FSE

Furry search engine

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Cherry's head snapped up as she felt some terrible sensation of familiarity fill the air, fumbling the plates in her hands before grunting and quickly putting them on the counter, Cindy looking up from where she was digging food out of the refrigerator in surprise. "Cherry?"

"Shit. I know what that is." Cherry snarled a bit, then she stepped quickly over to the window before leaping backwards and waving Cindy away, shouting: "Get back!"

Cindy blinked, immediately stepping away... and for a few seconds, nothing happened. It was a long enough pause that she thought the other female might have lost a few of her marbles in Hell... but then the glass shattered and flew like daggers into the kitchen, pelting the floor and table before shattering into dust.

Cindy looked over at Cherry in shock â€" her precognition had been impressive before, but now she seemed to be seeing even further into the future. How is that even possible? Before, five seconds was her max... that had to be almost double that... "Cherry, what the hell is going on?"

"Nice turn of phrase. That's exactly what's going on." Cherry grunted, as Mahihko ran out from wherever he'd been hiding, a pencil still tucked behind one ear and looking stupefied. "Hell's coming... I don't know how, but Hell's coming. Arm yourselves up and give me five minutes, I'm going to talk to Albatross and see if this is happening all over."

Cindy and Mahihko both nodded, and Cherry followed them down the hall before veering into the meeting room Zerrex had used all that time ago now, muttering as she accessed the satellite link. Thank fuck I haven't forgotten anything from my mortal life... shit, this isn't good. They might latch onto me and sniff me out, and I don't want anyone here in danger...

A moment later, the screen blinked and then beeped angrily, and ‘FAILURE TO CONNECT' scrawled over the screen before numbers and digits began to scroll aimlessly over the screen, listing all sorts of technical details that Cherry didn't understand. It seemed that for the moment they were completely cut off from the rest of the world... and then she shook her head quickly. It meant they had to act fast... she guessed that Hell was sending in a shock team to test the strength and resolve of mortal forces.

She met Cindy and Mahihko in the hall, and the former tossed her the chain whip she remembered using so many years ago... and when she caught it, a chill ran through her body, her eyes gazing over metal links she hadn't seen for almost three thousand years and remembering the fond memories she'd held of this weapon... and of the fighting in the past. And even now, the bloodlust was rising in her, a grin spreading over her features that made Cindy shiver as she asked quietly: "Are you okay, big sister?"

"More than okay. Far more than okay." Cherry murmured, and then she looked up and nodded firmly, her expression serious as she glanced over Cindy's arsenal â€" a much smoother whip that had seen a lot of combat over the years in one hand, and a kwaibar holstered on her back, with a handgun and at least three clips on a tight belt that went around one leg. "Be careful. These fuckers will use shit that can only be described as ‘magic' without getting into detail, and some of them are better than me in close range fighting on top of that. But I think first they're going to be sending in lower level demons... there's some shit about how it's hard for higher level demons to move to other planes, I don't know. I didn't spend a lot of time learning the rules and laws... even during my pilgrimage, I mostly kept to myself and just saw the sights like any dumb tourist."

"You're more than talkative ever since being in Hell." Cindy said gently, then she smiled a bit before turning away, but paused when Cherry cleared her throat, glancing over her shoulder. "Yeah?"

Cherry shuffled a bit, then reached out and squeezed her shoulder firmly, saying quietly. "I love you as my sister, Cindy. You do good things for Daddy, and you fight hard, and you have my respect. I just want you to know that." A deep blush as Cindy stared at her, and then she mumbled: "Fuck off. I got a lot of shit to get off my chest."

"Yeah... but this isn't the time for that." Cindy said firmly, and Cherry blinked stupidly as she jerked her head down the hall. "Hurry and suit up, and then we have to get in gear, Cherry. If the enemies are as strong as you say they are, there's no time for sentiment."

The middle sister turned away with that, smiling quietly once her back was turned as she strode down the hall and feeling deeply touched, and Cherry grinned a bit at her sister's back, nodding and murmuring: "Exactly right."

A moment later, she turned and headed into the room she shared with Cindy and picked up a pair of heavy gloves off the shelf, lined with flexible metal plating to make them into almost gauntlets. They had small bulges of metal over each knuckle and the lining beneath was thick, comfortable leather, and Cherry had often worn them to her work at the arena; they were just barely legal, and that was only because it was raw streetfighting where anything went.

She slid these on, then paused and let her body change back into its usual form before grinning as the gloves increased in size with her hands: she'd forgotten about that little modification. A flex of her hands, and then she made a face at the thinness of her arms: in this body she was just as strong as ever, but the lack of bulk always bothered her. Before she could do anything else, however, a loud bang sounded from outside, followed by a shriek from Mahihko, and Cherry snarled, immediately rushing out the door.

When she arrived outside, she found herself staring in shock at what looked like walking corpses staggering down the street in a massive pack, some of them breaking off towards homes as screams rose up from neighboring homes and areas, and a quiet hiss rolled down the street from the other side before a haze rose in the air, and a moment later dark electricity crackled along the street, more damned souls magically appearing from the haze as it vanished.

There had to be at least a hundred marching along the street, and Mahihko was staring in horror, dressed in a miniskirt and carrying a large-size rifle, his body slightly sized-up to better accommodate the weapon's recoil as he babbled: "They... they just... there's that weird electricity and then they just appear..."

"They look like zombies." Cindy said quietly, her whip curled at her side and both hands currently aiming her handgun towards the closest, fear in her eyes but her voice and body unshaking, and Cherry admired her courage. "Got any information on what these things are, Cherry?"

Another glance over them, and Cherry made a disgusted face: hairless, with pale skin and all manner of terrible wounds, rips, and gouges dotting bodies of every species, their movements awkward and slow, not seeming to notice one another as they staggered along in a mindless group... and she snorted, shaking her head quickly and muttering: "They don't look like demons. They look like the living dead..."

Mahihko winced at this, then Cherry nudged him, glancing down at him with distaste. "Believe me, fighting in a skirt sucks. Go inside, put on some pants, and get your ass on the roof."

The wolf nodded quickly, blushing deeply and then doing as he had been ordered, and Cindy glanced over to the female before both stared as a massive explosion went up in the city, a pillar of fire rising high into the air with what looked like a few vehicles, and then Cindy made a face and muttered: "Bet that was Marina."

"Fuck, but what I'd do for her powers... it does give me an idea, though." Cherry closed her eyes for a moment, concentrating, then she looked across at the corpses that were staggering ever closer down the street, and flames crackled into life over the bodies of the first group. Immediately, they howled in pain, colliding with each other and falling over... but many of them still climbed back to their feet and others simply began to crawl forwards, groaning in pain as Cindy glared over at Cherry.

"Wonderful. Now we've got flaming undead monsters on one side, and a batch of plain old garden-variety zombies on the other." Cindy said disgustedly, and Cherry coughed, rubbing the back of her head and looking lame. "Looks like you haven't changed at all."

"Better than a flaming queer." Cherry said finally, and then a shot rang out from above, making them both jump before a corpse went down with a bullet in its skull... and it stayed down, not even twitching on the ground. Both of them stared at each other, and then Cherry asked dumbly: "Could it really be that simple?"

Cindy drew the machete-like kwaibar, the traditional blade of Hez'Ranna, with one hand, then she glanced over the nearest group of zombies with a cold expression, watching as they began to stagger-run towards them. "There's only one way to find out."

As soon as one of the undead came close, it lunged, and Cindy stepped forwards with a hard strike at the neck, cutting cleaning through rotten flesh and bone and sending the creature staggering backwards into several others, knocking them down. Cindy crushed the skull of one with a hard stomp as she lashed out with the blade at another, knocking it backwards, then she brought up the handgun in her other hand and neatly shot it in the forehead, brains and gore splattering over the cement as it fell backwards.

Cindy moved forwards efficiently, coldly, and ruthlessly into the mob, ignoring scratches and claws here and there, never leaving herself open to be grabbed by any of the creatures while at the same time dancing through their ranks, the only thought in her mind a count keeping track of the bullets she'd expended into the mob. She was the opposite of Cherry, who had charged towards the group of zombies on fire â€" at least in her style and technique, if not so much in form.

