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Zerrex had been wrong in saying his personal version of him-ruled hell had been a nightmare world. This... this, was a nightmare world.

It was cold... and he stood in a small patch of light that was cast as if from a spotlight. Everywhere around him was darkness and shadow, the ground a faint black outline against even blacker night skies, that were not cloudy or starless, but merely empty. Voices whispered and things rustled out of sight, in the world beyond the light... but already the reptile knew not to step out of the light, because it would lead only to madness and destruction.

He winced a bit, looking up slowly: there was only one pathway, a faint white light that led through the dark... but it was narrow and tiny, and he'd have to watch his step. He looked up, but saw no source from above... and although the ground where the light shone was white, he didn't think it was from any light rising from the Earth. The Drakkaren made a slight face at this... sourcelessness, then he shook his head slowly before beginning down the path, not realizing he was hugging himself as he glanced warily back and forth, trying to concentrate only on putting one foot in front of the other.

Every now and then, something would pass by above his head... sometimes flocks of things, that moved with a horrible, half-shriek, half-cackle, but always out of sight... and shapes would suddenly unfold out of the blackness, stagger towards the light with frightening speed, and then stop, just out of view. Zerrex winced the first time this happened, almost stumbling off the path... and when just a lock of his white hair passed into the darkness, he caught a hand in the corner of his eye reach out and yank on it, tearing a few hairs from his head before he turned with horror to stare after that pale, bloodless hand he'd seen... but there was nothing there. And when he looked back towards the shape, it had been gone.

He shook his head slowly, then looked behind him... and winced as he saw the lights had gone out. He still had no idea how long the path trailed on for... it could lead to a dead end, or just continue going forever, for all he knew... and the reptile bit the inside of his cheek before hurrying onwards, mumbling quietly to himself about ghouls and ghosts.

Not much longer afterwards, he paused, as he heard crying in the distance... and a mournful whisper of 'Daddy, daddy.' At first, he thought it was Marina or Cindy, and his first instinct was to run off the path and towards that voice... before he winced and remembered both that this was his own mind - somehow - and what had happened the last time he'd only swayed a bit into the shadow world beyond. So instead, he hesitated, glancing down... and then looked up as he realized the voice was that of a little boy's, not a girl's. He looked up as it came closer... and then a figure crossed through the path ahead, a small child of about nine, rubbing at his tear-filled eyes and trimmed white hair covering his head... and Zerrex stared as the young version of himself simply walked into the shadows on the other side of the path and was gobbled up again by the darkness.

A moment later, however, an adult stepped out of the same side, hands in the pockets of his leather trench, his white hair longer, falling over his face, green eyes distant and lost, features sad and sorrowful, a blood-stained Blackheart on his back... but glowing with a faint white light. He smiled a bit as he looked over at Zerrex idly for a few moments, and Zerrex looked back at himself with something like shock... before the other-him nodded and said softly: "No matter what, don't step off the path. And if the darkness threatens, just close your eyes. Never panic... and remember this world is his world. Your gun won't work here without bullets or broken ones... so here."

It pulled a hand out of its pocket, and tossed a box to the ground before nodding quietly and stepping off into the darkness and vanishing, and Zerrex merely stared before blinking and walking over to the blank cardboard box, bending down and picking it up, then shaking it slowly. Something rattled inside loosely with the clink of metal, and then the Drakkaren shrugged and reached down to pull out his revolver, checking the long-barreled weapon and then blinking as he saw it was empty. He snorted softly, then shook his head a bit before opening the box and seeing six strange, silver-cased bullets sitting inside. He smiled a bit at this, then loaded the huge revolver and snapped it shut, placing it back in his holster despite how comforting the weight was in his hand, then stepping over the box and walking onwards.

A few minutes later, he heard a terrible shrieking sound... and when he glanced up, his eyes widened in terror as a strange, horrible thing dived towards him. The body looked almost like a rippling plastic sheet, crackling and swaying, ending in ragged emptiness... and white, ragged claws floated to either side of it, twisted, broken hands with long, thin fingers ending in curving hooks... but the worst thing was the head. A disembodied, bulging, muzzleless, flat-faced head, with massive fangs too big for its mouth bulging from its jaws in every direction, jaws shrieking, eyes simply white balls inside the white featureless face, and it was diving downwards him.

Zerrex turned to run, panic overwhelming his iron will... but then he found himself face to face with his mother, except she was long-dead, her body white, scales bare of blood or pigment, her head twitching back and forth and eyes rolling sightlessly, mouth rapidly speaking too fast to be understood or even make sounds... and then her hand seized his throat in an iron vice, and the Drakkaren felt his neck being crushed as he grabbed her thin, pale arm, his eyes bulging in his head in horror and shock.

What the hell is wrong with you? roared an unexpected voice in his head, and then he was suddenly a child again, bleeding on the floor, Narrius standing over him and looking at him with disgust. You maggot! Weakling! Coward! Afraid of me, afraid of my fist, afraid of the air! Why do you fear pain, why fear anything? I'll tell you why. Because you think it can't be conquered. Because it's better than you, and you can't handle it. And if that's true, you are not my son, or of my blood, and until you learn to control your fear, you can spend your nights outside on the lawn or run crying to your whore mother.

A snarl spread down Zerrex's face, and then he shouted angrily the same answer he'd given all those years ago: "I am not weak... you... you motherfucker!"

His hands went to work automatically, did their tricks like they always could in any close combat situation, as cold fury and the old dark thrill of the fight overwhelmed the fear, and he twisted and jerked the arm of his dead mother around, ripping the forearm out of the socket and forcing her to spin around as he brought it up to the middle of her back and jerked down to cause the bone to snap at the shoulder, then he seized the back of her neck with one hand and slammed his elbow out behind him with the other, knocking the white face of the vampire monster behind him into dust as he turned to glare at it furiously, then he caught the thing's collar as the hands continued to lash towards him and slammed its body down into the ground. It dissolved into smoke, and he turned around as he felt a strange sensation crawling up his arm... and instead of his mother, he was holding a gargantuan, writhing centipede that was easily sliding through his grip, with massive, poisonous jaws and burning, hateful eyes.

Zerrex felt panic well at him again with terror, but this time he focused it out and instead waited for the thing to raise its mandibles, watching it stretch to pounce, and he brought his other hand lashing up to seize the thing under the jaw, crushing the life out of the giant bug and then quickly twisting and pulling, ripping it in half.

It spilled out a mass of maggots when it died... but Zerrex could handle maggots, as he tossed either half of the still-writhing body aside... and he snorted as cackles rose up all around him. He rose a boot to crush a group of the disgusting bugs... then he glanced up, and he felt his heart thud in his chest as he saw the light in the distance behind him not just gone... but rapidly vanishing, like a tidal wave of darkness was coming and obliterating all light in its path.

The Drakkaren did the only thing he could: he turned and ran, going into a rapid sprint and not looking behind him, but feeling the hands clawing at his back, seeing the light slowly fading out under his feet as he looked ahead... and Gods, what was that shape in the distance? He snarled angrily as he ran forwards, before the lights several meters ahead of him flashed out... but after maybe fifty feet of darkness, he could see what was undoubtedly a mansion bathed in grey light.

The reptile ran forwards... and then the light expanded, and he saw the other Zerrex running beside him, a snarl on his features, the bloody sword in his hand out and glowing, yelling: "Break through the doors... get to the High Commander, get to Ravenlight, kill him and get out of here, and don't worry about me!"

