right...Salamence making a mess of the place but not actually hurting anyone, I've gotten in plenty of practice at that lately." She made pulling the false wall open look easy, and unlocked the office door that opened to the club side, and then walked through it. At least this time, they had her with them, and most of the Dominants either gave a wolf's whistle at her, or shied away. <Mmmm-hmmmph> She chuckled softly to Kyn. <Ah, those who don't enjoy being stretched out by an artificial Dragon schlong~ you can always spot them by the fact that they'll stand up taller and tighten their buns.> back into the locker room, she stopped at Kyn's number and waited, quite simply, for him to slide the key to open it.

<Look at you go girl,> He teased, <Got four new ones already.> He then inserted said key, and exhaled in sweet relief that his backpack was in view again.

<Ha~ You once asked me how big a Salamence would have to be to fill me....I can answer that, but it will cost you a sore ass and probably Tensa one too, since he seems to want to be in on most of your fun lately.> She pulled her scarf and goggles out of the locker, and flicked the former around the base of her neck; the latter went up over her head. /One last stop, to return the collars, you wont have to see them ever again...even if you do look stunning in them./ She imagined that it would be a cold day in hell before she ever lived down saying that, but she figured she could live with that.

/I take it that we're going to be using the 'new' old fashioned way of traveling into Royce's area then?/ Kyn said, avoiding paying attention to comment regarding the Salamence penis.

Serena chuckled. /Do you want to keep the collar, Kyn?/ She didn't wait for an answer. /You don't -have- to turn it in when you swipe the keycard for the key. Hell, you don't have to get a key, being as any claw can be a built in lock pick./ She pulled them back through the door at the other end of the showers and gestured towards the opposing side of the wall where there was a lone card swipe and a shoot cup, from which a key would come from when a key was swiped, and of course there was a shoot to drop the collar as well.

/There is no way in the nine hells that I'd ever want to keep a collar on. Dunno how that Roy 'didn't mind it'./ He said, and then he just sort of swiped all of the cards, and then took off his collar, and the rest of them did the same.

"A collar and a scarf, are a bit like the same thing. One claims you as your own property, one claims you as someone elses, I believe the human equivalent...would be a wedding ring." she answered. "Leave the keys in the collar and drop them in the shoot, and we'll be on our way...where are we eating, if not leaving for a bit?"

"That is far from the same thing... there are much deeper meanings to wedding rings. You remember the whole naming issue, well listen to this, and you'll see it from my perspective more. A ring is a circle; a wedding band unifies two people in the sense that a circle both has no beginning, and no end. In other words, their 'wish' for each other is to be eternally linked. Though in your two's case...it's quite literal." Kyn said, then he returned the collars to the way they were before they came.

She just waited until he was finished, slightly amused. "It's funny, going by that line of thinking you would think that'd you have gotten used to the fact that we're almost completely overlapped and that at the mention of the word 'wedding ring' that I would have known everything that you were going to say by the time you started thinking about it, and my point of view still stands. The same way you have Friendship bracelets, just normal rings...you have a collar that means the same thing. I never said I agreed with ALL the views Pokémon here have on collars, but there they are. I put a collar on Roy when I accepted him as my responsibility, I could have, and probably should have on you when I was still a Bagon, showing you around, but I didn't know you from adam, as your saying goes. Now, you should answer me...Where would you like to eat, or would you like to leave the bay and start on the other part of our trip for a time?"

"Mmph. I just can't accept it Serena... with the except of a choker... a human like me, just can't see a collar in more than that one way of ownership... but, I can understand the concept... Serena it's been so long that I forgot what the other part of our trip was. But, I think I'll eat in the bay for now." Kyn said, trying to grasp the idea that they were 'overlapped'. It reminded him of what Kas said.

"You...forgot that we were going to look for Mago? The first place we were going to look for her was Gambitville..." She flicked out her tongue as they exited the night life area without any ado. "So what are you in the mood for, beef, seafood..." She trailed off as a Grumpig passed her, and turned her head to look at it for a moment. "Pork?"

"Serena, Down." He teased, then said, "I've always had a preference for seafood. Speaking of Mago though... Kas said that if you weren't there, and that a bunch of my Pokémon weren't out in the open... things might get violent for some reason?" He tilted his head after he said it and then moved it back.