Cherry was laughing as she strode into the violence, snapping her whip back and forth in easy swings around her body and lashing deep, severe wounds into the undead, knocking them flying backwards into other members of the pack and causing a domino effect that sent most of them falling or stumbling for footing. The moment she reached the front line, however, she easily cracked the whip across at neck level of the zombie that stood up in front of her, knocking its head flying backwards into the ground and chopping through skull and body of many other undead, flames leaping up over the corpses and seeming to burn with greater intensity the closer she came to them.

To her, even the most intense flames felt like a gentle warmth, and she strode carelessly over burning corpses and half-dead bodies alike snapping the whip out with one hand and smashing skulls with the metal gloves on her other, blood splattering over her black pants and shirt, continuing to laugh cruelly and her eyes burning with malice as she spun around in a circle, at the same time making a low strike with the whip that tore the legs from many of the undead, most of the others flying backwards. One of them she caught, and she uttered words she'd forgotten she'd learned in a guttural, dark language, and the eyes and mouth of the zombie glowed with terrible light, the body convulsing horribly as light burst from every wound... and then it simply exploded, gore splattering in every direction.

A wave of force emanated outwards, and the other undead that had been crowding forwards collapsed, many of them falling apart even as they toppled. Cherry snorted, then she flicked the charred skull she was holding into the air and caught it, smiling slightly as she gazed at it upside down and said cheerfully: "Feels almost like I'm godmoding." A pause, and then a gentle kiss to the end of its broken muzzle bone. "But you didn't mind, now did you?"

With that, she threw it over her shoulder and idly struck it with her heel before flicking it with her spiked tail, and it shattered into pieces as she strode towards Cindy, who was still dealing with her own group. Cherry paused for a moment on the street, idly rubbing at the bottom of her muzzle and then looking down at her bloody gloves and over her body, before muttering: "I hate this body."

"Want me to take it off your hands?" asked a silky voice, and Cherry turned around before her eyes locked onto a demon sitting on top of a nearby building. He had a birdlike face, but seemed to be covered in thick fur instead of feathers, with a long, golden beak protruding from his features and an average body covered by a blue waistcoat, and a moment later he was no longer sitting but standing in front of Cherry, smiling as he leaned in close and peered up at her.

She refused to be intimidated or even surprised by the teleport, however, glaring disgustedly down at him as he strode around her, his talons ticking against the ground and black-gloved hands behind his back, his blue pants wrinkleless and as plain as his coat. "You know, when I saw you in Hell, I thought there was something weird about you... but I never realized you were a half-breed between a half-blooded succubus and a wrathful mortal... you're an Awakened, aren't you? Neither mortal nor true demon, but possessed of the complexities of the first's nature and the raw, savage power of the second... and as I look at you, I see that it is a very bad combination."

"Fuck off, Sargentus." Cherry said mildly, then she raised a heavy boot and kicked him over, and the bird demon looked up from his place on the ground with something like horror. "I'm at least twice as strong as you are. Besides, you're missing out on a lot of games going on in Hell, with the way time passes here and there."

"Oh, but it's worth it... just look around, Priestess Cherry!" Sargentus leapt back up to his feet, then he made a face and rubbed his chest slowly. "And don't go getting too cocky, either. With the plans the Warlord has, you'll all be dead soon enough... after all, look at the time difference!" A laugh as he shook his head slowly, looking at her with his eyes burning. "One thousand, three hundred and fifty years in Hell... is half a day in this world. That's long enough for us to easily tear apart lost souls and sinners so badly that we can send them out as our soldiers-"

"But everything grows slower... develops slower... and simply is slower in Hell." Cherry said darkly, and Sargentus snorted, looking away and crossing his arms. "And even the weakest of the damned take at least a century to break down... and after they're broken, many more to retrain and begin the transformation into a demon. And then there's the time lapses, and the long naps that demons fall into after exerting too much power!"

The bird demon walked away, throwing his arms out. "So what? It doesn't matter! Once all the scouts return, we'll begin our full-out invasion of this world, and then we can start training our troops here and corrupting others to our cause..." A disdainful smile over his shoulder as he asked teasingly: "Are you sure we can't convince you to join our forces, Cherry? You've got plenty of Lust and Wrath inside you... and the training you could do and the powers you could develop in Hell would rival even our mightiest of warriors, I'm sure. Plus, I know you simply like to kill and fuck and-"

Sargentus squawked, his eyes bulging as Cherry's whip wrapped around his throat, and he grabbed at the sharp links before squealing in pain, looking at his hands with shock at the deep cuts covering them. "Ch-Cherry!"

"What? I realized you were right." Cherry smiled cruelly, drawing the links taunt to ensure the hook on the end of the whip was tightly latched into the body of the chains, and the bird demon's eyes widened as she said softly: "I like to kill."

Cherry snapped the whip hard downwards, and the links glowed orange as heat surged through them at the same time: a moment later, the whip snapped into the ground, followed by a quiet thud as Sargentus's head struck the cold cement a moment later. His body flailed and blood poured from the remaining stump of neck, and Cherry snorted as she strolled casually forwards before grabbing the shoulder of the bird demon's still moving form and punching his chest hard, shattering his ribs, before her next blow tore into his chest and disintegrated his heart.

When she drew her hand back, his body burst into flames, and she grinned coldly, dragging her tongue through the blood smeared on her knuckles. It gave her a thrill... and her eyes roved over to Cindy, who was now standing behind her and looking horrified, and Cherry snapped her whip once to clear it from the street before rolling it easily up. "What?"

"That was a bit vicious, don't you think?" Cindy asked mildly, and Cherry shrugged a bit before the other female shook her head slowly with a sigh. "Look... let's just head into the city and leave Mahihko here to watch the house. He can snipe down any zombies that try to get into the house and I'm sure he's capable of hiding under the bed if some demons come looking."

"There's no need for that." spoke a tired voice, and Cindy glanced up in surprise to see Marina and Zerrex striding towards them, the latter carrying his bloody cane easily in one hand, walking with only a slight limp as Marina held his arm gently, looking back and forth and then settling her eyes on both of her sisters with something like irritation. "Marina decided to level half a block in order to kill what looked like a bunch of B-movie zombies."

"So you've-" Cindy started, but she was immediately interrupted and steamrollered by Marina, as she looked back and forth distastefully.

"It looks like they've been dealing with them here... but judging by the blood still flowing down Cherry's fingers, I'm willing to bet they just finished." Marina stated rudely, then she strode towards the house, saying absently over her shoulder: "I say we just wait it out. Power will come on eventually, and I'm pretty sure once the Irenic Military moves into play they won't take too kindly to seeing Cherry the way she is or the rest of us showing off supernatural abilities. But they should be able to handle this by themselves with a few flamethrower units and a tank or two."

Zerrex shrugged a bit as Marina continued towards the house, and Cherry grumbled, her body shifting back to the body she'd had as a Drakkaren as she and Cindy fell in step with Zerrex, the reptile going back to using the cane as a cane instead of a beating-stick. "She's in one of her moods today... she also instigated the beating deaths of a few gang members and humiliated a fat bitch who verbally opposed her molesting me."

"Yeah, we noticed, believe me." Cherry mumbled again, then she nudged Zerrex gently with her elbow, glancing over her shoulder at the carnage behind them, and Cindy noted that the female was suddenly a lot calmer than she had been moments before. Either Daddy's presence, or maybe it's just because the fighting is done with... "I'm surprised to hear she didn't kill the fat bitch, too. But do you really want to just wait things out? I mean, fuck, Zer, I killed a demon out there, and there've gotta be more of them in the city."

Immediately the Drakkaren male tilted his head curiously, halting in his tracks outside the door. "Seriously? What kind?"

"I dunno." Cherry looked stumped for a moment, and Zerrex rubbed at a temple slowly before she brightened and added, raising a finger: "But his name was Sargentus, and he was one of those royal fuckers I was telling you about. He was a... shit... a chancellor, I think. Not much status or much in the way of a position, but enough that he had a small brigade of demons at his command. As I remember, he was pretty weak... and a lousy disappointment in bed, too."