Zerrex nodded, and then they were both off the path of the light and into the darkness of the yard in front of the mansion, both of them fighting off clawing hands and roaring creatures. But the lost, broken Zerrex beside him was snarling in return, despairing but fearless, and every swing of his sword cleaved some wicked, corrupt creature of the shadows in two and sent out a brilliant flash of light that illuminated the world around them for a moment in white, causing naked, horrible monsters, blackened yet living trees, and demons from the reptile's worst nightmares - nightmares that, unlike the hell-world before, he'd never found any pleasure in - to stagger backwards, covering their eyes and screaming.

The Drakkaren was unable to produce such vast effects... but he smashed his way through the opposition as best he could, ignoring the black and red eyes, the white grinning teeth, the claws raking through his body: not tearing at his blood, but tearing at his energy, at his life-force, at his soul and sending chills racking down his spine. And when a particularly large creature stepped in front of both of them - a living tree composed of screaming faces, with huge claw arms branching off into a thousand grasping children's hands - the lost-Zerrex spun around and ducked low with a cleaving slice that sent out a bright, shocking wave, knocking the demons around them screaming and stumbling blindly, the tree-thing roaring in a million broken baby-voices... and as it fell, both of the Drakkaren leapt upwards in perfect time, grabbing the head of the thickest branches of the monster and dragging it along with them, the doors of the Estate only ten feet away... and then they used the creature's thick, square top as a battering ram, smashing the thick wood of the doors to reveal crumpled steel beneath and cracking them open.

Then the two threw the monster away, taking out another advancing army of maddened, corrupted souls, and Ravenlight leapt into the fray, shouting over his shoulder a single order, "Go!" before he was swallowed up by a hundred lost damned demons, the lost souls literally covering him with their numbers. Zerrex snarled at this, wanting to step forwards... but then light erupted in a massive cyclone and the monsters were blown away into dark motes or flung far into the shadow world, obliterated or tossed from the fray. The lost Zerrex was covered in blood, panting, his trench shredded and body already beyond repair... but he was grinning terribly, his eyes ablaze with the unconquerable pain of nothingness, a huge circle of white light around him and holding the monsters at bay, sending them shrinking back into the darkness as he added in a rasp: "Don't worry about me, just kill Ravenlight!"

Then Blackheart - buried halfway in the ground, burning white despite the blood that eternally stained its handle and blade - flickered, and brilliance began to dissipate as Zerrex nodded and turned before simply slamming his shoulder forwards into the door and knocking them open, stumbling into the mansion foyer beyond. He looked over his shoulder, raising a hand and opening his mouth... but then the other Zerrex simply gave a faint smile as the light went out... and then all outside was darkness, and the insane laughter that rose up told the Drakkaren he was too late.

He slumped, closing his eyes and snarling, reaching up and running a hand through his white hair in frustration... before turning... and immediately locking his eyes on a set of double doors at the end of a red-carpeted hallway. The lights inside here were dim and flickering, only lit by candles... and he charged quickly forwards, slamming his way through the double doors inscribed with the Narrius family crest to step into a candlelit den and looking upon another version of himself, this one clad in a comfortable, regal purple and blue robe and with a wine glass in one hand, swirling the red liquor inside slowly. He had a polite smile on his face, but his green eyes were callous and cold, arrogant and amused, all at the same time.

All around him were slaves... three girls, massaging and not taking their eyes from the not-Zerrex even when the real-Zerrex rose his gun and cocked the hammer back with his thumb. But the other Drakkaren was unfazed, even at this, as he instead motioned to another comfortable looking chair in the shelf-lined, book-filled study, saying idly: "Please don't be rude... take up a seat, we can have a little chat. I was quite impressed by how well you've been doing, you know..."

"You can kiss my ass." Zerrex snarled, and he pulled the trigger... but Ravenlight grinned coldly and easily swayed out of the way, the bullet instead blasting apart a shelf of books behind him. This finally caused a reaction among the slaves: they looked up as if in horror, them screamed and fled past Zerrex, and the reptile snorted as he cocked the hammer back. "Doesn't matter. I have five left."

"You destroyed my first editions." Ravenlight replied in a hurt tone, looking at him mockingly, before he sighed and put the wine glass on the small table beside him, then instead grabbed the bottle sitting in a bucket of ice, popping off the cork and taking a swig of this as he added drolly: "And sure, waste your ammo. You can't hit me... I'm too fast for you, because I don't hold back on my abilities like you do."

Zerrex snarled, then he fired... and at the same time, Ravenlight brought up a hand, so fast that he didn't even seem to move, not even leaving an afterimage behind. Then the Drakkaren blinked... and his eyes widened in shock as Ravenlight opened his hand with a grin and held out bullet. "Like I said, useless."

"You're too prideful." Zerrex responded softly, and he smiled slightly as he lowered the gun. Ravenlight blinked, then he looked down at his hand... and an eye twitched as he saw the long gouge down his palm and his bloody fingers. He clenched his hands shut with a snarl... then forced himself to calm, gritting his teeth in a pained smile at Zerrex, who rested back and glanced idly around the room. "And you have no taste in style or décor whatsoever."

"Fine." Ravenlight stood up straight, his eyes burning with fury, and then he snapped his fingers... and suddenly the room around them changed, shaking and shimmering before turning into a plain steel cube with a single raised steel wall next to Zerrex. The Drakkaren blinked, looking quickly around, then back at Ravenlight... and snarling as he saw him clad not in a robe anymore, but in his old armor... and he realized that yes, Ravenlight and the High Commander were definitely one in the same: the cruel, uncompromising, dark voice in his head. The part of his personality that was evil, and wanted to do nothing but kill and hurt... was standing across from him, and now he was here and in a fight to the death with himself, where he, ironically, seemed to represent good.

He hated that it was wearing his old armor, though... black, heavy boots with metal shin-guards overtop that locked into his combat boots, thick, heavy mesh pants of the same color, and an obsidian, fitted combat armor covering his upper body: Kevlar and bullet-catching mesh beneath, overlayed with flexible metal plates and glinting fiberglass, and form-shaped and fitting. It had heavy protectors over the shoulders as well... and then a long-sleeve mesh shirt with metal braces over his arms that could lock into gloves as well. The collar of this one was also slightly-raised, giving extra neck protection and leaving only the front of the throat exposed.

And last but not least, his twin .52 magnums hung at Ravenlight's hips on a plain belt, the Drakkaren's arms out and away from the black handles... but Zerrex edged closer to the metal wall beside him anyway, knowing that they could be drawn and fired in a second. Ravenlight also had a sidepack on for clips... but Zerrex had a distinct feeling he didn't need to reload unless he wanted to, and only an idiot would want to take the pause needed to reload.

Then Ravenlight laughed and spoke again, winking and grinning, his beryl eyes flashing. "Well, since you want to get right to it, and since you seem so eager to shoot me... I'll give you the chance to, asshole. Hell, you can even have that handicap there you're already getting all accustomed to." He added tauntingly, as they stood in the small, cubic metal room... at least it was bright inside, from some unknown, unneeded light source. Then Zerrex paused as an unexpected voice spoke dourly in his head: Wow. I'm a fucking asshole. I don't really sound like that, do I?

Yeah, you sorta do sometimes, Zerrex responded mildly to his mental version of Ravenlight, and then there was another pause as the physical - sorta? I think? Oh shit, we're not really physical, we're... too complicated, screw it... - Ravenlight stared him with a tilted head and his hands dropping to his side.