"So to Nibble's then." She paused at the mention of Mago. "Ah...well...you can imagine that her situation has been rather harsh on her...between Mago and I, we raised the boys...she got the worse part of it though...So if she's not angry at you for disappearing after just meeting her...well...that would be a surprise." The walk to Nibble's Sushi bar wasn't too long, though she did pause outside of it. "I would...put it a little like how it was when we first met, she'll be agitated, but if she thinks that she'll have to face all of us before we'd let her get to you...then she wont do anything at all."

"Perhaps... she might be more receptive... if I tell her the entire story. Though what with the different evidences both clashing and lining up, it appears... as if Anana committed suicide, which turned out to be via overdose. At least that's just my interpretation from the collaboration of events. Why do I keep hearing so many different ways for Anana to have died...?" He said that last question in a partially rhetorical way, and then entered the establishment.

<You're not going to be allowed to tell her the 'entire' story, I'm sorry Kyn, but it isn't going to happen, only you, Miru, Heji and I are ever going to be allowed to know that we stepped back in time for that...> She ended the lineup as they chose a place to sit, Serena flicked her tongue out at Nibble; who nodded with an almost exaggerated nod. "Just here for a snack, Nibble, not going to make you run out of anything this time." She spoke as he brought over her typical bottle of sake, and he looked a bit relieved. "So guys, do you know what you'd like to eat?"

"Sixty-four pieces of Octillery Ningiri, split into four orders of sixteen." Kyn said at an incredibly lightning fast pace, "Though of course not all at once," at normal pace.

"I'll be having a tenth of what he's having..." Tensa said rather surprised at what Kyn just ordered.

"No... No thank you. I'm not hungry this time." Heji said.

Serena chuckled at Kyn. "You know, maybe I spoke too soon." she teased, laying down at the table. "The usual snack if you have any of them left, Nibble." and then Nibble was off away from the table, leaving them to relax, and Serena wrapped her tongue around the neck of the bottle, pouring some out for herself before setting it back down on the table, she could have used her tail, but really...well, most were used to her behavior anyway.

<That is not what I meant. I meant the parts about me being from another world.> Kyn tapped his foot on the ground while he waited, also singing songs in his head.

<She knows that part. Remember, Stories...also...64 pieces...really? You're not getting my appetite now too, are you?> She curled her tongue up like a straw and drank from the dish. It didn't take long for the first round of their orders to come around; and she didn't bother with the chopsticks this time. It was also revealed to be a whole Kingler on a large platter, which was set down beside her on the ground rather than on the table. It was cut decoratively so it didn't take up as near as much as it would have had it been fresh, but...it did still take up quite a bit of room as it was.

<No. I don't have your appetite, I just love sushi. I would also eat more eel. Regular eel I mean, but this is a more... Pokémonish place.> Kyn practically scarfed down half of the order using chopsticks, and taking two pieces at once. Tensa took his time eating his batch of Octilliery though.

Crunch! she broke through the chitin that covered the legs of the Kingler, holding it between her claws, she chewed that as well as the meat inside, not looking up at Kyn or anyone else. She did however knock at Tensa's mind and hand him the first memory, the first time at her lair, as she had said she would, before going back to nomming her Kingler. <Tensa's been practicing, I see.>

"Hm, I mean it though... seriously, since I'm not going to be hibernating again, anytime time soon, if he does it again... I will do what I said I was gonna do earlier." Tensa said lowly, to the point in which Serena and the others would be able to hear him.

<I essentially forced him to learn it. I also tried to do it many other ways but... I just can't seem to be able to use anything but four digits.> Kyn gave a light chuckle and then finished off his other seven pieces.

She smirked. "'It's not a punishment if he wants it.'" She quoted, no louder than just above a whisper; leaving only those with Reptilian ears to be able to interpret it, then she picked up the next leg and swallowed that one whole, chitin and all. She devoured three more this way before going back to using her teeth on the last two, and then it was time for the signature Kingler claw. <Give me use of your hand for a bit, I probably can show you the way I used to do it.>

<So then, it's a good thing you clarified use of hand because of where my mind could have gone, considering what we'd talked about earlier.> Kyn said, mentally chuckling. He raised his hand and held it out to Serena.