Zerrex looked at her flatly for a moment, and Cherry coughed before becoming serious. "So okay, he was a pushover, a big shit in the toilet. But the real problem is, the motherfucker mentioned the Warlord, the name for one of Hell's High Princes... and you'll never guess what his job is."

"Let me guess. He's not so much of a pushover, either." Zerrex asked dryly, and Cherry made a face, hugging herself a bit, which made both Cindy and her father exchanged sour looks. "Oh beautiful. Just what we need. A demonic Warlord who could take a psycho bitch like you on."

"He'd eat me up and spit me out, and I mean that in the worst possible fashion." Cherry supplied helpfully, and then she rubbed at her head slowly. "I think I saw him once... giant motherfucker, all clad in armor, and dude, the waves of hostility radiating off this guy could fry you some pancakes. His real name is Az'Iriel something-something-something Thull the Fallen. The original demons have long-ass names..."

Zerrex nodded a bit, then he turned towards the door again, walking inside, and the two daughters of the male exchanged a look as the Drakkaren motioned for them to follow over his shoulder, saying softly without looking around: "Cherry, you've got a lot to tell me that you still haven't spoken of. I want to know everything you've learned over the years... and I know just how." A pause, then he called: "Marina! I need your help!"

"Yes, Daddy?" Marina popped up immediately with a warm smile, as Cherry paled, then she shook her head quickly, instinctively taking a step backwards and earning a glare from Marina and a concerned look from Cindy.

"Boss, Boss, whoa, hell no, that shit be dangerous... if you pick up on my emotions or shit like that..." she babbled, and then she grunted in surprise as Zerrex spun around and grasped her wrist, and their eyes met for a moment before a smile twitched at Cherry's face, and she said quietly: "Same old Zerrex... I can't tell if you have self-destructive urges or if you're just a crazy son of a bitch."

"I think it's a bit of both..." Zerrex smiled faintly, then he glanced over to Cindy, asking gently: "Will you please go up to the rooftop with Mahihko? He could use the support, since I expect he's probably peed himself by now."

"No problem." Cindy smiled and nodded, quickly reloading her handgun and kicking the cartridge away from the house idly. She paused for a moment, then traded a hug with her father as Cherry followed Marina past him and down towards the meeting room, and the still-gentle daughter whispered: "Please, Daddy. Don't push yourself too much... and try not to hurt big sister."

The Drakkaren nodded to his child, and she smiled to him, reaching up to touch his face gently before heading through the house towards the collapsed stairs. Zerrex's gaze followed her for a moment, before he too headed down towards the meeting room, and he found Marina already sitting at the table beside Cherry.

Zerrex paused, then before he could speak, Marina said mildly: "You can sit beside me or her if you want, Daddy... facing each other isn't necessary. In fact it's probably better if you don't."

Zerrex nodded a bit, then he looked at Cherry, who had disarmed and tossed her weapons a safe distance away... and the Drakkaren put his cane down by the doorway, and at her pleading look, he sat beside her instead of putting Marina between them. The psychic girl looked slightly miffed at this, but then she shook her head and became professional again, breathing softly and saying quietly: "You both know how this works, so I'll keep the recap short, but I want to go through it anyway to get your visualizing things.

"Daddy is the receiver, and Cherry is the sender..." A pause and a long look over Cherry, adding mildly: "And in some cases, the victim, as I like to call it, as we'll be taking the information we need by force from repressed memories if necessary. I'm the conduit and the generator... I make sure things go through entirely and I act as the switchboard. I'll experience a minimum number of the memories myself, but Zerrex will be receiving everything that's sent, as will Cherry."

"The hardest part of this is not the memories themselves: remember, they are memories, and the mental pain they may cause you is not real, no matter how much it hurts. Keep yourselves under control. The biggest danger comes from the speed, and this is what I'm worried about: when we rip a normal person's mind, from childhood to adulthood, that's maybe twenty years of important memories we take from and sort through. Ripping Cherry's will be different, because we'll be covering almost two thousand years of memory, likely in under five minutes." A pause, then a wide grin as she glanced over the two. "It's going to be a hell of a ride, in other words."

Cherry glanced from Marina to Zerrex nervously, and then she whispered quietly to the Drakkaren male: "Boss... I don't know if I'm ready for this... I mean... I don't want you to see what I saw, go through what I did and... I'm scared. I'm scared again, just like last night..."

Zerrex leaned in close and quieted Cherry with a gentle kiss to her forehead, and then he took her hand silently beneath the table and said quietly: "I'll be with you the whole time. I'm sorry, Cherry, but we don't have time to sort through your memories and wait for you to remember other important details... and by doing this, we'll even unlock things that you didn't know you knew, you know?"

She made a face at this, but then finally nodded and mumbled: "Fuck. It almost makes me want to start boozing again." A pause and a deep blush as Zerrex was the one who made a face now. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and Cherry squeezed his hand quietly. "Whenever you're ready, Marina."

"Alright." Marina nodded, and for a few moments there was nothing... and then Zerrex felt as if something had just stabbed into his mind, and he gave a wince before his eyes opened on whiteness... and he was standing with Cherry, still holding hands, but now she was in her demonic real body... and she pointed past him with her other hand, a look of amusement on her features as she said teasingly: "See, that's what I'm talking about."

Zerrex looked over his shoulders, blinking dumbly... and then he rolled his eyes as he saw his angel wings had randomly appeared. He tried to retract them, and nothing happened... and then he made a face and pointed at Cherry's, saying mildly: "Yeah, well... yours are smaller!"

"Fuck you." Cherry grumbled, and then they both grunted as they were dragged out of whiteness, and suddenly Zerrex felt like his head was on fire, seeing flames, burning, death, the faces of the Sisters, a monastery, rock, rock, and more rock... and the voices, the terrible voices echoing throughout his head...

He remembered, but it wasn't him remembering all the names of every demon Cherry had seen, and all their types and all their different traditional roles... and he heard a whisper in his head that seemed to say: Did you know that the High Prince Az'Iriel is from the same family as the lost Mephistopheles? Cra'Vel Thull is another branch of the Thull Clan, from the First Families.

But did it ever hurt, experiencing so much at once... and he grit his teeth, his head tilting back as he let out a groan of pain, another rush of memories filling his mind, and his eyes opened wide in shock at what he saw: whips, slashing over and over at flesh, massive pairs of scissors cutting off

my breasts

limbs and body parts and spears being rammed

through my vagina, my ass, my mouth

through bodies, all of them restrained, unable to move or speak or even scream, and then rape after rape after vicious rape, with spikes and sexual toys made into grim, bloody torture tools, and

being forced to beg for it, scream for it, and having hot slag poured down my throat, into my body instead of the seed I so desired

magma being used as a terrible substitute for other bodily fluids...

Zerrex groaned, clenching his eyes shut, but he could feel the agony that reached every level of his being filling him up nonetheless, and the images wouldn't stop coming: images of

screaming as they fuck me with cocks so big they tear right through my body

pain, of rape and violence and death, and of

being broken; crying endlessly; terrified of the Sisters, of everyone...

being so afraid, of even people who had meant no harm, had done these gruesome things only because a worse fate would have awaited if

she

that person had been discovered...

Zerrex tried to shake it away, but it was there again, and then he saw someone... she looked like a Drakkaren female who was visiting the Sister's Monastery to pray and talk with them, and she was an Inquisitor... but it was during a day of punishment, and

she was on a rack, and the female steps up and her eyes turn pitch black, and she is a demon like all the others but somehow different as she brings out her whip, and she tries to speak but the Inquisitor shouts an order at her and her voice is powerful, her dominance unquestionable... and she wears

she, in her leather outfit, takes over... but she stops early, something seeming to confuse her, and she talks with the Sisters before she leaves...

And there is a realization, too, not far later, of waking up and being different: fragments of a dirty mirror fall to the ground, someone turning away and screaming in denial... and then a vision of being led by the Sisters to a pool in the courtyard outside, where massive trees grow and sway slowly and quietly in the windless sky, groaning gently... and here there is a sight of a demon, a wretched, strange thing in the mirror, and a feeling of falling down a deep, dark expanse... of becoming something else, and feeling so lost...