Screw that. Kill me before he makes me sound any more stupid quips. Ravenlight muttered, and Zerrex snorted as the Ravenlight across from him glared and snapped: "What the fuck are you laughing about, asshole? This is my world, I'm proving I'm just as real as you are, and that I, I, am the one who deserves to be in control of all these universes, all these hidden worlds!"

"Oh, well, you in my head..." Zerrex reached up and tapped his own temple, looking serious. "Just called you in this reality..." A point at the ground. "An asshole. And he told me to kill you." A pause. "And by the way, we aren't... really real if this is all happening in my head, and that means you're just an overactive part of me, likely the result of all the crap that traumatized me and I went through when I was a kid-"

Ravenlight's eye twitched horribly a few times, the snarl over his muzzle growing so wide that Zerrex thought his head might fall off, before the Drakkaren was interrupted by the other drawing his guns and shouting furiously: "Don't you fuck with me!"

Zerrex slid quickly behind the wall with a wince as Ravenlight opened fire, pounding bullets uselessly into the metal wall, and then he paused, noted the distance from the wall, and shoved his back against the wall and his legs against the wall in front of him, calling back idly: "Why, does it hurt your head, contemplating that, you know, this might not all be real? Hell, I might be the one in control, and you could just be, you know, because I've always been really fond of all those psychological thrillers with all the weird twists..."

"I said stop fucking with me!" Ravenlight's voice was almost a scream of rage, and bullets pounded on the walls of both sides of the metal wall, making Zerrex wince at flakes of metal pattered off his legs and the random bullet bounced every now and then in some random direction. "Take me seriously! Fight me, you motherfucker, stop this useless prattling!"

As Ravenlight tiraded and fired uselessly, Zerrex used the noise to cover his quick ascension of the short wall, and then, once he felt he'd reached the top, he grunted and spun, grabbing the top of the wall with his free hand and laying the other arm flat against it, revolver out and aimed, cocked back, as he grinned and said coolly: "Sticks and stones may break my bones... but I can break your face."

Ravenlight blinked, then looked up to the top of the ten foot wall in shock just as Zerrex pulled the trigger, before he flung himself to the side, his eyes wide with terror... but he was a moment too late, and the bullet ripped down his muzzle, shattering his cheekbone and ripping out a swatch of hair and sending out a fine spray of blood before Ravenlight hit the metal floor solidly with a grunt and aimed upwards with both guns, firing rapidly. Zerrex, however, had already dropped back behind the wall, now crouching and grinning despite only having three bullets left, as he added tauntingly: "Psychological tactics are the best weapon a well-trained soldier has, giving him the ability to influence his enemy into making mistakes. How do you feel, asshole?"

"I'm going to kill you." Ravenlight muttered, his features flushed, blood running down his face as he straightened, keeping his guns at the ready and held outwards... then he ejected one of his clips. As it fell, he tossed his handgun into the air and reached back to draw out another... and at the same time, reared his foot back, before firmly booting the still-full magazine out towards the enemy reptile. His other handgun still raised, he took aim as he drew another clip out of his sidepack and held it by the bottom, raised into the air beside his head as his handgun began to fall, everything seeming to move slowly and precisely for him... and then he fired a single bullet.

The bullet smashed into the clip, setting off the other rounds inside from the force and the sparks, and Zerrex let out a shout of agony, throwing himself to the side as he was pelted by bits of metal shrapnel, three of the heavy caliber bullets slamming into his leg and arm as he threw himself to the side to avoid the rest of them, coming out of hiding as Ravenlight grinned: as he moved his handgun to take aim at Zerrex, he let go of the clip he was holding and instead pushed it up with his palm as the handle of the gun came down perfectly, slapping it into place and knocking the gun back flying into the air in a short arc as he shouted furiously: "In my world, guns are what do the talking, fuckface!"

He fired, but Zerrex shoved himself off the ground and half-spun in midair, aiming the revolver out towards him and firing a shot that should have planted itself in Ravenlight's head, but the evil Drakkaren bowed his body forwards, keeping his one arm extended and putting his other hand behind his back... and catching the other .52 behind his back before he spun on the spot. When his back was turned from the flashy, useless movement, however, Zerrex caught him in a lucky, precise shot between the shoulderblades, and Ravenlight stumbled forwards with a grunt, his body suffering from a massive shock for a moment as he fell to all fours.

Zerrex was tempted to fire his last bullet up Ravenlight's ass as he landed on his back against the hard metal floor with a grunt, both for amusement and because it might actually kill the son of a bitch if he could hit anywhere along the spinal cord or even if the bullet went deep enough into his body... but then he settled instead for holstering the magnum and rolling back to the relative safety of behind the wall. He couldn't take the risk... with one bullet left, getting a shot that precise through mesh, bullet-resistant weave would be a shot he simply wasn't capable of. And so instead Ravenlight was able to quickly get up to his feet and turn, both handguns out, the Drakkaren snarling... and then calling out coldly: "What's wrong, assfuck? You out of bullets? That's just too bad... must suck having your 'infinite powers' blocked by mine, huh?"

Zerrex hadn't actually tried to make anything explode with his mind yet in this world... he had the feeling that if he did, something bad would happen, or worse... it would let Ravenlight sink deeper into his body. He knew even killing the bastard here wouldn't get rid of him... at most, he'd be gone for a few weeks or months, maybe a year if he was lucky. But Zerrex wasn't naïve enough to think that the evil inside him would die with some symbolic killing or turning-of-the-other-cheek... evil sank deep, grew roots, and this was at the most hacking at the trunk or one of the bigger branches. To get to the root... well... he'd have to put a hole in his own head once he returned to the physical reality, because he was the source of the evil.

He snorted and muttered at this irony... then paused and drew the huge, ancient revolver as Ravenlight goaded him again, just picking up the words 'fucker' and 'dipshit.' He twisted the cylinder back one, then rolled out from hiding and took aim at the Drakkaren as he was in the middle of a shrug, and Ravenlight's eyes widened as Zerrex shouted: "Eat this!"

He pulled the trigger, and Ravenlight's body twisted in a quick, rolling jump to the side, his legs doing a scissors kick and his guns held tight against his chest, and the gun gave a dry click before Zerrex rolled back into cover and allowed himself to cackle cheerfully. He really was grinning, both at the fact Ravenlight had performed a ridiculous, ballerinaesque move to get out of the way of a single bullet when the bastard had already demonstrated he could catch one if he was concentrating... and because it would make Ravenlight think all the more he was out of bullets and had just taunted him again. Although he was still unsure of what exactly Ravenlight could make happen if he really wanted to, he didn't think that his powers were anywhere near 'infinite...' so far, making his guns shoot without using ammo and changing the scenery around seemed to be the most he was capable of... both of which Zerrex had first done without even thinking about it.

Ravenlight snarled, his eye twitching again, and then he rapidly fired both guns at the metal wall again in frustration, shouting angrily: "Stop fucking with me, you bastard! I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you!"

"Yeah. Like I haven't heard that before. Hasn't happened yet." Zerrex muttered, then he closed his eyes and concentrated for a few moments, thinking hard. Although Ravenlight had a lot of holes in his defense... seemed to let down his guard a lot and perform complex, dangerous moves when he should instead stick to routine, simple attacks and dodges... and seemed to go into tantrums and screaming at every defiance of his greatness - why, by the way, isn't that great... - he seemed to be as good a shot as Cherry, faster than anyone he'd ever met, and was a trigger-happy, cruel asshole who was his own alter ego. He was pretty sure that Ravenlight was smarter than he let on... and that he wouldn't let Zerrex get close enough to test his skills in hand-to-hand.

