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They failed to find him on their first search through the train, but on their way back through the food car â€" Zerrex still chastising Cherry about grabbing a handful of shrimp right out of the pan a cook had been holding and the now-male sucking at a burn on his fingers â€" they discovered Sirius angrily trying to grab something under the table, which turned out a moment later to be Mahihko, the wolf burping loudly and whining as the Dragokkaren hefted him into the air and growled: "So you aren't just a thief, you're a glutton, too, huh?"

"A bulimic glutton at that. Watch out or he might purge on you." Cherry added, and Sirius winced and dropped the wolf, Mahihko immediately scurrying away to hide behind Cindy. "Sirius, can we talk to you in private for a few moments? You others better come as well."

Marina and Cindy both looked at Cherry curiously for a moment, and the Dragokkaren looked uncomfortably around before grunting and nodding. They made their way to the rear cargo cars â€" Zerrex now appreciably limping, despite his attempts to hide it â€" and finally, the Drakkaren sat down next to the door with a groan, throwing his helmet off and shaking his head out, his white hair falling over his eyes before he idly brushed it aside, making a face.

"Listen, champ, we need to ask you a favor, but we got something for you in return... so more a trade, I guess." Cherry said with a grin, motioning around at the others with one hand as Sirius crossed his arms, looking sourly down at him. "My friends and I here really need to get to the Port... see, there's this problem on Lunis-"

"Cut to the chase, the one with the hair already told me all about it." he muttered, then reached down and checked his somewhat-repaired pocketwatch, adding dryly: "Forty minutes to the next platform. Try and be done before then."

Cherry narrowed his eyes at him, and then he squawked as Cindy shoved him out of the way, gazing up at him and extending a hand with a smile, surprising the larger male. "Hi. My name is Cindy Narrius... I'm the middle sister of these three, and Zerrex is my father. The little wolf is named Mahihko."

"Sirius Ronan." The Dragokkaren took her hand and gently kissed it, seeming to untense a bit as he looked over at Zerrex and said softly: "I didn't realize these people were all your family. Don't tell me this is a family military instead of a family band sort of deal?"

"Nah..." Zerrex grunted and stood up, smiling a bit as Marina supported him gently. "They just refuse to let me go by myself, much as I would've preferred to." A wince as Marina shook him lightly, and then he rubbed the back of his head slowly. "But they're good in a tight situation... we've been through a lot together."

Sirius nodded a bit, then he tilted his head, glancing over at Cherry now and asking meditatively: "So what did you want then, kid?"

"Kid?" Cherry looked nonplussed for a moment, then made a face before apparently working to keep himself calm: quite a feat for the demon. "Simple trade, service for service. You smuggle us onto a train that'll get to Port Hope as quickly as possible, and we'll protect your cargo from anyone who might want to fuck with it, from soldiers to freaks."

Sirius frowned at this, then shook his head quickly, raising a hand and muttering: "What kind of deal is that? As it is, I'll get there on time..." He seemed unsure now though, shaking his head slowly and then glancing down at the watch still in his hand, before he glanced over them all darkly. "Besides. I could shave a few hours off if I just threw you guys to the authorities. Then I wouldn't have to worry about the military continuing to interfere and I'd only have to get past the checkpoints."

Cherry growled at this, muttering: "Bitch, I'd think twice, because I can break you and your cargo-"

"You won't hand us over." Zerrex said clearly, and Sirius turned from glaring at Cherry to look at Zerrex, frowning a bit, as the Drakkaren added in a softer voice: "You know something bad is going on that Ire, in all of its wisdom, is only trying to cover up the existence of. Get us to Lunis and maybe you can say you've played a part in stopping this." A pause as the reptile looked around the room, his gaze stopping on Marina as he said quietly: "I want my kids to be proud of me too, after all."

Marina smiled softly at him, and Sirius looked down at this in silent contemplation for a few moments... and then he finally closed his watch and pocketed it, muttering: "Stay back here and don't get off the train at the next stop. I'll see what I can do."

With that, he quickly left threw the door, slamming it behind him, and Cherry immediately brightened as he looked around at the others, clapping his hands together and saying peaceably: "Well, that went well! Doesn't everyone think that went well?"

"I hate you." Zerrex groaned, and he slid down the wall again to sit beside the door as Cherry tossed his rifle away and shrugged off his vest, taking off the helmet next and grunting as the "he" shifted back to a "her," the fabric of the shirt audibly groaning as her breasts swelled back into being against it, and Zerrex stared a bit as Cherry grinned, her features once more gaining their stony femininity and horns and fins popping back into place. "But I guess that was sort of hot."

"Good, then." she said comfortably, stretching idly and waving her arms around in a circle as she paced about the compartment, before peering out the broken-open doorway. "You know, I just realized the major flaw in my plan. Any of the soldiers could've easily seen inside here through that giant gap in the wall."

Zerrex glanced to the side, then he made a face, a chill running down his spine as he realized Cherry was right... and it also meant- Oh crap. "Marina, try the door."

Cherry blinked, and Marina frowned, her eyes darkening as she stepped around her father to attempt to yank the compartment door open, but it was only jiggled in the frame. "Sirius locked it... I think we may have been sold out."

"Shit." Cherry made a disgusted face, snarling and heading over to the opening in the wall to stick her head out, looking both ways and then muttering: "Oh joy. I see some trees and a road, and on that road, I see a military blockade and a checkpoint. They're shutting down the city we're heading into, there'll be no way in or out... fuck but they want us bad."

"One step ahead every time." Zerrex muttered, then he shook his head in disgust. "We have to keep moving forwards, we don't have a choice with the fact Lunis may have already fallen to demonic invasion... I think our best chance might be hijacking a train."

"Except they'll probably blow out the rails... Boss, I really don't see a way out of this." Cherry rubbed the back of her head and Mahihko stared back and forth in absolute horror. "We need to get past this city and switch to a car, maybe a few cars to screw them up. If we move fast enough, we'll be able to-"

Cindy walked up to the compartment door, then tore it off its hinges and tossed it aside, before shooting the two a sour look, Zerrex and Cherry both staring. "Hey, you two. Maybe you can do something useful with all that military knowledge and go intimidate the conductor some into regretting his decision to play along with the Irenic Military."

"Good call." Zerrex stood up, making a face, and he patted Cindy gently on the cheek, looking at her with faint amusement. "This is why you're the smart one."

"You'd all be lost without me." she smiled a bit at this, then winked and nudged her father gently. "Go get him. I'll stay back here with Mahihko and make sure none of our stuff's been tampered with... I'm sure you, Cherry and Marina can handle him well enough."

The three nodded, and then Zerrex led the way forwards, pushing open the next compartment's door and slipping inside, Marina closing it behind her with the barest flick of her head, her powers slamming the door without even a glance at the object in question. As they made their way through the compartments, they found Sirius in the first crew cabin, and his eyes widened at the sight of them before raising his hands and stepping away, but a moment later he fell backwards â€" or rather, was thrown onto his back by an invisible force that then began to drag him slowly towards the three reptiles, the other crew members fleeing in terror from the sight.

"Let me break it down for you, Sirius." Zerrex said mildly, as he crossed his arms and sat down on the edge of one bunk, Cherry grinning coldly. "See that thing over there?" A point at Cherry, who now almost looked injured, her grin disappearing into a sour look at Zerrex. "That's a demon. And there are countless more flocking into Lunis right now, ready to eviscerate, kill, burn, whatever comes to their mind."

"Yeah. We demons love our eviscerating." Cherry chimed in, and Sirius's eyes widened in shock as he recognized the voice before Cherry brightened. "Oh, right... you know me better by this face."

Her grin returned as she tilted her head to the side, and the features of the male she'd copied twisted into life over them, Sirius shaking his head in disbelief. "Yeah. I uh... ate his soul and took on his body, and-"

"Don't stretch it, now." Zerrex muttered across to her, and Cherry glowered at him again before the Drakkaren continued mildly: "Listen to me, Sirius. I'm not in the habit of giving second chances, even though I'd often greatly like to. I don't enjoy the fact that I usually have to kill everyone who turns traitor, due to the whole military situation I was in... and you strike me yourself as someone who I probably shouldn't give the most trust to." Zerrex paused as Sirius was pinned by Marina's telekinesis at his feet, adding mildly: "But with Marina here, I can at least know if you want to double-cross me or not again, now that we know you've been working with the Irenic Military. So here's the choice. Either agree to help us out or we can toss your body out the door in the back, and your cargo will follow."

