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When the soldier in Predator gear opened the door for them, Zerrex was surprised to see it was onto a small, square helipad that had been hastily but effectively put together, the Drakkaren grunting a bit as he hopped out and adjusted Blackheart idly with one hand, walking over to the edge of the enormous gouge in the earth and remembering fighting Ill Weather at almost this very spot, before his eyes flickered down into the crater towards where several enormous psychic-repression panels had been erected around the Black Hole floating above a large hole in the floor. Zerrex made a bit of a face as noted that whatever else, much of the crater's floor had been reconstructed: the explosions and then the great expanding orb of energy or gravity or whatever it had been had done quite a number on the shape of the crater itself, leaving a deep pit leading into what looked like an enormous collection of dull, broken gears and scraps of metal still visible beneath narrow platforms that had been erected around the area, and Killer followed the Drakkaren over to the edge. "There's still a little bit of the original path down left, and we put in a few ladders here and there, just plain wood for now â€" if we used metal, someone probably would've gotten stuck halfway down the ladder and we'd have to pry them off."

He smiled a bit as Zerrex nodded slowly, remembering the initial blasts, seeing where the crater walls had collapsed in, and noting the little metal huts that now lined the way down: around the portal itself was a large ring of platforms connected by narrow catwalks, and each platform connected into a ring of even-larger raised metal areas surrounding the first, forming a honeycomb shape. He noted the outer ring connected to several raised bridges that attached into the remaining crater floor that was left, this carefully-shored up from the look of the ropes, cables, and shiny bits of steel here and there... but the stairs leading down the steep cliffs had been lost, and with the avalanches that had occurred, several of the natural slopes going down to the next level of plateaus around the crater wall had been long destroyed as well.

The Drakkaren drew back a bit, trying to clear his mind as he turned to ask Killer a question, but then he paused as he saw the frown on the face of Alexis as she approached, before she said softly: "Killer, there's no activity down there at all... no guards, no one manning the repression field or by the generators in the northern corner, no one near the caverns and I'm getting no heat signatures from inside the huts on my visor, either."

"What?" Killer reached up and touched his own visor, glancing over the area before adding quietly: "Now that I think about it, someone should have greeted us the moment the chopper landed... but... we contacted them less than an hour ago to confirm our route here, and I don't see any bodies or bloodstains..."

"So what, they all just went for coffee or something?" Cherry asked dryly, and then she reached up and pulled her shirt off, making a face at the cold and idly adjusting her bra before glancing over to Zerrex and jerking her head to him, looking deadly serious. "Unbox your wings and come with me."

"I hate gliding." Zerrex muttered dejectedly, but he sighed and nodded, taking off his jacket and tossing it aside as Killer and Alexis stared, watching as first Cherry flexed and grunted, leaning forwards as a pair of leathery, enormous wings popped out of her back with a sick cracking sound... and then the Drakkaren's angelic wings of white energy pushed out of the long, curved scars over his own shoulderblades, burning a pair of crescent-shaped holes in the back of his shirt but strangely enough, only passing harmlessly through the massive sword as he glanced over to the others, saying quietly: "Mahihko, stay back after the others start making their way down and wait a few minutes before heading down yourself, just in case there's an ambush. You can flank them that way."

"Okay, Zerrex." Mahihko said quietly, and then the demoness and the Drakkaren turned, and Cherry launched herself into the air, even Zerrex watching with surprise at the ease with which she flew, before he threw himself forwards and flapped his wings firmly, making a face. Flying sucks hard. Sucks. Hard.

The reptile never felt as bulky and awkward as he did gliding dumbly through the air, as he folded his arms against his body and kept his legs slightly apart, the cold air whipping painfully over his face as he angled his body downwards and did his best to try and control his movement. It felt like every muscle in his body was straining, and his lungs burned painfully in his chest as he tried to carefully guide himself downwards while Cherry easily flew in an arc and then simply dropped like a stone, her wings wrapping around herself as she spun slowly towards the ground before suddenly snapping her body back, wings spreading wide and launching herself upwards a moment before she struck to land neatly on her feet. He could see her inspecting some panel on one of the platforms as the buzzing of the psychic repression panels entered his head, and then he grunted, his wings vanishing as he fell the last ten feet or so and landed in a crouch, wiping at his half-frozen hair as Cherry muttered from the next platform over: "Took you long enough."

"Yeah, sorry. It was the in-flight happy meal that held me up." Zerrex responded drolly, before glancing over his shoulder and watching as Mahihko all-but tumbled down the cliff to the first set of plateaus, the others already carefully rappelling their way down the crater. He nodded a bit, then turned around, walking over to Cherry and asking in a quieter voice: "What's wrong here? And with you?"

"It's this energy... I can almost recognize it." Cherry muttered, shaking her head slowly before she glanced up at the Black Hole with a frown. "And this? Someone turned down the power being fed into panels... I'm going to turn it all the way up and see if we can close this goddamn thing, whether they've gotten their research done or not. With the energy in the air, though..."

Zerrex nodded slowly, patting her on the shoulder and finding her scales still strangely warm, despite how chilly it was in the air. He glanced towards the Black Hole burning and roiling in the middle of the psychic panels surrounding it, as Cherry tapped in a few commands on half-frozen buttons with a grimace, before he felt and heard the hum increase in the air, and dark electricity bounced between the panels before the Black Hole sparked out of existence, releasing a short blast of forceful energy that made both lizard and demoness wince and lean away back from the foul essence that washed over them.

The panels sparked, electricity continuing to surge over them for a few moments before one of them exploded... and a few moments later, the sound of something gearing down filled the air as Zerrex shook his head slowly. He sighed, rubbing a hand through his hair and turning at the sound of something clanging, half-expecting a fight... but instead, he only saw the others continuing forwards, before his eyes roved back to the cliff face, searching for Mahihko as he strode onto the catwalk to the next inner ring platform to meet the others as they stepped onto the larger outer ring.

A sense of dread washed over him, and the Drakkaren looked up, snarling as a chill rolled down his spine and Cherry let out a loud growl behind him. On the platform ahead, between the outer ring area where most of his family and the two felines stood, and the catwalk he was currently on with his oldest daughter, a terrible dark circle came into being with a strange, echoing ‘whump,' electricity flickering over it as a voice tittered quietly.

A moment later, a strange, terrible figure rose up out of the portal to hover quietly in the air, thin arms wrapped around itself and one leg curled up in the air, before the portal beneath it slowly closed. It continued to float, and Zerrex snarled a bit at the strange demon as a terrible feeling rolled through his body, not speaking and only watching with his emerald eyes as it turned slowly towards him.

It was effeminate, but female without being voluptuous: gaunt even through â€" or perhaps in part of â€" the strange, tight clothes it wore and with barely-visible breasts and long, thin fingers that ended in long claws. Its hands were clad it skintight leather gloves, and the same stretched material covered its lower legs and feet in sharp-toed, square-heeled boots; even the demon's head and shoulders were covered by the seamless, smooth leather in a mask that covered a round, muzzleless and featureless head and face. The only adornment it wore was a strange crown overtop the mask, sitting on its forehead and curving up in a pair of long, double-pronged horns out to either side of its head with a final third spike jutting up from the back of its skull, the same pitch black as the leather, making the long strips of metal that locked against its smooth cranium seem almost invisible.

A red bodysuit covered the rest of the being, the rubbery material bordered and patterned with the same deep obsidian leather, and around its waist was a heavy black length of chain... and it was from here that the creature became truly strange. Seven lengths of similar links floated out in seven different directions, floating slowly up and down and never seeming to run out of chain while at the same time never going too loose, all of them ending in heavy steel rings attached into the bottom of a white theatre mask, each of them with a dramatic expression carved and painted into it... and all the masks held a terrible vivacity to them as they floated and swayed around the creature before she laughed in a high, cruel voice, throwing her arms out to the side as the masks formed a ring around her.

"How adorable... it's no great loss, but I must admit some irritation all the same, Lord Zerrex and Lady Cherry." she said, cold voice echoing through the crater and Killer snarled and rose his fists, Alexis pulling her own large hybrid gun-sword off her back as Cindy leveled her own grenade launcher. "The Warlord can become easily irritated when things upset his plans even in the slightest, after all... and as this is the second Black Hole you fools are responsible for closing, I have to admit he will be less than pleased when he hears what has happened."

"So who are you, some lieutenant of his?" Zerrex asked sharply, his eyes narrowing as he reached up and settled a hand on the back of his enormous sword, and then he snarled as the creature laughed and floated to the side, landing with a gentle tap of her boots on the top psychic repression panel as her masks arranged themselves in a ring around her head with a jingle of chains. She's not going to allow herself to be flanked... and it'll be impossible to ambush her or sneak up on her if those masks are acting as her eyes... "And let me guess: you're responsible for everyone vanishing from the crater, correct?"