|Oh he'll definitely not want it, Serena. I can guarantee you that. Just as I do, he knows the difference between a punishment one and a pleasure one, and that he will not be allowed to turn a punishment one into a pleasure one, just like I am not allowed to.|

Her tongue flicked out and she adjusted his chopsticks, she had only asked for one, of course, and so she only used one. Then there would be that disjointed feeling as she took over the nerves on that arm and when the next plate of food came along, she picked one up easily. <It's not that hard, probably feels weird to you, but it's not hard, just pretend your first and second are one finger, and your third and forth are likewise, your thumb is your pivot point instead of what you were using before. That's three.> |Funny, he tried to get me to punish him until I growled at him.| She 'handed' him the first part of the spanking session, along with the emotional back and forth.

|You are not used to him in that regard I see. He wanted to see how far you'd go, and apparently you went pretty damn far, OR all the way. Our punishment sessions are usually long, and either one of us ends up in tears by the end, not necessarily from pain. I suppose he's asked if you'd be willing to take my place in punishing him in that way, if I am not here?|

Kyn gave a large sigh, and waited for the next part of his order. <I can understand it, yeah, but I'd probably only utilize it if I lose two specific fingers of mine.>

|That was only the first part of the two...I did bring him to tears, a bit beyond actually...before he used his safe word.| She gave Kyn back his arm to let him continue to eat in peace, and ripped the claw into it's two halves before giving Tensa the second half which included the parts of her tongue that she could see, not giving away anything other than where it was going at the end, and the end of the session where she finished herself off. |He did, yes.|

|Sigh. Since I can't do it out loud. You seem to be held in pretty high regard by my mate.| Tensa currently finished his portion of the Octillery.

|I'm starting to wonder if that's a good thing myself...| she admitted. |Personally it's getting a little...awkward being so close to him, and yet knowing next to nothing about you, I feel like I'm trying to dance around your claws and avoid stepping on them.| She was about half way through the claw when Nibble came 'round with a new round for the two of them, and Serena refilled her cup before handing the empty bottle of Sake back to Nibble for a refill. |I'm actually probably going to need your help to finish refining his mind, actually...I HOPE to get rid of his purple eyes by the time I'm through, now that I've seen that it...isn't permanent.|

|Serena... you do not need to get rid of the purple. Besides, he likes that color, and it's more natural than artificial lenses adjusting them. You also don't WANT Kyn to have blue eyes again. SO, you want to get to know me better, well you better spend more time with me than you do him. Either that or take me with you on various journeys.|

<Serena, about how much can I tell her. Please be precise again.> Kyn said in reference to Mago. He was going over things in his head, and how he'd answer questions without going back to the fact that they went to the past in which he wasn't part of the current time line.

|You're going to have to explain that last point to me. Why wouldn't I want him to get rid of the purple? I also haven't...exactly been avoiding you Tensa; you're the one who has chosen to be in the background all this time.| She drank the sake as if she was drinking it through a straw again. <If we do it too far before we leave, you'll just forget again, how many times did I have to remind you of what you were going to be doing just to get to Royce?> She countered. |In fact, Tensa, if you think that you could manage to avoid seeding my womb, I wouldn't be adverse to knowing you in MORE ways than just that one.| The claw disappeared down her throat in pieces, and she tore into the body of the creature in a way that might have reminded Heji and Kyn of the way she'd torn into Fred.

<I suppose. But that's because my mind was rather crowded with trivial thoughts. Alright, I'll wait.> Kyn didn't take his time in eating this particular round, and to most it would almost have appeared as if he wouldn't have been able to taste and enjoy them.

Tensa sighed, out loud this time, and then folded his legs together Indian style and then waited for Kyn to finish eating.

When nothing was left but a few chips of chitin, she stopped eating, and thanked Nibble for the snack. Her stomach wasn't full, but a Kingler was hard even for her stomach to digest, and so it would keep her sated for a while. The alcohol kept her fire burning, and so even sitting beside her was a little warm, one might wonder if this was how she avoided being almost completely immune to ice. She did hand Tensa the last of the three events that he had missed without another word, and set to cleaning the wounds that the children had given her. The alcohol cleaned the wounds better than she could have on her own, and she probably could be caught draping her tongue into the bowl instead of drinking it before going back to work. She'd wait for when Tensa was ready to answer her.