The Dragokkaren flailed a bit on the ground, then he gagged and grabbed at his throat as something slowly hauled him into the air before Zerrex added softly: "Marina, don't hurt him too much now."

She nodded and made a face, and the Dragokkaren fell backwards again, this time scrambling backwards a bit before breathing hard and staring in shock over the three reptiles, as Cherry said mildly: "I would really advise going with the first option. You saw the sword the Boss is hauling around way back in the cargo bay... hell, you charged us extra for the shit we were carrying, as I remember."

"Just... please... I'll do whatever you want, honestly." Sirius stood up quickly, rubbing at his throat and looking terrified, trembling violently as he stepped back from the three, before shaking his head quickly and murmuring: "I am sorry... the... I knew that they'd found the cargo in the back, and they said they'd let the shipment slide only if I agreed to cooperate with them... I didn't have a choice in the matter..."

"There's always a choice." Zerrex said quietly, as he glanced down and added: "Not a very good one, mind you... but there is always a choice." He paused, then tilted his head and asked quietly: "How far would we be able to get before they blow up the railway tracks or block them, assuming we can get past the platform ahead?"

But Sirius shook his head slowly, saying quietly: "If the platform's completely locked down, there's going to be no way in or out with the security shutters in place... and with the new military checkpoints along the public tracks, only privately owned-and-operated trains would be able to get you anywhere, but the chances of getting onto one of those are slim to none... they run separately from the station platforms and there's all sorts of red tape and security you'd have to get through first."

"Like I said, car!" Cherry exclaimed, making a disgusted face. "It'll take us longer, but at least we'll get there... with the whole freaking Republic on our tails, they're bound to have all sorts of precautions in place over the train systems, especially now that they know we're on board."

But Zerrex shook his head, making a face. "The train system is our only option..." A pause, and then he crossed his arms and looked over at Marina mildly. "How many people can you tick at once?"

Marina looked at him thoughtfully, then she nodded slowly, speaking quietly: "The problem isn't influencing people... it's the shielding they've started putting in helmets. My telepathic abilities can't penetrate psychic repressors; and since Sirius talked to the head of the military checkpoint we passed instead of Baskin, I doubt we'll be tangling with PMMs, so I have to assume their gear is high-quality instead of bottom of the barrel.

"But what if we cause a diversion or come in at the wrong platform?" A glance over to Sirius, the female gazing at him with disgust before she grimaced a bit. "That'll work fine. I'll go deal with the engineer and have him use the manual override on the train's computer to crash it into the shipping train on Platform 2 instead of going into the ambush at Platform 5." She closed her eyes as Sirius stared at her, his jaw dropping, and then she added darkly: "Think about it again and I'll rip out your intestines. Daddy, Cherry, The next station has the Platforms lined up in columns, each with its own set of tracks leading through switching tunnels, instead of all the platforms in a two rows â€" northbound and southbound â€" and then a switching tunnel like at the last station we were at. Platform 5 is to the east of Platform 2, and it's the closest I can get you to Platforms 6, 7, and 8, which are all used for industrial shipping by the Aztec Corporation. The trains are armored and use magnet technology to travel, and Platform... Platform 6 leads to Port Hope." A pause, and then she said coldly: "I want to cut his tongue out so they can't get him to talk."

"Just go deal with the engineer, Marina. Try not to kill him." Zerrex said quietly, and then he patted her quietly on the back as Sirius stared at them for a few moments... but Marina only grinned cruelly, and Zerrex frowned a bit. "Marina, I said..."

"I know, Daddy. I have a better idea, though. You'll like it." Marina said softly, and she held up on hand, a purple glow surrounding it before Sirius grasped his skull with a yell of anguish, falling to his knees as her eyes burned with terrible vitality. "Don't worry... I won't kill him."

Zerrex grit his teeth, half-raising one hand to grab his daughter... but Cherry shook her head slowly, and so instead he resisted the urge to stop her and instead watched as Sirius slowly fell over onto his face... then climbed back up to his feet dumbly and glanced over them curiously, murmuring: "What are you doing here in the crew's quarters? Passengers... passengers shouldn't be here."

"It's okay." Marina smiled radiantly, clasping her hands together in front of herself, and the conductor frowned a bit before his face cleared and he nodded, turning around and striding dazedly off towards the door. A moment later, Marina glanced over her shoulder at her father, saying softly: "I wiped his memory... I don't think he even remembers getting on the train now. He honestly believes that there was a last-minute change in the schedule, so he's... going to go correct that little mistake now."

Zerrex made a bit of a face... but Cherry shrugged slowly, before she trotted over to the bed Zerrex had stuffed his clothes under, pulling out his cane and tossing it to him. The reptile caught it with a sigh of relief, tapping it a few times against the floor before he said softly: "Your abilities are getting scarier all the time, Marina... but don't drain yourself too quickly. We're going to need you up ahead if PMMs or military are waiting to ambush us ahead."

Marina nodded, then she glanced from Zerrex to Cherry, saying softly: "We're almost there... I'd better go over the details with the others as well, if you don't mind, Daddy." A fawning look over him, and Zerrex nodded a bit before she took the Drakkaren's hand with a warm smile. "Thank you."

It didn't take long for Marina to explain what she had gleaned from Sirius's mind: with the structure of the station being as it was, Zerrex felt they might just have a chance at managing to escape from the facility. The station itself was cut off from most of the city and surrounded by brick high walls to prevent break-ins on the trains â€" these walls were doubled in size and topped with steel spikes around the section belonging to the Aztec Corporation. It meant there were few escape routes if things went south... but on the other hand, the actual building devoted to the railway was separate from the station itself, across the parking lot to minimize crowds at the platforms. The platforms themselves weren't inhospitable, but weren't pleasant, either: they amounted to a few vending machines placed beneath large, sloped rooftops supported every few meters by plain wooden pillars.

These platforms were all connected by narrow bridges at either end of the platform: these bridges could be raised when the train left, and then lowered back into place afterwards for people on the platform to move back and forth as they would. The platforms themselves were quite long, and accessible only through several pairs of double doors in a brick wall next to Platform 1.

The privately-owned platforms, on the other hand, were a different story. The trains departing from Platform 6 only went south, as Platform 7 only went north; Platform 8's trains went both ways, although technically Platforms 7 and 8 were one massive cement structure. Furthermore, getting to them would be a bit difficult: the public platforms were separated from the private ones by a shipping warehouse, and at the slightest hint of a security problem they could drop and lock down the whole facility, which was full of gods-knew-what.

"Shutters aren't a problem." Cindy had added at this point, looking dryly amused. "I've never come across a door that I couldn't open."

Despite everything, however, they would be going in without much of a plan... and even carrying most of their equipment, they still had to leave a fair portion of it behind. It also left Marina carrying the Hollow Stone in a plain cloth bag tied to her belt, and carrying an assault rifle instead of her pole: to avoid damaging the artifact, her job was to stay at range as often as possible.

Zerrex, meanwhile, was rubbing at his leg with a mutter, which was twitching a bit every now and then as Cindy kneeled beside him, rubbing slowly over where he'd once had a knee before she looked up at him with a grimace. "I think some of the synthetic fabrics in there have torn... you do put quite a strain on it, after all. I'll have to open you up once we get a chance to rest and see what I can do."

"Oh, what the hell." Zerrex groaned, rubbing at one of his temples slowly as he made a disgusted face. "After the mission, then..."

"This isn't a mission, Daddy, or a job... this is you being, dare I say, nice for once and helping the world in general out by doing what you think is right." Cindy muttered, then slapped his leg hard, making the reptile groan in pain. "And don't you dare object or I'll do the surgery right here and now on you."

She stood up, brushing herself off, and Zerrex gave her a sour look, asking irritably: "Since when did you start being such a dominatrix?"