"I didn't kill them, if that's what you're implying..." But the female's voice was teasing, before she added easily: "I only gave them a bit of affirmative action... allow me to demonstrate."

Her head turned towards Killer and she pointed one long finger at him, her voice overlapping as if many were speaking as a mask with its eyes and mouth cut in an expression of misery and tears painted down it rose up, shouting a single word: "Sloth!"

Killer snarled, nothing seeming to happen for a moment... and then his expression changed as his muzzle drooped and he sat down on his haunches, yawning widely and lowering his head as Alexis stared for a moment, then kicked him hard, Cindy going to his other side and shaking him firmly. The huge warrior tiger only shrugged a bit, though, looking utterly miserable as Alexis shouted: "Come on, Killer, what the fuck are you doing? Get up, get on your feet... you, bitch! What the hell did you do to him?"

"I don't want to move." Killer said sulkily, and then he wiped at his muzzle before slowly falling over on his side and closing his eyes, looking abject. "It's all pointless anyway. I think I'll just go to sleep..."

"What the hell are you?" Zerrex asked in horror, his eyes going from the warrior tiger to the demoness... and then he winced, covering his eyes as a moment later, a string of automatic fire blasted into the creature and bounced off a purple sphere of energy that flickered into being around it from thin air, bullets bouncing uselessly off in every direction as Alexis let out a snarl of fury, before she knelt down by her husband and attempted to shake him awake.

The demoness floated into the air as Zerrex felt Cherry in closer to him, and then she bowed, her masks bowing with her as she said in clear, proud voice: "I am known as the Countess of the Seven Sins in Hell, but you may call me simply Seven, or the Seventh Countess. My full name is far too long to bother telling it to mortals." She added dismissively after a moment, flicking her wrist, and then she pointed at Alexis as the female continued to shout and snarl between attempts to wake Killer up, saying clearly as a mask with large, pudgy cheeks and a pig-like nose appeared: "Gluttony."

This time, Zerrex almost saw the air vibrate around the female before Alexis's hands spasmed open and she dropped Blue Vixen into the snow, the female looking as if she'd been punched in the stomach before a bit of saliva fell from her muzzle, and she began to violently shiver, obviously fighting with all of her willpower before falling to her knees and slowly picking up a handful of snow from the steel and shoveling it into her muzzle, and Zerrex felt his mouth go dry before he created a sphere of energy in one hand, snarling furiously-

"Envy." This time, the mask that snapped up was one that had been heavily painted and lined with gold around wide eyes and a thin-line mouth cut into the white material, and a moment later Zerrex looked over his sword slowly before looking at Cherry and snapping it back onto his back with a grunt, eyeing the guns at her side, her body, and the whip out in her hand, his arms crossing as he glanced down uncertainly at his own body every now and then.

"Zerrex, snap out of it... Alexis- Cindy, for fuck's sake, go and stop her before she reaches the fucking snowbank and eats the whole goddamn Arctic, Killer wake the hell up!" Cherry snarled, as Marina ran over to her father, her eyes going from uncaring about the others to wide.

"Snap out of what?" Zerrex asked harshly, immediately shoving Cherry childishly over as he looked over her angrily. "What the hell do I have to snap out of, huh? Nothing that's not like yours! Look at you, look at how... how pretty you are and... I want that. Those are mine, I want them now!"

"Pride. Greed." The first mask had an arrogant, haughty expression carved into it, and the second was painted gold, with a wide, insane grin. Immediately, both Cindy and Marina let out cries of shock, even as Cherry stared wordlessly up to Zerrex... and then Cindy stood up and crossed her arms as Alexis charged into a snowbank, sending up a puff of white stuff, and Killer continued to simply snore away on the platform.

Cindy tilted her head over towards Cherry as she stood slowly, under the emerald gaze of the Drakkaren that was gazing over her with rapture and anger in the same stroke, his hands raised as if he was getting ready to claw her apart, and then the female said cockily: "I don't have to listen to you, Cherry. You're just jealous because I'm stronger than you. In fact, I'm stronger than you and Daddy put together."

"Shut up! Shut up, you and your stupid muscles can go to hell!" Zerrex wheeled around immediately, waving his arms angrily at her as Marina stepped carefully around the reptile, rubbing her hands over the mirror of the blade and licking her own muzzle slowly, eyeing the material greedily before Zerrex turned around and shoved her over, shouting down at her: "And you can follow her there, with your stupid psychic abilities! I don't need you, no one needs you, get lost! You aren't that special!"

A mask that was tainted red rose up, one eye a crescent wink and a teasing smile carved into it as Seven's finger finally settled on Cherry, and her eyes opened wide as she spoke softly: "Lust."

Cherry froze... and then snapped a .52 out of the holster at her side and fired a bullet into the mask, and it exploded into pieces as Seven reeled backwards with a shocked scream a moment before she was engulfed in flames as the demoness rose her other hand, snarling: "Sorry, doesn't seem to work on other demons, you fucking whore!"

A moment later, however, Seven regained her balance, snarling furiously as the flames were blown off her body from a blast of pure force that emanated from the female, one of the long chains now hanging loose with a shard of white at the end of it and the others slowly regaining their own consciousnesss, Killer sitting up and staring around himself in shock before scrambling to his feet and running quickly over to Alexis, who was sprawled on one of the outer ring bridges and slowly staggering over to them, one arm around her stomach, the others swaying more or less back into sanity as Zerrex gripped his head and fell to one knee with a grunt of pain. "You bitch! But it doesn't matter..." A pause, and then Seven made a series of quick grasping motions with her hand, and purple energy surrounded Marina, Cindy, and the two ligers, the four freezing into place as Seven snarled: "I only need to kill you two, after all!"

She pointed outside the crater, and four purple sparks of light appeared on the very rim of the massive furrow in the earth before the demoness floated into the air, laughing and throwing her arms outwards, and the sphere of purple flickered around her for a few moments as the air itself seemed to vibrate, Cherry wincing and skidding backwards a bit as Zerrex leaned forwards from his kneel into the pure force travelling through the air, before a massive purple dome twisted into existence around the edge of the crater, sealing the two in with the demoness.

A moment later, she pointed at Zerrex, and a mask with furious eyes and a wide, gaping mouth full of terrible painted fangs rose up, hatred seeming to burn off its expression like a living thing before she said coldly: "Wrath."

Zerrex twitched violently, struggling for a few moments and making a strange, almost-gagging sound... and then his expression slowly darkened as he stood slowly up, and Cherry immediately holstered the .52 in favor of spinning her whip once at her side and backing off as much as the ten foot steel platform would allow, going pale as the Drakkaren reached up and jerked his massive sword off his back, shuddering violently again for a moment as Seven hissed in pleasure.

The Drakkaren's hand squeezed tightly around Blackheart's obsidian handle, his teeth slowly gritting and expression turning into a snarl, eyes almost glowing in his head as blue energy surrounded the blade for a few moments... and then slowly turned to a terrible, roiling black fire that covered the gleaming blade. Slowly, he looked over to Cherry, and she quailed at the hatred in his eyes, unable to even manage a plea before he brought the enormous sword slowly back to his right... and then he suddenly spun and threw it hard at Seven, who reared back in shock before screaming as the whirling black tornado ripped through her side and smashed through several of the chains, sending her flipping violently through the air.

"I'll kill you!" Zerrex shouted furiously, leaping forwards like an animal to kick off the panel the demoness had been standing on with enough force to knock it out of place with a shriek of steel, and he tackled her in midair, slamming her down onto a metal platform and already beginning to hit her even before they'd stopped skidding. Cherry could only gape for a moment before wincing and running around to the other side of the ring, and then she halted a platform away, wincing and hoping she was close enough if something bad happened... but far enough away in case things went sideways. That was not a bright thing to do, scary floating lady. He might not like me too much sometimes... but I'm sure on the other hand, he hates you a hell of a lot more right now.

Zerrex was straddling the female, hard left and right hooks smashing into her face before she tried to point at him, and one of the reptile's hand snagged her finger before simply jerking back hard, and the demoness shrieked as it was almost torn off her hand, left to hang by a few bloody strings before the reptile's hands locked around her throat as he leaned over her, a terrible grin spreading over his face as he throttled her while beginning to smash the back of her head over and over into the steel platform, his body heaving with animal breaths and snarls.