There are a thousand strange and terrible visions on top of this one, and then darkness for a moment before he sees rocky, sloping ground and cliffs, red skies that swirl in a slow vortex above and the occasional black cloud, lakes and rivers of blood and bridges made of bone... but also settlements occupied by pacific demons, some of them even friendly, their homes made of wood and their taverns smelling of smoke and alcohol...

There's a sense of a world forgotten now, a sense of duties missed and places long-lost in memory... thoughts that whisper that there is no better place than here, that all, for once, is good and right with the world, despite the darkness that exists as well, and the pain and punishment that purifies... there is love and hate, but after the contentment comes sorrow even during this great pilgrimage, and there is the feeling of begging to return home... but the Sisters say no, and a journey is resumed for years and years, toiling onwards and onwards, with no need of food and little need of sleep, training daily, growing stronger, learning spells and picking up history and lore that is quickly forgotten in sorrow...

There is hatred, self-loathing first, and then hate of everyone else, especially those lost ones long ago loved... and then there is giving in, being snowed under, and wanting to go back to them no matter what... and there are beatings and fights that end badly, there are long periods of sleep, there is giving up one's body to the sins of the flesh over and over, every time more and more vicious, and there is taking one's own rage out on others, becoming a punisher, showing off a level of cruelty and violence unmatched by even some of the Inquisitors... and there is finally a return to the sacred beginning, the temple... and there is finally a whisper of yes, and flight through the skies to a hidden portal in ancient ruins nearby, and a dive through and into the world... a flight high into the sky in front of shocked military crews-

And then shock, as they fire upon them... and they lash out, killing, killing, killing, and then flying into the sky beyond the clouds, hunting and hungry, wanting to destroy, burn... but then something connects, grabs them, drags them down... and the body changes, panting hard, needing sex... and too late a realization that there is still love here, this is place is unchanged as the collar is unchanged, and his eyes are burning emerald and no longer is there a need to leave and ravage the world, this is the place where they â€" she â€" needs to be...

And then only whiteness... and Zerrex snapped back into reality, falling backwards out of his chair as Cherry arched her back with a shriek, and Marina fainted on the table, her head thudding loudly against the furnishing. A moment later, however, Cherry tackled Zerrex before he could do little more than start to sit up, and her mouth locked with his as she ground down against him, as the claws of one hand sank through his shirt and into his chest, her other hand locked in his hair as she growled and bit at the same time, her body rocking hard against him.

Zerrex snarled in return, kissing her back as their tongues wrestled, her blood flowing into his mouth as his flowed into hers, as he rolled over, his own hand pinning her firmly down and squeezing into one breast as her tail snapped into one of his legs, drawing more blood. He heard the crackling of flames starting up around them as flickers of energy travelled over his body, and then his eyes widened as he drew backwards at the bitter smell of brimstone and fire, and Cherry's eyes unclouded as they looked at each other dumbly, the room half aflame and blood flowing from both their bodies, his own shifted slightly upwards, and then Cherry winced and rose a hand, and the fire withered away to nothing as Zerrex let his body shrink back down to its usual size.

The two stared at one another, and then Cherry grinned and shrugged a bit, asking dumbly: "Well, want to resume making out and perhaps get around to fucking before Marina wakes up? I mean, there's a good chance she'd join in and shit."

"I think I'm above screwing a Dius like yourself." Zerrex responded drolly, and then they looked at each other stupidly for a moment before he added dumbly: "And well. It looks like it worked, then, even though my head hurts like all hell and you took a chunk out of me with your stupid claws."

"Yeah, well, you almost squeezed one of my tits off." Cherry responded flatly, rubbing at the breast Zerrex had seized slowly. "At least I didn't super-size myself."

"Oh, because that's such a problem for you." The Drakkaren responded drolly. "No, you're right. You only tried to set the goddamn house on fire."

A moment later, Marina groaned, then she sat up, blinked, and glared at both of them, rubbing her head slowly. "Gee. Thanks a lot for the concern. I hope you both die." A long pause, and then she flushed deeply, looking at her father. "I mean, not you Daddy!"

"Oh, just me." Cherry said irritably, and then she let out a squeak as Marina snarled and sent her flying across the room to crash into a shelf, several books falling down on top of her head as Zerrex winced and slowly stood up. Then Marina's eyes widened when she saw the claw mark on her father's chest, and she snarled furiously.

Immediately, Zerrex stepped forwards, shaking his head and reaching out for her, saying quickly: "Marina, it's okay, it's alright!" A pause, and then he checked over his shoulder to make sure Cherry was still breathing as Marina fumed visibly, before he leaned forwards and murmured gently: "But hey, uh... you know, you upset me a bit there with what you said..."

Marina blinked, then she stepped forwards and hugged him tightly, and Zerrex winced at the pain it sent through his surprisingly-sore body, gushing: "Oh, Daddy, never you! I love you way too much... and I don't really wish Cherry dead either, I guess." A smile up to him, and then she kissed his cheek gently, saying softly: "And you really don't have to manipulate me like that... I'll back off, I just need you to tell me."

"I just needed to make sure." Zerrex said dumbly, and Marina beamed up at him, apparently delighted for... some reason. I'm too sore to figure it out. "Uh... why don't you make me some tea or something, and get Cindy and Mahihko down from the rooftop?"

"No problem, Daddy!" Marina said warmly, and she bounced off to do as she'd been asked, Zerrex looking after her with a bit of a grimace for a moment before he staggered over to Cherry.

He nudged her gently with his foot, and she opened one eye, looking furtive as she whispered up to him: "Is she gone?"

"Yes, she's gone." He held a hand out, and then grunted as he hefted Cherry up to her feet. For a moment, they stood there, and then he glanced down a bit and rubbed the back of his head before looking up at her again, saying quietly: "I don't blame you for anything that happened down there, Cherry. It's not your fault... and you aren't weak for giving in to any of it. Thoughts or the... other stuff. I don't blame you for what happened to you."

Cherry blushed deeply, then she lowered her head a bit before slumping forwards against him, her breathing ragged as she hugged him fiercely. Zerrex hugged her tightly back, and she murmured against him quietly, her eyes tightly closed: "I became something else down there, Zerrex... I'm not the same person I was when I left. It's almost like I died and was reborn, but even worse than I ever was before, and... and I thought that I didn't need you around me, that I didn't care. But the terrible thing is that I still do... and I'm afraid I'm going to put your life in danger, that I'm going to... once more be the thing that takes away the people you care about."

Zerrex thought for a moment of Mary... of a poor soul who had ended up tied up in the whole mess so many years ago now, the soul who had set him along the path he walked now instead of the more selfish, screw-everything attitude he'd had back then... and then he shook his head slowly, murmuring quietly: "I care about you too, Cherry. I do. Besides, I need someone around here who's more evil than me." A bit of a smile and a quiet nudge, and Cherry laughed a bit, shaking her head slowly.

"Fuck off, Boss." she said finally, then smiled a bit more before patting him firmly on the shoulder. "Sit your ass down on one of those chairs and I'll go and grab some bandages and shit to patch up those wounds I gave you during our attempt at violent intercourse."

"Rapist." Zerrex said idly, and she shrugged a bit before heading for the door, before pausing and blinking as the power flickered back on, exchanging a look with the male. "You think that means they cleared out the zombies and whatever else was lurking in the city?"

"I dunno... Sargentus said something about scouts, too..." Cherry murmured, shaking her head slowly. "They might've retreated to Hell and a bigger force might be preparing itself for war. We'll have to wait and see."

She strode out of the room, and Zerrex looked out after her for a few moments, making a bit of a face before he sat down in front of the satellite transceiver. It beeped a few times at him, and then the screen flickered, and announced there were messages waiting to be reviewed. A grumble, and Zerrex tapped in the code to link with Albatross's private office, making a bit of a face as he said tiredly to the air: "I don't get paid for this, you know..."

The screen flickered to its ‘Connecting' status, and a few moments later something beeped and he found himself facing a blank chair. The Drakkaren frowned a bit at this, tilting his head... and a moment later Albatross came in from the side and sat down with a groan, looking tiredly into the screen and muttering: "Now I finally get you. Are you just calling here because this is a private link or did you actually bother to check the messages I left you?"

"The former. If the messages are that important I can hang up, listen to them, and call you back, though." Zerrex responded idly, then he rose his hands with a wince as Albatross glared at him with his single purple eye. "Sorry, sorry. It's been busy around here."