|Hmm. Well Serena, they are just as much a part of him now as one would expect a tail or other limb to be. You best ask him before making any further attempts, if you already haven't, that is, to try and do things that would cause them to return.|

|I asked you for a reason not to give them back to him, not what they were right now...however I don't believe that if rebuilding his mind from SCRATCH hurt him, that me refining my work will either.| She finished her grooming and looked back to the two of them, finished off her sake. |Curiosity, why was it that you decided to 'hibernate' all that time anyway?|

|Rebuilding his mind from scratch...? Well also, another reason is because I happen to prefer them. It makes him rather unique y'know? Makes him unique. He's not just another brown haired, blue eyed human, he's MY human. As for the reason I was hibernating, it was due to the fact that I was getting bored a bit, and I figured, that Kyn would let me out if something important came up, or if he really needed me in a way other than being his mate.|

She sent him a mental picture of how Kyn's mind had been before she spent all that time working on it, and then what the layout looked like afterward, and as well, for reference matters, what it had looked like when she was a Bagon. |I spent sixteen hours working on his mind...no, I don't think even he realizes how much work I did on his mind, everything still connects the same way, but it's in a different...layout...| She was careful not to put a claim on Kyn at that moment. |My apologies, If you're bored, I would be more than happy to keep you entertained, perhaps with a spar, or jokes, once I learn your preferred humor. I know you and I share the distaste for puns....I've started counting them.|

|Not a complete distaste, but probably similar enough. You've.... counted? Hm.|

Kyn finally finished his meal. Afterward he got up, bowed to Nibble and thanked him, though he wasn't sure how Nibble'd react to that. <Twenty percent chance that my next order will include Octillery.>

<Only twenty percent?> She looked over at Kyn, and yes, stopped Nibble before he gave Kyn the bill, taking it with her tongue and filling it with the poké from her pouch, then gave it back to Nibble and looked at Tensa. |Started to, yes. I began this before the last event took place, I think a five to one ratio will fine to start with, don't you?|

|I have no concept, Serena.| Tensa said simply.

<Well yeah, I doubt that he really had to go through a whole lot of Octillery. The rice is more of a concern than the octopi. Also, why the bloody hell did you do that?! Paying my bill.> Kyn was slightly annoyed with her quick interference.

<Because one Kingler is 400?, and my sake was 80? Where as even 8 orders of Octillery Nigiri is only 400? Total.> She answered, bringing herself to her feet. |Allow me to put it in perspective then...at full strength, I put a dent in Colress' floor, what I used on Kyn was 3/8 strength, a punishment from me would be 5/8 strength, five would be enough to make him at the state he was in when I finished with him last time, perhaps more so.|

|I suppose this is where I give you either my approval or disapproval to punish my mate. Well, you have my approval for the most part, simply because I am interesting in seeing how you'd go about punishing him.|

<So? What's your point, Serena?> Kyn said, still not seeing why she would do it.

<...> She snorted and flicked out her tail to the point that it gave the effect of cracking a whip, and walked outside. |I do not draw out my punishments, Tensa, I am a creature that believes my time is valuable.| <Because I'm richer than you, and I can afford to spend some of my hoard on someone who is trying to wear through what little patience my sleep gave me back. Royce will never speak again, for the record.> She only stopped when she was outside on the sand, and her wings she could stretch. <If my KINDNESS bothers you so much, add it to the things you have need to spank me for.> She had turned her eyes to the sky, the moon in particular. |He sings your praises even when I'm the one working him over, I wonder if he's trying to remind me of who his mate is...or himself.|

<I do suppose in this time you've amassed far more than I. You say... he will never speak again? That... does not sound like a good thing at all. ...Why is that? Is there any possibility... that that can be repaired?> Kyn said, ignoring the last part almost sounding worried about Royce, but more so being worried about the functioning aspect of the type of Casino.

<Depends I suppose...I was too angry to finish the job of healing him, got him to the point that he was stable and then had to leave...what was on the floor of that room was one tenth of the damage that I did to those rooms...all of them were empty at the time, but...even how I left him, it was still pretty bad....I suppose you'll see, and see if you can do something about it, since I'm doubting that your liquid will be able to repair anymore with the wait. You wanted to close the Casino and tear it to the ground anyway.>

<Serena, forget Mago, she can wait another day, I have to Go. Now. That shit about the casino doesn't matter right now either!> Kyn literally ran as fast as he could in an attempt to reach an area in which he'd be able to bring Miru out.