Seven was like a rag doll in his hands, uselessly beating her hands against him and clawing small gashes in his chest, before the Drakkaren suddenly let go of her neck with an inarticulate howl of rage, bringing one arm far back above his head and slamming his fist down into her stomach as hard as he possibly could â€" and Cherry heard the sound of that same fist pounding into and perhaps through metal as blood splattered up over the reptile's body, Seven spasming with a hurk as her arms went out, one of her hands accidently brushing against his face â€" and immediately the reptile snarled again and seized her upper arm, jerking back on it before driving an elbow down into her shoulder, and it snapped out of place and down more than two inches, the demoness's back arching as she shrieked in agony again, the few remaining masks snapping back and forth around her on their chains as her collarbone broke and shoved its way up out of her body and through the tight leather.

Purple energy flashed around her, not so much in a sphere but as in a formless fizzle, and Zerrex was thrown backwards, skidding on his back for the edge of the platform as his claws scraped against the metal, Cherry watching in horror before he sailed over the edge... and then Seven scrambled to her feet, coughing and gagging harshly, grasping her destroyed arm and most of her abdomen collapsed inwards, blood leaking through either side of the torn bodysuit she was wearing and darkness leaking out of her mask, the same terrible gunk boiling up from her body as her masks hovered slowly beside her, the other chains jingling beside her as she tried to limp quickly away... and then Zerrex's claws seized the edge of the platform and he dragged himself up onto the steel, still grinning savagely as his eyes burned with hate and fury.

Seven screamed in terror and tried to turn away, and Zerrex dived at her, snagging one of the chains before jerking her down, and he started to laugh as she fell on her back and tried to cower away from him. The reptile only looked at her for a few moments as he continued to cackle like a demon, and then he stood and kicked her hard in the side, crunching in her ribs audibly and sending her up into the air, but the chain still tightly held in his hand so she swung upwards on an arc instead of away from him as he spun around and slammed her face-first into the metal platform.

She smashed deep enough to leave a heavy dent in the steel, and Zerrex turned the other way, smashing her down on the other side of him and repeating the process back and forth, still laughing, his body seeming to burn with dark energy as Cherry could only stare limply from nearby, before watching as he threw the female hard to the side, and immediately she drew one of the .52s, snarling and trying to hold in her tears as she fired three quick rounds into the remaining masks before shoving her hand outwards, and flames leapt up over the other demoness, causing her to scream and arch her back, twisting back and forth in agony as Zerrex grunted and snarled in surprise, staying back from the flaming creature as his eyes roved to Cherry... and then they slowly cleared as she gazed back at him helplessly, and he fell back on his ass as the flames slowly died out over the demon's body.

Seven slowly climbed to her feet, the purple energy of the dome above dying out as she stared at the two... and slowly, she staggered backwards before she said raggedly: "No more... I... no more... but don't think... don't think that I won't be back..." A shudder, and then she slowly floated up into the air before raising her working arm and gasping as she rose her palm, broken finger dangling loosely from her hand as a portal slowly opened, and the Countess of the Seven fled quickly with her broken chains and dying body through this, leaving behind nothing but darkness that smoldered for a moment before it and the portal vanished from sight.

Zerrex swallowed a bit as he got back to his feet, and then he rubbed the back of his head before mumbling: "I think I lost Blackheart."

Cherry stayed silent for almost a minute, and then she finally replied quietly: "No, Boss. It's over by Mahihko... I can see him trying to jerk it out of the cliff face above."

"Oh." Zerrex said dumbly, and he glanced down before glancing back up at her, asking hesitantly: "It... are you okay, Cherry?"

"Yeah, just... a bit shocked to see you acting like the old Captain Ravenlight I used to know after all these years, Zerrex." Cherry said with a bit of a smile, glancing over at him, and he could feel the sadness in her eyes flowing quietly through his heart and body. "You know, I always wondered why you stopped behaving that way, but... I guess I can see now. You're a scary motherfucker, Boss... no wonder you're always holding back."

"Discipline is all that separates us from the beasts." Zerrex murmured quietly, and for the first time in her life, Cherry got what the saying actually meant as she grunted in response. Then he sighed a bit and made a face, glancing over at her awkwardly. "It... let's just pretend that it was the spell she put me under for now. We can talk about it later if you want but I'd rather not make Mahihko pee himself right this moment."

"Yeah." Cherry grimaced a bit, rubbing the back of her head, but she caught on to the undertone: Marina would have likely been utterly captivated by what her father had just done and would likely start talking about it and bringing up all sorts of embarrassing memories in front of everyone if she thought it was anything other a one-time effect caused by demonic interference. Which is just about the last thing we need to top the day off right now... "Come on, let's get over to the useless little bitch before he gives himself a hernia trying to jerk that out of the cliff wall, and then we still gotta get our way up to the others."

The longest part of the journey back was the rappelling: after that, a few short ladders took them the rest of the way to the top, Mahihko looking awkward and quiet as he glanced at Zerrex every so often. Not because of what the reptile had done... but instead because he'd done absolutely nothing himself out of fear at the sight of everyone suddenly seeming to go insane inside the crater.

But I won't be scared anymore... I won't give Zerrex any more reasons to be ashamed of me than, he already has enough of those... Mahihko thought silently to himself, climbing the last ladder up to the top and the sounds of welcoming and talk dull in his ears, his .45 tucked carelessly in the front of his pants as he fought to keep himself from crying, his face glum and tired... but that could easily have been attributed to what had just gone on, since he noticed that neither Cindy or Cherry didn't exactly look like they were having a ball themselves, and Alexis was still rubbing tiredly at her stomach from the plethora of terrible things she likely shouldn't have eaten. I shouldn't be afraid when, as long as Zer is around, everything can be okay... will turn out okay...

"Did the demon run or did it die?" Killer asked, grasping Zerrex's arm gently, and the Drakkaren felt a coil of remaining anger in him wanting to shrug it off, but he resisted and grunted before making a face and rubbing the back of his neck, the liger blinking a bit and tilting his head.

"It ran off... sorry, my head is still messed up from the creature." Zerrex replied, and then he gently attempted to pry Marina off him, who had attached herself to his waist the moment he'd stepped away from the edge and refused to let go, her head buried against his chest. "It... really is okay now, Marina. I'm fine, everything's fine."

"Shut the fuck up and hold me." Marina mumbled embarrassedly, and Zerrex sighed a bit before giving a faint smile, wrapping his arms around her and keeping her close as Killer rubbed the back of his head and traded a look with Alexis, who was leaning lightly against him. "Hey, if you two can cling to each other all day, I have every right to."

"I didn't-" Killer paused, perhaps realizing that not only was a it a futile to argue with her, saying ‘I didn't say anything' to a psychic was like staring at someone's cleavage while saying you had no sexual interest in them whatsoever. "I wasn't criticizing you, I mean."

Marina simply grunted something as Zerrex shrugged apologetically to the liger, and then the two exchanged looks before he glanced down to Alexis, rubbing a hand lightly along her back. "I think we should probably head back to the base... we need to tell another crew to get out here and monitor the area, for one thing, and I want to talk to Commander Albatross and let him know what's happened to his soldiers. Not to mention the fact that after what happened, we should all probably take the time to lay down or something."

Alexis didn't even bother to say anything, just looking up at him mildly before the tiger coughed a bit and glanced up, adding quickly: "You know, if we need to... I think I'm going to... work out and check how training the new recruits is going after I have the doctors see to Alexis here."

"I'm fine." Alexis said stubbornly, and then she grunted and turned towards the crater, wobbling a bit unsteadily and rubbing at her muzzle with the back of her hand as she added sourly: "Anyway, I need to get my sword..."

"I can get it." Killer said helpfully, and then he sighed and rubbed his forehead when Alexis only gave him a challenging glare before simply running to the edge of the cliffs, leaping down it as the others stared after her, the male mumbling: "If I could keep up with her, I'd rule the world by now."

"Well, fuck, I can keep up with her!" Cherry said arrogantly, puffing out her chest, and then she flailed her arms and pranced around in front of the liger as he made a face and looked worriedly out over the crater, despite the fact Alexis was already leaping down to the metal platforms and heading over to pick up her fallen sword.

She turned back around as Cherry gave up her attempts to draw attention to herself, instead walking moodily around in a short circle as she kicked at some snow here and there, and finally she glanced up and stuck her tongue out when Alexis clambered up over the cliffs with a grunt, her blade securely resting once more on her back.

Killer walked forwards and scooped her up, and she tried uselessly to push free when as the male held onto her tightly and carried towards the waiting helicopter before managing to slide out of his grip once more, glowering at him. "For fuck's sake, Killer, it wasn't poison! It was just some... stuff..." She trailed off, looking embarrassed as she smoothed back her hair as he put her down, and she climbed up into the helicopter as the huge liger watched her with concern.