A pause as Cherry strode into the room with a large medical kit, and Albatross stared at her before deciding it was better not to comment as she pulled off Zerrex's shirt, beginning to quickly and efficiently check over his new wounds and the older ones that had bled through their bandages. "Lord Zerrex... it's chaos here, in the Cradle of Life. Again, most of the jungle's on fire, and demons and the living dead alike are rampaging throughout the city... I know it sounds hard to believe, but Hell itself..." He broke off and frowned a bit as he leaned close to the screen, asking curiously: "Why does Cherry have horns coming out of her head?"

"Yeah, you aren't the only one who's been experiencing Hell as a not-figurative lately, so bite me." Cherry muttered, then she coughed and looked embarrassed, adding in a lower mumble: "I'm not here, just ignore me."

"Cherry had a little accident in the Northlands." Zerrex said quietly, and Albatross lowered his head, wincing a bit. "She ended up spending... a little while in Hell. She got back last night but it had already affected her a little strangely."

"I'm so sorry, Lord Zerrex, Miss Cherry... this is my fault." Albatross shook his head slowly, looking ashamed of himself and pressing his palms down against his desk. "Look, if there's ever anything I can do to make up for it-"

"You just gave us the mission... I'm the one who messed up." Zerrex responded resolutely, then he grunted and winced as Cherry stuck one of her fingers into one of his wounds. "I mean, I'm responsible for what happened, but it's no one's fault." He made a face, as if the words tasted sour, but Cherry at least stopped exploring his cuts with her claws and produced a bottle of antiseptic instead now. "But so the zombies were running around down there too, huh? We had a large number of them in the city, but we decided to let the Irenic Military handle the rest... Cherry said she killed a demon, too, some- ow, ow, ow, hey, that stings!'

Zerrex winced as Cherry began to clean out the wounds on his chest with a cloth and the antiseptic in rough strokes, and he pushed at her as she leaned down against him, the two grunting and shoving against each other as she grumbled: "It's for your own damn good, now stop being such a baby!"

Albatross merely watched for a few moments, and then he sighed, rolling his eye and then muttering under his breath: "Brilliant." A pause as he let the two argue for a moment, then he cleared his throat loudly and continued to speak loudly: "In any case. Yes, zombies, as you called them... and a large number of them. We also received several warnings from Ire's Republic Council that they were going to attack is in full force with or without the consent of the world council if we continued to ‘launch attacks against Ire using illegal biological weaponry,' as they phrased it. Somehow they're drawing a line between the Hollow Ones and these zombies, which they obviously think we're still using."

The Drakkaren traded a look with Cherry, and then he said mildly: "So what? You and I both know they're just a bunch of power-mad lunatics. Besides, with Hell apparently on the march against us, there's no way Ire will be able to make a full-out offensive against Hez'Ranna while at the same time raising its defenses against Hell."

"I'm not so sure about that... that system of satellites I told you about before, the Deep Space Project 6 worries me. I'd like you to ask some of your contacts about it in the military, if you could, Lord Zerrex." A pause, then a glance between him and Cherry, watching as she sewed up a particularly-deep gash in his chest before adding mildly: "And any information at all you could give me on Hell would be excellent right now, as well. I'd like to know what to expect if they should attack again."

"They fight mainly with swords and what I guess you could call magic..." A pause as Zerrex made a face. "And time flows differently. There's big lapses, but... roughly a day up here is equal to two thousand and seven hundred years spent there."

Albatross didn't speak, only blinking slowly and looking disbelieving, before he rubbed his head slowly and asked in a faintly amused voice: "So you're telling me we just had our first battle in more than three thousand years of pace between this world and Hell? Lord Zerrex, that can't be right, I mean, the only way you could figure that out is..." A pause and a look over to Cherry, who shrugged quietly and glanced away from the monitor, and Albatross looked down a bit, murmuring: "I'm sorry, Miss Cherry.

"But if that's true... then it means we can't win, doesn't it?" The Dragokkaren shook his head slowly. "Even if the entire world massed together to fight... they'll just keep swarming us with all manner of demonic entity and we'll be crushed beneath sheer numbers..."

"It's not that simple for them to move their troops forwards..." Zerrex said softly, and memories flickered through his head as he winced a bit, reaching up to massage his temple quietly. "It's... strange. But they've been locking down many of the portals, so that no one can go through... and their leaders have discussions that sometimes last thousands of years, just over what they should do next, and their soldiers take a long time to train and build up. Demons develop over long periods of time... so we will have at least a few days between their attacks." A faint smile as Albatross frowned at him. "Cherry came back with some good information on the goings-on in Hell and how everything works down there."

Albatross nodded slowly, his eye searching slowly over the Drakkaren before he finally sat back and sighed a bit. "Alright Lord Zerrex, I'm not going to make the mistake of disbelieving you again. Besides which, the original reason I wanted to talk to you was to not only debrief you but go over the worldwide goings-on."

Zerrex nodded, tilting his head, then smiling a bit and touching Marina's hand as she strolled up beside him and put down a cup of tea. Marina gazed at him lovingly as Cherry finished patching the lizard up, and then she drew over to the side of the room, simply standing quietly and watching them both. Albatross coughed, and Zerrex returned his attention to the screen with a slight blush as the Dragokkaren asked mildly: "Does your daughter often dress like that or is it only for work-related duties?"

"Maybe we should just move on?" Zerrex laughed a bit, making a waving motion with his hands as Cherry began to sit down beside him, before suddenly pausing and drawing back to stand in her old spot by the wall. The Drakkaren glanced over his shoulder, and Cherry smiled hesitantly as she straightened and then nodded firmly. "You know, now that everyone's in their usual place and all that."

"Fine with me... just don't get yourself arrested for molestation or anything like that with how young she still looks." A smile to Marina from the monitor, and the female did a quick curtsy with a bit of a blush. "But let's start with what happened in the Northlands... it sounds like there was a bit of interference from Kesteven's forces, was there?"

Zerrex mused a bit, shrugging at this. "I wouldn't call it intentional or even interference in military terms... we worked things out, and I figured since they assaulted the base and provided transport for us, it was fair enough that Killer and his wife Alexis came along with us. They provided excellent battle support and I know that you had a long discussion with them yourself over resolving the issue of ownership over that portal that appeared in the Arctic."

Albatross nodded after a moment, saying softly: "Fair enough. They were civil and we managed to work our problems out with a joint operation to examine the portal. It worked out well enough, but nonetheless, I'm worried about what's going to happen once Ire gets wind of the operation, which they always do. It could be problematic.

"But then how did the operation itself go? I was concerned for the safety of your family and looking at you..." A pause as his eye roved over Zerrex's body, his face becoming solemn. "It seems that you ran into some rather serious competition, especially if even Miss Cherry was injured. Besides which, you mentioned running into an Unseen... was it the Commander of the Toxin unit?"

"Yeah..." Zerrex nodded and made a face, poking at his own right bicep. "See, on top of being ridiculously huge, he had a mechanical arm that was loaded with a spring-blade and a cannon that fired exploding shells... and he was fast. Faster than ninety percent of the creatures I've fought... and he was able to take on both me and Killer at once without much of a twitch. We had to wear him down with consecutive attacks and focus on chipping away at damaging his metal arm, and he finally fell into the Black Hole just as it was opening..." Zerrex paused, shaking his head slowly. "I think he was disintegrated by the release of energy... when the Hole first opened up, there was this... terrible force that washed over everything, and the gravitational force was immense..."

Albatross nodded on the screen, frowning a bit as he glanced over Zerrex and said softly: "If you were at ground zero with your family, you should have Cindy check your bodies over. In the locations where known Black Holes opened, there've been reports of mutations and sudden changes in the behavior of wildlife, especially in Dragokkaren and people who already possess certain particular abilities..."