"Whenever you started being such a bitch." She snapped back, and then grinned widely at his surprised look as she put her hands on her hips. "What, I'm not allowed to have some fun now and then? Come on, I doubt I'm all that innocent after all the bloodshed we've been through together." A pause as she glanced at the large, open doorway in the compartment. "Especially since we're walking into yet another one now."

You don't know how wrong you are about that, Cindy... you've always done what's right, helped both friend and enemy alike when you could, and never shirked your duties... you're more innocent than I ever was. "It's nothing we could avoid... the Irenic Military just seems to want us dead, that's all." Zerrex made a bit of a face, feeling a flutter through his body as he felt them drawing closer to their destination. "Now everyone brace up, it's going to be a hell of an impact."

The others nodded, placing whatever larger weaponry they carried down beside themselves and pressing against the pile of soft luggage they had stacked between the northern wall and the larger door to ensure safety, the family half-snuggled together and everyone hoping to avoid injury from someone else's weapon â€" especially with Zerrex sitting on the flat of Blackheart's enormous blade, the reptile only praying it didn't swing to the side at all. A minute passed, no one even speaking, the only sound that of the train continuing to roar along the tracks... and then there was a loud blare as they passed into the station and a terrible screeching before the crash.

The entire world seemed to shake as the compartment listed slightly to one side, continuing to grind forwards for a few meters and vibrations rolling through the cabin, Cindy cursing as the butt of the sawed-off Cherry had holstered over one shoulder whacked her in the face, the female tossing the demoness a glare that made Cherry pale and wince as if expecting a punch. Cindy controlled herself by whatever miracle, however, and then the train halted, screams and gunshots sounding through the air as they looked out the door and across Platform 5 towards the steel double doors leading into the private warehouse.

They leapt up, Cherry charging out first and cackling as she ran across the platform, before she drew the handgun holstered at her side and spun around to fire a round cleanly through the skull of a sniper standing atop the security booth across the station, felling him instantly. Her other hand strayed to the butt of her whip, but then she grunted and made a face as Cindy shoved her through the steel doors marked "Aztec Employees Only."

Mahihko and Zerrex were the next out, Marina following last so she could spin around, taking a deep breath and then releasing a gout of flames over the train and platform, people screaming and running away, flooding the bridges and many of them leaping down onto the rails to get away from the inferno.

Zerrex made a face, then grabbed his daughter's wrist, causing her to gag on her own attack and cough smoke into the air, dragging her quickly through the open doors and into the dark warehouse. She made a face as the doors swung closed after her, and then the reptile winced as an alarm blared, the faint light now blotted out by red, flashing sirens above before heavy gates fell across the doors and the opposite set leading out onto the private platforms, and then sections of the same criss-crossed heavy grating slammed down one-by-one along the side of the raised walkway they were on, effectively trapping them inside a cage.

The Drakkaren made a face, looking over their situation: standing on a raised section of metal flooring at the front of a warehouse, which led across to another set of doors presumably leading to the other platforms and a set of stairs in the center leading down to the warehouse itself. He sighed a bit, then frowned as he saw both Cherry and Cindy staring out through the grating, the former almost pressing herself against it as he began to ask: "What? What is..."

A glance to the side, and he trailed off, letting out a quiet breath at what he saw: not only stacks of wooden and metal crates of all size and shape, but capsules filled with strange, glowing liquid and terrible creatures inside, twitching monstrosities hooked up to wires and all manner of devices. A moment later, one of these capsules was loaded into a plain-looking metal barrel by a silent Dragokkaren, and Zerrex narrowed his eyes as he realized other silent workers were moving around and performing various simple tasks as well, from stacking crates to packing them with machine parts and those capsule things, to loading them up on various conveyors that went both out towards the other platform and through a wall into what Zerrex guessed was another section of the warehouse.

The Drakkaren shook his head slowly, then he glanced around at the others before saying quietly: "Much as I'd like to trash the place... we have bigger fish to fry right now. We can come back here afterwards, but right now we need to get away from the strike crew and onto a train before they're all shut down. Cindy, can you pry that shutter up?"

Cindy shook her head slowly, then blinked before quickly nodding, blushing and murmuring: "Sure, Zerrex." A moment more to look at the things in the warehouse beyond, and then she turned and strode down the long metal walkway they were on before a small light above the doors to the private platform turned red, and Cindy readied herself as a sheet of red light blanketed the area in front of the shutter.

"Shit. Laser shield." Cherry made a disgusted face, then she glanced over at Cindy as she retreated a few steps to run down the wide stairs in the middle of the area, frowning a bit at her. "The fuck are you doing?"

"It's not going to stop me, that's for sure." Cindy muttered, then she ducked gripped one section of the grating firmly and shoved and upwards at the same time, causing it to groan and slowly twist upwards until a sizeable space was left, the female wiping at her head as she stepped out into the warehouse area.

The others followed her down, then watched as she made her way between the crates towards the eastern wall, rolling her shoulders a bit as she reached it, the rest of the family walking down between the stacks of crates and then simply staring when she drew a fist back before punching once into the solid brick, and Zerrex winced, stepping forwards and opening his mouth...

And Cindy's second punch went right through the wall with a loud crunch, before she slowly drew back her bloody hand and made a face, leaving a sizeable hole in the brick and muttering: "That stings. Marina, if you could give me a bit of a boost when I charge, that'd be great."

"Wait, what are you doing?" Zerrex asked dumbly, but Cindy didn't respond, instead taking two large jumps back from the wall... and he just missed grabbing her before she dropped her shoulder and sprinted towards it, Marina holding up a hand and making a face as a purple glow surrounded the middle sister before she threw herself at the brick, at the same time striking out with both hands and crashing through the wall in what seemed like an explosion, pieces of stone and metal flying in all directions as she landed on her stomach with a grunt of pain. She lay still for a moment as workers on the Platform stared in through the narrow gap she'd made, and then Cindy slowly crawled to her feet, both bloody and dazed, breathing hard as she swayed slowly, and Zerrex winced as he ran immediately forwards, leaping into the hole she'd made and quickly worming his way through and out onto the platform.

Shots fired at them, and the Drakkaren created a large, round shield of energy with one hand, holding it out over both of them as he wrapped the other around Cindy, asking her quickly as he tried to hide his concern: "Cindy, are you okay? Speak to me, please..." A pause, and then he snarled as one of the uniformed security personnel approached, drawing the .45 Cindy had holstered on her and dropping his shield to fire a few shots into his chest, knocking him sprawling as the other security ran behind the train they wanted to take, apparently finding the wisdom to flee instead of fight as Cherry managed to wiggle her way through the hole as well.

"I think she hurt herself. Cover me." Zerrex muttered to the demoness, and she made a face before watching as the male scooped Cindy off her feet and carried her towards the black-armored train ahead of them, spotlights washing over him before Cherry easily shot them out. A pause, and then she glanced over her shoulder as Marina and Mahihko both quickly wiggled free, the latter yelling in a strangled voice: "The soldiers are coming! And not just the Irenic Military guys, either, some guys in really scary armor!"

"Wonderful." Cherry muttered, as Zerrex searched for a door to the engine, glancing over the train with a wince: it was a full train, and there didn't seem to be any doors on this side... if any at all. And from the sound of things, we don't have a lot of time to look... "Zerrex, I think the Aztec Company is going to add itself to the list of people who want to kill us very soon!"

"There's like, no doors on this damned thing! Check the other side!" Zerrex shouted back, then he put Cindy down as she blinked a few times and the dullness went out of her eyes, the Drakkaren slapping her .45 into her hand as he muttered: "Dear Gods, kid, don't act like me. Your brain is actually valuable."

He half-kneeled with his arm around her as she sat up... and she couldn't help but smile a bit to herself, raising her weapon gamely as Zerrex drew one of his own .52 magnums, both of them aiming at the hole before Marina snarled and muttered: "Fuck this."