"That doesn't mean its any good for you." he replied mildly, then hopped in the helicopter himself, followed by Cindy, Cherry, and Mahihko. A moment later, Zerrex sighed a bit and slipped an arm under Marina, and then he grunted as he walked over and hopped into the helicopter, the others staring a bit as the Drakkaren slowly began to fall backwards before halting and mumbling a ‘thank you' to his youngest daughter, cradled in his arms like a very tall child.

He sat down at the end of the bench as Blackheart detached itself from his back and floated over to the clamps, half-thought of a crack about safety belts and carseats, then failed to think of how to phrase it so it would be funny, instead settling for looking morbid as Marina glanced up once to confirm that she'd safely docked the giant sword into the clamps instead of something else. Then she dropped her head back against him as the Predator slipped back from the cockpit to lock the door into place.

It was a long forty minute ride back: no one seemed up for talking, and Alexis grimaced with every movement she made. Marina shifted every now and then with him, but obviously had no intention of moving, and even after the helicopter sat down and Killer quietly excused himself and Alexis so they could both head over to the medical area, Marina refused to get off Zerrex's body.

"Fuck, Marina, get the hell off him." Cherry said irritably, and then reached down to grasp the psychic's sides, before she winced as one of her hands punched herself squarely in the eye, her entire arm surrounded by a purple glow as Marina glared over her shoulder. "Okay, okay, okay! I get the point, dear God you could use some oral sex."

She stomped off, and Cindy and Mahihko quickly followed, the two trading depressed looks as Zerrex stood up, and Marina glanced over his shoulder, Blackheart pulling itself free of the clamps and floating along behind him. It made things extra eerie â€" and likely extra-frightening â€" for the soldiers whom the two passed, staring at a scarred male Drakkaren with a limp carrying his fully-grown daughter, a massive sword following last of its own apparent will... and Zerrex was very glad to reach their room and set down his daughter on the bed and pull his sword out of the air to lay it down with his torn shirt and jacket, flopping onto another bed and holding up a hand the moment he heard Marina starting over to him, muttering: "Please Marina. No. Not right now."

Marina sighed a bit, but nodded as Mahihko let out a sound of relief from another bed, and a moment later he was knocked sprawled by a telekinetic blast from Marina. Cherry immediately grunted something irritably at the young Drakkaren, and Zerrex covered his head with a pillow as the three girls in the room began to yell at each other, Mahihko cowering against Cindy as she went from helping him put together guns to holding onto him like a stuffed animal.

"Will you all just shut up?" Zerrex yelled finally, jerking up to a sitting position and glaring around at them all, and then he immediately felt horrible the moment Marina and Mahihko both began to shudder and the older two sisters stared in shock, and then he rubbed a hand slowly over his face before mumbling: "Please, girls. It's been a long day, and-"

But Marina had already started to cry quietly, pointing sulkily at Mahihko and declaring in a childish voice: "But he started it, he tattled on me!"

"You broke the guns! And besides, I'm the first one who noticed." Cindy said angrily from across the room, as Mahihko started crying now. "Look at you, stop lashing out at everyone here, Marina... we all risked our lives for you all those years ago and-"

"You all sucked and failed and died and left me alone!" Marina retorted furiously, and all the furniture in the room shuddered before she jumped across and clung to her father, adding hatefully: "I wish you'd all just stayed dead and-"

Zerrex shoved Marina off him, hard, and she fell heavily to the floor, landing with a grunt on her back before he stepped on her, pinning her firmly with a combat boot even as she struggled, staring at him with shock as he said softly but dangerously: "Marina. I want you to listen to me, right now. Cindy is your mother. Cherry is your big sister. Mahihko is your little brother. I am your father. We are your family, and your friends. And I put up with a lot from you, but I won't put up with you treating everyone like garbage and saying all these things." He paused, then reached down and pushed his finger against her nose, adding softly: "Get out. You can stay in the other room for the rest of your time here, alone. Keep this up, and I'll send you home, Marina, and you can stay there by yourself and see how different it is."

Marina stared, then she leaned up, saying firmly: "I don't need them. Fuck them."

Zerrex snarled a bit, and then a shudder went through him as he looked down at her silently for a few moments before asking quietly: "Are you doing all this just so I'll hit you?"

"And that's why you're the best, Daddy..." Marina gazed up at him with sick devotion, a smile spreading across her face that was sad in all that it encompassed. "You always see through me... but I had you close this time, huh? Maybe next time..." She slowly licked her muzzle, adding in a husky voice: "Next time... next time, and I'll be bleeding and beaten and bruised..."

Revulsion ran through the Drakkaren's body, and he pushed away from her, but she leapt up, grabbing his neck and kissing him hard, almost moaning into his jaws as her body pushed forwards against his, the reptile feeling her horrible lust as images played into his head, sick images and terrible feelings of arousal... and then a moment later Marina was yanked away, and Cindy punched her hard enough to send her crashing onto the bed before that too flipped over and landed on top of the female.

"You want it so bad, there you go!" Cindy shouted angrily, even as tears streamed down her face. She pointed at the door, balling her other hand into a fist and trembling violently. "Go, get the hell out of here! You don't even act like you're my daughter anymore, you're not the Marina I know or loved... you've turned into some vile... w-whore!"

Marina winced away, blood running from her nose and muzzle, and then she trembled and bolted for the door when Cindy stepped forwards, before the middle sibling collapsed back into Zerrex's arms and began to cry as he held her close, only able to stare miserably at the other room filled with wailing and the sound of objects breaking. A helpless glance over his shoulder, and Cherry shrugged, still slack-jawed, as Mahihko curled up in a ball and began to rock and cry hard as well. This... is my life. And this is all my fault.

It took three hours for everyone to stop crying, and by then Mahihko was sleeping quietly and Cindy was obsessively fixing the bed she'd knocked over, righting it before carefully putting the mattress back on the single bunk and then adjusting the sheets endlessly. Zerrex, on the other hand, took the route of staring at the ceiling as he heard Marina's angry voice on the other side of the wall, since Cherry had volunteered to try and speak to her: the demoness came back a few minutes later with her clothes ripped and looking disheveled, muttering: "Okay. I shouldn't've started with ‘so you've been a bit of a prick lately,' it seems. Unfortunately, I think the only person she's going to listen to is you, Zerrex. And if you want my honest opinion, maybe she does need someone to beat the shit out of her."

"Cherry, what I did was a huge mistake, okay?" Cindy snapped, smoothing out the sheets on the bed before sitting down and hugging herself, looking down miserably. "I should really go and apologize..."

"Yeah, for not hitting her hard enough." Cherry grunted, and then sighed at the twin glares she received, holding up her hands and looking miserable. "But honestly? I love her. You guys love her. I'm sure Mahihko at least... well... respects her. But like... shit. Zerrex, I'd be the last one telling you to actually, you know, start beating her like you're her drunken redneck pimp, but... maybe you should indulge her fantasies a bit. Don't like... you know, hurt her, but... hit her around a lot. Humiliate her. Treat her like crap, since she's so absolutely bent on it... but make sure she sees and more importantly, thinks that you're not enjoying it at all, because she reads your emotions and your mind more often than I glance at porn. Because you know, whether she turns out to be that masochistic or not... if she even thinks you're enjoying it, if she finds any trace of say, even a link to ‘oh well, this is the twentieth cousin to the memory of me punching a kid who really deserved it in the face when I was seven,' then she'll like... beg you to do it more often just because she thinks you enjoy it on some impossibly-small level despite how miserable you'll feel."

Zerrex stared at her, and Cherry rubbed her head, looking lame and obviously about to apologize, before he sighed and said softly: "Cherry, that does honestly sound really intelligent and all... but the problem is, I don't know if it's actually a good idea or not. Because..." A glance down as he lowered his head, murmuring quietly: "Cindy... remember... remember when..."

"Yeah..." she made a face, then glanced up at Cherry, who frowned a bit, before explaining quietly: "We all knew that Marina used to cut herself here and there a few years back... but once Zerrex and I came home after a date, while you were out at one of your fight meets... and Gods. It was horrible, the screams we heard... but when we burst inside to check it out, Marina immediately tried to get us to leave, even though it looked like she was being..." She made a face and swallowed thickly, then glanced over at Zerrex to continue.

The Drakkaren nodded a bit, looking at Cherry and saying in as calm a voice as he could: "She found five males, as big as she could, to come in and rape her. Dragokkaren, almost exclusively... you know, clones. She must have taken away their inhibitions or something with her powers, because she was pretty bloody and bruised and they looked absolutely horrified by what they had done afterwards... but after we got rid of them, we talked it over and she said..." A pause, and Zerrex laughed shortly. "She told me she wanted to give me ‘some porn she knew I'd really enjoy' for my birthday."