She fought off the sense of urgency that filled her mind, and kept a level head, taking one look back at the others, who were likely already moving, and bounded off after Kyn, and while she wasn't the fastest thing on four legs, she was one of the more agile in the air. <Oh for fuck's sake Kyn, you can't just...without an explanation to the others...> She splashed down beside him and kept stride, her wings half unfurled as she ran. "Why is this important?!" The words came out almost angry.

"Because if he can't speak then he's as good as dead to me anyway, and that was not the point of this entire thing. Are we at a safe enough distance yet, Serena?" Kyn said, reaching for the Ball.

"Oh for fuck's..." She of course wrapped him in her tail, and gave a decent squeeze. "He's as good as dead to you either way. You are noy going to use one of your friends to try to back step what you did, what -I- did, and what Miru did forR you that night, you're not going to hit a magic undo button and behave as if it didn't happen. You wanted to keep him from speaking about Anana like she was a slut, and you're going to listen to me, she was a slut, she was a whore, and was everything he called her and more than that, and in some regards, so am I, You feel regret about hurting him now, in this way? Fix it yourself, Mr. surgeon. You have the way to fix it right there, your hands can do it." She answered, and turned around, dropping him. "Even if you couldn't, that can wait. He's still tied up, and no one is going to check on him for three days anyway. As it is he'll never tell anyone what happened, even if he could talk. He's no longer afraid of death, as Heji put it. He's afraid of living."

"I'm not going to use them... I'm not goin' to do anything like that again... from this point... I'm moving forward, but... there's something else.... I do not feel regret for hurting him..."

"No, you feel regret that you accomplished something other than what you sought out to do." She turned toward the sea, and sat. "Lets put it this way...why do you feel the need to fix this, of all things?"

"You're wrong about that.... and secondly... because what I want cannot happen if he has no voice. I'm not trying to fix things, I'm trying to prevent the failure of my idea. I'm glad that he already fears living now, but that is not enough."

"Then you're forgetting that he's a Psychic and can use the mental waves just as well as he could use his voice, and has only chosen to jam himself from all of the mental signals so that normal psychics can't get into his head...That's why he was so shocked to find out that -I- could, and I can unjam him too." she turned her head to look back at him. "If you do too much more, you will literally scare him to death, Kyn."

"Argh! Dammit Serena, you're still not understanding me, despite everything! Do you even know why I want him to be able to speak?" He could tell that his emotions were going several different ways, and that if didn't get to do this one last thing before continuing, that he wouldn't be able to get past himself.

"I asked you straight five seconds ago, why you needed to undo what you did, and you told me you weren't going to fix it, which is a lie, would you rather me punish you for the lie, or take you at your word? Your emotions are overriding every thought you might have to the point that I would be swept away at any distance closer than this, I might understand you if I allow myself to be swept away, but I would also be about as big a mess as you are right now."

"Fine then. I'll tell you this. With the utmost clarity. I enjoy making Royce suffer. The fact that he would have no voice is a detriment to that. For the most part, unlike you or any other Psychic types, I cannot tell by anything other that through his voice. His cries of pain, anguish, possibly, but highly unlikely pleas of stopping. That's why I was going to use this." He reached into his bag, and dug around in a literally hidden part of it, and then pulled out another phial that had a dark golden colored liquid in it.

"I never said that he couldn't vocalize, just that they would never come out as legible speech again. You didn't rip out his vocal cords, you just made him a slack jaw." She was sure that if they hadn't already, the others would have caught up by now.

"I don't even want that." His emotions had gone back to somewhat normal, and he wasn't going to think about it anymore. He'd always respected her judgment when it came to things like that, which is why didn't just go blatantly breaking the rules of the universe for his own selfish reasons, except for that one time.

She sighed at him; stood and turned, and walked over to him, ignoring the phial, she pulled him to her. "Kyn...allow me...Which would you derive more pleasure from, dropping a few drops of this liquid into his mouth and watching him heal, or stitching the hell out of his mouth and listening to his pained moans while you do to accomplish the same thing?"

"In this case, and this is a rare case, of that example, neither. Also... explain to me what you meant by literally scaring him to death?" He'd caught that little tidbit of information before the haze hit. He was considering what Serena said, in his head, the different outcomes of either using the liquid, or using stitches.