She closed her eyes as she strode down to one of the compartment cars, taking a breath... but before Zerrex could note that fire was probably useless here, she unleashed a blast of not heat, but instead intense cold from her mouth, a chill washing over both Zerrex and Cindy as Mahihko stared stupidly from near the front of the train, as the black armor was steadily covered in frost... and a moment later, thick cracks formed through the metal as she stepped back and wiped at her mouth, wincing as frozen saliva fell to the ground from her jaws. Zerrex stood up, then stared as Marina punched the frozen, armored hull hard, and a large, semicircular hole shattered in the wall, the Drakkaren snapping: "Come on!"

The female dropped and crawled quickly inside... and Zerrex nudged Cindy to follow as a soldier stuck his head out the hole the strong female had knocked in the wall earlier, the male reptile firing a few times at him with his handgun. The bullets bounced uselessly off the cement, but were enough to frighten him back inside as Mahihko crawled too-quickly after Cindy, blushing as his nose bumped firmly into her rear end before he backed off a bit, then followed her in, Zerrex following last and wincing at the combination of cold and sharp metal on his body as he squeezed through the hole.

The moment he was inside, the engine of the train hummed into life... and the group standing in an empty cargo cabin stared as the front door opened and Cherry walked out, frowning at them and then at the hole in the wall, asking curiously: "Dude. Didn't you guys hear me shouting? I'm fucking hoarse for fuck's-"

"Get back in there and drive us the fuck out of here!" Marina shouted furiously, vocalizing the anger and shock of the others, and Cherry's eyes widened in terror as she squawked and leapt backwards into the cabin, and a moment later the train shook before the reversing slowly, the lights in the cabin flickering... but Zerrex guessed that could be from the sparking wires in the hole Marina had knocked in the compartment as much as anything else.

The train stopped after a moment, but before anyone could speak â€" or blame Cherry, for that matter â€" there was a loud clanking outside as they slid into a tunnel, and Zerrex leapt away from the hole as electricity shot back and forth over the body of the train, blue sparks and smoke rising up from the hole in the wall. For a moment, the Drakkaren was sure they were all going to die a fiery death... and then the reptile stared as the engine of the train was literally lifted off the... There's no tracks. What the hell. There's no tracks.

Cherry was cackling above them as the smooth bottom of the train rose to eye level... and then she stopped abruptly and shouted, her voice faintly echoing in the wide tunnel they were in: "RPG! Run!"

Zerrex's eyes widened as the engine of the train vanished from sight, staring out the compartment door at three soldiers who were already dropping to a kneel and readying the explosive weapons on their shoulders... and immediately he turned, shouting: "Go! Run, run, go!" and following behind the others as they ran for the back door of the compartment, Mahihko tearing it open and then almost running into the next door, Cindy hitting his back and flattening him against it before it slid smoothly into the wall, and Marina shoved both of them staggering forwards into the room before turning and dragging her father inside after her, Zerrex wincing at the pain that shot through his leg as he flailed stupidly for a few moments, and then both compartment doors slammed shut a second before the audible sound of a rocket-propelled grenade echoed down the tunnel.

There was a massive crash and bang, and the door bulged inwards as Zerrex fell over with a grunt onto his ass, making a face at the smoke pouring up from the door... and a moment later, the train lurched again before it began rolling â€" but there's no freaking tracks! â€" smoothly forwards down the length of the tunnel, and Zerrex tilted his head upwards as it hummed quietly, blinking dumbly as he murmured: "We're going into an underground tunnel."

"I just hope they don't follow us." Cindy muttered, shaking her head slowly, and then she glanced down the equally-empty compartment, speaking quietly: "I hope Cherry's at the... wherever the front of this thing is."

Cherry was indeed waiting for them in the front compartment, stretching and back in her fully-demonic body... and then she motioned around at the bunks this place had, unlike the last fourteen cars. "Well, I set the course for Port Hope and get this â€" it's only three day's journey from here: there's two other possible stops, but I set in the navigation computer that I don't want to stop, so we'll take some side route around those ones and hopefully we won't run into any trouble. But dude, at the sight of this shit, I be doubting we will... the uh... one issue though, is that we're sorta lacking in the food department..."

Zerrex made a face at this, looking around at the bunks before he muttered under his breath: "Wonderful." A glance around at the others, and he saw looks that ranged from horror to indifference, before rubbing the back of his head slowly. "At least we can get plenty of sleep... would it speed things up any if we detached the other cars?"

"Wouldn't hurt." Cherry shrugged a bit, then headed back to the engine, and Zerrex glanced around at the others, making an idle wave of his hand for them to relax: Cherry had already thrown down her own equipment on one of the small cot-beds, after all, and she usually had a good sense of when things were about to happen.

She glanced up as Zerrex stepped into the engine room, rolling her shoulders and making a bit of a face as she muttered: "I gotta stretch my wings soon... my back's beginning to hurt... but would you check out this shit?" A wide grin over at Zerrex before she added: "And it'll shave a few hours off our journey, so I'll detach cars 14-3. I want to leave an empty car behind us as a sorta... you know, ‘go away' area and a buffer in case any other fuckers come after us with-"

"You want a car for people to go and bang in, should they feel like it." Zerrex said mildly, and Cherry coughed, apparently trying to think up some other excuse before the Drakkaren sighed and rose a hand. "But your other reasoning is sound, so I won't argue. But what about the food problem?"

"We could eat each other." A pause as she leered suggestively at Zerrex, who only glowered at her for a few moments before she made a face. "You are really no fun today, you know that? In any case, it's not that severe... on the other hand, our real problem is that we have no bathroom and no water, so for the love of all that is holy, do your best not to take a shit over the next few days, because I am so not pulling this train over."

The Drakkaren grunted and shook his head slowly, then he glanced over his shoulder at the others, murmuring softly: "I think Cindy'll be fine... Mahihko might cry when we tell him and will be a moaning, bitchy mess for day two and three, but he'll tough it out... but Marina I'm worried about. If her psychic abilities malfunction, then we're talking a serious issue... and without food, water, or facilities, there's going to be a lot of stress on her."

"I think you underestimate your super powers, Boss." Cherry said with quiet amusement, and Zerrex made a face at her, but tilted his head curiously nonetheless. "I think as long as you're here, she'll be fine..." Cherry softened a bit, adding quietly: "She's a little hardass, especially with what she went through with Narrius... and if she was doing it for you, if you were there with her, I think she could go without air for three days. The only thing that would ever break that little crazed psycho bitch out there is if there was no you around.

"But yeah, I get your point. I'll fuck around with Mahihko instead of pissing her off." Cherry added meditatively, rubbing the back of her head slowly. "What I'm really worried about, though, is that some crazy military action is going to go down at the end of the tracks."

Zerrex made a face and nodded, and the two stayed for a few moments in quiet, the Drakkaren glancing over the keyboard and array of measuring devices and control panels in the cockpit as he sat down in the other comfortable leather chair, looking out the window and watching as white bars of light shot by, before he finally said idly to himself: "I wonder if this is what hyperspace looks like."

"What?" Cherry stared at him with a frown, and Zerrex coughed and rubbed the back of his head, glancing away before she grinned widely, asking playfully: "Dude, did you just go all nerdy on me?"

"What? There's no rails or wheels on this thing!" Zerrex replied defensively, and now Cherry blinked before leaning up and staring at the window for a moment, then she blinked dumbly as she stared down past the conical nose of the train before looking down, muttering something under her breath as she gazed over the vast array of square buttons at her disposal and tapping a few here and there, activating a set of windshield wipers and a light in the cockpit before a pair of hidden headlights opened near the nose and flicked on to reveal nothing but a single metal strip half-hidden in the rounded bottom of the concrete tube they were travelling through at a speed fast enough to make Zerrex feel dizzy. Fucking fuck, he's right!

"I told you, it works off magnet technologies." Both of the reptiles turned around to stare at Marina, who glowered at Cherry before smiling at Zerrex, reaching out to poke his nose gently. "Don't be silly, Daddy, it works around polarization and..." A pause as her expression went blank, then she frowned. "Shit. Sorry, I don't know either anymore. Something about a rail gun metaphor. I forgot the guy's memories." A shrug, and she turned around, striding nonchalantly away."