Then the Drakkaren blinked and fell over as the world rumbled, and he was suddenly sitting against air instead of a steel wall, looking stupidly as Ravenlight stood over him with a grin, a handgun aimed at his face. The other reptile opened his mouth to make some witty remark, but then he snarled when Zerrex grabbed his ankles... and let out a pained grunt as he rolled up and slammed both feet into his armored chest, knocking him over as his body swayed backwards and his feet stayed locked in the same place.

Ravenlight blasted a shot into his shin, sending agony through Zerrex as he winced, but instead of letting the pain conquer him, he rolled over, forcing Ravenlight to do the same and making him grunt as he tried to aim under him, firing again with the other handgun but missing completely as Zerrex managed to slide a bit further to the side, getting to his knees... and then the black-armored reptile half-rolled, firing the other magnum in a rapid horizontal sweep... but the muzzle-jump also caused the gun to buck upwards slightly with each shot, and so Zerrex only found himself taking a round in the shoulder instead of the chest as he swayed his head to the side, wincing as the next kissed his neck with sharp air. But now one foot was under him, and he quickly stood despite the agony in his legs and half-spun, slamming Ravenlight into the wall and causing him to release his breath in a shocked squeak, then he twisted the other way and threw the Drakkaren hard across the room as the evil reptile fired wildly.

One of his own bullets tore into his thigh as he continued to fire, trying to hit something, then he yelled in pain and ceased, rolling quickly onto his back and aiming with both handguns as he sat up, blasting rounds at Zerrex. The other Drakkaren moved faster than even he could aim, however, sprinting across the room as Ravenlight blew dents in the metal plating that made up the walls, before leaping into the air and kicking off one wall in the corner towards the other, and then doing a flip to come down and land in a crouch, panting as Ravenlight lowered his guns and slowly swung up to his feet, arms hanging in front of him limply.

The two faced each other... Zerrex with multiple bullet wounds, Ravenlight bearing only a couple... but blood leaking from his mouth, body bruised and sore, his armor cracked and mesh clothes torn. Then he snorted and said raggedly: "You don't deserve a fucking handicap."

"Yeah, I guess it'd suck to have a cripple kick your ass." Zerrex shot back, and Ravenlight's eye twitched as the other reptile rubbed at his legs. But now the dark Drakkaren was trying to concentrate on tactics more than mad shooting, recognizing that it would only end up with him getting cornered and pounded. So instead he paused, then grinned a bit as he straightened and ejected both clips from his handguns, holding them out to the side.

Zerrex stared, and Ravenlight tilted his head with a wink. "Pause to reload!" He said cheerfully, and then tossed both guns high into the air as he drew two clips out of the sidepack, holding them to the side in either hand. Zerrex snarled at this, watching as Ravenlight threw the clips up next... then caught the guns by the barrels, keeping his eyes locked with his alter ego as the clips fell, spinning rapidly... before flicking his guns up and snapping his wrists at the same time, catching both clips in the handles and slapping them in against his shoulders. He frowned a bit across at the enemy reptile, still holding his guns by the barrels, then he twitched and asked angrily: "Why didn't you attack me?"

Zerrex looked at him mildly. "Because you've got a clip under your foot, and you were going to slide that into my path and hope I stepped on it, or shoot it, or just shoot me when I charged like an idiot. Obviously your guns don't consume clips, retard. And if I just had to tell you that, you're even more stupid than I thought." A pause. "Maybe you're the one that needs the handicap, not me."

Ravenlight blinked a few times... then he snarled at how easily he'd been seen through before his jaws stretched in a grin. "Fine... then... we'll play a game. And I'll have the handicap." He snorted, then stomped a foot down, and two walls of steel rose up on either side of him, just a bit taller than the reptile but wide enough to give more than adequate cover, a good space between them but only a foot or so between the covering walls and the walls of the room.

Then he let his arms drop and flicked his wrists backwards, tossing both huge handguns up and over his shoulders and catching them, then spinning both rapidly on his fingers, first parallel, then both facing the Drakkaren, then throwing them into the air, flipping rapidly, and bringing his hands open so that the barrels bounced off his open palms and they flew back upwards... then doing the same with the handles. Zerrex stared at the show of juggling, then he blinked as Ravenlight began to toss the guns higher, continuing to perform tricks as he turned and idly walked behind one of the walls. The two guns bounced high above, and Zerrex stared at this... before he saw only one gun fly up, and he tensed.

A gunshot, and Zerrex saw a blue streak hit the wall, then smash into his arm, and he staggered to the side with a grunt of pain, clutching at a deep tear along his arm, then he looked up with a snarl as he heard Ravenlight laugh, the Drakkaren walking back from behind the wall with a grin on his features, continuing to juggle the guns. Then he tossed them both in long arcs to the side, reached his arms out and caught them before throwing them underhanded in a straight line, the guns whistling past each other before Ravenlight caught them easily and aimed forwards, crossing his wrists and tilting both weapons to the side as he said idly: "Oh my, did I not mention the new kind of ammo I'm going to be trying out? But it looks like you lost the game... now you'll have to pay the penalty."

"That's a good way to get a casing in the eye." Zerrex responded mildly, rubbing the back of his head and ignoring the evil Drakkaren's entire attempt at being sinister. Ravenlight stared at him for a few moments, almost stupefied, and Zerrex shrugged, looking back at him plainly as he continued to smooth his hair down. And in all honesty, he wasn't that worried... sure, the ricocheting rounds would be a pain in the ass, but Ravenlight didn't seem to realize how much the power of a bullet decreased after a ricochet... and that the 'bullets' didn't seem to actually be slugs of metal, since he couldn't feel anything lodged in his arm. Hell, it felt like a strong guy had hit him with a rock from a good distance away, and the cut on his arm testified that it was about the same damage, as well. So sure. If he gets me enough times, it'll kill me... but I guess if I walked into a wall for a really long time, that'd kill me too. "Well, it's true."

Then Ravenlight snarled furiously and opened fire: and one bullet casing actually did come dangerously close to smacking him in the eye as Zerrex dodged to the side with an 'I-told-you-so" grin that only made the evil reptile fire faster, this time firing at the ceiling with one gun and tracking Zerrex's zigzagging movement with the other.

Now things got complicated: the reptile couldn't keep his eyes on the ricochets, Ravenlight, and where the hell he was going all at the same time: the result being him smacking into a wall with a grunt and then ducking low under a quick three-shot volley as the dark Drakkaren tilted his head back, laughing and firing rapidly at the corner with the gun tilted slightly in his hand to angle the ricochet rounds. Three of these smashed into Zerrex's back, making him wince, before another pair of bullets shot into his chest, and at full force they caused him to stagger backwards and hit the wall, skidding slowly down it as he breathed harshly in and out, leaving a trail of blood behind. Whatever else Ravenlight's game was, he did have to give him full marks for sadism: his whole body was in throbbing agony from the rips and tears along his body, which weren't as easy to take in concert as he'd thought they'd be.

"Here, catch." Ravenlight invited cheerfully, then he ejected a clip and kicked it towards the bloody Drakkaren before laughing as it went in a high arc, his eyes burning as Zerrex covered his face with his arms and tried to make himself small, curling up in a ball as Ravenlight blasted the clip at its highest point, spewing bullets in every direction. Emerald eyes met with a snarl of anger from Zerrex and a grin of fury and glee from Ravenlight, blue streaks bouncing between them for a few moments before several faded out, leaving eight or so new gashes along Zerrex's body, his clothes torn mostly to ribbons now and hanging loosely on him. Then Zerrex dropped his arms to his sides as he leaned back in the corner, panting harshly.