Zerrex nodded slowly, looking down at the table for a moment and tapping his fingers on it quietly, then he returned his eyes to the screen ahead, sighing a bit and saying softly: "But I don't have much else to report. We wiped out not one, but two facilities, connected by an underground transit system... if you explore towards the south, you'll come across a tram station, and the southern platform leads into the Arctic Facility you warned us about." A pause, and then he straightened and muttered a curse. "I almost forgot. I ran into my alter-ego, Ravenlight, running around out there..." A pause as he heard a start from Cherry, and he glanced over his shoulder at her with a slight smile: oddly enough, she had always been one of the best listeners when he told the old story about what had happened to him in the illusionary world he'd been locked in all those years ago during their failed first assault against Narrius. "And he said something about the radiation the portals were giving off and the energy in the air before he turned into a monster."

"Oh, wonderful, an evil monster version of you." Albatross muttered, dropping his head in one hand, and then he sighed and looked up, asking mildly: "You know, I'm almost tempted to ask you to go to Hell and see if you can drag Huck out. We could use his help right about now figuring out how to combat the radiation and track these demons."

"Just use the old rituals." Zerrex shrugged a bit, then he blinked at what he'd just said, touching his muzzle before saying slowly: "The portals aren't creations of science and don't adhere to scientific laws... but you might be able to control and seal them through the use of what's best known as magic, but is really something far more complex than fancy words and waving of sticks."

"Okay, let me call up a wizard, a priest, and some New Agers to sprinkle magic water on the portal and Feng Shui it to a better location, so it produces doves instead of demons." Albatross grumbled, then he winced and shook his head, raising a hand. "I'm sorry, Lord Zerrex. It's just... this isn't my kind of battle. I know shit about dealing with the unnatural and I'm still getting used to the idea that there are beings with special powers out there that don't involve being able to shoot a target at five hundred meters despite severe depth-perception problems."

"It's fine, Albatross." Zerrex smiled a bit, then he shook his head slowly. "But what I mean is that if there is a Heaven and Hell, then it means a lot of what we probably all dismissed as children's stories have some truth to them... and even if a lot of them have changed and been messed with over the years, some of them have to be correct. Try getting some traditional Hez'Ranna shamans to sanctify the area and see what happens... none of that Unity crap or anything like that. And have your researchers try studying the lore from the other end... not the god-side, but the Hell-side."

"This all sounds retarded." Albatross muttered, but he finally nodded with a grimace. "While I'm at it, I think I'll have them increase the power of the psychic deflection shields we've got built up around one of them... they seem to be containing the Black Hole's energy, so I'm hoping we can drown it out without resorting to... ‘magic.'"

Zerrex nodded a bit in return, making a face, then he paused as Albatross looked at him for a few long moments. "What?"

Albatross smiled tiredly, then he said softly: "I just wish you were here, Lord Zerrex. You belong in this seat, not me... you did all the hard pulling during the Great War, and you've got more battlefield experience than a fraud like myself." He rubbed slowly at the scarred half of his face, then added: "Besides... I hate being the guy sitting behind a desk and giving jobs. I'd much rather be out doing... something, anything, to help in the struggle. Even when Ire attacked us after we disarmed peacefully, I haven't seen a struggle like this... this has the potential to cause even more havoc than the Great War does to a planet that's already been ravaged by war."

"I won't let Narrius have the last laugh, Albatross... no matter what." Zerrex said quietly, his eyes burning as they looked down at the console, and then he shook his head and closed his eyes. "Is there anything else? I'm thinking of taking a walk towards the inner city, and check on a few people I know."

The Dragokkaren looked at him for a few long moments, then he nodded slowly. "Yeah, there is. We've lost contact completely with Lunis... and Ire is denying that anything's happened there, but the electrical signals coming from the island are massive."

Zerrex looked up in surprise, tilting his head with a frown. "Lunis used to be the technology capital of the world, until Narrius fried all their computer systems... are you saying that the demons have taken it over as a base and turned it back into a giant factory?" Massive electrical signals... Lunis had become the equivalent of a slum with a few factory bunkers that produce special alloys and goods, last I'd heard... they barely even have a thermal signature...

"That's-" Before Albatross could finish, the satellite disconnected and the screen went dark for a moment before flashing red and reading ‘LOCAL INTERRUPTION.' Zerrex blinked stupidly at this, but Cherry cursed behind him, her memories of her life in this world apparently fully restored as she stepped forwards and leaned down to tap rapidly on the console.

"Shit... Boss, someone's jamming our signal and probably tracking it..." A mutter as she shut the satellite link down, then she stood up and traded a look with Marina at the sound of a crash and Cindy yelling angrily. "Actually, it sounds like someone's already tracked it. Bebop, if you would be so kind..."

"Good memory." Marina muttered, then she stepped back into the corner as Zerrex turned grimly around in his chair, one hand on his cane and his eyes narrowed at a group of soldiers â€" none of them reptilian in nature â€" that strode in through the door only moments later, all of them wearing black riot armor and with their assault rifles at the ready. Two of them took aim at Cherry, who rose her hands with a cold grin, and three of them covered Marina, as a last one strode up beside Zerrex with a shotgun aimed at his head.

An officer strolled inside a moment later, a short, stocky bear in a black uniform with golden buttons and tassels hanging from the shoulders, his hands behind his back and his uniform cap tight on his head, sunglasses obscuring his eyes as he murmured into the headset he wore: "It's alright, sir. We've got the targets in custody. Give me half an hour to bring them in." A pause, and then the grizzly reached up and pulled off his sunglasses, tucking them in his breast pocket as he said mildly, not bothering to give Zerrex more than a glance. "Narrius, Zerrex. Ex-military, correct?"

"Correct." Zerrex glanced to the shotgun aimed at his head, then around at the other soldiers, putting both hands on his cane, the bear's amber eyes finally meeting his own. "Quite the arsenal you have here. Black armors, metal helmets with visors so I can't even see their eyes, even their tails tucked somewhere inside those tight casket uniforms so I can't tell what species they are. Why the storm troopers?"

"I ask the questions here, terrorist." The bear responded mildly, looking down at one hand as he rose it in front of his face, and then he returned his eyes to Zerrex, speaking in a soft tone: "And don't even bother with any tricks, Narrius. We know about your family of freaks and their abilities and training... if your slut daughter attempts to interfere with us using her telepathic abilities in any way, you'll all be killed immediately. We do not require you alive."

Zerrex's eyes were cold as he looked up at the bear, his tone filled with silent venom as he said: "Don't call me Narrius. And don't call my daughter names."

The bear snorted, tilting his head before raising a hand, and a strange glow surrounded it as he looked over it again, Zerrex's eyes widening as he said darkly: "Don't think you can order me around, newt. I'm very familiar with my own abilities... and there's a full attack team here holding you and yours hostage while another outside is waiting, just in case. We've taken no chances."

"You're an idiot." Zerrex said softly, before attempting to stand â€" but the soldier beside him snarled something and immediately shoved him back down into his seat, the reptile grunting and then glaring at the armored trooper. "Want to try that again?"

"Shut up." The bear snorted, then he tilted his head to the side, touching his headset and murmuring: "Units 7, 3 and 4. Take the girl out to the transport van. Kill the wolf, he's worthless."

"See, there's a mistake." Zerrex said casually, and then he smiled slightly as the bear snarled at him with disgust. "You only left minimum security out there."

A moment later, a terrible howl rose up, and there was the sound of screaming and crashing as the bear jumped, looking horrified... and Zerrex immediately stood, spinning on the spot at the same time to gracefully yank the shotgun from the hands of the trooper before his elbow collided with his visor, sending the soldier down with a scream as glass pelted his eyes. Before the bear could even react, Zerrex pumped the shotgun once to ensure a shell was in the chamber and took aim at the bear's face.

A soldier flew by as Cherry kicked him hard in the stomach, sending him over the table with enough force to crash into the wall under the monitor with his armor shattered, and the other fell slowly over, gurgling quietly from the second arc of her foot, his hands twitching senselessly and his head twisted at a terrible angle. On the other side of the bear, the three other soldiers had suffered a far worse fate, hanging in the air and screaming but unable to do more than jerk stupidly, their minds protected by insulated helmets but their bodies vulnerable... and then Marina grinned coldly as she looked at one, her extended hand glowing purple as he simply imploded, blood and chunks of broken metal hailing down to the floor before his corpse fell from the air with a sick splat.

