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After a short side-trip, however, they managed to come out onto a dusty plateau that had been stripped barren of trees and grass, and they paused for a moment as Vampire whispered over his shoulder to the group: "There's some mountains ahead, and a definite structure of some kind... big-ass walls, turrets, ain't nothin' friendly about it. Turn twenty degrees to the left and move about thirty feet forwards, do it real slowly."

The others nodded and followed Vampire's instructions carefully, and the demonic wolf leaned carefully out of the rim of the shell, taking great pains to stay inside the illusionary Great Conch. "Yeah, we got a pair of big-ass metal gates... and mounted weaponry on the walls. There's a few grunts patrolling with what look like crossbows, they're giving us a look but they don't seem all that intimidated or worried, and I don't really blame them... gates are so goddamn tall that they're almost the same height as this huge-ass shell. Let's turn thirty degrees to the right and approach for... forty feet, then hunker down."

Again, they moved carefully... until finally Cypress drew slightly backwards as Vampire ran towards the back of the shell, the others putting down their makeshift handles. They stood for a moment, Cypress still facing the front and Desire breathing quietly as she maintained the illusion, and then Zerrex walked towards the opening to look out at the tall metal walls and barred, heavy-duty gates. There were indeed a few demons - low class soldier demons that didn't look in the best of shape - that were walking back and forth along the tops of the walls, and they didn't seem overly concerned with the shell... but then they were joined by another demon for a moment, before all three vanished.

"They might be changing the guard... the gates are probably runed or shielded, and they're nestled in the steep cliffs of a mountain range... probably well-protected from all sides, with a few escape tunnels here and there." The Drakkaren paused, then he winced when the huge gates swung slowly open, and a pair of large buggies rolled out. "Crap, we got mortal technology and demons coming at us-"

"Move it." Cherry half-shoved him out of the way as she cocked the hammer of her revolver back and rose it, and she took aim at the first: a minotaur holding a long lance out that was sparking at the end, riding in the little four-wheeled vehicle and quickly driving towards them with his partner behind. Then she grinned, and whispered: "Perfect."

Cherry's first shot took out the minotaur's front tire, and he lost control of his vehicle, flying into the air and flipping over with a yell... before her second shot rang out - horrendously loud inside the shell, Desire gritting her teeth as she fought to maintain concentration - and hit the bottom of the lance's handle as the minotaur flew through the air, and it was knocked out of his grasp, flying backwards to skewer his partner through the chest before the minotaur crashed into the ground with a loud grunt... and a third and final shot blew away the back of his head and kept him down as Cherry winked and spun her revolver rapidly. A pause as she looked around at them all, and then she glanced dumbly upwards as the humongous gates opened wider and a Wentaku appeared between them, yelling something angrily as demons stormed out and several others immediately ran for the turrets. "They uh. They probably heard that, huh?"

"Come on, charge, before they start destroying evidence!" Zerrex shouted, and the Drakkaren shot forwards, followed quickly by the others as Desire let the illusion drop, staying back for a moment to gather her wits about her. Cypress hesitated, then she went quickly back to stay with her sister instead of charging into combat with the others, and the females traded a faint smile before Desire nodded, the two bringing up the rear.

Zerrex pulled Fell Tempest off his back and snap-drew the blade, cutting down two demons like hay as the sword sighed softly, and three more of the soldiers for the facility immediately fled as their ranks were met by the superior power of the Drakkaren's handpicked team, Cherry's whip and Vampire's spear ripping through opponents as Priest and Bondage covered their flanks with gunfire. Then Cypress and Desire joined the battle, and the Lamia shot ahead of the crowd, easily deflecting the attacks of a spiked, ugly lizard demons known as a Swamp Spine before she stabbed two blades down through it.

A Salamander charged in with a maul, cocking it back as it aimed at Cypress's vulnerable left side... and Desire leapt over her sister, chopping cleanly through the draconic demon and bringing it down before she swung outwards, gritting her teeth and meeting a minotaur in mid-swing. At the doors, the Wentaku who appeared to be acting as some kind of field commander was yelling more orders... and then he stared in shock when Zerrex seemed to appear out of nowhere in front of him, before the reptile sliced Fell Tempest upwards and cut the demon into halves before he could even begin a spell, and the Drakkaren snarled as he caught the first glimpse of the courtyard beyond.

It was a wide, cement area filled with crates, walled-off by buildings that were end-to-end on either side... and at the very end of the courtyard was a huge, silver-runed ring that had a flickering white rift spiraling slowly between it: a dimensional gate. Mages were standing in front of this, yelling at each other... and then one of them saw Zerrex and yelped, and he yelled something as demons ran for several pairs of large sliding barn doors Zerrex thought probably led to escape hatches... and then the doors were blown off their hinges, and demons scattered as Zerrex winced and shouted over his shoulder, to where the others were just finishing cleaning up the scattered group: "We got Combat Armors!"

"Shit!" Cherry snarled as she joined Zerrex, the two charging towards the dozen or so hulking, ugly steel devices: they were low-grade in design, but both reptiles had no doubt they'd be extremely dangerous nonetheless, and probably enhanced by demonic magic on top of the threat they already posed. The design for them was simple enough: a large pair of metal legs and arms that locked shut over a person's own limbs, with a heavy, thick clear metal shield that closed from the top over the main body.

As mortals, they had dealt with these kinds of war machine plenty of times... and Zerrex noted that these ones, at least, were less well-armed. A minigun for one hand and a sparking, U-shaped taser claw for the other... and the reptile grinned coldly as Fell Tempest murmured in his hand: it was almost too easy.

Then the machines opened fire, and while Cherry danced and slid back and forth through the hail of bullets, Zerrex covered his face and cursed as he was knocked backwards by a hailstorm of searing hot bullets. Behind him, Desire tried to cover herself with her cleaver as the bullet storm tore past her as well, ripping small gouges in her scales, and then she shouted an incantation that created a magical, greenish wall in front of her that deflected the rounds. "Golems! Magical machinations!"

"Nah, they're just the machine part!" Priest called as he ran up beside her, and he created a ball of fire in one hand before he threw it hard into the crowd. It struck one of the armors and exploded, and the exoskeletal suit staggered backwards before falling heavily to the ground, Priest making a disgusted face. "Come on, we need to-"

He was cut off by two loud thuds, and the pair both looked up just in time to catch sight of two large rockets flying through the air, fired from the rooftops. They crashed into the greenish shield and exploded, dissolving it and sending the two flying backwards, and Cypress snarled as she joined the fray, even as Bondage ran over to help Desire up with one hand, the other firing his handgun wildly in the direction the rockets had come from.

Zerrex, meanwhile, had been joined by Vampire... and the two were plowing through the machinery as some of them swung and others fired randomly even at their own allies, the Drakkaren slashing the katana as easily through the metal as he swung it through the air and cutting off limbs as he dodged strikes from the heavy, awkward claws: the bullets, on the other hand, weren't so easily, and he was bleeding heavily from one leg. Vampire had done a hell of a job of covering him, though... and as an arm tried to sneak up behind him, the demonic wolf leapt on top of it and stabbed his spear straight down through the clear metal shield, cracking it and impaling the operator, and the machine continued to stagger dumbly forwards as Zerrex looked over his back before he rolled out of the way as Vampire performed a graceful backflip off the Combat Armor.

It rammed into a fellow device as the machine swung its claw outwards to try and stop it, and instead both metal exoskeletons were electrocuted for a few moments before they both went up in a gout of flame. Then Vampire and Zerrex traded a high-five and a grin as they ran in opposite directions past the burning wreckage, Zerrex heading for the last two nearby and Vampire running over to help Cherry.

The female had taken down two war machines on her own, already, and had one arm of the third wrapped tightly in her whips and twisted up behind it, the metal bent in ways metal was never supposed to bend as the operator inside screamed as the others pummeled him. In Cherry's other hand was her revolver... and as the three Combat Armors left all ceased to fire for a moment, she spun out from cover, firing off the three rounds left in the revolver into one pneumatic leg of a machine, and it toppled stupidly forwards before Cherry grabbed the second armor by the body before she roared as she twisted around, metal screaming against metal as her whip threatened to rip off its arm before it sailed into the air as she threw it hard at one of the other remaining war machines.