Cherry and Zerrex traded a look, and then the demoness said in a strangled tone: "Did you just hear what I did? Dude. I don't wanna be shot out of no fucking rail gun!"

"I think I'm going to have to go sit quietly for a little while." Zerrex responded in a weak voice, looking ill as he turned away and strode carefully out of the cockpit, wincing as he had to step through the inch of open air between engine and compartment doors. Cindy and Mahihko both stared as he walked towards the back of the compartment... and then he slowly took off Blackheart and his other weaponry to sit down on a bunk and curl up under the plain white sheet, resting his head on the equally-plain pillow. I am never, ever going to ride a train anywhere after this again.

Twenty-six hours in, Mahihko came to Zerrex's bunk with a pleading look in his eyes that the Drakkaren knew could only mean one thing. "Let me guess. You need to poop."

The wolf nodded vigorously, dancing from paw-to-paw and holding his butt in both hands, and the Drakkaren sighed, pointing at the rear car. "You have a choice. You can use a corner, or open the back door, hold onto the sides, and bend forwards â€" forwards, do not lean backwards out the door despite the safety bar that's there â€" and let go."

"What?" Mahihko's eyes widened, and he whined as he looked back and forth, Cherry glancing over from the bunk she was laying on with a mischievous gleam in her eyes, Cindy continuing to snore away, and Marina just looking sulky and irritated from the front corner of the compartment, where she had taken up residence sitting on the floor, half-holding herself. She would immediately brighten if Zerrex approached her, but the others got a lukewarm invitation at best, and Mahihko she would burn holes in with her eyes if he stepped within ten feet of her. "But... but Zer... isn't there anything else? And what about toilet paper? I need toilet paper!"

"You could crap in a bag!" Cherry said helpfully, then paused. "Except we don't have a bag. So nope, you're... shit out of luck." The demoness cackled at this, and then coughed and quieted when Cindy opened an eye and glared at her, before the middle daughter of Zerrex held out her socks.

"You can use these. They're worn out, anyway." she said absently, then tossed them on the floor, Mahihko giving them a horrified expression before looking at Zerrex with equal terror in his eyes, as Cindy yawned and sat up, adding in a mumble: "But hurry up, I need to go pee after you're done."

"Z-Zer..." Mahihko sniffled, trembling... and then he bit his lip before running into the back compartment, bursting into tears, his loud sobs echoing through the train before one of the doors automatically slid closed, and Zerrex made a face before looking over at Cindy with a sigh.

She stretched slowly, then froze, eyes widening in shock as he asked: "Could you... you know, watch him?" A pause as Cindy's head turned creakily towards him, her expression blank, and Zerrex added in a mutter: "He trusts you, but with me or Cherry he'll try to hold our hand and end up falling out the rail car. I'm scared he's going to lean out into the jetstream and get sucked away."

"Fine." Cindy said after a moment, sighing and picking up her socks as she yawned loudly, then she opened both doors before muttering to Zerrex: "You owe me." A pause as she glanced up at the wolf, who was crying hard and rocking on the floor, and then she sighed and leaned back into the car, saying quietly: "Nevermind. He crapped his pants."

"What?" Immediately, Cherry leapt out of bed, a wide grin on her muzzle... and then she quailed under Zerrex's glare, mumbling and rubbing the back of her head slowly. "I mean... that's... that's no fun. Poor bugger."

Zerrex continued to look sourly at her for a few moments, then he shook his head and sighed a bit, rubbing the back of his head slowly. "He's harder to take care of than Marina was as a baby... tell him to throw his boxers out with the... stuff... then, and to... clean himself up."

"Yeah, I'll be just a moment." Cindy said softly, and she vanished into the back compartment, presumably to comfort the wolf and help clean him up. Zerrex felt for a moment like he should head back there, if just to ensure that Mahihko didn't attempt to throw himself out the back from shame, but he didn't feel up to getting hugged and prying the wolf off him while he still had a pantsful of poop.

After the wolf's messy experience, Cherry began to call the last compartment the bathroom car, and thoroughly-humiliated the wolf despite Zerrex urging her not to. Finally, the reptile threw a gun at her, and the demoness winced as she caught it, mumbling that the safety wasn't on and finally offering up an apology to the little red-eyed wolf.

The following eleven hours were unremarkable... but just over thirty-seven hours in, as Zerrex sat in the back car with his back to the compartment door, his legs crossed beneath him and hands in his lap as he meditated â€" something he'd severely slacked off from with his life the way it was, and he knew no excuse would ever stop Requiem from slapping him upside the head, should the Dragokkaren still have been alive to hear it â€" Cherry threw open the door and half-fell over him with a loud groan, mumbling and rubbing at a large bump on her head that Marina and Cindy had gotten into a fight.

Zerrex made a face, pulling himself out of his ponderings... then stared as there was a loud crash, and Cherry added dumbly: "They've started throwing things at each other. Mahihko, the beds, ammo clips, me, their packs... it'd be hilarious if this was any place but a magnetic train moving at a billion miles an hour."

That sent Zerrex running into the next car, yelling at them both to stop what they were doing... and not a moment too soon, with Cindy holding a bed over her head and Marina about to throw Blackheart. Mahihko poked his head out from the cockpit, looking terrified and like he was about to wet the blouse he'd borrowed from Cindy and tied around his waist in the shape of what looked like a diaper.

The two females stared at Zerrex as the Drakkaren looked over them stupidly, and then both grinned embarrassedly, Cindy gently putting aside the bunk she'd picked up and Marina laying Blackheart back on Zerrex's bed... and then the reptile asked in a strangled voice: "What the hell are you two doing?"

"She was being... invasive." Marina said dumbly after a moment, then she laughed a bit, paling slightly at Zerrex's look. "Daddy, please..."

"What the hell?" Zerrex almost groaned, grabbing his head with a wince, and this led into a two-hour lecture before Zerrex sent them both to bed, the only thing he could do in this situation. After that, the reptile asked Cherry in a mumble if there was any way to speed up the transport, and Cherry made a face and grumbled that they were halfway there, and with any luck she and Mahihko would be the only ones acting like children in the future.

They almost made it the rest of the way without another incident, but fifty-eight hours in, all Hell seemed to break loose in the first compartment. With Cherry groaning about how hungry and thirsty she was, and Zerrex trying to ignore his own needs â€" including the fact his stomach felt like it had been slapped with a baseball bat â€" everyone was tired and cranky. It was all very understandable... the only thing they were able to do was sleep, after all, between their closed quarters and a compartment in the back that smelled like a toilet.

Cindy was probably doing the best of them, meditating frequently as she'd been taught more by Requiem than Zerrex, and only snapping occasionally at Cherry or Marina. Cherry, paradoxically, was working out and muttering how this was nothing compared to Hell while she did pushups from a position standing on her hands. She didn't seem exactly upset by everything that was going on, much unlike the others and her usual temperament... or perhaps that was the old Cherry, and this Cherry had indeed changed from the rarely-serious psychotic who I served with...

Marina stayed quietly in her corner, meanwhile, and Mahihko rocked in his blouse-diaper and dirty sailor's suit, looking miserable as his stomach gurgled every few minutes... until finally, as Zerrex had hoped wouldn't happen, he'd burst into tears the moment the Drakkaren had mentioned they might have to fight off military action, immediately whining and sobbing about how it was impossible on top of all the hardship they had just gone through.

To make matters worse, it wasn't Marina or even Cherry that started yelling at Mahihko: it was Cindy who snapped, shouting at him and shoving him roughly over â€" and with her strength, it sent Mahihko not only falling over, but sent a bunk to the ground and the junk that had been piled on it crashing in a mess to the ground as well.

Cherry started shouting at Cindy to leave him the hell alone, and Cindy turned her pent-up aggression on Cherry, before Mahihko howled and tackled both of them as his body began to increase in size, snarling as the hidden, dark part of him â€" not the Lone part, but where the Lone part festered like a sickness, there's something else as evil as I can be in there, too, Zerrex thought distractedly as he stared at them â€" but before the Drakkaren could intervene, Marina started to rock violently back and forth, her eyes bulging as she moaned weakly, mumbling the thoughts of the others aloud as her overstressed mind was flooded with their voices.