Then Ravenlight grinned and shrugged cheerfully, saying idly: "Well, maybe you'll do better in the next round, huh? But time to reload!" He laughed as he ejected the other clip and threw the guns high in the air, his eyes blazing as he brought another two clips out from his apparently-inexhaustible sidepack, balancing them on his palms as he closed his eyes for a moment and tilted his head, enjoying his victory for a moment and the sound of- a hammer clicking back? My guns don't have- shit!

His eyes opened in shock as he saw Zerrex had pulled out the revolver and taken aim with it, the other Drakkaren snarling and then firing a single shot, and before Ravenlight could jump out of the way or reach for his guns, the bullet smashed into one of the clips that he was holding up and it exploded: not in a hail blue bullets, but a blast of bullet light that left Ravenlight screaming, turning one of his guns into a twisted hulk and leaving him standing in shattered armor, broken, twisted plates of metal falling off his body as the other clip and gun pattered to the ground uselessly, his ears ringing, shaking his head blindly, his mouth tasting like it was full of blood and metal... and then the blue flash began to fade as he clutched at the burned, torn-apart arm hanging at his side he hadn't quite realized yet was his... and he opened his eyes to see Zerrex already in front of him and a fist cocked back.

His eyes widened, and then Zerrex smashed him in the face, sending him staggering backwards into the steel wall, before the reptile punched him again, this time slipping into a vulnerable point where there was just mesh and no metal plating: his right armpit. It caused his ribs to crack and his muscles to contract painfully, Ravenlight bringing up both arms to at try and ward him off... then screaming when Zerrex slammed the elbow of his other arm down into his no-longer protected shoulder, shattering it and ruining his left arm entirely.

Ravenlight shrieked again, eyes bulging and flailing at Zerrex uselessly with his other hand, agony making him even stupider, and the reptile grinned as he dropped his arm from where it had smashed into Ravenlight's shoulder to grab his hair - and did it ever feel good to grab someone else's hair instead of getting grabbed there! - and slamming him back against the wall, forcing him to straighten as he rammed one, two three jabs into his stomach.

The first cracked the armor plating; the second smashed it entirely and caused Ravenlight's legs to buck up, leaving him suspended by only his hair for a moment... and with the third, Zerrex let go as he twisted his fist on impact, slamming it home into Ravenlight's gut and smashing him against the metal hard enough to leave a dent, and Ravenlight grabbed at himself with his one working arm, bright colors flashing in front of his eyes as he fell to his knees and vomited. He heaved out expensive red wine and shrimp with the first wave, along with a good helping of blood and more solid gore, then, as he began to puke again, Zerrex kicked him hard in the forehead, and Ravenlight's throat snagged on his own vomit. He clutched at his throat uselessly for a moment, then Zerrex slammed his heel down into the back of his head and knocked him sprawling in the puddle of ichors, before stepping back to avoid the vomit and blood that flew from his muzzle as he coughed and heaved violently.

Then Zerrex snorted and leapt back as Ravenlight seized his empty handgun and pointed it at his enemy, tears of humiliation burning his eyes and leaking down his cheeks as he stood, panting harshly, one arm useless, his skull fractured and bleeding, his body broken. He couldn't even aim straight, his gun trembling violently back and forth as he twitched and gagged, and then black smoke begin to rise up off his body as a dark aura rose up around the beaten and battered creature, almost seeming to burn. Ravenlight coughed blood again, then he screamed and pulled the trigger of the .52 rapidly as Zerrex simply sidestepped to avoid what should have been a hail of bullets: "Stop it! Just end it already, stop this silly bullshit!"

Before the Drakkaren could reply that Ravenlight deserved it, the world around them suddenly turned to darkness, and Ravenlight looked back and forth in horror, staggering backwards into what had before been a wall but was now just empty space, the two Drakkaren standing on a plain concrete floor before the Drakkaren turned to him and threw the .52 down in fury that masked utter terror: "I said stop!"

"I'm not doing it!" Zerrex responded with a blink, touching his own chest and looking back and forth in confusion. Ravenlight stared at him, and their eyes locked for a moment... before Zerrex's widened and slid over his shoulder as another Zerrex-shaped creature appeared out of thin air from the blackness, rolling up the sleeve of his business suit as the reptile shouted: "Behind you!"

It was already too late, though: even in that single moment, where Ravenlight and Zerrex played as allies, the Drakkaren beginning to turn, beginning to leap away... there was nothing they could do to save the already desperately-beaten Ravenlight. Instead of escaping, he froze and gagged, his back arching... and then the metal plating over his breast exploded outwards in twisted puzzle-pieces of shrapnel and the metal weave tore, Drake smiling as he leaned in to put his muzzle beside Ravenlight, his arm through the evil Drakkaren's chest, his heart pulsating slowly, sickly in his hand.

Ravenlight spasmed, blood dripping out of his maw as his eyes glazed, his body trembling as he managed enough strength to turn his head and look into Drake's eyes with nothing but utter terror as Drake whispered gently: "Go to sleep." And then, without a moment's hesitation, he simply clenched his fist, and the heart in his hand exploded in a bloody mass that turned to dark motes of energy before they even touched the floor. He snorted and shoved Ravenlight's corpse forwards, and it too dissolved into dark energy that floated into the air for a moment... before rolling forwards and into Drake.

Zerrex looked across at the dark nephilim... then he snarled slowly and straightened, his eyes darkening as he said slowly: "You... behind all this mess, all this catastrophe in my own head, is..."

"Me." Drake shrugged and looked mildly amused, idly rolling his sleeve off and shaking the black hand he'd torn through Ravenlight's chest as if dirty, although it was already pristine. Then he looked up, his tendril-like white hair floating around his features as he added: "And thanks, by the way... you did a wonderful job with that talkative son-of-a-bitch. It would have been such a pain in the ass to deal with him myself, you know... but as I'd hoped, you proved to be the stronger in battle, even after going through hell and darkness to get to him."

"So you wanted him dead... just because it would tire me out, and because you want total control of my body? You just made up that whole story about me needing to crush him, to make sure that I'd be weak enough for you to try and take care of yourself?" Zerrex asked furiously, snarl growing wider as he clenched his hands into fists and leaned forwards, and Drake laughed and shook his head, looking amused.

"Yes and no. Don't look so outraged... relax, stress is bad for the heart." Drake winked and idly tapped his chest, then he straightened his tie before clearing his throat and continuing calmly: "Ravenlight and I are both 'evil,' persay, but in about the same way that you and... Lucy Lollipops are both good people. So I needed him to be destroyed, because his moralistic ideals aren't the same as my own... we two are much closer in our ideas, really, and our goals... thus I was really tempted to honor our bargain until I recognized how vulnerable you were, and I decided to make a play for myself.

"Don't look so confused..." The dark nephilim rolled his eyes, and Zerrex's eye twitched at the dismissive gesture and the sigh that the creature gave. "Fine, I'll explain. It's like... the crusades, or the inquisition. Different ideas of what good and evil are, just as there are different ideas of hero and villain. You yourself are an excellent example... Cindy sees you as a hero... Cherry sees you as a neutral master... and undoubtedly, Vampire, Cindy's mother, and many others saw you as a villain. A cruel, monstrous enemy to be destroyed."