Both armors crashed over in a pile of useless metal, one of the riders crushed beneath several tons of steel and the other pierced by awkwardly-broken chunks of metal, with one arm hanging by mere strings from his body... and the last armor staggered backwards before it tried to turn around and run, but a moment later, a spear tore through its vulnerable, open side, killing the rider before Vampire drew the weapon quickly back as the minotaur's body rapidly began to rot, falling away to ash and bone within moment as he grinned at Cherry... but she only snorted and rolled her eyes as she snapped the revolver open with a flick of her wrist and produced a speed loader, snapping it into place before she drew it away... and six bullets appeared not only in the gun, but in the empty-for-but-seconds speed-loader as well, as she tucked it back into her pocket. Then she said conversationally: "There's another wave coming, by the way. Hey, Desire, Cypress, Priest, get your asses over here! And where the hell's Bondage?"

Priest pointed at the rooftop, and Cherry looked up to see the zebra grappling with another demon near the edge before the latter was thrown off, and he fell with a scream, limbs flailing before he hit the ground with a sick crack. Then Bondage vanished, and she snorted in amusement before her eyes flicked to Zerrex, who was running quickly away from an open doorway as bullets tore out of it with a whistling whine. "Well, that's our cue. I got an idea, how about you guys try it out this time? They ain't so tough."

Even as they got into position, the others glared at her: Priest slowly creating a fireball between his hands, Cypress with all four swords at the ready, Desire holding up her cleaver as her eyes glowed. Cherry grinned widely, and then she tucked her revolver back in its holster before she drew the sword at her side slowly, holding it up as the chain dangled loosely from it, rolling her whip up to attach it absently back at her side. "Let's see if I still got the moves."

Zerrex was in less of an entertained mood than Cherry: he was also sporting far more bruises, and he made a face as he headed for the mages that were still arguing beside the portal, ignoring the approaching second wave of Combat Armors for the moment. They looked up at him as he came in close, and one of them rose his hands, as if to try and ward him off with some weak spell... but the Drakkaren easily sliced him in half, instantly turning him to ashes before he snapped the blade down to just slice into the second mage's shoulders, the black-robed skeleton giving a squeak as he roses his arms and babbled: "Don't kill me!"

"Where's the head of this facility? I need answers, and now!" Zerrex grabbed him by the collar and hefted him into the air, and the skeleton yelped before pointing wildly at the doors through which no less than nine more Combat Armors were now trying to emerge... but they had already been engaged by most of the group, as another demon plummeted off the rooftops thanks to Bondage.

Zerrex hesitated for a moment, wondering what to do with the mage... and then he grinned before he turned and threw him at the portal, and he vanished through it, Zerrex figuring that would at least keep him out of the way for the moment. Then he grasped Fell Tempest in both hands... before he stared stupidly as one of the doors to the side building was kicked open and a goat-headed demon in full plate mail emerged, a rocket launcher already aimed at the lizard.

He fired, and Zerrex considered dodging for a moment before the rocket struck him and exploded, sending him flying backwards to hit the wall with enough force to stick into it, concrete shattering around him like glass, limbs spread-eagled and huge sword still in his hand. Desire had flinched, a long gash on her muzzle now from the sword catching her in the face... and then she looked up with a snarl at the goatling as he shook the rocket launcher, apparently not understanding that it couldn't be reloaded before she rose a hand, and the goat demon's eyes went wide before golden flames burst up into being around it and consumed it in a matter of seconds.

Zerrex peeled off the wall and fell to the ground, head-ringing and looking stupefied... and he staggered slowly to his feet with a groan, before watching as Priest literally punched over a Combat Armor before he set the driver inside on fire, circuitry sparking and the machine smoking as the demon wearing the armor screamed and writhed in agony. Then the huge Dragokkaren demon looked over at him, asking him a question he didn't understand... before Cherry ran up, tagged Priest, and sent him towards the open doorway even as she almost absently lashed her weapon out to spear straight through the shield and into another driver's heart.

His suit collapsed uselessly on its haunches as she tore the weapon, the Great Diviner, back to her hand, catching it with the ease of a talented child catching his yo-yo... before she ran up to Zerrex, who was standing with his hair burnt and his body covered in char marks. She slapped him, and he blinked before glaring at her... and she poked his chest accusingly, shouting over the sound of another demon screaming: "That was stupid!"

Zerrex snorted, then he glanced over his shoulder as a nearby door was jerked open and a demon came running out... and he rose his arm almost absently, clotheslining the Swamp Spine that came running out, and he fell dazed on his back. "Yeah, well, I didn't know where everyone behind me was! People hesitate, Cherry; I'm a people, not a superhero like you." A pause as he stomped the Swamp Spine in the stomach, knocking all the fight out of it with a wheeze. "The others are handling the Combat Armors goddamn well."

It was true: they were down to three, and they had all taken on minimal wounds... and working together, Zerrex knew the rest of the armors would fall quickly. Then he shook his head, bringing himself back to his senses as he said clearly: "Cherry, investigate the buildings here, send Bondage to the other side when he gets down from the roof and do what you will with the others. Vampire, you're with me!"

Vampire immediately perked up from where he was trying to get a shot in against the machines... and the moment he looked over at Zerrex, the war machine swung at him, his neck cracking loudly as his head spun to an awkward position, and he fell over on his side with a yelp. It left the legs of the device vulnerable, however, and Desire immediately cut one of the legs clean off... and whatever fight had been in the operator went out of him as he screamed in agony, blood gushing from the wound as his minigun fired wildly into the air.

Then Vampire climbed to his feet as Zerrex ran by in a low crouch, wincing at the bullets sailing wildly in all directions... and the black wolf joined him as they ran past piled combat armors and into a large, open warehouse. More armors stood silent sentinel, and there were large piles of crates - some open and all manner of mortal junk spilled out onto the ground - and Zerrex made a face as he walked over to one, noting that someone had gone to great lengths to try and scrub away the company logo.

Vampire looked back and forth as he rested his spear on his shoulder, rubbing at his neck absently as the wound in his body visibly healed, a few bullets popping out of him: regeneration had been his greatest ability in life, and now as a demon, it made him almost on par with an old enemy that had trouble Zerrex on several occasions. He paused after a moment, then he leaned forwards and asked mildly: "So tell me, Boss. What do we do about those other demons in here?"

Immediately, one of the hiding demons squeaked, and someone else shushed him violently... and Zerrex sighed, rolling his eyes as he shifted through the junk, ignoring the sounds of combat and Cherry's yelled orders outside. "Leave them alone. Easier on them if they surrender, after all... they should know by now that I'll follow anyone I caught mixed up in this level of mess to the ends of Hell."

He crouched by an open crate, picking up some music CDs... then he tossed them down with a look of disgust before pointing at an open door ahead, and Vampire nodded, giving a pair of buggies that were sitting next to a rusted mortal car a strange look as he passed them. Zerrex followed after a moment, marveling at the sheer amount of mortal junk they'd stuffed into the warehouse and confident that the hidden demons wouldn't attack... and then they both stopped in the doorway as they looked out at some sort of inner courtyard, lit from above by a huge hole in the ceiling, several ramps leading up to open archways in the walls, the ground beneath tiled and flat as a voice Zerrex recognized after only a moment shouted: "You promised safety! Security! What the fuck, dude? I can't have this asshole find out that I'm mixed up in all this."

"That hurts my feelings." Zerrex said loudly, and the two that had been arguing looked at him with surprise: or rather, one of them looked horrified as the other snarled in disgust. The one on the right Zerrex didn't recognize... but the left one, oh, he knew exactly who the huge badger was, as he staggered backwards, his jaw working wordlessly.

Tank began to shiver violently as he rose his hands, waving them back and forth. He was shirtless, showing off huge muscles that looked insignificant nonetheless with how terrified he was, a pair of small triangular horns on his head. Tank, who had killed Tinny, caused Felicity's death, and performed countless other atrocities... who had wanted to capture his daughter and kill him in a deathtrap while he was off fighting Requiem. Zerrex had killed him by mistake in a battle years later, when Tank had literally attached himself into a mobile turret in a second last-ditch attempt at murdering Zerrex... and now he looked as scared of him as he'd ever been, as he babbled: "Boss, hey, look, I've changed... it was his idea, him, he's the leader of the Rogues!"

He pointed wildly at the other figure that Zerrex didn't recognize, and the male snorted in distaste as he flicked his long, multicolored hair. It hung down in stylized tendrils, the locks thick near the top and thinning out after several feet, and each had a main body of white... but also a streak of gold and purple. He was taller than Tank, but shorter than Zerrex at seven feet... and his fur was a glossy black that made his dark eyes almost invisible, his features prim and pretty... a face that could be insanely jealous or coldly furious in a moment, but from his disdainful yet measuring expression... a face that had never known happiness.