"Shit, and I thought I was the only one who had ideas like that." Cherry rubbed the back of her head slowly, trying to lighten the topic by adding in a louder voice: "Hey, remember when I did that gangbang for you and had it all filmed, and gave it to you for your... yeah, okay, bad timing, I'm sorry." She swallowed and coughed as the two continued to look miserable, then sat down by Zerrex, looking down and phrasing her words carefully. "Zerrex... you're the one who taught me that it was okay to be submissive sexually to someone, and moreover, that it was okay that I just wanted to serve you: there wasn't anything bad about it in a mutually-beneficial relationship, like the one we have. You're the Boss, and I'm the bitch, and that's just how it is â€" fuck, if you didn't treat me like dirt every now and then, I'd honestly be a lot less happy than I am now.

"So sure, I can understand Marina's point of view, sorta. Except whereas I just look at you as Master and..." she cleared her throat, mumbling the next few words. "And... love you... for... stuff... um... Marina... Marina sees you as God. I know that say... you can't drive a stick-shift, for instance. Sure, I'd encourage you if you wanted to learn, and even teach you what I could, but like fuck I'd get in the car if one day you jumped in the driver's seat and said cheerfully to me, ‘hey, Cherry, let's go for a ride!' or some shit. Actually, I'd be freaked out just by you being cheerful... yeah, I think I'll just stop with the joke attempts."

She smiled faintly, and Zerrex just continued to look down quietly, before she sighed and wrapped an arm around him firmly, squeezing him tightly around the shoulders. "Listen to me, Boss. If you took a dump on some paper and showed it to her, Marina would honestly think it was the best art anyone could ever shit out. But if you say... wrote one of your pretty little poems and showed it to Marina, but you wanted to hear something bad or mean about it, Marina would just as soon be as cruel as she could to you, because you wanted it. She'll do anything to make you feel good... and I think what she's latched onto is your dominance. Just like how I can't help liking sex an unhealthy amount, you can't help liking being in charge an unhealthy amount. She wants to show you the ultimate form of submission, and she wants to see you established in the ultimate place of importance: and I think she even digs your darkness, if you get what I'm saying.

"I think Marina realizes there's a part of you that's pretty much evil. Ravenlight, you call it, right?" Cherry asked mildly, and Zerrex glanced at her with a bit of surprise that she'd broach the topic, the female smiling a bit. "Hey, I know you, Boss, inside-out, just like you know me outside-in, and I do remember shit about you, so don't fuckin' look at me like that, you prick. But I don't think she realizes that you're trying to get away from that part of yourself, and she's only thinking about how if she does this for you..." Cherry stopped, enunciating her words very carefully. "Some part of you that you don't like might be made very happy by doing such things to her."

"Fuck, Cherry, don't talk about Daddy like that!" Cindy snapped, and Cherry immediately hid behind Zerrex when the female jumped to her feet, adding threateningly: "If you like being treated like crap so much, how about I give you a punch in the face, too, and we can giggle about it later! Daddy might be mean to you, but that's because you're... stupid! Not all girls are like that, he doesn't treat me like dirt at all, and he's never hit me because I've never begged for it and rejected how gentle he can be!"

"Thank you for the feminist rhetoric." Cherry muttered, then she squawked when Cindy grabbed her leg, wincing as she was dragged off the bed and then immediately throwing herself backwards the moment Cindy's grip loosened, the female grunting angrily and stepping forwards before Zerrex grunted something.

Cindy hesitated, and the Drakkaren turned to her, shaking his head slowly and saying quietly: "She's right, Cindy. Cherry and I used to do... a lot of very bad things. Even when we were married, you knew that me and her would go off on our... our little jobs every now and then and a few days later, there'd be a few less scuzzballs in the world... but that doesn't mean that what she and I did in any way was good, or even okay. We were just feeding our own monsters." A glance over at Cherry, smiling faintly. "I might not do that anymore, but believe me. With all four of you willing to do pretty much anything I please, not to mention the fact I'm sore and tired most of the time, even a serial rapist wouldn't need to find anyone else to... rape." He finished lamely, rubbing the back of his head.

"You are a serial rapist." Cherry said mildly. "And you so totally used that term wrong. It's like- oh, hey now, Cindy, please, violence isn't the answer, right?"

Cindy was advancing angrily on Cherry again as she shoved herself quickly backwards, wincing, and then Zerrex tilted his head back, asking quietly: "Does it bother you because you know she's telling the truth, or because you honestly think I'm some white knight in shining armor, Cindy?"

The female paused, then looked down quietly as Cherry got to her feet and walked quickly over to Zerrex, wincing and using her precog to go from a fall into a neat handspring after Cindy tripped her. "I think more because she's being Cherry."

"I guess that's understandable. I can be a bitch." Cherry admitted, then she rubbed the back of her head, adding in a mutter: "But... you know, if it really bothers you, Cindy... I don't have to bring this sorta shit up in front of you. I know our past ain't like... roses and happiness and shit, and it can be pretty... ugly to other people."

The middle sister of the family paused, then shook her head slowly, walking over to the bed before she sat down, and then she tilted her head, asking hesitantly: "After... after you and Daddy broke off your marriage... I... you two would go out some nights and you'd come back with some nasty bruises, Cherry. But the past times in the few years that's happened, I always thought you two were just sparring but... it wasn't just that, was it?"

Cherry smiled a bit, quietly taking Zerrex's hand and trading a look with the large reptile, before he nodded to her and the demoness relaxed a bit, saying quietly: "You see... you know that I'm not just a bitch, but I also uh... am a bitch in another sense." Cherry rubbed the back of her head, looking embarrassed but also proud before saying amiably: "Yeah. Zerrex and I would fuck, and sometimes while fucking, if we were feeling up to it, he'd beat the shit out of me. Not literally of course, that'd be gross, but what can I say? It's pretty frigging hot."

Cindy was only staring, though, as if waiting for a punchline, and Zerrex and Cherry shared an embarrassed look before the demoness said carefully: "Sometimes when a Mommy and a Daddy love each other very much, they get a bit carried away and start hurting each other... or in this case, the Daddy starts doing things to the Mommy because it really shows just how powerful he is, and his bitch gets to see just how lucky she is that she belongs to him, like any other piece of property..." Cherry faded out, looking dreamy, and Cindy gaped at her dumbly before Zerrex nudged the demoness firmly, and she spluttered and coughed before a deep blush suffused her face.

"What Cherry's trying to say is that it heightens the uh... roleplaying, I guess you could call it." Zerrex rubbed the back of his head, then barged onwards as Cherry simply nodded repeatedly and looked serious. "See, Cherry's a switch and into rape fantasies and vicious, violent sex. So even though sometimes we uh... let her take the top, she much prefers to play the role of ‘rape victim,' and so we get into hitting, shoving her down, actually fighting and attacking each other before I eventually wear her down somehow, then forcing her down and all sorts of other things. We rarely fight hard, though, she doesn't hit me too hard and steps into some of my swings."

"Holy shit. You two are serious." Cindy said dumbly, and then she stared at the wall, asking stupidly: "And you're saying my little sister... my daughter Marina... is... wants her father to rape her and beat her up?"

"You know, since she's vaguely-masochistic, I hang out with her a lot, she's often into my porn and she can read both our minds... maybe it's us who influenced her?" Cherry glanced curiously over to Zerrex, and then immediately grabbed him and yanked him over the other side of the bed, at the same time flipping it over as Cindy dived at them with a yell. The scuffle was brief but left Mahihko staring in horror, Cindy flailing and kicking her legs stupidly as Zerrex and Cherry both restrained one of her arms firmly, the male Drakkaren now sporting a black eye and Cherry grunting as Cindy's hand clawed into one of her breasts every so often.

"I knew you two were bad influences! Goddammit, Daddy, let me go!" Cindy let her arms go loose for a moment, and then with a mighty grunt, she wrenched them free, sending the two others stumbling forwards before Cherry grabbed them by the backs of the neck and bonked their heads together, saying angrily as they looked at one another stupidly: "I know that most of this isn't your fault, but to make her think you two really hit each other while doing that-"

Cherry rose a hand, correcting: "Excuse me, but he really hit me, and it wasn't just play, it was fucking. There's a big difference, missy, between lovemaking, sex, rough play, and fucking."

Cindy frowned at this, then let go and put her hands on her hips, glaring from one to the other as she said firmly: "Look, Cherry, Daddy said it was roleplaying, and you might've been bruised up, but I'm sure Daddy would never intentionally hit you, nor would you let him during something like that... I'm sure it was just from the sparring before and... what?"