"What did I mean? Well, I guess that you've never experienced it, humans looking all soft and squishy and not like the hunters they are. Occasionally there is a breaking point, when hunting, when you have something trapped and you're just playing with it before you eat it, that the adrenaline, or at least I assume it's adrenaline, since I'm not a doctor...makes the creature flat line. They were quite literally scared to death." She didn't move, she didn't let him move either.

"Adrenaline... can cause the heart to pump so fast that it will fail, yes. That is why murders in my world can be committed with Adrenaline shots, and it will look like a natural heart attack. I've never seen a human looking like that, that is correct, though you probably have, when we were back in my world."

"There you go then...and yes...Hm, that trainer, I wonder what would have happened had I pinned him between the lava and myself, I wonder if he would have succumed to the same fate..." She leaned down with her neck, carefully craning it, well aware the others were watching, and gave his right ear a sharp nip--enough to break the skin, but not go all the way through, and then backed up two steps. "Have you made your decision yet?"

"Yes. My decision has been made. That wasn't a tickle, Serena." Kyn said, annoyed. The liquid was what he wanted to use. "You remember the Nomel juice, right? That would be even worse. If I had had it with me, I would have asked you not to let me use it."

"I still probably would have anyway." she answered honestly, well, she couldn't have done anything else really. "No, it wasn't a tickle, but can you honestly look me in the eye and tell me that you didn't deserve it? Be glad I didn't use my fangs, you would have had to say goodbye to your ear."

"I can give no comment on the matter Serena. So then, are you going to answer my question, about whether or not it's safe to open the Poké Ball?"

She sighed, closed her eyes, and brushed every mind within twenty meters from them. "Safe to do whatever the hell it is you're going to do, and I'm not going to be in your mind for the rest of the night; I'm sure that that's understandable for you...so that means you'll actually have to voice your thoughts instead of just assuming I know what you mean."

"'Whatever the hell it is I'm going to do' is releasing Miru. I told you this." Kyn said, still not actually releasing him yet.

Her earfin flicked, and she let the membrane slink back just a bit. "That's one. You knew what I meant, now you're just being a smart ass, add that to your pun tab and you owe me fifteen."

After Serena said that he released Miru and made the request, shortly after which a portal directly into the room where Royce was located appeared.

Serena slipped in afterward, and she could see the wide eyes, the chain still on the floor in half links, and the whimper was so pathetic that it nearly made her laugh. She stepped off to the side and waited for the others. "Lucky little bastard boy, doesn't appreciate how lucky he is anymore...after all, you can't regenerate that now can you? Thankfully for you, you have a doctor." She taunted. She had had her plans ruined by this bastard, well, why shouldnt she take pleasure in his situation anyway? "Don't think I've forgotten that you still owe me thirty stripes too, Royce m'boy."

"Serena, I doubt he's going to want to drink anything given by me. So then... would you lift his head up so I can... do what I came to do? This stuff tastes like a mix of piss and... other things I will not mention to either of you, at this current point." He held out the liquid, and uncorked it.

Royce might have had time to squirm an inch towards the wall before Serena was on him, pinning him to the ground and then adjusting him so that her claws held his shoulder, and just beneath his head so that she didn't have to look at his slackened jaw, keeping him still was not a problem at all, it was just very tempting to finish what Kyn had started and rip off the lower jaw instead of holding it in a relaxed, but not hanging low position.

"I've only ever used this twice, and will probably never again after this." He then poured about one quarter of it down, and this time, it literally was accompanied by the same type of sparkles that one would see after Heji or Tensa emerged from their Poké Balls and... it was as Serena said, though not in the same way. He watched as the wounds he had done were undone, the sinew, skin, and whatever else he'd cut.

The temptation only ebbed a little as his wounds were healed the rest of the way, the last to go was the skin. "Huh, remind me to tear the jaw off of a slowpoke the next time I hunt one." She said cryptically. "I'm rather in the mood to find out exactly how far I can pull before it unhinges...and then comes off." She released Royce with a laugh, and he wasn't even whimpering now. In fact he seemed to be in shock. Had he had access to his hands, he probably would have been touching his face with them.