His body was lithe, but it was hard to tell: he wore a five-layered belt around his waist that went all the way up his abdominals, and a tight bandolier that crisscrossed an athletic chest. Black, expensive pants on his lower body, and a huge, stylized trenchcoat that covered most of his form... purple on the inside, edged with gold, the rest of it spotless, pristine black leather that had a massive K-shaped double collar he wore in such a way as if to try and give his face a mysterious look, but it only made him look pretentious instead. Hands in fingerless gloves that had buttons of gold that was literally pure gold, and feet in stylish black boots with platform heels... Zerrex couldn't help but grin. All that pretty, custom-made gear probably costs more money than Hell's banks have in reserve... and they're about to get all ruined.

"Hey, you're the dude that killed Tinny, ain't you?" Vampire said after a moment, frowning thoughtfully, and when Tank paled and swallowed, the black wolf leapt forwards, shaking a fist and raging: "Only me and Cherry and the Cap'n get to abuse Tinny, you little piece of shit! I'm gonna kick your ass to Hell... I mean... I'm going to make you eat your shoes!"

Since Tank wasn't wearing shoes, this made as much sense as the first statement... but he got the gist of it and screeched as he ran for the gatling gun sitting on a crate nearby, and he just managed to grab it before Vampire got in behind him, cocking his spear back and swinging it hard enough into the badger's ass to knock him into the air with a screech. He landed on one of the ramps on all fours, and he immediately began to scramble for the doorway as Vampire called: "I'll get him good, Cap'n! You take care of that fop!"

"Fops can be dangerous, Lord Zerrex... especially when you don't know who they are." The being - Zerrex hesitated for some reason to call it either a demon or angel, and he didn't know why - reached down and pulled a hexagonal piece of metal off his belt, smiling vindictively. His dark eyes burned in his skull, and then he held it out... and Zerrex's eyes widened as he saw the purple rune on the metal glow before three hellhounds materialized out of nowhere, the quadrupedal demons snarling and leaking magma and smoke from their jaws, their eyes red and wild and their bodies black and not furred, but instead covered in slick, bumpy skin that glistened in the light emanated from their own hellish maws.

Then the otter bowed deeply and elegantly, but he didn't take his eyes off Zerrex even as his long hair curled over his face, saying calmly: "Excuse my manners, High King... my name is Loki, and I am an Emissary... a bringer of a sacred word." He said the last with no small amount of sarcasm, rolling his eyes before he straightened and brushed himself off, rune still in hand as he smiled coldly and pronounced: "Get him."

The hellhounds immediately all leapt forwards, snarling... before they were knocked backwards with mixed yelps as Zerrex swung Fell Tempest out easily, and the sword murmured in disapproval as the three demon dogs lay on the ground, two of them moving weakly and one of them dead, its body dissolving back into nothingness as Zerrex said mildly, Loki looking shocked: "You don't have a lot of experience with people like me, do you?"

Tank, meanwhile, had set himself near the top of the ramp, his gatling gun firing wildly into Vampire... but the demonic wolf simply kept stomping forwards, snarling and holding his spear up and at the ready even as he flinched to one side or the other now and then, most of his stomach missing and his ribcage visible... and then he lunged forwards and stabbed through Tank's stomach, and the badger howled in agony before he was lifted up into the air by a triumphant demon wolf, Vampire shaking him back and forth and dislodging the gatling gun from Tank's hand before he spun around and smashed him down into the ground.

Tank's body bounced once, and Vampire grunted as he stabbed downwards, pinning the badger as the spear tore through him and sank into the earth, Vampire vaulting gracefully over his body, then landing with a wince, his intestines sagging half-out of his body before they curled quickly upwards, the demonic wolf cracking his neck as he stood up and crossed his arms. "You killed someone real precious to me, asshole. Now I'm just gonna have to show you why we remember our manners 'round people we don't know."

Loki and Zerrex, meanwhile, were staring with distaste at each other... and then the otter snorted before he held up his rune again: before he could complete the summoning, however, Zerrex leaned forwards and slashed Fell Tempest smoothly outwards, and Loki flinched backwards, the hexagon flying from his hand and the rune on it slashed neatly in half. The otter grasped his wrist with a look of surprise, and then he snarled furiously as the hellhounds attempting to crawl to their feet in front of him vanished from sight, the Drakkaren saying quietly as he leveled his long sword at the male: "You don't scare me in the slightest."

"I should." Loki said darkly, and then he crouched before throwing himself into the air, the Drakkaren staring as he somehow flew all the way up to the opening hundreds of feet above, landing smoothly on his feet across from Bondage... and he fluttered his fingers in a little wave with one hand before he lashed out with the other, and a psychic whip of energy wrapped tightly around the zebra's throat before Loki jerked him forwards and into the gap.

Bondage fell as Zerrex cursed, leaping into the air as his angelic wings burst from his back, and then the lizard smiled grimly as Bondage spun around and created a parachute out of leather, holding tightly onto the straps for dear life, and the Drakkaren twisted around him before flying up through the gap. He was surprised instead when he saw Loki fleeing, a pair of white, angelic wings extended from his own back... but as Zerrex shot forwards, he realized the wings didn't connect to him, and they were only semisolid: it was like somehow, the simple vision of wings was giving the male the ability to fly.

The otter looked over his shoulder in shock as Zerrex approached... and then the reptile slammed an elbow down through the strange, semi-illusionary wings to smash him in the middle of the spine, and Loki fell from the air with a howl, spinning violently before he flipped around and crashed into the dusty ground. Zerrex dropped to the ground several feet away, wincing as his wings furled and vanished from sight, a few feathers of energy floating around him before they too turned to nothing but motes of energy as Loki snarled at him, his pretty features warped by the expression as his hair fell over his eyes, disheveled clothes looking even more ridiculous on him now than they did before. "Lord Zerrex... back away. You have no idea what you are up against..."

"I never do, yet I usually come out on top." Zerrex said mildly, and the Drakkaren straightened as he faced off against the being, before he asked quietly: "What the hell are you?"

"I am a demigod, Lord Zerrex... a mere paltry shadow..." Loki stood and spread his arms with a dark smile, and the Drakkaren readied himself, raising Fell Tempest in front of him as the sword whispered encouragement, a bit of dark energy dripping from the blade like blood. Demons and angels were one thing... but Zerrex had dealt with gods on few occasions, and it rarely worked out well for him. But he's underestimated me so far... and I don't want to overestimate him.

Gods, unlike what many mortals still thought, were mostly unconnected with Heaven and Hell. Gods did exist there, and many were even worshipped... while others were mere shadows of their former glory, doing paperwork and errands and muttering about the old days before they'd been struck down. And Zerrex knew that once upon a time, when God had been alive... there had also existed terrible Old Gods like the Princess that was trapped inside him: beings of formidable, surrealistic powers that he knew he'd be lucky to survive against alone.

He also got the sense Loki wasn't lying: he didn't exude the might of a god, but his powers were still beyond that of any normal demon or angel, and there was a special aura about him. As a demigod, however, it meant that one of his parents was anything from a mortal to any supernatural being... and Zerrex carefully observed him as the otter stood and wiped himself off, visibly working to calm himself down before he gave that smug smile again.

Then he slammed a hand suddenly down into the ground, shouting an incantation... and Zerrex's eyes widened in horror as three massive Gigataurs appeared in front of him, all of them carrying gigantic stone hammers. Gigataurs were greatly-evolved minotaurs, over sixty feet tall with fangs and jagged teeth, huge horns, and covered in bulging muscles. Demonic commanders and titanic heavy infantry, they were difficult to stop once they got going... and Zerrex had the sense that these three would give him a run for his money.

He snarled as they approached, before ducking under a hammer strike as they roared, the reptile rolling away from another as he saw Loki - running away? That doesn't make sense, he should know that I can't-

Zerrex cursed as another Gigataur stomped forwards and swung his hammer down, the reptile bringing his sword up to block the attack... and the hammer passed right through him, the Drakkaren looking confused before he snarled as he realized they were illusions. Immediately, he started to run after the demigod... but before he could catch up, Loki grinned and spun around, pointing at him, and the Gigataurs exploded into fireworks, the lightshow blinding Zerrex temporarily and leaving behind a thick cloud of smoke that choked him and burned his eyes, his nose clogged with the stench of magnesium and sulfur.

After about ten seconds, he managed to stagger out of the cloud, waving Fell Tempest back and forth as the sword sighed in disappointment, and he opened his teary eyes to see that Loki had vanished from sight. It didn't surprise him... and Zerrex made a disgusted face as he sheathed his sword, realizing he'd lost a valuable target. If Tank was telling the truth - which was a fifty-fifty chance, but by now Vampire had likely persuaded him to be a bit more honest if he hadn't killed him yet - then he could have taken out a serious threat right here and then... and instead, it had slipped through his fingers like so much dust. The Drakkaren sighed quietly as he shook his head slowly, muttering to himself, and finally he trudged back towards the encampment, figuring they could at least dig some information out of the survivors.

