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"Which do you want to start with first?" she asked softly, and Zerrex looked at her strangely before she shrugged and murmured softly: "You're intertwined with all three of these... and I can feel them reaching out for guidance. I think you know us all best... so why don't you act as their guides?" she paused, and smiled lovingly at her father, stroking his face gently as they sat together on one of the bunk beds. "Don't worry about me, Daddy. Telepathic communication is a specialty of mine, I thought you'd notice that by now... and no matter how long it feels, it'll only take minutes, even just seconds, perhaps. The mind plays tricks with time." She stopped, then added softly: "If I need to draw back... I will. But otherwise, let me act as your... speaker and microphone, your image... and talk through me."

"How?" Zerrex looked at his daughter softly... then she smiled and gently reached up to touch his cheek. A moment later, he felt a strange swirling sensation roll through his body, and Marina faded out of view... before he found himself standing in a dark room with her. And oddly enough, Drake was standing beside him, looking unimpressed, as the reptile blinked and glanced back and forth.

"Easier than I thought." Marina said, but her voice had a dreamlike quality, and she was dressed in plainer clothes here. Zerrex looked at her in confusion, and she grinned. "You're pretty open to any kind of mind tricks because Drake's in you. He makes a great connection line."

"Bite me." Drake muttered, and then he vanished into darkness... before reappearing on the other side of Zerrex, grabbing his shoulders and growling: "I don't like it here. This is an illusionary world... she might just generate false responses based on expectation and your own memories of the others, not actually bring you in contact with them."

Zerrex looked over at Drake amusedly, then nudged him with his elbow... and unsurprisingly, it felt like flesh instead of the dark substance the dark nephilim was usually composed of. "Maybe you just don't like being on equal ground with me."

This caused the creature to snort and vanish, then reappear in front of him this time, blocking Marina from view as he crossed his arms in distaste. "Yeah, that's why I'm stuck being your partner when there's a thousand others I could likely possess and hold and use my powers out of in the real world." A pause, and then he glanced down at himself with a snarl, his body becoming static-ridden before he vanished from reality.

Marina looked serenely at him, saying softly: "We don't need him for this trip. Once I've got a lock on your mind, we can talk to the others fine." A pause, and then she said softly: "Although we aren't really going to be talking. More watching and interacting where necessary. So let's go, Daddy." A smile, and then she vanished... and Zerrex felt a twist of vertigo, felt like he was falling... before he suddenly found himself standing in a grassy field.

The Drakkaren blinked, trying to look around... before he realized he couldn't. It was like he was being forced to watch a projected image on a television screen or something... and as he watched, the ground and sky seemed to trickle together before twisting itself into new shapes, forming several tents, stalls, the things you'd expect to see at a travelling circus. As the reptile watched, however, the colors seemed off, less vibrant than reality, faded... and then his eyes widened when he heard Cherry say softly: "Why... why am I here... this is before my time, anyway... or at least I was very young..."

"Remember Mom? She was famous." Cynterra replied, her own tone gentle... and Zerrex realized where they were now. An illegal, travelling caravan... gypsies, carnies, and magicians... and the famous Beatrice Blossom, who was renowned in many circles as the greatest of all psychics, and many others as the hungriest of all whores. Then he was inside the tent, apparently standing down in one of the dirt rings, near a large fire... and a striking, proud-looking Drakkaren was in the center stage holding two metal hoops and dressed in little more than a loincloth with no back and a strap of cloth over large, sumptuous breasts, her body taunt and strong, strikingly, amazingly beautiful, and yet she had such cold and hungry eyes... and then she began to dance.

The fires scattered around the ring turned blue to the gasps of the crowd, as she danced and twisted, spinning the hoops around her body, her arms, her limbs, and then closing her eyes and calling in a powerful voice: "Seat 316, Jeremiah Andrews, stand! Lawyer, divorced twice, cheated on his wife, doesn't believe in my powers but fears to be called out of the crowd like I've just done, staring at my body and wondering what it'd be like to be between my legs..."

The crowd laughed as a figure in the distance stood, too far to make out, and then Beatrice stopped and grinned as she threw both rings into the air, and the crowd gasped as she caught one on one finger: it rotated on the tip of her claw like a centrifuge... and then the other ring fell as well, and that too spun on the metal tip in the opposite direction, both rings speeding up as she pointed with the other hand and shouted: "You want proof? Shall I tell you something no one else knows? Give me your answer, Jerry!"

Cheers rang up from the crowd as she stood there... and then a grin spread over her features as she closed her eyes, before they flashed open and she said clearly: "You lost your virginity to your stepsister!"