"Shut up!" Zerrex shouted finally, joining in the fray despite every effort not to and grabbing Mahihko by the ruff... and the wolf snarled, turning on him and leaping on top of him, his body massive by now and covered in musculature that dominated the reptile's own strong physique easily. Zerrex snarled as he was pinned, Mahihko's eyes burning above him challengingly, and then the reptile shoved both hands into the wolf's chest and rolled, shoving him flat into the ground.

He rose a fist, half-wanting to punch the wolf as the lupine reached up, small claws sinking into his shoulders as he seized the reptile in an iron grip, and then the Drakkaren looked over to the side at Marina, who was rocking harder and faster as Cindy punched Cherry hard in the face before the demoness slammed a fist into Cherry's stomach... and he held out a hand, grunting and concentrating as Mahihko snapped at him like a feral beast, foam flying from his jaws as he tried to drag the lizard down...

A shield of blue energy flickered to life around Marina, and she suddenly relaxed, looking stupefied as she stared through the semitransparent blue sphere... and the others halted their fighting as well as Zerrex panted, Mahihko still squirming and growling under him before Zerrex punched him in the nose with his other hand, and the twenty-some foot wolf yelped and then stared in horror at the reptile before shrinking immediately down beneath him, hugging his naked body for a moment before he quickly reassembled his dirty diaper from the blouse that had fallen off, trembling violently and looking terrified as he crawled away under a bunk, mumbling apologies between hitching breaths and half-sobs.

Zerrex slowly stood, lowering his hands to his side and feeling himself almost linked to that sphere surrounding Marina's body... and then he glanced over to her as she smiled faintly and said something, but the energy shield blocked out whatever she said. The Drakkaren made a face and shook his head, and Marina mouthed ‘I'm okay' after a moment, then offered a weak smile and tapped her own temple quietly.

The Drakkaren hesitated, but then he permitted the shield to drop a moment later, rubbing slowly at one arm as Cherry grasped his shoulder gently. He glanced at her, and blushed a bit at her concerned look, murmuring: "I'm fine, Cherry... it's okay."

He tried to wave her off, but she stood even as Marina shakily walked over to her father and hugged him tightly, and wrapped one arm tightly around her waist, holding her against his powerful body as he closed his eyes and they dropped their heads together silently, only standing for a few moments. Marina's telepathy washed through him, searching his mind and his feelings... and then she murmured gently: "I'm going to take a breather in the cockpit, Daddy... I just... need some rest."

She turned away, trembling a bit as she strode through the compartment doors, and then the male Drakkaren looked around with a sigh, glancing over at Cherry and saying tiredly: "So I guess the real challenge isn't going to be killing whatever gets in our way but containing ourselves, huh?"

"Hey, at least we're at the port." Cherry shrugged and managed a smile, then coughed and looked serious instead at the flat look she received from Zerrex. "Well... you know. Good stuff and all that."

It took roughly fifty minutes more of travel before the train began to slow, and soon after they arrived at the station, humming to a halt and locking into place as they finally exited the long cement tube to pull into an underground station made of sterile steel and cement, and Cherry glanced over the group, making a face. "I don't like this idea, Zerrex."

"Neither do I." The reptile grumbled, glancing over the others with a sigh and then at the weaponry they had discarded. Zerrex had given his twin .52s over to Cherry, who was also carrying her whip but had discarded the spare gun she usually carried in her boot... and Zerrex only had one of the many revolvers they'd originally started with on him as well as his massive sword. Cindy had the bolt-action rifle Cherry usually carried on her back... and Mahihko had a .45 and the strange Hollow Stone. Lastly, Marina had the sawed-off shotgun in one hand and some extra clips of ammo on top of the spares the others carried, but that was all. And to think, originally we had ourselves loaded down with enough equipment to cover anything we might come up against... and now we've whittled it down to this. I hope we can get our equipment back from the lost and found or something.

When they opened the cargo doors leading out of the compartment, however, they found the platform empty... but the moment Zerrex stepped into it, a spotlight snapped down in front of him and a holographic figure appeared... and after a moment, Zerrex recognized him as the jackal in the white suit he'd seen walking with Sirius. "To the interlopers who have caused me some trouble now...

"I realize you are on the run from the Irenic Military, as you led a contingent of them into one of my private warehouses before stealing one of the experimental magnetic-propulsion trains. This is what you could call a peace offering... I've withdrawn my own security teams to avoid any unnecessary conflict at your approximate time of arrival, as I realize you may be quite tired and sick, as my cargo trains are not outfitted for... transporting most living beings. I would also like to note that I have not informed the Irenic Military of the location of this station, although I have no doubt they're tracing the tracks â€" but it will be an arduous process for them with the superior speed of my MPTs compared to how slow their own vehicles and drones are.

"I do not want trouble: if you leave my facility undamaged, I will not turn over the information I have on you to the Irenic Military. It's that simple." The jackal paused, brushing at the lapels of his suit before he straightened and gave a sour expression towards what the Drakkaren assumed was a camera. "I sincerely hope we do not cross paths again in the future."

The hologram flickered out of existence, and a moment later the spotlight vanished before something hummed to life in the facility, and a cargo lift engaged, the large metal platform rolling down from the ceiling on the far side of the facility as a siren blared from above, red light flashing over the large, open area. Zerrex and Cherry exchanged looks of disgust with each other at the ‘trade,' but the female shrugged a moment later, and the demon started towards the lift, muttering angrily: "We got no choice. Let's go people... I'll take point to watch out for traps or ambushes in case that ballsless motherfucker was bluffing."

"I don't like this at all either... besides, I'm sure the docks themselves will be guarded. We'll have to hole up somewhere and get some food and rest... and clothes." The Drakkaren added, glancing over at Mahihko, who flushed. "Stay back by Marina, wolf. We can't lose that stone."

The facility itself seemed like some sort of assembly factory, mechanical arms attaching robotic pieces to other parts on long conveyor belts and more Dragokkaren slaves walking mindlessly around: Zerrex honestly hoped that none of them were from the charity program he'd helped out a bit in Hez'Ranna, to try and find homes and work for all the once-mighty Dragokkaren and others who had been implanted with the mental chip. It could be removed, sure... but that reduced the poor soul from a mindless drone to an empty, stupid lump... and even after years of rehabilitation, their minds never returned, and they all eventually withered up and died from what seemed like a simple loss of the will to live. It was sad and cruel to keep the chip inside the slaves... but it was a better life than the other option, as they could at least help out society and understand the basest of emotions and commands.

The Drakkaren blinked his eyes tiredly, rubbing at his muzzle slowly. His mind was beginning to float when he should be concentrating... it meant he'd have to focus himself harder to make sure he didn't slip up, as they walked down another hallway, shield doors automatically sliding open as they approached, but immediately shutting and locking the moment the group was through. Zerrex felt almost as if they were being led into a trap, as they stepped into a large-size cargo room, this one filled with crates and enormous shelving units, but then a large shutter in the wall finally opened partway, and Cherry ran ahead to duck under this before calling over her shoulder: "Come on, this one leads outside!"

It was enough to get even Mahihko â€" who had been dragging his heels, Marina glaring at him every now and then to try and get him moving faster â€" half-running towards the shutter, and Zerrex made a face as he found himself standing on a foggy cement platform, a dirt road leading away up a slope to the north, curving around towards what looked like a highway... and a small set of stone steps lead down to a path along the rocky beach, the faint sound of the sea reaching the reptile's ears as he glanced towards it with a face. But another glance up, and he noted the shape of some sort of homes in the far distance down the beach... and he figured that was as good a place as any to start.

The group made their way down to a beach, scaring some early-morning jogger into running up the grassy hill towards the highway, before they began to pass small cottages â€" most of them looked occupied, however, and the reptile could see small driveways here and there leading up through brush and the occasional tree to what he guessed was a dirt road. But ten minutes past the first cottage was a much-larger building made of fake logs, and a listing sign nailed to the top balcony proclaimed it: "Port Hope's Finest Inn and Tavern"

Cherry licked her lips, almost slavering... but the Drakkaren poked her nose firmly with one finger, glancing over her and muttering: "At this point, I don't care what you're drinking... but first change your form."