"Calm down, Marina." Zerrex's tone was almost absent, as the bear stumbled backwards... before he suddenly snarled and reached forwards, grabbing the end of the shotgun barrel and causing it to melt. The Drakkaren's eyes widened in surprise, and the bear turned to run into the hallway... only to be struck from the side by an angry, gigantic wolf in a few remnants of torn clothes, Mahihko roaring as he reached down and then spun around, throwing the bear over his head, and a moment later there was a crunch as Cindy batted him out of the air with her fist and all the immense strength secreted inside her body.

Zerrex muttered something under his breath as he walked out into the hall, Mahihko panting behind him and looking back and forth as drool fell from his jaws, then he seemed to calm a bit as Zerrex looked up at him, straightening and swallowing embarrassedly. The Drakkaren smiled slightly though, then he turned and looked over to Cindy, who was examining the bear's broken corpse, and she made a disgusted face to him. "There's another team outside, this one looks like it's about fifteen soldiers... at least three of them are in Battle Augmentation Devices, on top of that."

"Great. Sounds like a real party." The Drakkaren rolled his eyes, then he switched the shotgun to his left hand as he held up the right, concentrating and causing blue energy to flicker over his hand. It was never that easy before... have I really been affected by the Hell energy that much? Am I changing too? "They mentioned a leader... either he's out there in the transport, or they're under orders from Ire Central Command, in which case we're screwed."

"Shouldn't we be, you know, going out there, killing shit, as opposed to sitting around here and talking?" Cherry asked irritably, her body shifting back to its demonic form as she licked her lips slowly, her whip in one hand, and Mahihko grunted something as he lumbered behind her and nodded, despite the fact that he also looked horribly meek in front of Zerrex. Almost three times my size and the big dope still acts like a child... "Come on, Boss! Let's surprise them with a full-out offensive!"

The Drakkaren glared at her, and she glared back, but he relented, noting that she had a point: the quicker they dealt with them, the less time they had to call for reinforcements or set up a perimeter. "Fine. Mahihko, Cindy, and Marina-" A glance over to see Marina striding out of the hall with a plain metal pipe in one hand. "You take the soldiers. Cherry and I will go after the BAD soldiers."

"Fun stuff." Cherry grinned, then she ran for the door, and Zerrex muttered before half-chasing after her into the fray, as gunfire immediately started up. He winced as rifle rounds peppered the front of the house, a few of them tearing over his body, and then he snarled and something in his mind clicked as a circular shield of energy formed over his arm, covering his upper body entirely and leaving him stunned.

Cherry glanced over her shoulder at the yells from the soldiers, and she positively brightened at the sight of Zerrex standing stupidly with the round shield of energy in front of him, something stirring inside of her as she thought: I'm not the only one... Zerrex's nature, his powers are awakening too, now... he's catching up to me and he hasn't even become a demon... not yet, anyway...

She shook her head as a stray bullet managed to catch her, but her iron-like scales deflected it, leaving barely a mark on her stomach as she grunted and then returned to the battle at hand, leaping forwards and lashing out with her whip to catch the arm of a soldier in massive, clunky black armor overlaid with white plates and the BAD insignia written in gold on every limb and his front and back. This was nothing compared to the fights she'd fought in Hell... and she laughed as she easily dragged him forwards with the hook lodged into his arm, the soldier screaming before he tried to strike at her with his other hand, but she caught it and leaned in close as she almost tenderly wrapped the whip around his back and then his neck, speaking softly: "It'll all be over soon..."

She grinned as the whip burned orange, the soldier inside the armor screaming as it began to melt and hiss from the immense heat... and then she pulled hard out the side as she turned with a cackle, and pieces of plate metal and sliced-apart body flew in all directions, blood and gore splattering over her body as she snapped the whip around her in an easy circle with a cruel grin. "Try harder! Try harder for me!"

Zerrex had meanwhile charged through the front line, emptying a shotgun blast into a soldier's stomach as he passed him and bullets bouncing uselessly off his energy shield as he sprinted towards another BAD soldier. The armored trooper swayed backwards a bit, then he grunted as white light shone from the bottoms of his boots, stolen technology kicking into gear and creating a magnetic force that permitted him to hover as his arms glowed with a more sinister light.

The Drakkaren swayed to the side as the BAD trooper rose a hand and fired a sphere of glowing energy at him: a concentrated electrical discharge that would knock even the hardiest of soldiers to the ground. The ball narrowly missed him, causing the reptile's hair to fuzz outwards as he winced a bit, then he concentrated, the shield vanishing from his arm as he pumped another round into the shotgun and fired at the soldier before tossing it away.

The armored trooper rocked backwards with a grunt as pellets pinged off his body, then held both hands out, firing two more of the electrical balls at him, and this time the Drakkaren ducked before leaping forwards and landing on the trooper's metal-plated body even as he tried to fly backwards out of the way. Immediately, the Drakkaren began yanking at his body armor, tearing off a shoulder plating and bending the helmet to the side before the trooper grabbed his sides, a burst of electricity sending Zerrex flying backwards to crash onto his back with a grunt.

He skidded backwards over the pavement with a wince, then snarled as the BAD soldier fired another electrical sphere at him; immediately, he rolled to the side, picking up a piece of broken pavement as he went and tossing it hard at the trooper. It bounced off his helmet, leaving a large dent, and he rocked once more in the air with a groan... and a moment later, Zerrex collided with the armor in a hard tackle and knocked him to the ground.

The Drakkaren winced, clinging to the armored trooper's body as they skidded backwards, sparks flying from the pavement as the soldier flailed against the ground, his boots kicking into overdrive and pushing both of them backwards, before Zerrex leapt off his body and landed awkwardly on his good leg, swaying a bit before he fell on his ass the trooper collided headfirst with a parked car. His boots continued to kick stupidly for a few moments, before the soldier reached up to push himself free â€" and electricity coursed through the car, the BAD trooper's armor sparking and small explosions rising up from the armor before he fell silent.

Most of the other soldiers had been dispatched by Cindy and Mahihko, the latter bleeding from a close-range shotgun blast he'd taken to the shoulder but still game in his massive form, snarling and crushing a trooper's skull against the cement. Cindy, meanwhile, was holding onto the bottom side of the military transport, lifting it slowly with a snarl as one wheel spun against the ground with a protesting scream, the trooper in the front obviously laying into the gas before she finally managed to toss it over onto its side with a loud grunt, then she glared at one of the troopers who was climbing shakily to his feet, his helmet broken and blood leaking out of his armor, snapping: "What?"

He shrieked, then turned and began to flee, but Mahihko sidearmed him as he walked past, knocking him to the past before the wolf turned and grinned cruelly, his eyes burning as he stomped again and again on the stomach of the soldier, the trooper screaming under his paw before Cindy shouted: "Stop it!"

Mahihko looked up in surprise, and a darkness seemed to fade out of his eyes as he stepped back from what he'd done, looking horrified at his own handiwork before shaking his head mutely, his body shrinking back down to its normal size. Cindy frowned a bit at him, and Mahihko bit his hand, trembling violently as she strode over and then glanced over his body, speaking quietly: "You're different when you're big, Mahihko... don't lose yourself to power." A pause, and then she glanced over to where Zerrex and Cherry had ganged up on the last BAD soldier, who had apparently made the bad choice of trying to fly away and been caught by the demon female. "Oh great."

Zerrex winced a bit as he held the soldier in a full nelson, then he shouted past the fox's head to Cherry: "Stop punching him so hard! You're going to kill him!"

"Fuck that! Bitch needs to feel the pain!" Cherry retorted, and then she threw another hard punch into the fox's side, and he coughed blood, trembling violently, his armor broken and blood leaking through several of the gaps that had formed as she leaned in close, grinning cruelly and tilting her head slowly from side-to-side. "Motherfucker, you see my face? I ain't no mortal being, I'm from way down south. Now you got a choice: cooperate, or I continue to beat the shit out of you."

"I already said I'd cooperate!" he shrieked, then he coughed blood before Zerrex dropped his arms as he slumped, and he fell limply to the ground, legs spasming a few times as his ragged breath raced in and out. "Please don't kill me... please don't hurt me anymore..."

"He has nothing of value. He should be killed." Marina said softly, tossing away the bent metal pipe she'd been using to crack skulls with. "Along with the other soldiers Cindy hasn't taken care of yet."