Zerrex winced as he rubbed the back of his neck, looking embarrassed, and Cherry said cheerfully: "Well, that's because he's a douche and he doesn't like using the word ‘fuck' for whatever reason. But hey, if you want a demonstration..." A pause as she tilted her head curiously. "Do you mind, Boss? I'm not saying fuck me silly or anything, or even get your dick out... let's uh... let's see..." She looked down thoughtfully, absently motioning for Cindy to step back, and the gentle female did so, staring. "Should I fight back?"

"No, I already have a black eye and I'm sore after today... how about we start with a bit of choking, dirty talk... maybe I could humiliate you a bit?" Zerrex tilted his head, rubbing a hand through his hair as he looked embarrassedly over at Cindy, then at Mahihko, who was watching with much-greater curiosity. "'Skinda feels awkward though, you know."

"Just pretend they're not there." Cherry said cheerfully, waving a hand, before she poked his chest firmly, looking up at him threateningly. "And you better fuckin' knock me stupid, or I'm gonna punch you in the balls afterwards. No holding back like I'm a little wimpy towel. After that uh... just toss me onto the bed or whatever, and we'll finish around there?" A pause, and she slapped her forehead, grinning and shifting her body to her usual form, adding mildly: "I'd size down, but these clothes'll go all loose on me... can you work with me being plus two to your height?"

"As long as you don't struggle too much, sure. You're good tall." Zerrex responded with a smile, poking her breast, then he added: "We'll go with ‘hot dog' as the safety and end word. Ready to begin?"

Cherry nodded, grinning slightly, and then she rose a finger, adding quickly: "Wait a... er, hot dog!" she flailed her arms a bit as Zerrex opened his mouth to growl at her, and then he coughed instead, looking embarrassed as she quickly turned around and righted the bunk behind them, then added lamely: "Yeah. That would've been fun to try and jump onto. Anyway, let's go. Since she wants to see hitting, you might as well start with that."

Zerrex nodded, then Cherry winked and gave him a thumbs up... before the male Drakkaren snarled and grabbed her by the throat, hefting her into the air as he said darkly: "Look at what we have here... a fine piece of ass all... Cherry, I can't do this with people looking!"

She immediately kicked him in the shin, and the reptile winced as Cindy and Mahihko continued to gawk, hissing: "Then cut the crap and just punch me already! It'll get easier after that!"

Zerrex sighed, then he nodded before dropping her and punching her hard... and Cindy not only heard the collision, she saw the blood fly from Cherry's nose as her head snapped to the side, the female grunting in pain before Zerrex grabbed her by the neck again and jerked her back in front of him... and was that pleasure she saw in Cherry's eyes along with submission: "You're gonna make me feel good, isn't that right, whore?"

"Fuck you." Cherry spat, and Zerrex immediately slammed his fist into her gut, the female's eyes bulging before he fell to her knees gasped for air a moment before Zerrex grabbed the back of her skull firmly, shoving her muzzle into his crotch as his head tilted upwards.

"You'll be getting to that in just a minute... don't get impatient, bitch, I want to have some fun with you, first." The Drakkaren replied coldly, and then he grinned cruelly as he ground her forwards, Cherry's hands pressing against his waist before he jerked her back to her feet by a fin, reaching up and grabbing one of her breasts through her shirt, twisting and squeezing as Cherry gave a moan of pain. "Yeah, you like it... you like that, don't you, whore." A pause, and then he snarled and slapped her hard across the face, shouting: "Say you like it, you worthless slut!"

"I like it..." Cherry whispered raggedly after a moment... and then she grunted as she was shoved backwards, toppling onto the bed, and Zerrex pounced on top of her as she immediately tried to push him away, shaking her head and stuttering: "I'll scream rape, I will!"

The male growled at her, then hit her with a hard left-right hook combination, Cherry's muzzle knocking back and forth and more blood spilling from her jaw as she cried out loudly, bucking her hips hard against him... and then slowly opened one eye, peering up at him when nothing else followed, Zerrex looking down at her and his cheeks burning with embarrassment before he mumbled: "Cherry, I uh... I think Cindy gets the picture."

"Like fuck she does!" Cherry spat, then she grinned viciously, reaching up and grabbing Zerrex's shirt and dragging him down over her even as her body shifted back to her demonic self, her hips bucking firmly against him again as her eyes gleamed. "There's no reason we can't just keep going... come on, Zerrex, fuck me hard, hit me, Boss! Make me feel alive inside, I love the taste of my own blood and your big fat-"

"I get the picture!" Cindy spluttered, covering her eyes and waving one hand wildly, and then she turned around, making a face. "I knew you used to do it when I read your journals about the Legion, Daddy, and I guess I can try to understand... but Cherry, come on! You're being punched so hard that-"

Cherry snorted, grinning up at Zerrex as she grabbed his muzzle, jerking him back to face her as she said playfully: "That ain't nothing. Remember back in the Legion, when you broke my arm in the shower? Now that was hot."

"Ugh, Cherry, why are you degrading yourself? That's not submission or playing around, you're being hit..." Cindy said helplessly, staring in horror at Cherry, who turned to look at her with amusement as one of her hands slowly played along Zerrex's strong chest. "It's wrong, it's not nice, and you could get even more seriously hurt... you don't like pain, do you?"

Cherry paused for a few moments, then she gave a surprisingly-gentle smile and said softly: "Babe, you're a sweetheart... but it ain't just about the pain. I trust Zerrex... more than I trust any other male, any other person, in this world. It's fun to get batted around a bit here and there, but only with the Boss do I ever lay my life on the line... because I know he might be able to scare the hell out of me and do some damn terrifying things... but he'd never kill him, he'd never go too far." A pause. "That's real trust, right there... and that's real, full submission of myself to him. My body is Zerrex's playground."

She turned to wink up to Zerrex, before looking at him tenderly, showing the soft side she rarely revealed the world as she added quietly: "I can be myself with him, Cindy, and he'll fulfill all my desires, creepy as they can be, without ever laughing at me or thinking less of me. Sure, I'm a sadomasochistic whore who needs a regular fucking and even to get my ass kicked now and then, but that's that and I'm happy with it and how things are. And hey, I am a demon... I might as well be as creepy as I can."

Cindy only stared for a little while... and then she shivered and quickly headed to the door, making a face at them over her shoulder before leaving and slamming the door behind her. Cherry and Zerrex exchanged a look, and then Mahihko piped up meekly: "I thought it was hot."

Zerrex frowned a bit as he sat at the briefing room table with Killer, the liger going over the locations of known demon sightings on a computer hooked into the large monitor at the other side of the room. The Drakkaren rested with his elbow on the table, fist nudging his muzzle gently as he frowned before pointing towards one of the red spots that indicated a demon attack, glancing at the liger and asking curiously: "And when did that attack happen?"

"Uh... 12:43 PM." Killer replied after a moment, before typing a bit on the laptop in front of him and bringing up the statistics for the attack on the monitor, mumbling as he read a different file from the laptop: "Let's see... twenty-three demons in total, of varying type, escaped the portal and attacked the village... but the important thing is that despite how much damage they did, almost all of it was to property. Very little of it was the whole ‘dragging away of innocent virgins' deal." Killer paused, then glanced over Zerrex and added carefully: "Speaking of demons, I heard a lot of arguing from across the base and then a scuffle... did something happen?"

Zerrex smiled a bit at the tiger, shaking his head and looking dryly amused. "Just Marina acting up a bit... she started saying some nasty things and it upset... everyone." He paused at the liger's concerned look, glancing up over the statistics and then adding quietly: "It's alright. It's just one of the things about living with Marina... she... Narrius did a lot of terrible things to her that were just... sickening. She's a bit... destroyed inside."

"I'm sorry, Zer." Killer said softly, reaching up and grasping the reptile's shoulder gently, before he made a bit of a face and added quietly: "I have to admit, that the brutality I saw in Narrius's attacks was matched only by an old enemy of mine named Raja... but even now I'm still hearing and seeing things that only strengthen my hate for him." An awkward pause, and then he said quietly: "But as to the demons in this village..."

"Yeah. I'm not surprised, actually... it's similar to what we saw in Lunis." Zerrex responded, glad to return to a subject that wasn't his family. I can deal with demons. Just not these ghosts that still haunt me... "Most of the buildings had been heavily damaged, but it turned out there were a lot of survivors living inside a safe zone they constructed and guarded heavily. The demons rampaged, killed anyone they found, but never made a direct assault against any of the guard posts... and with the amount we found and some of the power of them, they obviously could have easily overtaken it. It was more like they were... waiting for something. Preparing something in the ruins, maybe, you know?"