Ten minutes later, and they had all the survivors in the courtyard, most of them missing limbs and splattered with blood, a few of them looking shellshocked, as if they'd just survived a bombing strike. Demons, after all, despite all the legends about them, were often just soldiers and people too... and even though a good number did exist that were even crueler than any story could say, many more were pureblood demons who had never done more than toil away at their average, day-to-day jobs.

The reptile walked slowly around the group they'd captured, looking thoughtfully down at them before he finally settled on a Wentaku, who winced away when Zerrex leaned down. The Drakkaren wasn't exactly a pretty sight, after all... covered in blood, dust, and weapons, and feeling grouchy, he probably looked like he wanted to gut something and had settled on a victim. "Where does that portal come out?"

"It... it changes every few hours." the Wentaku said finally, and the Drakkaren's eyes narrowed: that was not the answer he'd wanted to hear. The mage seemed to catch his drift, and he screeched: "It follows a schedule set up by the mortals, the portal changes when they want to shift something through or when we're supposed to send people to the physical plane to provide slaves for their camps!"

What? Mercy! "Tell me everything you know, now!" Zerrex's eyes glowed emerald, and when the Wentaku only screamed, he felt his Dominate ability lash out as their eyes met: their wills battled for a moment, and then the Wentaku surrendered, a bit of drool falling from his mouth as he gaped stupidly up at Zerrex before the reptile asked softly: "I am looking for a young female, could easily pass as mortal except for the Mark of Silence on her muzzle. Tell me where she went."

"We aren't told the destinations... she passed through the portal with a large group. On the other side, they use trucks to haul them away... most of the destinations are in the countries called Ire and Lunis, however." the Wentaku said slowly, as if fighting lethargy. "We're told that they're taken to special facilities that no demon can penetrate. They're building something for the mortals... and in return the mortals provide the Miserable Ones with equipment and crystals..."

Zerrex nodded, then he stood, looking around at the others: Cherry was a bit bruised and dirty, but that was the extent of her injuries... while the rest had wounds varying from scratches, to a broken arm in Cypress's case. She was bearing up well, though, as Desire carefully set the limb before healing it, the Lamia gritting her teeth but not flinching as Desire worked with a stoic expression on her bloody muzzle. She caught her father looking, and then offered him a smile before he tapped her cheek and said quietly: "I'm sorry about that."

"You took a rocket for me. It's nothing." Desire replied quietly, and she had true respect in her eyes. Then she grasped Cypress's broken limb firmly in her hands, and the Lamia hissed in pain before it turned to relief as the limb glowed and the damage healed. "There. Best I can do for now."

Cypress moved her arm with little discomfort, and Zerrex thought they had all done extremely well: they'd captured some dozen and change enemies, as well as the import base. He could easily set a squad of Royal Guards here to capture the next few shipments before anyone would even have a chance to go to the mortal realm and warn whoever was sending the gear in... and then he glanced up and smiled grimly as Vampire came down with Tank, tears streaming down the badger's face as he didn't dare move a muscle: the demonic wolf had wrapped Tank neatly up in his own intestines. "Well, look who we have here. Up to your old tricks, I see."

"Fuck you." Tank croaked, and Zerrex rose a hand when Vampire rose the butt of his spear to strike him. He settled for giving the badger a deep grimace, and the male gritted his teeth, rasping: "Some good guy you are... down here in Hell with me and the rest of the scum. Ellie must just love that."

"Felicity is here too. I'm sure she'll be real glad to see you, Tank. She'll probably even give you a telekinetic hug." Zerrex said mildly, and Tank paled, shaking his head in denial as the Drakkaren looked at him with dry amusement. "Oh, so in that case, you're going to cooperate with me a little bit?"

Tank only mumbled in response, but the reptile figured that probably meant a big yes. He smiled a bit, and then he walked over to look down into his eyes, asking calmly and coldly: "What do you know about the Miserable Ones?"

"Full protection, or you don't get jack shit." Tank immediately whispered, and then he added in at trembling voice: "And you get that fucking psychotic monster away from me and untangle me."

Zerrex thought for a moment about hauling him into the air by his guts and seeing how long it took for Tank to spill his guts; either literally or figuratively, the Drakkaren knew that both would likely happen in fairly quick succession. But then he calmed himself, before a familiar squeak sounded at his feet, and the reptile looked down to see his pseudodragon looking up at him with a tilt of his head.

Before the battle, the reptile had sent Sammy away, despite the tiny pet's protests... but he thought it was pretty likely Sammy hadn't gone very far. The two looked at one-another for a moment, and then the Drakkaren sighed, giving Tank a mild look. "I'll put you in a safe place, Tank, let's put it that way. And here, I'll deal with these right now."

Zerrex reached down and pulled his knife out of his boot, and Tank's eyes bulged before he screamed as the lizard slashed through his intestines, freeing him but also spilling his innards all over the floor. He hugged himself, trembling and crying as he fell on his knees, and then he looked up, asking weakly: "Haven't I suffered enough?"

"Tank, I want to fix people like you." Zerrex replied quietly, and the badger blinked a few times before the reptile went on, as he held the knife point-down into the male's nose: "But some people like you can't be fixed, and instead have to either be put in a place where they can no longer hurt anyone, like the Abyss... or simply destroyed, for the safety and security of Hell and others. Petty crime is one thing, Tank, petty crimes will always be around, and hell, even passionate murders... but cowards like you with lukewarm blood at best who continue to try and manipulate the system to their advantage, one day I hope they're either all fixed or all gone. You don't deserve to live... and you don't seem to realize how many people you're putting in danger by joining with the Miserable Ones."

"It seemed like a good idea at the time?" Tank pled, holding his hands together as he looked up at him with a tremble, and Zerrex closed his eyes as the male looked around for support. Cherry only looked at the badger with disgust and hatred, and Vampire had utter loathing in his black irises... but then he finally looked up at Bondage, who was shaking his head in pity. "Hey, hey, you... do you know what I'm saying?"

"I used to. But now I realize how senseless those words are." Bondage said quietly, before he looked over at Zerrex, adding softly: "Let's put him in a prison for the time being, with full guard... not a Pit of Torment. I get the feeling our friend here is going to squeal soon and we'll want him alive for that."

"I will, I'll tell you everything I know, everything!" Tank babbled, losing all traces of his usual machismo attitude in the face of death. He looked back and forth in terror, then finally broke down crying, covering his head as he begged: "Just don't send me back to the Inquisitors... not no more, not no more!"

Zerrex finally looked down at him, feeling a bit of pity tugging at his chest despite himself. He shook his head slowly, then he finally glanced over at Cherry, asking her quietly: "Can you take him to the Arctic Penitentiary in the Circle of Tragedy without killing him? It's got the best guard."

Cherry grunted, but then she nodded before saying darkly: "Just gimme one thing." A pause, and then she kicked Tank hard in the side, and he screamed in pain, clutching at his broken ribs and looking up at her with teary eyes that begged for mercy, but got only cold hate in return. "That's a bit better. Get up, shithead. And no tricks. I am not in the fucking mood."

Tank crawled slowly to all fours, and Cherry grabbed him and roughly hauled him upwards, the male whimpering in pain before she created a portal and stepped through it, looking moody and vicious. Zerrex thought she would probably keep Tank alive, however, if only because she had been ordered to... before he looked around at the rest of his motley crew and shook his head, saying quietly: "Time to clean up and get out."

The Drakkaren sat quietly in the center chair in his ceremonial robes, brooding and tapping both hands against the table. The entire Throne Room was empty and quiet, and the repaired table seemed a horribly lonely place... but he had just finished being lectured, briefed, and debriefed, and he was in no mood for anything jolly.

It had been almost ten hours since they had finished scouring the site for illegal imports; it had been quick work after bringing in two platoons of Royal Guards to aid in the operation and take up the posts. While they had been working, some mortals had tried to smuggle in several large crates of stuff... and they had been captured easily and were currently being interrogated, as was Tank. He'd arrived badly-beaten at the Penitentiary, but he'd arrived alive, and that was what mattered.

Cherry had likely gone to bed, and the rest of the crew had been dismissed as well, back to their usual duties. Lily had berated him and Sin for a while with most of the council present, and the Drakkaren felt humiliated, even though he knew he'd done the right thing. Selena still hadn't reported in... but Halpas's dead body had been discovered, missing an arm, his lower jaw, and charred almost beyond recognition, so Zerrex knew Selena was alive somewhere, possibly hiding out somewhere to avoid being caught by any of Halpas's goons who wanted revenge for permanently cancelling their chances at promotion.