He shook his head mildly. "It's the sad truth of the simplistic societies that exist today; we recognize and accept broad concepts of 'right,' 'wrong,' 'good,' and 'evil' without ever pausing to think about what they really are, and how they can be perceived in the minds of others. The question that raises is... is there really any of these things? And the answer is yes: but your ignorant, pathetic race of fleshwalkers doesn't wish to recognize this fact, wants to hide from it, because it means they themselves may commit things evil or wrong. Better to hide behind academics, behind moral this and moral that, and talk about it, then take any actions." And with this, Drake grinned cruelly and coldly.

Then he straightened his tie and closed his eyes, bowing his muzzle forwards idly. "With this in mind... there are different breeds, and we find that good and evil aren't really so different... but between right and wrong there is a vast expanse. Ravenlight wished only to do 'wrong-evil,' which is to say... not necessarily things egotistical, but things idiotic, gluttonous, and... shiny, for lack of a better word. He wanted to show off, and he wanted to use the power he got not just for his own ends and ideals, but for a future that would end in destruction. How is this evil? He admitted himself many times he is evil... evil in this case being the egotistical wish to have no affinity and do nothing with others, when in this society, even I recognize that I'll have to help others if I wish to survive. So even the nicest of people can be evil if their actions are self-destructive and self-motivated... and perhaps only looking out for one's self does become evil in the end, and it's just your races unwillingness to accept that evil and cruelty do exist that leads us to believing it isn't. The academic whining and babble again...

"But wrong? Wrong is willfully hurting others in any way, and remember I'm keeping this to... simple terms so I don't hurt your poor head. So again, in simple terms, evil is selfishness, and wrong is sadism. Good, then, is altruism, and kindness. But like with all things, there is a limit to these actions..." A pause and another knowing wink. "But think about it. In a world where we all were good people... there could never be too much generosity, because we'd always be giving, forgiving, willing to do more, and willing to help out anyone in trouble, and thus we'd all be happy and there would be peace. Maybe our world is more evil than any of us think... and the idea of labeling all these terms so terrifying because you fleshbags are all born evil, ungrateful sons-of-bitches."

Zerrex snorted, looked down, then he drew his revolver and took aim towards Drake, saying softly: "I don't care. Because if I get what you're saying... we're both evil, but we're also both interested in doing the right thing, which is ironically... self-destructive for us evil people. But guess what, Drake? I still don't like philosophy, despite how much of this talky-talk bullshit I've had to put up with all day."

Then he pulled the trigger... and nothing sounded but a dry click. The reptile snarled, looking down at the revolver, and Drake laughed quietly, shaking his head slowly and speaking quietly as if he hadn't been interrupted: "And that brings me back to the main point. I wanted him dead because I didn't like him... and because he did need to die to make sure that you or I could maintain and get out of this body without that near-schizophrenic mindset of yours kicking in and causing trouble. Secondly, with his consciousness gone, his powers dissolved into the air, into darkness in this world, along with every other sentient being you killed here that you didn't create." He looked up, and then Drake's eyes flashed, and Zerrex let out a surprised gasp of pain, throwing his gun down as the metal began to melt, barrel drooping and handle leaving a patternwork of singe-marks over his hand. "Every person you killed, I've taken in their energy, the darkness that I feed off of, grow stronger off of. Now let me show you just what I am capable of, Zerrex."

The Drake suddenly kneeled and slammed a hand into the ground, grinning as chunks of concrete flew into the air, and before Zerrex could move, the floor beside his foot exploded, and Drake's hand - and horribly, the sleeve of his suit, his goddamn pinstriped suit - emerged, and seized Zerrex's ankle in a tight grip, then dragged him downwards with enough force to tear the Drakkaren through the solid cement and into the earth below, Zerrex covering his face with his arms as he cried out in agony, tasting dirt and rock and barren earth before pain tore through his body again as he was ripped free from the concrete like a plant in a burst of stone, his eyes opening in a bloody haze, his legs and body alive with pain, almost broken, before Drake made an idle swatting motion as he looked away and straightened his tie with the other hand, and the reptile was sent crashing down into ground by an invisible sledgehammer of force.

Then the dark nephilim walked over to him and idly put his hands behind his head, as Zerrex lay on his chest, a bloody, broken mess, his body aching, his head reeling, and the creature smiled slightly as he looked down at him idly. "Well, it looks like you've had enough. But don't you look chewed up..." He paused, tilted his head upwards, then laughed and grinned, and suddenly Zerrex was laying on a small platform of white light floating in the air, and Drake was gigantic, more than ten times his size as he said idly in a voice that shook the lizard's small world. "Well, it did give me a fun idea to finish you off and absorb your energy quicker. Thanks for the snack, and I hope you booked your trip to Hell in advance... because I hear it's getting crowded there."

Drake laughed, and it was like thunder as he grinned, picking the reptile up with two fingers as Zerrex coughed a bit and looked up at him blearily, finding himself raised up above the giant's head, with the dark nephilim looking up at him cheerfully, horrible teeth bared, and the reptile realized what was going to happen too late, but he couldn't even bring himself to struggle as the creature added: "Everyone just seems to want in."

Then his sharp-toothed jaws opened wide, and he dropped Zerrex into his mouth and swallowed, and all Zerrex knew was darkness... darkness through which he spiraled downwards endlessly, as if inside Drake's stomach was the real nightmare world. There was no more pain though, no more... anything... no sound, no laughter, no screaming, no feeling, as he slumped his shoulders, thinking he must be upside down, but there wasn't even any sense of vertigo, either, and he couldn't help but tremble. After all his years of battle and war... his death comes from being eaten by a grinning version of him in a suit, a parasite that didn't even have a body... and he sighed softly, closing his eyes in despair...

"Don't be sad, mister." whispered a voice, and a toddler's figure flew by, a ghost from the past who was now an adult officer of the police force, and the canine smiled... but here he was still in diapers, waving happily at him, upside down. "You real strong, you is."

"It'll be okay, Zerrex." spoke another soft voice... and the reptile looked to the right in surprise, seeing Mel, another old friend... and the vixen winked at him, then toddled her fingers in a wave. She was upside down, too... and then Zerrex slowly rolled his body in the darkness, and now she was right-side up.

A laugh from behind him, and he turned around to see a collie dog smiling happily at him. She blushed like a schoolgirl, then somehow almost managed to fall over even in this darkness with nothing around her semitransparent body. "Ugh, I'm still as clumsy as ever... I don't know how you can manage to be so graceful even dodging bullets..."

"Fuck! What the fuck!" came an enraged voice, and then two more figures floated up... a pissed-off looking Vampire in his leather trenchcoat and leather... everything-else and Tinman, who was standing behind him in much simpler clothes, squeezing an ear nervously. Then Vampire shook a fist and yelled at him in the same furious tone: "You kick the shit out of me and you lose to this fucking asshole, Captain? You get your ass back up there and show him not to laugh at the Goth Legion!"

Tinman just mumbled a bit, then he finally smiled and said in a meek voice: "You're the strongest person I've ever met, Mr. Zerrex. You are."

A snort from behind him, and Zerrex turned slowly to see Elliot looking at him warmly, a bottle of beer in his hand and looking as though seated on an invisible chair... and sitting on his lap was Marina, and resting against his leg with her legs out was Cindy, looking at him with love in her eyes. "Boss, y'know, you did promise me you'd take care of Cindy and Marina."

"Meanie-head! Don't make Daddy any more worried about us!" Marina snapped out, jumping up on his lap and glaring up at him crossly, and Elliot blinked before blushing, rubbing the back of his head, and mumbling an apology.