"Is that a store?" Cindy asked curiously, and Zerrex glanced to the side, frowning through the fog at the faint light that shone out the window of a squatter building next to the Inn: the fog here had gotten much thicker, though, and it was hard to tell from this distance. Cindy, however, had already made her way towards it... and she waved a hand at the others, saying cheerfully: "Go get a room, you guys, and I'll buy us some food and be right up! Marina, you want to come with me?"

"Sure." Marina glanced at her father, and Zerrex nodded and smiled, which was enough to make his youngest daughter beam happily in return and almost prance off to join Cindy. Cherry, meanwhile, had gone from her demonic body back to her usual female form, and she ran into the Inn before Zerrex could stop her.

The Drakkaren followed her in as Cherry glanced around, her grin faltering as she saw not booze-guzzling and gambling, but tired, elderly people and sailors who didn't fit the stereotype of handsome navy males, and she half-backed into Zerrex as he stepped inside, muttering as her eyes shot back and forth: "This is an evil place. We should leave quickly."

"Shut up." Zerrex shoved her forwards, making a face at her and half-dragging his bad leg behind him â€" it had gotten particularly worse over the short trip from the train, since Cherry had come up with the ingenious idea of welding his cane to the back of the train to use it as a ‘safety bar' without telling him until just before they'd landed, explaining the strange familiarity he'd felt about the random appearance of a scarred hunk of metal going across the door. "This place seems fine to me."

"Can I... help you, sir?" asked an older rodent uncertainly, and Zerrex smiled a bit down at him, as he dried his hands with a rag and peered up at him from beneath a large set of spectacles. The rat also wore blue suspenders and a dress shirt... and Cherry was staring at him distrustfully as Mahihko tried to hide himself between the two, blushing a deep red at the looks he was getting.

"Yes, I need three rooms, if they're available, please... and is that tea I smell?" Zerrex tilted his head, and the rat calmed a considerable amount as he smiled up at the reptile. "I'd kill for a cup right now."

Some of the other patrons in the store shifted awkwardly at the reptile's choice of words, noting the gigantic sword on his back, but the old rat merely chuckled and nodded, walking slowly back behind his counter and tapping at an old-fashioned cash register. "Oh, sure is. We got quite a variety, too... nice thing about living by the port is all the neat things we get in. But three rooms, eh? We don't get a lot of customers these days, so I'll be glad to give ‘em to you. You got some other people coming in?"

"Yes, my other two daughters." Zerrex nodded with a quiet laugh, as Cherry prowled away from him towards a pool table she noticed, flexing her muscles and beginning to harass the tired-looking sailors in the middle of a game. "They're quite a handful."

The rat smiled ruefully, nodding as he turned around and pulled three keycards from the set of cubbyholes behind him, putting them down on the counter. "Daughters always are. Rooms 312, 313, and 314... and if you'd like to sit yourself down at one of the tables, I'll have one of our waitresses bring you out a menu so you can get yourself something to eat. I'll charge you for the rooms on the way out, but it's forty dollars a night per room."

"Thank you very much." Zerrex smiled as he took the passes, then he turned around to Mahihko, handing one of the passes to him and bending a bit to look into his eyes, saying softly: "Can you find the room by yourself, or do you want me to send Cherry with you?"

"I can do it." Mahihko nodded rapidly, biting his lip as he looked over his shoulder, then he ran quickly around the Drakkaren and past the counter where the rat was working, through a large archway. Zerrex leaned to the side, making a face as Mahihko shot towards a set of stairs in the distance, before he shrugged a bit and turned back towards the long layout of tables, limping past Cherry and grabbing her as he walked past, before she could start a fight at the pool table.

She grumbled under her breath as they sat down in the plain wooden chairs, and Cherry immediately began to beat her hands against the table, wrinkling the white tablecloth and knocking over the salt shaker before she stopped as Zerrex gave her a dark look. She coughed, then grinned as a vixen strode out from a swinging door with a yawn, then she did a double-take at Zerrex and Cherry before looking awkward as the male passively sat and the female leered aggressively. "G-Good morning... um... I'll... be back in a few minutes, here's a menu-"

She halted, realizing she was only holding one, but Cherry just waved a hand, winking as her eyes roved over the plain brown dress and conservative white blouse she was wearing. "Don't worry about it babe, I've already seen something delicious that I'd love to eat." A wide grin, then a grunt and a wince as Zerrex kicked her under the table. "I mean, I don't need a menu."

"Thank you." Zerrex added, as the vixen flushed deeply and retreated hastily to the kitchen, then he glowered at Cherry before opening his menu and muttering: "Sometimes I wonder what you live off of."

"Dude, we've all basically slept for three days after a series of violent confrontations. Right now, much as I hate to say it, I'm looking forwards to a good shit-" A glare from Zerrex, and Cherry broke off that line of thought, rubbing at her face as several people quickly climbed to their feet and left the small restaurant. "So uh, what are you going to have?"

"Just a pot of green tea. I'm sure Cindy will want to make us something to eat." The Drakkaren said absently, putting down the menu and then digging in his pocket to pull out his wallet, before he made a face as he found only a single twenty and his credit card. "Do you have any money on you?"

Cherry gave him a look of dry amusement at this. "Yeah, just lemme go grab my wallet from where I left it. In Hell. Boss, I don't even have they keys to the house."

Oh, there's a wonderful thought. Some random demon now has Cherry's keys. "You drive me crazy, you know that?" A pause as the vixen came back out of the kitchen, looking wary, and he added in a grumble: "And please don't get us thrown out."

Before the female could respond, the vixen arrived at the table, asking with a worried glance over at Cherry: "Um... have you decided on what you'd like?"

"I'd like a coffee and he'll have the green tea." A pause and a simpering smile over to Zerrex. "And to eat, we'd like the..." Another pause, and then she stared at the back of the menu and then grinned stupidly. "Pancake buffet, please. That'd be just awesome. With bacon!"

Zerrex stared down in horror at the back of the menu... and indeed, that was the daily special for today. The vixen nodded, scribbling this down with a wince before she started to walk away... then yelping when Cherry reached out and slapped her buttock firmly, several of the other patrons staring in horror as Zerrex simply dropped his head into the table.

Cindy and Marina found Zerrex slowly drinking a cup of tea as Cherry gobbled pancake after pancake down between slurping at her coffee and stuffing bacon into her mouth. She had driven away most of the elderly people who had come here to enjoy their breakfast, but the sailors were now placing bets on how many more pancakes it would before she vomited or choked to death. Cindy looked disgusted, but Marina simply sighed and took a pass from her father before heading for the back stairwell on the other side of the dining room, barely visible from where Zerrex sat due to the dividing wall. Cindy, meanwhile, kicked Cherry and muttered something before adding: "I'll be right back down, Daddy. I just want to give Mahihko some clothes I picked up for him. I got some for us as well, just so you know... they didn't have much of a selection, but I hope it's okay."

"You're a darling, Cindy." Zerrex said softly, reaching up to touch her cheek gently, and she smiled warmly to him before heading for the stairs, and then the Drakkaren glanced across at Cherry and added mildly: "And you're disgusting. I also want to point out that you've well-exceeded the ten-pancake limit."

"So what? Fuck, these are delicious!" Cherry exclaimed, then she burped loudly and laughed, patting her stomach and grinning stupidly as the waitress walked a careful circle around Cherry to stand by Zerrex, staring as the female motioned at her. "Come over here, sit on my lap and have a few of these! But first you better bring out another plate... and more coffee!"

"Just ignore her. She likes to act out every now and then." Zerrex sighed a bit, rubbing at his forehead slowly before smiling up at the vixen, adding quietly: "But I'd love another cup of tea... and my daughter will be down in a moment, so if you could get one for her too, that'd be wonderful." A glare over at Cherry. "And if you promise to behave, you can have one more coffee. But wipe yourself up, you're worse than Mahihko used to be."