Zerrex did not like feeling humiliated: it was the worst feeling in the world, and Lily should know better by now, whether she was worried or not about Selena and Mercy. So now he sat here still, trying to rein in his anger and control himself, wanting to be alone to the point where even Sin had been glad to tend to Cherry and leave him alone.

Finally, Zerrex stood up, thought about throwing a tantrum and smashing everything to bits, and he resisted the urge. He wanted to go somewhere and be alone, but he was too tired to think of any spot in Hell that might offer some privacy even while he was in these robes. So instead he simply paced slowly back and forth, trying to sort things out in his mind and get himself focused on something, so his other feelings would dissipate some.

He settled after a few moments on Sin's operation, but he realized too late it was a bad choice: after all, she had been half-congratulated, even if she'd been yelled at too for taking too many risks with the battle. There had been few casualties, however - I had no casualties, how the hell did I do worse? Goddammit! - and she had successfully exterminated the outpost and crumbled Halpas's entire smuggling operation. Zerrex had been proud of her... still was proud of her... but he felt aggravated as well, and bitter that he had been yelled at so much by someone who had supported the operation until now.

Finally, he turned around... then made a face when he saw Sammy sitting on the table, waving his long tail back and forth. He sighed as he walked over to him, and then he said quietly as he sat down, stroking his head gently: "I'm sorry, but I'm not very good company right now. Lily embarrassed me in front of the entire council... and... I really don't like that."

Sammy made a monstrous face, baring his teeth and squinting his eyes... and Zerrex smiled a bit, nodding even as his features remained tense. "That's how I felt, exactly. See? I'm not cut out at all for this job... I don't take criticism well and I get all childish and bitchy about the most inane things. Goddammit, I really want to be free of all these responsibilities... or at least... congratulated that I managed to do something... something good. Is it so wrong that I want to find my daughter so badly I'm willing to take a risk or two? Everyone made it out fine... even I survived, and usually I'm beaten to hell by the end of things."

Sammy nodded a few times, then he leaned up and nibbled at Zerrex's hair for a moment, before he tilted his head to the side as a quiet voice said: "Congrats, Zer. Especially on the whole 'staying alive' part."

Zerrex turned around with surprise to see Selena standing there, looking battered and worn, but whole. Her arm was in a sling and the lower limb wrapped in a golden, metallic cast, and she had a few nasty scorch marks over her form... but she had a bit of a smile on her face, and she was still wearing her leathers, even if now they were tattered to Hell. Then the reptile glanced up to see that the top part of her horn had snapped off... and the Drakkaren said quietly, as he walked forwards and stopped in front of her: "That doesn't usually heal."

"So what? You got that, I got this." Selena reached out and traced around his burnt eye, and then she hugged him tightly, and he hugged her back, squeezing her gently against his strong chest as she closed her eyes, breathing softly. "Fuck you for sending me on a crazy-ass near-suicide mission."

"Fuck you for accepting." Zerrex replied quietly, and Selena smiled slightly up at him as she leaned away, poking his chest a few times. The Drakkaren only shrugged however, laughing dryly. "What? I'm in a bad mood."

"Must be. Usually the worst I hear coming out of your mouth is 'bastard' or 'bitch.'" Selena remarked, and then she took his hand as they walked over towards one side of the Throne Room. They looked at the grey wall together, and then she gazed at him, saying quietly: "We need some art up here, you know that?"

"Yeah. Now what happened with Halpas?" Zerrex tilted his head, and Selena gave him that grouchy 'give me a second' look she often did. So he sighed in exasperation, but he could feel his anger draining away in both concern and faint entertainment at the Dius and her casual behavior. "You look like crap, by the way."

"Fuck you double, asshole." Selena muttered, then she shook her head before beginning mildly: "So okay, like. The dude had a shitload of artillery, and he wasn't welcoming visitors. When I got to him, he had a pair of big-ass Gigataurs out, and a whole lot of infantry, which I dealt with mostly by myself... although okay, okay, I brought a contingent of Royal Guards along, too, and they held up good for their part of the deal. It was like... Halpas knew I was comin' to kill him, though, and the fucker really put up a hell of a run, then a hell of a fight.

"I chased him all over the place, finally cornered him inside the dining room, and he decided to fight instead of flee. Which was bad, 'cause the bastard had mechanical implants out the ass." Selena made a face at this, then she glanced down at her arm, murmuring: "He got me with some kind of gas, dunno what. But... it was so goddamn cold, and it froze my arm completely... and then he fireballed me, which is normally like, useless, but the explosion shattered by arm and... fuck it was nasty."

"I had to hide out for a few hours, rest myself up. He was searching for me the whole goddamn time, trying to sniff me out and shit. My healing powers are worth jack, as you know, so all I could do was strategize. Finally, I saw my chance, and I managed to bind him in place for a moment. He broke out of my spell pretty quick, but it was just enough for me to get in close enough to grab the one arm of his that was all weird and tear some cables out of it. Whole thing backfired on him, blew up and knocked us both the hell out.

"When I came to a few minutes later, he was trying to crawl away, all burnt-up and shit... but I managed to tackle him, and we grappled before I set his face on fire and that was pretty much the end of it." She made a face, looking disgusted. "Real anticlimactic, I know. But he burnt... and he died, and the motherfucker ain't comin' back on his own this time. His spirit's gone and dead.

"Me, I had to run to see some old friends of mine down in the Lust Circle, at the cathedral... and I've been there for the last while, getting healed up before these became permanent." She smiled a bit, looking down at her arm quietly and saying softly: "It ain't gonna work exactly the same as it used to for a few long years, but... I ain't complaining. Zerrex, I think when I fought Halpas... I kinda got a sense of the danger you throw yourself into. I mean, yeah, sure, we've fought crazy stuff before. We fought Azazel and Astaroth, you remember that? That was a hell of a battle." She laughed a bit, shaking her head slowly. "But I never fought on my own, no backup, knowing that if I screwed up, shit was going to hit the fan. It made me realize how..."

She stopped and fumbled for words, looking awkwardly back and forth before she finally said quietly, looking squarely into his eyes: "It made me realize why you act the way you do, and how important you are to me. Yeah, you drive me insane because you're always... being you, and I'm being me. Passionate, aggressive me. But I think with some practice, I could probably stop taking things so seriously and mellow out like you."

Zerrex smiled at her a bit, and she smiled back, as the Drakkaren realized what she meant... and the bitterness began to leave him slowly before Selena made a face as Sammy chirped for attention, looking up at her distrustfully, and she booted him lightly away, making Zerrex wince and sigh as the pseudodragon immediately glowered at her. "Get lost, this is a private moment."

"You do realize that he's pretty much the reason I was able to defeat Celestial, right?" Zerrex asked mildly, and Selena gave him a disbelieving look before the Drakkaren whistled, and Sammy stood proudly on his hind legs, crossing his front limbs and giving her a sulky look he'd obviously adopted from his Drakkaren Master. "That's Knight Dove you're talking to."

"Well gee, my apologies." Selena said sarcastically... and then Sammy glared at her before he spat something into her face, and Zerrex blinked dumbly a few times before she screeched and rubbed madly at her eyes. "Holy shit, that hurts! I'm going to rip your lungs out, asshole!"

"That's a new trick." Zerrex said mildly, and Selena glared at him after a moment, her face looking swollen and sore now on top of everything else, her eyes a bit reddened even as they turned solid black and looked darkly down at Sammy. "I think you're either allergic, or that's poisonous, by the way."

Selena muttered irritably in response to this, looking sour and moody. "Forget everything I just said, you jackass. I don't understand you one fucking bit."

Zerrex shrugged amiably at this, knowing it would frustrate her more... and she sighed after a moment before Sammy bounded up and leapt onto Zerrex's shoulder, scrabbling at his robe for a moment before seating himself proudly and peering down at Selena. The two glared at each other, and then the Drakkaren glanced at the grey wall again, asking mildly: "What should we put on the wall?"

"Art." Selena grunted, then she walked over and grabbed the reptile's arm, pulling it around her shoulders and closing her eyes as she held onto his hand and leaned into his side. The Drakkaren smiled a bit, looking at her with soft entertainment, and then she finally half-opened one eye to look at him awkwardly: "So what the hell got you so pissed off, anyway?"

"Lily." Zerrex said after a moment, a frown darkening his features. He felt grouchy again almost immediately... and then Selena snorted in amusement, and the reptile shot her a look. "What?"