"Who's the strongest person in the world, Marina?" Cindy asked softly, looking up at her daughter and sister warmly, and then Marina blinked and smiled happily, looking over her shoulder at Zerrex firmly.

"Daddy is!" she said loudly, and Cindy nodded before they too floated away... and Zerrex rubbed at his eyes, trembling a bit. Then Lone floated up next, looking at him for a few long moments embarrassedly.

Finally, he glanced at him awkwardly as he shuffled from paw-to-paw, and murmured softly: "Your daughters said everything that has to be said. I couldn't compare to you on your worst days, even now... and I could never have changed without you."

"Crush him." said a cold voice from behind him, and Zerrex turned around to see Requiem standing tall, dressed in his pristine suit, his arms crossed. Beside him was his mother, and she looked at him and nodded slowly at the next words of the huge Dragokkaren: "You never give up, Zerrex. You never surrender. And you defeated me in the end without raising a fist... you're better than your father, and you're better than a goddamned parasitic monster."

"The Boss is the best!" agreed a voice from behind him, and Zerrex turned around to see a pierced and scarred vixen smiling at him brilliantly, rubbing quietly at her naked stomach as a coyote looked back and forth embarrassedly behind her, and she laughed and clapped her hands together, the once-leader of the Godkillers grinning viciously: "Just pretend the fucker's Tank. That should help."

And then another voice said irritably: "Fucking pussy. Why the hell are you crying? You just got eaten. I got the living shit kicked out of me."

Zerrex blinked at this voice... it was familiar, but strange. And then another voice laughed... the same voice, except somehow so much different as it said cheerfully: "Dude, you just don't have a heart. And you can't call him a pussy since uh, he's the one who just... broke you, when you had twin handguns, god mode, and a fugly face I personally wouldn't want to touch with a ten-foot pole."

"Fuck you!" raged the voice, and now Zerrex realized who it was; it was impossible to mistake. And he looked down to see two more versions of himself sitting in what looked like a fifteen foot wide green meadow that had grown out of the darkness, one of them smiling happily and looking up at him, seated on a stump by a small streamlet with a few unevolved animals standing around curiously as he gently put down a flute... and the other was Ravenlight, his combat armor and body magically fixed, sitting a short distance away with his arms crossed, stubbornly facing away and looking off into the shadow world. Then, a moment later, he landed gently on his feet, looking down to see his own body clean and fixed, and realizing there was no more pain... and then he glanced around and coughed.

"Uh... where am I?" he asked finally, feeling stupid and then self-consciously rubbing at his face, and Ravenlight made a series of mumbling noises and faces off into the darkness beyond before snorting loudly. The other Zerrex with the flute sighed and shook his head at this behavior, then he smiled over to the confused Drakkaren.

The Zerrex with the flute smiled and spread his arms wide, and then he said easily: "This is my little bit of paradise inside the body of Drake. And you can call me whatever you like, but I guess we can just go with flute-guy or Good or something for now."

"I call him the pansy-fucker." Ravenlight muttered, and Good rolled his eyes before raising his fingers to his mouth and whistling, but the sound was silent: however, Ravenlight twitched back and fell off the rock, and Zerrex's eyes widened in surprise as a ghost of Cherry appeared from the shadows and roared, scowling at the evil lizard, then she grinned and winked at Good before looking to the true Zerrex with amusement. "What the fuck, why the shit am I last? At least I got to see all three of your chunks at once. But hey, you don't have the time to dick around, Boss. Get your ass moving, huh?"

And then she was gone... and something clicked in Zerrex's mind as he looked from Good to Ravenlight... or Evil, as he should likely be named, before looking down at his own hands with a quiet snort of ironic amusement. The two other Drakkaren looked at him, and Zerrex said dryly: "I have a broken mind... three distinct sections of personality. Part of me that's good, part of me that really doesn't care about anything except the right thing, and part of me that's evil... and I'm just the dominant psyche, aren't I?"

"So-so." Good teeter-tottered a hand back and forth, although he looked at Zerrex with a warm smile that would be patronizing coming from anyone else. "Glad I don't have to explain it too much, though... but yeah, you're Neutral, I guess we could say. Except more than that, you're the highest-functioning of us, the one who's always been in control of the body, so a bit more than a personality quirk or a voice."

Ravenlight muttered under his breath. "I'm more than either of those things... but no, no, let's just ignore me, you just talk about yourself... he listens to me more than you, anyway..."

"Not recently." Good argued, holding up a hand, then he rolled his eyes as Ravenlight flipped him off. "Anyway, anyway. Joking aside... you should probably go mess up Drake before he figures out how to control your body. I think he's trying to wake you up right now... but he's kinda got no clue how to do anything while still only the mental half, but I don't think he's such a hot-shot even with the physical part of his body."

"Uh. I hate to say this, but he completely owned me up there..." Zerrex replied with a wince, frowning... and then his face darkening a bit as Good laughed and shook his head. "What?"

"You... really think that? Oh, crap, sorry." Good coughed into a closed fist, blushing a bit, then pocketing his flute as several mice scampered up onto his shoulder, and he smiled and reached up to stroke the tiny, unevolved creatures. "Nice little buggers, huh? Amazing how we've all evolved the same way... perhaps a proof of some higher power. But before I get rambling-"

"There is no god, just whatever you can grab for yourself, and the stronger guy always kicks your ass before you get to it." Ravenlight sulked, sitting back on his stone, and Zerrex looked at him blankly for a moment before turning his attention back to Good, as he rolled his eyes.

"Just keep sitting there alone in the emo corner, and don't try to slit your wrists, okay? I'll be watching." Good called loudly with one hand raised to his muzzle, and Ravenlight replied with a barrage of curses. But the smiling, shirtless and comfortable-looking Drakkaren - who was also smaller than he was, Zerrex noted - looked up at the reptile warmly and continued in an easy voice: "Here's a thought. Drake didn't kill you... or me, actually, and I'm the weakest of us bunch, admittedly... and he absorbed Ravenlight and put him back together instead of dissolving him. We're important to the body to work... and Drake was hesitant even about capturing you as he did, admitted himself it was only because he thought he saw a vulnerability."

Good smiled at Zerrex, letting him process this, then he held out an arm, and several birds flocked down to his outstretched limb, cooing and singing so pleasantly that even Ravenlight tossed an envious look over his shoulder. "So here's a thought. Maybe our good friend Drake needs us for this body to function... and if that's the truth, if he can't really kill us but has to keep us in working order... and hell, look at you, you're fine and he just scared you, more than anything else, if you think about it... well... maybe he needs us to function?"

It was like the Drakkaren could feel a nudging at his mind... and he looked back and forth before saying slowly: "Are you saying... that... adding up all of Drake's actions, including..." How he acted... in all the worlds... especially the first world, he said he was... "That in reality, Drake is the one trapped here... and he's just bluffing? That this is all a big illusion, that all he can do is keep me quiet through magic tricks?"

"Well, duh, fuckhead!" Ravenlight spun around on the rock, snorting... and then making a face when a squirrel jumped up on his lap, looking revolted and shooing at it... but it refused to move, and so instead he leaned away, looking ridiculous as he continued to try and scold Zerrex with his eyes on the small, unevolved animal that was looking at him curiously. "Like, you moron! He was able to do me in because I'm not the Conscious Walker, I'm not the one who gets to make the rules, play as God in this world, and my powers are limited even in my own sub-reality... you, you're the one who makes the rules, you're the one with all the power... but like... uh... that big guy, what's-his-face, always said, you believe you're done for, you're done for."