Cindy glanced down, the last comment spoken loudly enough the entire neighborhood could have heard... but of course, no one was even watching at the windows. Not like anyone cares what happens to the military or police in this town... most of them are just storm troopers waiting to get the order to bust some skulls, after all... Zerrex thought mildly. But that's no different than the slums of old Ire, either. "Daddy, there's no point... there's a comlink in the car, but it's obvious they were acting under the orders of Volka, and him I did kill." She added icily, glaring at Marina's back. "There's no point in just kill-"

A moment later, the fox screamed, his back arching, and then blood exploded from his ears, his eyes bursting from their sockets, and his scream died down to gurgles as Cherry and Zerrex both stared in shock at Marina, who looked over her shoulder, her face etched with lines of cruelty. "Discussion time is over. Playtime is over. I liquefied his brain: either you kill the others, or I'll pop them like balloons, too. I already promised to blow the heads up of everyone who fucks with Daddy today."

"Marina, please go to your room." Zerrex said quietly, and Marina blinked and looked at him with shock, trembling a bit... and then she nodded and lowered her head shamefully, looking like the child Zerrex had just spoken to her as before turning and striding quietly away, and then the Drakkaren looked over at Cherry, who shivered a bit as she hugged herself. "When you get freaked out, I get worried."

"Fuck." Cherry said plainly, as Cindy walked over and Mahihko hesitantly approached as well, staring in shock at the corpse of the fox. "She... Zer, she looked at him. She looked at him, and his brain turned to mush." She quieted, then looked back and forth nervously, murmuring: "Marina's off the hook, Zerrex... I think you should start keeping her on a tighter leash, much as you love her... fuck, much as I love her. And Cindy, maybe we should both give her a look over... she seems... even you, Mahihko, seem way more aggressive as of late."

A look over her shoulder, and the wolf flushed deeply, bowing his head forwards, and Zerrex nodded slowly, glancing over the two females and making a bit of a face. "Albatross mentioned that, too... alright. You two, go ahead and look over Marina... if she objects, let her know I told you to do it and let her access this memory if she doesn't believe you." A pause, then he glanced towards the inner city, saying softly: "I'm going to go and check on how things are in there."

"I'll get your cane!" Mahihko piped up, and he dashed off before Zerrex could say anything. A moment later, the wolf came back with a blush, holding up the plain metal walking piece and his shirt, smiling a bit as he said quietly: "Here it is, Father."

Zerrex shifted, smiling a bit and rubbing a hand through his hair awkwardly as he took the cane with the other: it was still so strange to hear the little wolf who had once been his nemesis say that to him. "Thank you... kiddo." He paused as the lupine blushed deeply, then glanced over at Cindy and smiled slightly as he slipped his shirt on quickly. "Make sure he doesn't bleed to death, huh?"

"It looks worse than it is." Cindy replied gently, then she winked and reached into her pocket, producing a set of keys and jingling them, saying softly: "I borrowed it to get some milk, so there's a full tank of gas in there now, too. You gotta stop choking the poor engine by leaving it at nearly-empty all the time."

"I know, I know." Zerrex smiled a bit, and then he caught the keys when Cindy tossed them to her, feeling a slight thrill roll through his body as he glanced over to the nearby alley where his motorcycle was parked. "I'll see you guys later."

With that, he turned as the others made their way back towards the house, feeling a bit of excitement pace through him: he so rarely got to ride his motorcycle anymore, and usually Cindy glowered at him for hours when he did. Now, he approached it with pride and relaxation, glancing over the armored body and sides of the cycle and the curved, high windshield with a smile: the vehicle was old-school but faster than half the fusion-powered motorcycles of today's, and it had been upgraded with balance and grip systems that permitted it to travel over almost any sort of terrain, even if the ride would be an uncomfortable one... but Zerrex always thought that was half the fun.

Black, sleek and built perfectly for his size... and the Drakkaren rubbed a hand slowly over the seat before grunting as he swung a leg over the motorcycle, at the same time snapping his cane into what had originally been a custom holder for a sword or shotgun on the side of the motorcycle and locking it into place with a small clasp. A pause, and then he placed his keys in the ignition and turned them, and closed his eyes with a smile at the sound of the engine roaring into life.

He pushed himself slowly back out of the alley with his good leg, the small, armor plated discs over the tires humming quietly and helping with the balance of the bicycle before he turned down the street and revved the engine once, then started forwards down the old cement roads, loving the feeling of the wind in his hair and the motorcycle under his body moving with sublime grace and roaring with power.

His mood was quickly ruined after only a few short minutes, however, as he had to weave around bodies, wrecks and police cars, becoming serious and calm as he halted every now and then at crowds to listen in on gossiping citizens. As he turned down a street towards the inner city, he slowed as he began to pass a corner playground that was mostly dirt and rusted metal play equipment, blocked from the north and east by towering and mostly-abandoned apartment buildings of ugly brick... and he slid off his motorcycle, turning it off but leaving the keys in the ignition.

He pulled his cane free as he walked through a large tear in the fencing and stepped into the playground, and a black-scaled dragoness sitting on one of the swings looked up from what seemed almost like melancholy brooding, frowning a bit at him before softening as he stopped and offered a hesitant smile. For a moment, they looked at each other, and then Reia stood up, quietly stepping to the side and grasping the broken metal chain of the other swing on the bars, saying softly: "You always show up when there's trouble, Zer."

"I wanted to check on you... see how you were doing. I know you aren't exactly a fan of the undead." Zerrex replied softly, and he stepped towards her, and she looked towards him with a bit of a smile as his eyes taking in her body as he always did, every time he saw her. Beautiful black scales that turned white over her inner body, and long scales gave her a sort of hair that covered her head, of the same bright ivory. She was wearing an old leather jacket with Ire's military logo on it, and a tight white shirt beneath this, as well as a pair of military pants and combat boots: it made her past affiliations fairly obvious.

Reia motioned with her handgun towards a few fallen bodies on the cracked road outside the playground, her almost-black eyes flicking to the side. "They aren't so bad once you start killing them... but you know, I heard something funny today, Zerrex." She turned towards him, the large black 15mm gripped in both hands as she looked over him slowly, taking in his wounds as she said slowly: "I trust you, Zer... but what's going on with you? You vanish sometimes for months at a time, and you always come back wounded... and even now, you don't seem the slightest bit upset by everything that's happened. It's not normal.

"I heard that the military was after you earlier today..." she stepped forwards a bit now, leaning forwards him and her body shifting, her gun held tight in her hands as she looked over him slowly. "And you knew me. Somehow, you knew me, before I knew you... and yet... I thought that once... once..."

"You knew me too." Zerrex nodded a bit, glancing to the side, then he looked back at her with a bit of a smile, looking down at the gun and feeling a stirring of discomfort and pain even as he tried to hide it under his expression. "What's wrong, Reia? You're acting like you're going to shoot me."

She hesitated... then lowered her head and blushed a bit, finally holstering the handgun and slowly rubbing a hand over the chain of the swingset, saying quietly: "I've told you what I could about myself, Zer... and I know you've told me the same. One day... someday soon... promise me you'll tell me everything." She glanced up at him, and they stepped towards each other before Zerrex swallowed a bit.

He lowered his head... and finally, he nodded slowly, meeting her eyes and saying quietly: "I promise, Reia. I promise that I will. Every little thing... as long as you do the same."

They stepped forwards again towards each other, and finally they embraced, Zerrex hugging her fiercely, not wanting to let go as she squeezed his body tightly... and then she drew back as Zerrex did the same, brushing her hand quietly with his own before he smiled a bit, looking over her quietly as she nodded a bit. "Alright, Zer. Fair enough."

He rubbed the back of his head slowly, then he smiled again and said softly: "Take care of yourself, huh? I'll... see you around sometime." And with that, he turned and left quickly, before he could say or do anything stupid; at the same time, though, he hated to leave her, the only actual friend he had managed to make in this entire ruined town.

The Drakkaren climbed back onto his bike and reset his cane into the holder, then drove quickly off, tossing a last glance over his shoulder at her to see her watching him leave... but then she vanished behind the building as he flew down the street and towards the downtown district.