"Dude, it's just so weird. Usually you and her get along like the best of friends." Selena responded, shrugging a bit and looking at him thoughtfully. "The hell did she do to you that could get you so grouchy?"

The reptile only muttered in reply, and now Selena frowned a bit, before he sighed and explained to her what had happened at the council. The Dius kept a serious expression on her face the entire time, knowing how much Zerrex loathed embarrassment of any kind, much less in front of other important people... and then she finally cleared her throat as he started in on a bitter tirade about etiquette, interrupting him. "Yeah, that's nice. Listen, why don't I go talk to her?"

"What?" Zerrex looked horrified at this, and Selena looked at him without bothering to hide her amusement. "That would be... no, you can't do that! That's like... that's like... schoolchild level treatment, or a mother going to talk to some other adult that's scolded her spoiled-brat son; it's rude, and it's favoritism, and it's..."

"It's what people do." Selena said flatly, and Zerrex looked at her with a pinched expression, as if he'd just bitten into a lemon. "You make the cutest faces, you know that? But no portraits on the goddamn art wall, I don't like portraits like you do."

"Then we'll have landscapes or tapestries." the Drakkaren replied sourly, before he added flatly: "I will not stoop to such childish levels."

"Yeah, instead you'll brood about it for hours on end, break something, and then pretend everything is happy and normal until you finally snap." Selena said dryly, and Zerrex tried to think of a way to protest that, but he knew it was true: he found it difficult to ever talk about his problems. "I'll go talk to her, you're my husband, she's another wife, we'll have girl-talk time and she'll see I'm fine and everything will be good. Go away now, go see your whore or something."

Zerrex muttered, but Selena only smiled a bit and ruffled his hair, making him glare at her: but for whatever reason, she could always get away with patronizing him, however big or small the gesture. Then she turned and vanished through a portal, and Zerrex watched as it closed before he sighed and looked down at Sammy, asking him mildly: "Wanna see one of my hobbies?"

The dragon looked at him distrustfully for a few moments, but it followed along when Zerrex created a portal, and they stepped out into the broken Vault. It had been cleaned up, but repair crews were busily fixing the complex gear systems that let the massive door work... and the door itself, of course, needed to be repaired and reattached, which would probably take quite a bit of time. The reptile's interest, however, was at the back of the vault... and Sammy followed him dubiously along to the not-so-secret room with its broken door that was also in need of repairs.

He stepped through the charred hole, rubbing some ash absently off the entranceway before he approached his desk, mumbling as he dug for his keys in the drawer. Then he produced them and fiddled through them before turning to the secret closet, smiling down at Sammy, who had perched himself on the desk. "This is awesome."

Sammy grunted, as if to say he'd judge for himself, and Zerrex unlocked the closet doors and threw them open to reveal a collection of old laptops, a pile of video games, and mounds of paper. The reptile dug through these, then he produced a larger, scarred laptop, putting it reverently down on his desk beside Sammy and opening it as he said: "Whenever I get really moody or bored, I come down here and write a little bit. Sure, I've got the office upstairs and all that parchment, but, well... I don't like having stuff spread out, and this room is damned comfortable." A pause as he glanced at the broken door. "Usually."

Then he turned the laptop on and sat down at the desk... and immediately began to tap his fingers impatiently, sighing as it booted up. Then Sammy nipped his wrist, and he glanced at the pseudodragon sourly, saying flatly: "Hey, this is my world, asstard. You wanna live in it, you gotta put up with me and my... thingies."

Sammy chirped at him, and Zerrex rolled his eyes before he carefully entered his password, mumbling about how big his stupid fingers were. It came back as an error, and the Drakkaren made a face before he entered it again, and this time it worked. "Oh come on, I totally entered that exact same thing the first time."

The pseudodragon snorted, and the Drakkaren glowered as his computer loaded up, icons scattered over a desktop that wasn't meant for general audiences. The reptile leered at this, and then Sammy bit his hand, and the reptile flailed before he shoved him off the desk.

The pseudodragon squawked as he landed awkwardly on his side, then he huffed and quickly ran under the desk and leapt up into Zerrex's lap, twisting around so he could stand up and rest with his claws on the top of the desk, peering at the screen thoughtfully. The reptile rolled his eyes in amusement at this, and then he brought up a text program he'd snagged for free somewhere - not even stealing, with how many of the computer companies had collapsed - and opened a few documents, saying in an embarrassed voice: "See, this is a biography I've been working on and off on, you know... I know, shut up, the point form helps me remember stuff. And this uh. You don't want to read these."

Sammy chirped at him, insisting that he did, and Zerrex sighed before he switched back to the file, rubbing at his head lamely. "It's poetry. Some... romantic stuff, some whiny stuff, you know. Are you happy yet?"

The pseudodragon shook its head firmly, then it pulled itself up onto the table, legs kicking a bit before it managed a grip. Sammy paused to examine Zerrex's hand when he tapped the down button a few times to get more of the page in view... and then he nipped the reptile's finger before carefully putting his own hand on the button and pressing experimentally. When the page went down a few lines, the dragon quickly lifted his claw... looked at the symbols... then tested out what the up button did. It seemed to frown a bit when nothing seemed to happen... before it pressed the down button again, examined the response, and brightened as it discovered the button's relationship to the little blinking cursor on the screen.

Zerrex was admittedly impressed by how damn fast the little pseudodragon caught on to things... and then he paused when the thing seemed to snicker, sitting up and glaring at it before he looked at the poem and said in a huff: "Hey, that poem's about a pet who was eaten by Wendigo. You're a pet, too, and I could just as easily feed you to something big and nasty and not write a poem about you, how the hell would you like that?"

Sammy looked wounded, and then he sniffed disdainfully before turning back to the screen, and Zerrex sighed before petting his back gently. The little dragon stretched against him with a purr, then he chirped as he looked back at the text, and Zerrex leaned in, saying absently: "Oh, it's because Selena used to want to be a knight... hey, wait a minute, you're actually reading these, aren't you? How the bloody hell can you read?"

The pseudodragon turned around and looked at him squarely as it stood up on its hind legs, eyes serious... and then it shrugged its little shoulders, and Zerrex slapped his forehead and groaned, letting his upper body fall limply backwards against the chair as the little beast went back to reading. He wondered absently if this was how people felt when they dealt with him... and then he glanced up at a knock at the door, half-expecting it to be bad news.

It was Sin, however, and she was smiling as bowed her head to him and came quietly inside. She sat herself quietly on the desk, and Zerrex stood up, walking around to sit beside her as she asked softly: "How are you, Lord Zerrex?"

"I'm... okay. Bitter." the Drakkaren admitted, and then he smiled a bit at Sammy, who was still reading through his poetry. "The little bastard's catching on damned fast to everything... and he can read. I dunno how the hell how, but he gets what he's looking at."

"They're supposed to be very intelligent creatures... and perhaps that was part of your knowledge that was passed on to him." Sin said softly, and Zerrex looked at her thoughtfully for a few moments before she blushed a bit, reaching up to rub her cheek quietly. "But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about... I'm sorry to be so forwards, and I know you probably don't feel like talking much right now, especially to me... but you came across a demigod, Loki."

Zerrex nodded slowly, and then he quietly reached across to grasp her shoulder, squeezing it gently. "Sin, I do want to talk to you. I don't blame you at all... if anything, I'm proud of the way you handled things too, especially with how much I know you dislike leadership roles, especially military leadership. But you did amazingly well... and you took care of a big problem for us."

"No, I did little... it was Selena who did a lot." Sin said softly, and Zerrex smiled a bit before she added with a look of faint entertainment in her eyes: "You know, I heard her and Miss Lily... talking."

"Talking." Zerrex said mildly. Usually that was a good thing... but between him and Sin and a few others, they all knew that when Lily and Selena were 'talking,' it probably was a euphemism for 'they were screaming at each other.' He shook his head a bit, and then he sighed and mumbled: "I told Selena not to."

"Lord Zerrex... Lily loves you, and what she loves most about you is your mind and spirit... while Selena loves you for your stubbornness and your... mortality." Sin almost whispered the last word, and Zerrex looked up with surprise... before he smiled at her, feeling touched. She always knew his deepest desires and wishes... and then she said softly: "So it's natural they clash. Lily enjoys your gentler sides, but Selena will defend to the death your more-passionate sides. It's the classic battle of logic versus emotion."

"You're too goddamn smart." Zerrex said simply, and Sin laughed, blushing a bit. Zerrex slid a bit closer... and she slid closer herself, so their sides pressed together as they rested against one another, and he closed his eyes as he said quietly: "But as to your other thing... yeah. I ran into Loki."