"He means Requiem." Good said drolly, then he coughed and rolled his eyes innocently as he made a quick shooing gesture with his hand and all the animals in the small meadow pounced, flew over, or sprinted and jumped up on Ravenlight, causing him to scream in terror, fall off the rock, and flail madly before simply falling still as all manner of birds and small beasts sat on him cheerfully. "And thank you for that poetic quote."

You only fail... when you convince yourself you fail. It all made sense... even the way that Drake had killed Ravenlight... despite the savagery of the attack, he'd been quick to absorb his energy, and that's all it had been... an absorption into his body, not destruction at all. Then Zerrex frowned slightly and looked at Good, asking softly: "But how do I get out of here?"

Good merely smiled back at him, then he and the rest of the meadow - including Ravenlight and the menagerie on him - began to fade out as he said almost tenderly: "Just spread your wings and fly, Zerrex. Fly, 'cause for the first time in history of all these collective universes inside you, your whole body's backing you on this, not just random majorities here and there."

"Fuck him up." Ravenlight muttered in apparent agreement, as they vanished into the shadows and left Zerrex standing in nothingness... and the Drakkaren looked down. He closed his eyes... and for the first time ever, there was no thought in his head except his own, there was nothing begging for attention, for some other thought. It made him wonder again... how real was all this? Was this another world, as real as the one outside his body he was so eager to return to. But then he just grinned and looked up, and rolled his shoulders as he flapped his wings metaphorically... and literally, closing his eyes and stretching out as he felt a pair of large wings pushing free from his back, then flapping powerfully once.

He glanced back, and was surprised to see a pair of glowing, feathered angel wings... not demon wings like he'd expected. Pure white, and a few feathers floated down, but quickly vanished after they touched apparent ground... and with the same sizzling look of energy as Drake's hair had possessed. Untainted, raw energy... and Zerrex grinned as he shook his head raising his head towards the sky and concentrating, then flapping them again, feet lifting from the ground as he murmured: "I hope I don't look like a fairy or anything. But do I ever feel like an idiot... here goes, though."

Drake was snarling, still tromping around inside Zerrex's reality, the Drakkaren's world too twisted for him to make sense of... and he'd already had to deal with more delays than he wanted to think about. Mostly because he didn't think he could take over the physical body of the Drakkaren without the ability to physically manifest himself into the lizard's form. After all, he wasn't a frigging demon, and he wasn't manipulating the strings of his spirit to force the physical body to move. No, he was stuck in the goddamn brain of the reptile, which was more skewered than your average mental job's, and he wasn't a fucking neurologist, either.

Then he blinked, standing in raw darkness, but feeling a horrible twinge in his body... before grabbing at his throat as his back arched and his jaws opened wide, and he felt his throat sear with agony and something smash his mouth open - taking a few teeth in the process, which promptly replaced themselves - and then fly out... and Drake blinked and stared, lowering his muzzle as Zerrex landed on the end of his muzzle, shirtless, clean, undamaged, and with his revolver in one hand... and a pair of angel wings coming from his back.

"Trying out for the costume ball or the ice show?" Drake asked tauntingly, slowly bringing a hand up, then letting out a loud 'ha!' when he seized the reptile, Zerrex's wings tightening around his body in a vain attempt to protect himself. Drake merely crushed as hard as he could, however, grinning darkly at how easy it had been to-

Zerrex's angel wings spread back open, the reptile standing with one arm held out and his wings extended, and Drake screamed, staggering backwards as he looked in horror at the stump at the end of his sleeve: his hand quickly regenerated, but the fact that the Drakkaren had managed to destroy part of him without any apparent strain whatsoever meant bad things for him... and then Zerrex asked idly: "So, my guess is that you're not going to hand the keys back over for my body the easy way, so my first question should probably be your size or mine?"

"Fucking bastard!" Drake tried to smash the Drakkaren between his hands, but instead he only grabbed his own muzzle as Zerrex leapt backwards, grinning and his wings disappearing... and then Drake found himself once more facing a reptile of the same height as himself. He blinked, then shrieked as Zerrex held up a hand and a crystalline cube appeared around him.

"Do not adjust your television set... we control the vertical, and the horizontal," he intoned, then made two distinct crushing motions with his hands in the same directions as he'd just spoken, and Drake looked back and forth in terror as the cube and his own body shrank down to a tenth of its size, and Zerrex easily picked it up with one hand, looking at him mildly as he added: "I used to watch that show all the time. I love sci-fi stuff, you know..." Another pause. "So uh... just curious... but how many different tortures will I have to put you through for my personal amusement before you decide to go for the easy option? Because watching you fight off an alien invasion or maybe a zombie apocalypse sounds like a great stress-reliever right now."

"No, no, no! Wait!" Drake screamed, shaking his head rapidly, and he looked up at the reptile with terror in his eyes, hands raised in surrender: "Please, back to the original deal, I'll help you out, just... please, stop!"

"Not so fun being on the receiving end, huh?" The Drakkaren said mildly, then he threw the glass cube away: it shattered and vanished, and Drake grunted as he landed heavily on his back, his shadow spilling around him like black water before gathering behind him and helping the dark creature rise to his feet, pushing him up as he panted harshly, clutching at his chest. The moment Zerrex turned his back, however, the dark nephilim snarled, turning one of his hands into a huge spike... before freezing in place, unable to move, as Zerrex rose a hand and said mildly: "Look behind you."

Drake struggled uselessly against the invisible force restraining him... then slowly turned his gaze over his shoulder before staring in horror at... another Zerrex, this one with his arms crossed. He quickly looked back towards his front... but there was no one there, and his mouth worked uselessly before he looked back behind him at the other reptile: and if Drake could sweat, this would be when he'd be doing it. "P... please..."

"I bet the other people in my head would love to see me do this." Zerrex said mildly, and then he rose a hand and closed it into a fist, his emerald eyes flashing, and Drake simply exploded into black fragments that quickly dissolved in the air. Then the reptile snorted and shook his head, glancing down at the dark shadow on the concrete ground that had come into creation sometime without the lizard really noticing and saying mildly: "You have no clue how obvious that is."

He lowered his hand, and Drake's body slowly reformed... except this time without his suit, and most of his sexless body pulsing reddish now, his eyes staring up at Zerrex as he rasped in a pained voice from his crouched position: "You... kill me... and you'll never get out of your own mind..."

"Wrong. I'll find the way... but I just don't have the luxury of time right now, so I have no choice but to again offer you our nice little deal... and warn you that if you double-cross me at any point, I'll kill you. Because now I recognize who's trapped who." Zerrex replied evenly, and Drake nodded rapidly, the pain on his features a testament to his honesty... at least at this point and time.

Then he extended a hand, and Zerrex realized that he was smaller as well: the reptile truly had done a much harder number on him than he'd intended. But he still didn't trust the dark nephilim, even when he extended his own hand, and then Drake grinned and whispered: "We work on your schedule... no wonder they call you the Boss."

And then a shock ran through the Drakkaren's body, and he snarled as his entire form was suddenly aflame with agony, and Drake shouted clearly as everything around him twisted and convulsed violently: "Wake up!"

And for a moment there was nothing, only more pain, a darkness Zerrex couldn't identify... and then his eyes opened, and how it hurt... but they opened in reality, and his body flared with pain as he finally came awake for a few bare moments in time seven years, fifty-two days, eight hours and thirty-eight minutes after Drake had first taken over his body and placed him into coma... and the first thing he did was faint from the pain.