"I'm done. If you have those 'stripes' to inflict still then do them." Kyn said, now wondering himself, about how far it would take. He also did what he probably shouldn't have, and actually moved to touch Royce's face in that area to confirm that he wasn't just imagining it either.

"Hmmm~" She chuckled, stringing him up by his ankles against the wall. "Well, ordinarily...I would make his stripes INTO his skin...and well, they might go there anyway, I think perhaps it's time for a demonstration." She flicked her tail out and up, and the scales raised like sharp spikes, Miniature razors that used to mimic small pebbles, and still did when they were laying down. She made one mark down his arm against the grain of the scales, and where she pulled it away; it looked like he had been through a cheese grater.

"That, definitely... looks very painful, Serena. So then... what would do you ordinarily do...?" He figured that in the years he'd been gone, there had been many sessions like this between her and him, and that he honestly had no idea what types of things she'd have inflicted upon him over those years.

"Ordinarily? He'd be my meal for the night, one way or another. I suppose he DOES hide the scars well...either that or they've just overlapped to the point that they look like his normal hide." She let the blood flow down his arm, and turned him with her claws, exposing his backside. Somehow THIS pulled him out of his shock, and by the first slash of her tail, he was starting to moan in pain, by the fifth, he was screaming and her tail was coated in skin and blood, and from the cracks that were AUDIBLE through the room, it made it painfully obvious that she wasn't holding ANY of her strength back from the swings. She shook the flesh from her tail, and let the electricity crackle through her scales for the next five, and not all of them hit his rear, which was a good thing, since his pelvic bone was starting to show by that time. His screams were music, at least to her ears, and the smell of blood teased her predatory senses. "Not even half done yet...and to think...my hide used to be as weak as yours."

"If your hide was... like that... then I suppose that means you know a lot about what it takes to do which things do it. I suppose it might be both a blessing and a curse that I stayed away for so long." Despite everything he'd done up to this point it DID feel slightly odd watching this type of thing. Not in the sense that he felt bad about what was being done to him, but in the sense that she could do it so easily, what would take him a long time, and drawn out. Though he supposed that would be more so of another sense of an ironic twist in the situation again... his way being long, arduous and painful, and hers being so quick and simple.

"You knew me when my hide moved out of that stage, you weren't here for it...but Heji made a lovely amount of marks in it every time he took me." she glazed for a moment, then shook herself out of it. She continued down his back, and then his sides, marking the twenty-five mark...and then the last five she tore down his stomach and legs. "Do you have anything to say, Royce?" Poison, that was the tone on her voice, not unlike the tone that the girl had used when she called Kyn 'pal'.

He could barely breathe; he'd fought to keep himself conscious, he wasn't sure why, but he moaned as he was dropped to the ground, and instinctively curled up into a ball. Then she gave the question, that was the normally dreaded question...normally he would spit in her face and tell her to go shit in the void. "...Kill me..." The laugh that was her response hurt just as bad; if not worse than the stripes she had given him.

Now Kyn just sighed. "Does he do this every single time? Or is just because I'm here?" Of course... he'd never really heard Royce beg for death before, and he'd never really seen Royce with this much of himself exposed, literally.

Serena licked her tail clean of the blood before she answered, stepping onto his chest, half of her weight maybe, ribs cracked a scream, her body and mind were made for this sort of thing, on a more disastrous level. "No. He doesn't do it every time, when he knows it's only half through, perhaps and he was in a whole lot more pain...but this is a lot of surface pain...he's just hoping that I'll grant him his wish...the answer has always been no...it will always be no." Her other claws were lifted to her muzzle, and she blew flame across her claws, beginning to seal his wounds with fire.

"Serena, where did you learn to seal wounds with heat? I've always wondered that. Was it.... during your time in Gambitville?" A thought came into his head after she'd said that. What would it mean to be Royce's successor?

"Ah...heh...no...The fire was always instinctual. Dragons are cold blooded, most lizards are too, we sunbathe to get warm, fire is quicker. When you're on your own, when there's no one there to stop you from doing something stupid...I took a nap in the flame, and found that my wounds from the fight before had been sealed. Sneasel claws...Sneasel are good eating by the way, if you can catch them." She said, then slapped Royce's cheek with her still searing hot claws. "I'm still waiting, and you know what I want to hear."