Sin nodded slowly, then she said in a more-serious voice: "I've heard of him, Lord Zerrex... I heard that he was around even in God's time, and he may be a soldier for a more-powerful entity. But he is also known as a trickster... but although many mortal religions see him as a happy fool, from what I've heard... he's very sad. Always forced to play the fool, the joker, always supposed to be happy, people sometimes think of him and thus treat him as a court jester, not a dignified being."

The Drakkaren rubbed at his head slowly, murmuring: "I know what that's like. Keep your feelings inside, play a certain role in the community." He made a face, shaking his head a bit. "No wonder he fell in with the rogues... and if he's a demigod, I can understand why they'd see and treat him as a leader figure."

But now the Naganatine shook her head slowly. "I'm not sure that... that badger... was telling the truth. He's one of the Envious, a lower-level demon based around Envy. His outside may look perhaps as impressive as it did in life, but his reflection in a mirror will reveal a very different, ugly form... he hates everything that has more than he does and is willing to sacrifice them for a pittance."

"A pittance. Don't usually hear that expression anymore." Zerrex said quietly, rubbing at his muzzle, but Sin knew he was just trying to think things out and filling up the space in the air. "So does that mean we can't trust anything he says?"

Sin hesitated, then she finally shook her head a bit. "No, that's... not it either. It's just that Loki is also known for lying... and the Miserable Ones have been relatively quiet. Perhaps they're planning something... or perhaps Loki is working for them as an assassin and information-gatherer, but I doubt it. Of the other thing Loki is known for... it's that he tends to underestimate the ferocity of opponents."

Zerrex nodded thoughtfully, and then he sighed, tilting his head back and saying dryly: "Of all the things I didn't need, Sin, it was for a demigod to get involved. I mean, that scares me. For all I know, he could end up working for another being like the Princess."

Sin smiled faintly at this, looking at him quietly as she said softly: "I don't think so. But even if he does, well... you dealt with her, and I have faith you'll deal with them." A pause as Zerrex looked at her, touched. "But on another somewhat-related matter, I think Desire and Cypress are anxious to start serving you as Iuratus... and from what I've heard of their behavior on the battleground, I think they may have earned a chance at the position."

The Drakkaren looked down thoughtfully... and after a moment, he finally nodded hesitantly. "It was their first real skirmish... not an exercise, not anything we really strategized out, not a battle where they sat on the sidelines and waited quietly until we sent them in against some opponent who stood no chance of winning. It was a fight, like the old fights I used to have in the Legion... and they held up well. I admit, that yes, they could have done better against the Combat Armors... but neither of them knew what the hell they were at first. Once they got the ball rolling, however, they dealt with the next wave almost by themselves... and that, admittedly, was impressive. And even when Desire took a nasty shot to the face, she only stopped for a moment..." Zerrex paused at the look on Sin's face, and he rubbed the back of his head, blushing a bit. "I uh. Sort of got hit by a rocket and she got cut by Fell Tempest when I went flying by."

"I suppose no battle can go perfectly." Sin said with soft amusement, as she pressed herself a bit closer. "But yes. Lady Cherry gave them a spectacular review herself... she says they were even able to capture quite a few prisoners, which I know must have been difficult for them with what their instincts told them to do."

Zerrex nodded at that, having to agree: the rules in Hell were harsh, and when in combat, you were always supposed to kill an enemy, not take him alive unless absolutely necessary. They were rules that his children had grown up with, even if the Drakkaren had also tried to teach them the value of mercy, and how the rules weren't always right. "So do you want to bring them to the Tower, then?"

"I think so, Lord Zerrex... although Mist and Shine will be jealous they've never seen the Well." Sin smiled a bit at this, and the Drakkaren rolled his eyes, looking quietly amused despite himself. "While I realize the Twins are already full Iuratus..."

"I'm sure they'd be thrilled." Zerrex said quietly, and Sin smiled softly at him before she kissed his cheek, the reptile looking softly amused. "One of these days, you people are going to see me for the loser and bigot I am, and then I'll really be in trouble."

"I doubt that." Sin said softly, and then she stood up and bowed to him. Behind the laptop, Sammy looked up and chirped a goodbye, and the Naganatine waved to him with a smile that was almost bashful before she created a portal. "Call if you need me, Lord Zerrex. Otherwise, I'll take this time to tend to the wounded."

"Go ahead, and see if you can calm Selena down and heal her up first. The Sisterhood seems to be losing their touch, although I'm pretty sure she doesn't get along with them anyway." Zerrex advised, and the Naganatine bowed again before she vanished through the portal. Then the Drakkaren sighed and stood up, wincing a bit as he cracked his back before he turned his eyes to Sammy, who chirped loudly up at him. "Oh, bite me, you little bastard."

The rest of the day was peaceful: Zerrex eventually pushed Sammy aside to show him how to work the computer better, and they developed an odd form of communication, Sammy now capable of typing out a simple sentence or two in order to say exactly what he wanted. Then again, their old method worked fine... but it was nice to have something to fall back on, and they were both fascinated with it.

Some three hours later, Sin brought Zerrex a few notebooks, and the Drakkaren complained for a little while, but then went to work at reviewing laws that had been written up and propositions, feeling sordid as Sammy read through his bibliography notes and any other files he figured out how to open up. It kept them both busy, although the pseudodragon was far more entertained and cheerful than Zerrex, who muttered every now and then about stupid monarchs... but he did take great glee in ripping up all of Halpas's new propositions, since he was no longer alive to present or defend them and the Drakkaren was more than happy to pretend that the bastard had never made them in the first place.

Finally, he finished making his notes on the last law and closed the notebook: most of the stuff he'd just flipped absently through, since it would all be presented later at the table, but the system was admittedly a good one. It let him see just what someone wanted to do, and put down his own ideas on it ahead of time instead of being forced to try and deal with it all at once... and if everyone pre-approved a law - meaning, if he pre-approved a law or motion and decided that whether or not anyone liked it, it should go ahead - then they would just pass over that vaguely in session before approving it.

Zerrex rarely used his power to instantly move anything forwards, however: the others often had input he greatly appreciated on any situation and knew things that he still didn't, even after all his years living here in Hell... hell, ruling Hell. Especially Lily... and he absently rubbed at a notebook cover as he thought about how intelligent she was, and how she'd saved him more than once from political pitfalls... and he could feel the bitterness in his gut finally beginning to simmer itself away.

Finally, he shook his head as he piled the notebooks up at the edge of his desk, muttering about how much work everything took before Sammy squeaked at him, and the Drakkaren leaned down to see the laptop's screen popular, reading what he wrote. 'I want to go and get something to eat.' Sounds good. "Sure, let's head up to the kitchens. I'm getting a craving for chips myself."

Sammy chirped at him warningly, and the reptile rolled his eyes. "You're my bodyguard, not my personal trainer. Did I ever tell you about the time I had a personal trainer? Goddamn nightmare, dude kept yelling at me all the time about how I should be in miserable shape and everything." The reptile talked naturally as he created a portal, and Sammy followed him closely, looking up at him curiously as they stepped out into the kitchens. "But see, I do work out, and I do what works for me, and some people just don't get that."

"I don't." said a voice mildly, and Zerrex looked up to see Cherry standing by the sink, a box of eggs open beside her. She cracked one open, and the two stared as she poured the raw yolk into her mouth, swallowing it and licking her muzzle slowly as she tossed the empty shell into the sink and smacked her lips loudly. "Texture is horrible, taste is wonderful."

She patted her stomach, then she cracked another egg open, slurping down the contents before she brightened and picked another one up, offering it to Sammy. "Hey, you, dragon-thing. You want an egg?"

Sammy made a face at her, and Cherry shrugged, saying mildly: "Your loss." A pause, a crack, and then she poured this egg down her muzzle too, apparently relishing the contents. "I could eat these all day long, and I think I will."

Zerrex, meanwhile, was rummaging through the fridge nearby, and he came up after a moment with a grunt of success, holding two cans of Frost. He offered one to Cherry, and she looked at him with disgust, hugging her belly protectively as she asked sourly: "That's gross, dude. You wanna make me throw up?"

"I can't wait until your cravings go away, seriously." Zerrex said morbidly, and Cherry huffed at me as she picked up another egg, cracked it open, and grinned as the yolk fell into her muzzle... and then her eyes slowly opened and she looked horrified, before she gagged and threw the empty shell into the wall as she grabbed at her throat, jumping up and down in a circle before spitting the egg out into the sink, Zerrex watching as closed the fridge door and sipped contentedly at his own can of cola.