Killer nodded, making a bit of a face before glancing up at the map himself of the northern empires: the land had changed with nuclear blasts, war and destruction, but there were still a good number of other empires, small and large, along with the one which Killer ruled. "But that's the biggest report. Everything else up there is something minor that was easily put down, and most of the portals are guarded... there are also one or two very small Black Holes, but they seem to emit nothing other than junk, so they're left alone while we ship out modified psychic repression panels to all the other governments that have requested them." The huge liger shook his head, smiling faintly. "I'm truly glad we discovered the method, but we should have used the modified panels to close the breach immediately instead of researching it further... maybe then we never would have had to deal with that demon."

Zerrex nodded in return, thinking for a moment of Seven before shaking his head quickly, then he frowned thoughtfully and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms a bit before pausing and adding: "How's Alexis, by the way?"

"She ate a few rocks, so she's having her teeth looked at while they figure out how to get those out of her stomach." Killer said distastefully, scrolling along the map to give a better view of the area. "I can't believe that demon's abilities... it was terrifying. I also can't believe I fell asleep and refused to move."

Zerrex looked over at him with mild amusement for a moment, then returned his eyes to the map and the various little stats that popped up as Killer scrolled through a closer view of the northlands. "Well, at least you didn't get hit twice by its powers, like me. Wait a minute." The Drakkaren held a up a hand, and Killer did so, tilting his head and glancing over at the Drakkaren as he frowned a bit. "Have the demons been sighted in every different kingdom?"

"No, only those... bordering on Ire." Killer said after a moment, then he frowned at the Drakkaren, adding slowly: "And there have been several here. An invasion like that would almost successfully take over the northlands, sure, but... Ire can't be controlling demons, could they?"

"Maybe it's the other way around." Zerrex muttered, thinking back to the at-least two possessed people he'd seen so far. And many others could've been possessed by demons, too... soldiers, teachers, workers, that girl I met at the restaurant, the old shopkeeper, the cook who made my burger when we stopped at that burger joint one time, and there've been hundreds of demonic possession reports over the years that I mostly discounted... but... "Ire owned Lunis, too, which was the perfect fortress for any army, large or small, and armed with terrifying technologies..." And maybe that's why they left a large chunk of that metropolis intact... "Killer, what else does Ire have rights in?"

The tiger closed his eyes thoughtfully for a moment, then looked at the Drakkaren quietly as he said softly: "Everything. If the demons successfully invaded Ire... they would literally be in the position of conquering the world. It's one of the largest, most powerful countries, with ties to every other nation ordained by the World Council... and even a few that aren't. Even if other nations tried to help out, there's little to the far south but deserts, ruins, and a lot of dead cities, and Ire is securely sandwiched by the two oceans, on top of that.

"Look again at the lines, Zerrex. Maybe it's not an invasion line from Ire... but with their southern positioning, perhaps it's a line intended to keep the northern lands busy while Ire suffers attacks. It would also explain the coincidental occurrences of ‘terrorist' attacks on Kesteven from supposed rebel groups that I haven't been able to trace at all, and how several other known terrorist organizations have deployed unprovoked attacks on trade routes and some of the major cities throughout all the northern empires.

"As much as I hate to say it, if we lose Ire, we'll likely lose most of the world shortly afterwards... and with demons being demons... we could lose the entire war." Killer said quietly, then he laughed quietly and shook his head slowly, muttering: "Fucking irony. One of my worst enemies, and we have to save them to ensure that the demons don't get an easy fight taking over the rest of the planet, especially if they possess people at will."

Zerrex sighed a bit, then he looked grimly over to Killer as he stood up slowly, then he said quietly: "I need immediate transport to the Hez'Rannan Embassy, as the plan indicated... I feel like we're running out of time now. With Ire's current leadership from the Republic Council, they're more likely to hand over the keys to the demons than actually attempt to fight them off, with their hunger for power... but that power structure crumbles, we might just have enough time to salvage a figurehead leader with emergency powers to start cooperating with the rest of the world instead of fighting against it."

"Yes, but on the other hand, it could cause Ire to implode with fighting and civil war, making it an easy target for the demons." Alexis said from the doorway, and Killer stood up, but she grunted and waved at him to sit back down, walking into the room and gently touching the Drakkaren's shoulder, her ice-blue eyes looking into his own softly. "I understand what it's like to lose your country, but you can't be hasty, Zer. Not with the world like this."

The lizard nodded, then he rested a hand on the desk and glanced down, saying softly: "The problem won't be keeping the military together or defending the cities... the problem is with the council itself. They refuse to cooperate with anyone unless they get to be on top and their policies are the ones that go forwards... and if they don't actually protect Lunis and the territories they own, then we'll lose them first and the demons will have their way in."

The two tigers exchanged a look, and then Killer clapped a hand gently on Zerrex's back, giving him a bit of a smile as he said firmly: "Then we go forwards with the plan, and we'll trust in your judgment, Zer. It really is too bad that you couldn't stay for longer, though... it always seems that at the last moment, something happens and drives our two little families apart. But let me know if I can supply you with anything at all, Zerrex, to help you and your family out... there's a lot riding on your shoulders, and I honestly wish that Alexis and I could go with you, but..."

"Hey, you've got a kingdom to run there, Killer." Zerrex patted his chest and then grinned a bit, adding teasingly: "And I think you've got enough glory there, too, your lordship, with all that. What, aren't you the most feared General Wyvern of the northlands?"

Killer snorted and shoved him back, the reptile swaying and grinning as he caught himself against the desk. "Don't start up with that crap, Zer. You're the infamous son of the Patriarch who saved Hez'Ranna and the rest of the world. I might have done some admittedly-impressive things in the world... but I don't know if any of it compares to that."

"Yeah, because I set out to be a savior." The lizard responded dryly, then he poked the liger's firm abdominals and looked amusedly up at him. "You know where I worked after the war? A bookstore. You're still King, General, and everything else. I'm... attending senior manager Zerrex."

"Are you two going to argue all day, or are you going to go commit high treason, Zer? Killer, don't keep our guest waiting... I know you two can go back and forth until the world ends." Alexis scolded playfully, and then she smiled and traded a hug with Zerrex, adding quietly: "Take care of yourself, Zer."

"And watch your back." Killer added, and then he too embraced the Drakkaren, Zerrex grunting a bit as Killer lifted him into the air for a moment before grinning slightly. "But make sure you don't kill too many of them, huh? It'd be bad if we got to Hell and there was no one left."

"I don't think that'll be too hard... from what it looks like, things might go into chaos on your end at any time." Zerrex replied, then he patted the liger's strong chest, winking at him and saying softly: "Thanks for everything, Killer. I'm going to go and tell the others we're moving out. It's been a pleasure working with you, as always."

The Drakkaren turned, heading back out into the hall, and he motioned to Cindy as he saw her walking past. She made a face at him, but came over anyway before throwing off her jitters as she saw her father's serious expression, tilting her head towards him and asking quietly: "What is it, Daddy?"

But Zerrex shook his head a bit, saying quietly: "It'll be easier to explain to everyone at once. The short version is that we're leaving, but I'll give more details after we're back at the room. We have to move fast, though."

"Alright." Cindy nodded, glancing over Zerrex and watching his movements, asking after a moment with a bit of a smile: "Did you remind them that we left the log data behind?"

"Yeah." The reptile nodded back, looking at Cindy with faint amusement. "Killer said he already got a report from a repair crew that was out near there, working in the train tunnels, that they'd managed to retrieve it from the machines and the other gear left behind in the crater. Nothing of ours, don't worry, but some measuring instruments and other sensitive materials. We probably shouldn't have left the area in such a hurry, but after seeing the emptiness..."

"And still the lack of snow." Cindy added, glancing up at the ceiling and making a face, murmuring quietly: "At least it works to our advantage, but I don't like the change in currents and temperature we've seen. It could mean unnatural weather in other parts of the area, and much nastier stuff at that."

Zerrex looked over at her curiously, but before he could ask what she meant, they had already reached their room and he pushed the door open, before frowning a bit at the sight of Marina arguing with Cherry, and then the youngest of the group turned towards Zerrex with a hopeful smile, but the Drakkaren brought his eyes away to say instead to the group: "We have to leave... things have gotten more complicated, and it appears that the demons may be massing for invasion or attack on Ire and the surrounding area. Killer's already ordered a transport to the Hez'Rannan Embassy... does everyone remember the plan?"

"Might as well rehash it." Cherry said mildly, then she tapped off: "We go the Embassy, likely by air, and there we take a vehicle to Northern Ire, which won't greet us very warmly but is a quicker and safer way in than going straight to Ire's heavily-guarded borders. From there, we'll be smuggled in a transport of some kind into Ire, likely through one of the military routes, where they won't expect us to move through. From there, we go to Ire's capital city, and we should be able to dig up where the Republic Council is."