Royce had hoped that she would have forgotten, but with the grunts of pain, he wasn't sure why he was hesitating....because he was in a room full of males, and the rest of them would hear? He swallowed, but said nothing for the longest while, not until he was fully sealed. The handcuffs bit into his wrists, and sparked fresh blood, blood he knew she wouldn't seal. "Thank you Mistress, for purging my sickness from both my halls and my body...I shall do my best not to....take your gift in vain again."

"Serena... what in the hell is that? The way he just said that makes you look like a religious cult leader or something!" He wasn't sure what the tone in his voice was. Shock? Surprise? Amusement? No way to tell.

The tone of her voice when she spoke was clearly amusement. "That, my dears, is the reason that he is not a submissive...because that is his registered safe phrase...and yes, I made him register it." She slapped Royce again, then pushed him against the wall, letting his own blood slicken the slide backwards. She licked her claws free of the liquid and turned away from Royce. "I'm done with him."

"That is one of the strangest things I have ever heard Royce say." Without warning, Kyn took Miru's Ball and then opened it. Since it'd be used to the location by now, it decreased its size so that it'd be able to fit inside the specific area.

"That would be the reason that it's his phrase, it's completely out of character for him." She didn't even bother to look at Miru. "I do hope you ate something yesterday and it just wasn't in your stomach when this all began Royce, otherwise it's going to be a long three days." She gave Miru the respect he deserved, a slight bow with an inclined head...her mind told her that it was a little after midnight; that would make for an interesting hunt and flight for sure.

"Bah! I hate this fucking place! Seriously! This time, I'm not leaving until I've done what I said I was going to do. Either with or without your help. Also, I have a question for you, eventually, when you decide to come that is." This time he made the request to Miru in his head, and then exited the portal to the outside of the Casino.

Serena let the others go out before her, the others that had seen that she was a living weapon, who had stood by in silence as she had beaten Royce...she imagined that it would be for the last time now...huh...how sobering that thought was. When the portal was about to close, she slipped out of it, and left the hell of the place behind, ducking her head and letting her eyes adjust to the darkness against the bright lights of the casino. "Ask."

Kyn had every intent to just walk right out of that particular area without a collar, and see what would happen, but of course, doing something like that would more than likely be something that would cause a disturbance, and despite everything, he still always thought about the things Royce had said to him. His next stop would be towards Gambitville. "I have no intention to ask anything, Serena."

"You just said you had a question for me for when I came through, and yet now you say you don't intend to ask anything. Huh, and you wonder how you could have confused me as a Bagon." She looked around her. "Gambitville then? Pity, I wanted to fly...weight doesn't seem as heavy up there."

"I had initially intended to ask, but I'm not exactly sure if it would be the type of question to ask you. So then, if you want to fly, then why don't you fly?" Kyn said, still debating on whether or not he really would be asking her the question.

"Gah, Kyn, either ask me the question or I'm taking you up with me and doing so many barrel rolls that you get vertigo." she flexed her wings in a slight threatening manner. "The worst thing I can do is refuse to answer it." She snorted.

"Alright. What does it mean to be Royce's successor?" He said flatly.

That made her sit. Her tail coiled around her. "I would love to be able to say...that it just means someone who would take over the Casino, to run it right...no underground, no slasher movie in the makings....but you already know that I can't say that, that I'll never be able to say that...Royce's successor...has to be everything that he himself is, and more..." She looked away from him. "Something a bit like you and me, actually Kynexn...more like me than like you. Had I stayed in that area when I was a Bagon...I would have been his successor. Looking back, I was the perfect match up...the only difference was he hadn't molded me to want it yet. He had started, of course...you know that...but he made a mistake, and he paid for that mistake...six months. I go back every six months. Enough for them to start to show signs....of breaking...of molding to him...or of fighting."

Kyn sighed. "So that was what Anana meant. Yes, I had asked her many things about you. One particular thing stood out to me though... it was your age. But what I'm saying is... Royce was right about me. I could never be like him or you. I'm too tempted to kill things. Especially since here.... there's not as much consequence as back home." Then he remembered another though. Something that he'd thought about telling Anana, but never did. "Ever since she and he told me... I've wanted to see it."

".....remember that I'm not in your head right now...see what?" her head tilted, and her fins flicked back, already knowing that with the way this topic was going, she wouldn't like the answer much at all if any.