"At least I'm not drunk." Cherry said defensively, but she grabbed the handful of napkins beside her and quickly wiped her muzzle and hands clean, before tilting her head and asking in a too-sweet voice: "May I have my coffee now, father?"

"The only reason I treat you like a child is because you act like one." Zerrex retorted, but he made a face and nodded. "But yeah. One coffee too, thank you."

The vixen nodded, jotting it down and offering a smile to Zerrex before walking back to the kitchens, giving Cherry a wide berth. The demoness looked over her shoulder for a few moments, then turned around the moment the door closed and leaned over her messy plate towards the reptile, grinning slightly and muttering: "Dude, she's so hot for you. You should fuck her brains out."

"Cherry, she smiled at me." The Drakkaren said dryly. Gods how I hate to be the rational one here. "And not every relationship has to jump straight to sex."

The two looked at each other, then both laughed and Zerrex snorted, rubbing at his muzzle slowly. "Okay, I couldn't say that with a straight face. But it's true! Not every relationship has to be based around sex."

"Name one meaningful relationship you've had that didn't quickly jump to hot dickings." Cherry challenged, pointing a finger at him and leaning across the table. "And you can't say Tinman, ‘cause he didn't fuck nobody, and you can't say Marina when she was a kid, because she was... well, a kid." A long pause as Zerrex frowned and thought to himself, and then she slapped the table and grinned widely. "See?"

"Huck and Albatross," Zerrex said triumphantly after a moment more, and Cherry glowered at him before he added: "And, of course, Requiem. My uncle and I never did anything sexual in the slightest."

Cherry muttered something under her breath, then she crossed her arms and huffed at him as the waitress came out, watching as she put down the coffee and two teas before pointing at Zerrex and saying loudly: "He wants to fuck you until your eyes pop out of your head and-"

"Ignore her." interrupted another voice, and Cherry stuck out her tongue at Cindy as she strode around the divider from the stairs, smiling tiredly as Zerrex nudged a chair out from under the table for her. "Thanks, Zer. And thank you for the tea, miss."

The waitress nodded, glancing over at Zerrex with a blush again, and she headed quickly back for the kitchens as Cherry leaned back in her chair, a gleam in her eyes. "She so wants you to bone her until you pop her cervix all the way up into her larynx." A pause as Cindy stared at her, and Cherry looked at her sourly. "What? I know what both those things are. Don't make me punch you in the ovaries."

"I don't know why I ever missed you." Cindy muttered, then she took a sip of her tea and glanced over at her father, adding softly: "So we're all feeling pretty tired and bummed upstairs. My body's just exhausted, personally, and I know the first thing Marina did was eat a bunch of microwavable crap and then a shower. I checked in on Mahihko, too, and he's busy washing all the crap out of his fur..." She made a face. "Actually, I'd like to rephrase that."

"Too late, it's already been said." Cherry rubbed her hands together, looking from Cindy to Zerrex with amusement. "Want to play rock paper scissors to see who has to use that bathtub next?"

Zerrex made a face at this, then glanced over to his much-gentler daughter, nodding for her to continue. She did so after giving Cherry a look that plainly said ‘shut up,' speaking quietly: "If Ire really wants to get us, then they'll shut down our bank accounts soon and start tracing our credit cards... and we don't have a lot of money left in the offshore account we set up in Hez'Ranna. Besides which, I'm pretty sure once their scouts start getting this far south, they'll start checking who's been using offshore or international credit accounts and then we'll really be in trouble when the juggernauts blockade off the port entirely..."

"Well, time for me to go to work, then." Cherry stretched and yawned, then wandered over to the pool table, saying loudly: "Hey, pussies, how about all of you on me? No, not like that, get that fool grin off your face, perv... although if that's what you wanna play for, fine by me, but I want some hard cash on the table in return, got it?"

Cindy looked horrified as Zerrex dropped his head in one hand, then the female spluttered: "Is she doing what I think she's doing?"

"Yes. She's going to heckle them until they put all their money on the table, then promptly take it from them." A pause, and a dry look as he leaned over to Cindy, adding in a mutter: "On the other hand, we'll be lucky if she actually does kick their asses at pool. She used to just steal the cash when they put it on the table and run like hell, since she always said it wasn't worth the effort of playing through the game."

"Should we go upstairs and let her pay the tab then?" Cindy asked mildly, when the waitress came back out, and Zerrex nodded, making a bit of a face. He paused for a moment as the female started for the stairs, however, then reached for his wallet and smiled slightly, taking the vixen's small hand gently into one of his own much-larger ones before he pushed the twenty gently down into her palm.

"For the trouble." He said softly, then shook his head at the look on her face, glancing over at Cherry with dry amusement. "Believe me, you've earned it, dealing with her. She'll cover the rest, but try and stay an arm's length away from her."

"Thank you, sir." The vixen blushed up at him as he stepped away, then she curtsied and stuffed the money in her pocket, turning quickly away. Zerrex watched her go with a smile, then he turned to follow Cindy towards the stairs and grunted when she slid under his arm, ignoring his protests as she helped him up the two flights to the third floor.

The reptile glowered, then mumbled something under his breath as Cindy continued to walk with him, grabbing the keycard out of his hand as they strolled down the hallway together... but Zerrex did have to admit, it was a beautiful place. Hardwood flooring creaked under their feet as they passed small, pretty lamps mounted on the wood-paneled walls, and everything seemed like it was from another age... and when Cindy opened the door to room 314, he found it to be equally-beautiful inside. "It's almost a small apartment."

Cindy nodded, smiling a bit at this as his gaze drew over the two large beds, the small television sitting on an old dresser, the open bathroom door and the little table and refrigerator unit next to the glass doors leading out onto a small balcony that faced over the ocean. The mist was beginning to clear and the sun to rise outside, and Zerrex shook his head slowly at this before he reached up and carefully pulled off his sword and the magnetic lock secured against the blade, putting it down at the foot of the bed before kicking off his boots and tossing his revolver onto the table.

Next went the belt with the two small sidepacks that held the rest of his ammo... and finally his shirt, and the Drakkaren grunted as he fell back peacefully onto the bed, his eyes closed before he felt Cindy's hands on the fly of his pants. He opened an eye to look down at her, then said mildly: "You know, usually it's Cherry who's so anxious to get into my-"

"Shut up, I want to look at your knee." Cindy grumbled, but she smiled nonetheless, tossing his pants aside before making a face, and Zerrex sat up a bit, feeling a sliver of concern. "Stay flat, move your legs up onto the bed more."

The Drakkaren grumbled something, sitting up on the bed but bringing both his legs up... and then Cindy reached up and pushed him flat on his back, the Drakkaren grunting before wincing as she probed along his knee gently. "That stings! The hell are you doing?"

"Oh, stop it, you big baby." Cindy grumbled, before she began pushing slowly along the side of his knee, adding quietly: "Don't go whining too much now, Daddy, or it'll ruin the big strong silent type routine you always pull later. There's a lot of swelling here... you might have a minor clot in there or an infection... or maybe something just broke off from the synthetic, it's so damned hard to tell with how much reconstruction work has been done on your knee..."

Zerrex nodded a bit, glancing down and putting his hands behind his head as he made a face. "Well, wonderful... that's going to complicate things a bit, then." A pause, and then he added dryly: "I don't suppose you want to cut me open, do you?"

Cindy shook her head slowly, then said softly: "I dunno. I probably could but... this isn't my field of expertise. I'm a lot better when it comes to viral biology than performing surgery... and we don't have any painkillers that would work on you, any of the right equipment, or even a sterile environment. Besides, we're all weak, tired, and smelly... I want to take a look at it tonight, after we've all got food in our stomachs and everyone's feeling better, but... for now, keep your weight off it as you can." Cindy paused, then she gently smiled, nudging him quietly. "Now stay right here. I'm going to go and get you something to eat, and we can have a nice little meal together."

"Alright." Zerrex said morbidly, but Cindy ignored his tone as she left, tossing him a glance over her shoulder before she closed the door, and he patted a light beat against his chest before making a face at his leg, muttering to his limb uselessly: "You're stupid." Another long pause, and then he glanced around for a sharp object he could use to stab it with before sighing and simply falling back onto the pillows.