"Sanctuary." Zerrex murmured, then he shook his head slowly and rubbed at his head a bit, but the puzzle could wait for later, once they were better prepared for dealing with it and everything else. "Alright everyone. Get your equipment together and pack things up, we're moving out the moment our transport's ready."

"Wait, did you say Sanctuary?" Cherry asked curiously, and Zerrex glanced up as the other three began to quickly load up the duffel bag with their other equipment, Cherry idly strapping on the .52s again and attaching her whip to her belt by means of the small, metal-lined snap she used. "Because I heard some talk about that in Hell. Gossip, really... but they were saying shit about how the Warlord was going to personally visit the Sanctuary in the mortal realm one day, because of how mortals had defiled it and made it into their own governing temple. Now, I ain't saying this is what we're looking for, but..."

Zerrex looked at her flatly, not taking the lure, and Cherry coughed, finishing dumbly: "But um... what they talked about sounded a lot like it could be in northwestern Ire, around the Row of Skulls area. Not the mountainous portion, but the fields... but the minotaur described it as before the place where the great jaws of earth bite the tides of the sea."

"That would make sense... bombs couldn't penetrate that area, not even modern-day burrowing explosives or bunker-busters with the ore-filled mountains, and the sea gives a quick escape route." The Drakkaren said slowly, leaning a bit on his cane as he made his way over to the bed to grab his enormous revolver and Blackheart. "But you said before, right? Fields wouldn't make sense, any sort of explosive could pierce through that..."

"Unless it was a deep-earth facility." Marina said quietly, and she laced her fingers together as she looked at the two of them, then glanced down a bit when her father's eyes moved to her with surprise. "The barracks and expendable parts of the facility all buried in the relative safety and likely shielded under the fields, and the secure bunkers where the Republic Council lives and makes most of their decisions under the mountains and the ore hills."

The others looked at her for a few moments... and then Zerrex gave a bit of a smile, glancing over at Cherry and asking quietly: "How would we be able to get proof, though? There's no way I'm going that far northwest without knowing for sure..."

"We are going to stop in the capital city... and that's where the so-called senate building is, where the city governors or their ambassadors meet once or twice a month to discuss what's going on with the council's representative... and I'm willing to bet we can find a good few rumors there if a psychic and a shapeshifter work together." Cherry said firmly, wrapping an arm around Marina, and for the first time in too long, Zerrex felt like they were actually acting like a family, as Mahihko and Cindy smiled faintly at the surprise of the youngest Drakkaren.

Ten minutes later, a Predator announced that the helicopter's fuel cells were fully recharged, and it was ready to take them to their next location. They quickly made their way out, and on the helipad, Killer and Alexis met them with goodbyes, even Marina managing to act at least cordial and going so far as to shake Killer's hand when he offered it before climbing into the helicopter. Zerrex and the two exchanged one last fond farewell, and then the Drakkaren caught one the strange visor systems when the liger tossed it at him before the door closed, calling: "Something to remember us by!"

The Drakkaren looked it over with amusement, shaking his head a bit... but then again, he was admittedly also a bit of a technophobe. On the other hand, he hadn't exactly taken a close look at the visor gadget yet, and he turned the little device around in his hands, musing a bit to himself as he mumbled: "Well, I like the design, anyway. But HUDs always confuse me."

"Give it." Cherry held out a hand, and Zerrex tossed it over to her, the demoness fitting the aviator-shaped clear glasses over her eyes and adjusting the padded metal squares at the end of either arm against the sides of her head before she toyed with the buttons and then said cheerfully: "Kick ass. It's got like, everything in here..." A pause, and a teasing grin to Zerrex as she leered at him through them. "But I bet you don't like that, right, old-timer?"

Zerrex gave a grunt in reply, making a face at her. "Cherry, don't waste the battery power in those things and stop fiddling with it. You don't know what the buttons do, and I don't want you screwing up the pilot ahead of us in mid-flight."

"Shut up, there's a help menu." Cherry said sulkily, and then she brightened when Zerrex rolled his eyes and let out a defeated sigh, flickers of numbers and images going across the screen as she mumbled: "All I need is a life bar and then maybe I could pretend I'm playing one of our old FPS games while we kill shit... yeah... that'd be sweet."

"You're sick." Cindy muttered grumpily, and Cherry blew a raspberry at her before ducking under a swing and retaliating by stabbing one of her horns out into the female's hand, Cindy wincing and backing off as she rubbed at a small hole in her scales. "That hurt, you bitch!"

"You're a bitch." Cherry retorted, then she went back to fiddling with the buttons on the side of the visor, mumbling things under her breath as she added dryly: "But the only problem is it's hard to keep track of everything when my precog's going... but hey, weren't those two wearing different goggles than this?"

Zerrex paused, tilting his head back and failing to remember, before Marina muttered: "They're testing the same sort of visor system we saw in Lunis, which only covers one eye and leaves the other one free. Something about... the difference in an eye's perceptions when uncovered and stuff like that, and this new system uses a completely different HUD setup." A pause and a shrug as the others stared at her. "I took the occasional peek into their minds every now and then, along with the soldiers around the base. I was curious."

The male Drakkaren only nodded a bit with a half-sigh, and then he sat back a bit, crossing his arms and glancing over at Cherry as he said mildly: "You know, even supposing you two do find some information... we're sort of on a time crunch here, Cherry. If Lailland really is under serious demonic attack, then we could be in a lot of trouble: I mean, the goal here isn't just to stop the demons from overtaking every nation in the world, it's to save as many people and as much of the world as we can manage."

"Well, that's not fun. Spoilsport." Cherry muttered, and then she sighed, nodding and rubbing at the back of her head a bit before turning the visor off and putting it down over one leg, gazing across at the Drakkaren as she made a face. "But you ain't givin' me a lot of options here, Boss. I mean, our one major military contact is dead, we're Hez'Ranna exiles, and if you really did kill the Lord Malthus, we're going to be seen as national super-criminals... then again, that's assuming anyone on the Ophelia lived to tell the tale and it isn't all covered up by the usual ‘oh, he's just taking an extended vacation.'"

"Remember the Aztec Corporation?" Cindy glanced up, tilting her head curiously and making a bit of a face. "Much as I don't like what I saw, perhaps we could take one of those magnetic trains."

But Zerrex was continuing to look at Cherry with something like misery... and after a moment a slow grin spread over her face as she said excitedly: "Fuck. Fuck yes. Fuck yes, fuck yes. I know what you think we should do... you want to steal the best fucking aerial transport we can find and get me to pilot it, right? Right?"

Zerrex rubbed the back of his head slowly, then he muttered: "It would be the fastest way there, but I'm not entirely giving up on the idea that we... you know... might be able to get away with just taking an all-night transport to the Sanctuary or whatever they're calling it... and if we can find a train that goes there, I think we should definitely take that... but in a worst case scenario, Cherry, do you think you could pilot something like the new lightweight aerial transports they've designed safely? And the key word there is ‘safely,' by the way."

"Shit, no problem... you worry too much, Boss." Cherry said airily, waving a hand and continuing to grin as she added cheerfully: "I hear the new LSTT1171 is designed entirely around the concept of goin' real fast over long distances to avoid enemy fighters and ground defenses... I mean, these things are damn fast, and they run off the same modified power cell system as everything else these days, so they have a range of something like ten thousand miles or some shit... but sure, if I keep my eyes on the prize, I could get us there no problem... the only thing is like... they'd be able to see our arrival, yeah?"

"Yeah, so that's another reason I want to avoid that if possible." Zerrex rubbed at his head slowly, and then he sighed a bit, adding quietly: "But we'll do whatever we have to do. Train, plane, transport truck, or however else... we'll find our way to the Republic's bunker... but I just hope not too late?"

"When's too late?" Mahihko asked quietly, and Cherry snorted a bit at this as Zerrex looked over at him with a bit of a smile. It's not that dumb a question, Cherry.

"Once we hear about severe demon invasions occurring in several other countries... or once a major invasion begins here and we're forced to turn our own attention to other things." Zerrex said quietly, nodding and glancing over the others grimly. "And once that happens... it's going to be the Great War all over again, and there's no reason it has to be. If the countries work together this time instead of Ire railroading everything, it doesn't have to be another seven years of Hell followed by decades of rebuilding."

"Decades that may never take place if this keeps up." Cindy murmured softly, glancing down, and Mahihko followed her eyes as he rested quietly against her side, closing his own... and even Marina glanced away at that. But I guess no matter how much she believes Daddy should be on top... it's not that much power if you have nothing to rule.