Finally, Cherry wheezed and held out a hand, and Zerrex tossed the other can to her. She caught it easily, then popped it open and guzzled half the large can in one big gulp, slamming it down onto the table and splattering a bit of dark liquid around her as she gasped in and out, before she stuck her long tongue out and scraped at it with one finger. The Drakkaren grinned a bit at her, and then she glared at him, straightening and saying accusingly: "You did this to me, so I demand that you eat as many eggs as I did!"

"Cherry, it looks like you ate the whole box." the reptile said plaintively, and the female slowly turned to stare at the large carton, which was indeed empty. Slowly, she turned a very ugly shade of green, and Zerrex winced as he turned away, saying mildly to Sammy: "You might want to cover your eyes."

Sammy only tilted his head... and then he squeaked and leapt backwards, running away as Cherry vomited loudly in the sink, the reptile making a disgusted face and not bothering to turn around. It took a good long time, during which he slowly sipped at his Frost Cola. He didn't think it was so much the eating of the raw eggs that bothered her, but the fact she had eaten so many... and the very texture he imagined they must have had almost made him want to puke, too.

Then Cherry was casting cleansing spell after cleansing spell on herself as she ran water in the sink, shivering a bit and looking disgusted as one arm stayed locked around her belly, before the reptile turned back around and leaned against the fridge, saying mildly: "That won't help too much, because the cleansing spell targets foreign substances to the main object: vomit, technically, isn't that foreign a substance when you think about it. It'll get rid of the big chunks, though."

"Shut up or I'll hurl on you next. Now come over here, I wanna use your hair as a hankie to get the puke out of my nose." Cherry paused, then turned towards the sink, grasped her muzzle firmly as she inflated her cheeks, before she blew through her nose like a trumpet, and Zerrex covered his face: but too late to avoid seeing the gigantic unidentifiable chunk that flew from her nostrils. "Oh, there we go."

"Cherry, that is disgusting!" Zerrex half-shouted, but he firmly kept his hand over his eyes. Blood and guts he could deal with: but this was grossness for the sake of grossness. He heard Cherry cast another cleansing spell, and he carefully opened one eye a slit, peering through the shield of his fingers and throwing a random kick at Cherry when he saw her creeping close. "No way, get away from me."

"I just want a kiss!" Cherry half-whined, looking at him brightly, and Zerrex shivered in distaste before the female's eyes bulged and she grasped her stomach again, groaning. "Oh fuck, wait, wait. Need to sit down. Ooh yes. Sit right down."

Zerrex motioned for her to wait, and Cherry leaned against the counter as the Drakkaren walked across the room, grabbing a chair from the small table they kept in the kitchen before he came back and offered it to her, and she sat in it with a wheeze, her eyes half-bulging as she looked relieved. "Holy shit. Okay, that feels better, much better. Thanks Boss, I totally owe you one for that."

"Just don't kiss me for a little while." Zerrex picked up Cherry's half-empty can, and she took it gladly, putting it between her enormous breasts to hold it. By now, it was perfectly natural behavior to them both, so the male didn't make much of a big deal about it as he turned off the water, relieved that at least everything had washed down the drain. Then he turned back around, and he pointed at her and said mildly: "No more missions for you now. We can go out and do some shooting when you feel better, though, but no more jobs. Now your job is to rest."

Cherry grumbled something under her breath, and then she looked up at him and asked mildly: "So like, you do realize how damn corny that sounded, right? And I really don't wanna be stuck here on my ass from now for the next like... who-knows-how-many-fucking-months."

"Well, too bad, 'cause you are." Zerrex replied dryly, and then he hefted himself up onto the counter, and Sammy carefully made his way back, looking suspiciously at the female before he finally leapt up beside the Drakkaren and sat down beside him, preening himself. "In any case, like. Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"Yeah, bed sounds good, but I'd like to sit here for a little while longer first." Cherry finally said tiredly, and she rubbed at her head, making a bit of a face. "I think I'm getting hot sweats too now. Fuck, it's all coming on so fast all of a sudden... shit, you don't think that like. You know. This is all because I screwed up the baby with the fighting I just did, do you?"

Zerrex smiled a bit, but Cherry looked dead serious - worried, even. She was going into full-out mommy mode... and since she hadn't had the healthiest of upbringings herself and was determined to prove that she could be a better mother than her own, it meant she often became overprotective and... naggy. "Cherry, the baby hasn't even really started developing yet... and you and I both know that demonic children are a lot harder to hurt than your average kiddies. It's probably just started in earnest today..." A pause, as Cherry only gave him a dark look, obviously not comforted by his words. "Fine. Want me to get Sin to do a scan of you?"

"Only if she won't hurt the baby." Cherry said meditatively, hugging herself around the stomach, and Zerrex snorted in amusement before the muscular, powerful female pouted, mumbling: "Okay, okay, okay. Well, fuck. How can you blame me for worrying?"

"Pretty easily." The Drakkaren shook his head a bit, looking quietly entertained as Sammy chirped beside him thoughtfully. "You trusted her last time well enough and everything, and we all know Sin is an excellent healer and she knows anatomy inside-out. Don't forget all the work she's put into... well... everything in Hell over her long, long life."

"I know, I know, she's second only to God or something." Cherry rolled her eyes, looking ruffled instead of soothed. "Don't get me wrong, sweetheart, I like her and she did damn good with Priest. But there are some things she totally needs to improve upon, like handling a newborn baby. You see the way she measured Priest? She held him up by the goddamn ankles!"

Zerrex sighed and rolled his eyes, looking at her morbidly. "Cherry, when Priest was born, he never cried. He was peaceful and quiet, and even when he was measured, he had enough strength to keep his arms at his sides. The kid was standing by six months and walking by seven. Do you know how odd that is by most mortal terms?"

"He would have been walking at six and a half if you guys hadn't always made him take it slow." Cherry accused, pointing at Zerrex, and the reptile rolled his eyes, not bothering to point out the paradox Cherry was beginning to create. She was in full motherhood mode, and that combined with her mood swings meant she would probably say a lot of things that pissed him off but he had to remember he couldn't blame her for, whatever else he thought or did. "But fine. If you're so intent on it, control that part of my life too, and we'll go with Sin."

Zerrex slapped his forehead, and the female glared at him a moment longer before she suddenly covered her mouth and blushed deeply. She gave a shrug and a cheesy grin after another moment, but the reptile only looked at her flatly before she finally said meekly: "Sorry, Boss. Blame my stupid brain. It's been hotwired by my goddamn womb."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll let it slide." Zerrex replied sourly, and they both sat for a moment in quiet before he gently petted Sammy, looking down at the pseudodragon as he said: "We still need to settle on names, and what we're going to do with her room."

"His." Cherry automatically corrected, then she looked at him mildly, holding up a finger. "But on the off chance it is a girl, I totally wanna name her Belinda. I think it's an ugly ass name that no good comes from, and like. She'll probably be hot as like... fucking in church. So I'd love that name body-paradox. It's like naming an ugly loser bimbo... well... Cherry. 'Cause I'm one hot milf."

"Belinda can be shortened to Bell, and that's a pretty name." Zerrex said absently, and Cherry stuck her tongue out at him before he rubbed at his muzzle slowly. "I think we should name her... well... I'll get back to you on that."

"Too long." Cherry said automatically, and Zerrex sighed and rolled his eyes, looking sour. "Well, gee, don't you have the biggest smile in the world today. But okay, okay, uh... when it's born a boy, though, we totally gotta name it Sketch."

"A, Sketch is a nickname, and B, you could call a girl that, too." Zerrex said dryly, and Cherry grinned widely before the Drakkaren glared at her. "We are not naming our child Sketch. Nicknames come when appropriate, too."

Cherry sniffed, then she sat back, looking thoughtful before she glanced up and asked: "Jeff? Peter? How about something stupid, like uh... we'll pick a random celebrity, or one we both really like, and we'll name him after that."

Zerrex sighed, wondering if Cherry got the entire point behind this whole naming process, and then he said finally: "No. We aren't having a celebrity baby. We're just going to have to think of a name we can both agree on, so stop... grabbing random names out of the air. I know you're going to call it whatever the hell you like anyway, but I can at least stop you from naming it something like Bubbles and putting it through a long and humiliating life until he can get a name change." A pause, and then he winced and said quickly: "I meant she!"

"Ha!" Cherry stood up and pointed at him with a grin... and then her eyes bulged and she lurched by him to vomit in the sink, and Sammy squeaked and scampered quickly away as Zerrex half-fell off the counter to avoid being splattered by goo, landing on all fours and wishing morbidly that the vomiting part just happened with mortal pregnancies.