Laughter, and the figure above was running for the exit, covering his head as cheers and catcalls rang up through the crowd... and then a vision of afterwards, after everything was over, the tents closed down... and Beatrice was on the grass with two big males she'd seduced, screaming for more... and in the distance, standing behind a tree, was a four-year old Cherry watching, a teddy bear dangling from her hand. Beside her was a powerful, cruel-looking Drakkaren, who said disgustedly: "You were born the same way. Now let's get back before your mother sees us... but since you wanted to know so bad, this is where all the money comes from... but it all gets wasted on your mother's luxury items. Stupid bitch's cunt could feed the world if she didn't have to buy so much fancy shit... I said, come on!" And then he slapped Cherry down, and when she began to cry, he pushed her into the ground and asked in a threatening voice: "Do I have to punish you again? Or do you want to go and join your mother out there, huh, is that it? Spread your legs for every male..."

"I don't want to see this..." Cherry murmured quietly, sounding horrified and hurt... and then the image flickered to Beatrice doing a strip show inside a tent for a crowd of rowdy males... before the tent flap closed and an older, eight year old Cherry walked away silently, rubbing at her bleeding vagina and crying a bit. And somehow Zerrex knew that her father had just raped her... and it wasn't the first time. And he could also hear a horrible call from inside, a shout of: "Hey, pay up, gimme the money and I'll give you a spot in line... and if you really want it, I'll let you have at my oldest little girl, too, but that'll cost you double! But she's young and prime!"

Cherry wandered away down a dirt path, rubbing at her face quietly, snarling angrily and kicking at a stone as she passed, still dragging her teddy bear around with her... before she looked up as she heard yells and screams from a nearby field. Immediately, she ran over... and Cynterra was there, crying and bloody, being held down by a group of boys as they screamed things like 'whore,' and 'devil child,' and 'fucktoy' at her, likely without even knowing the meaning, and they were tearing at her clothes, laughing at her bruises, at her battered vagina... and Cherry snarled before running forwards and yelling: "You get away from my sister!"

The four boys looked up in surprise... grinned... and then Cherry grabbed a stick from the ground and bashed one across the face and sent him down, crying and screaming. Then she began to beat on him violently with the stick, and the other three ran away as Cherry tossed it after them, before turning back to the first boy she'd already knocked down, starting to kick him over and over as she yelled at him angrily: "We're not worthless! You're worthless! We're not!"

Finally, she stopped... and the boy was nearly dead, spasming weakly, barely breathing, bloody all over from the beating Cherry had given him with the stick and her homemade, leather and wood shoes. Then she helped Cynterra up to her feet and gave her the teddy bear, which the younger, smaller Drakkaren hugged as she sniffled and looked into her big sister's eyes, whispering: "Thanks, Cindy..."

"It's Cherry." She grumbled, then threw an arm around her shoulders and began to guide her away... and Zerrex noted with a faint smile that Cherry was wearing shorts and a shirt... but Cynterra had a pretty blouse and dress on, even though both were ripped and took some adjusting to get back on to cover her body, and her underwear was ripped apart. "You need to learn to take care of yourself, Sin... it's not like anyone else will..."

"We lived in hell." Cynterra said quietly, and other images of rapes, violence, and degradation over the years flashed in front of Zerrex's eyes, before the screen seemed to split... showing Cherry and Cynterra running in opposite directions, and angry people running after them both, yelling about the dead body of their younger sibling they'd found, bloody and obviously sexually abused... torn up, in fact. And Cynterra was crying... but Cherry was just glaring off in the distance, looking more like a male despite her bouncing breasts than the maid-dressed Cynterra who had a smaller bosom than her sister... and in Cherry's hand was an old metal pipe with a rounded head she'd found. "But you always protected me until we split up... after we killed our youngest, because you said you wanted it to hurt less when she eventually was sold off as a whore... and I screwed up with the gag..."

"It was my fault." Cherry's voice said softly, but it was laced with agony. "I shouldn't have..."

A quiet laugh, a strange sensation, and then there were two more images again, beside each other... Cynterra crying and alone in a windmill... Cherry in the back of a bar, her pants down, crying out as a trucker took her hard, and grinning darkly, hatefully... making money in the only way she knew. "You carried the curse of the family stronger than I did, that need, that lust for sex... but you also always had the better powers, the better eyes. And you've always been stronger..." Images of the two joining the military, Cynterra staying back and whimpering even as she was delegated to an all-female unit... Cherry being raped in the shower... or at least it seemed like a gang rape, until she forced herself to turn around once the current large, and much older-Dragokkaren pulled out, so she could kiss him hungrily, to the laughter of the others.

"I don't want to remember that." Cherry whispered... but despite the embarrassment... there was something else there, too. Maybe a mutant pride, or a bit of lust... and Cynterra laughed before the image flickered again... showing Cynterra walking down the streets of Hez'Ranna in awe... and Cherry on a battlefield. A battlefield Zerrex recognized...

It was dirt and rock, devastated by ancient explosive blasts... and a death-test for Goth Legion applicants. As Cherry ducked behind a half-destroyed brick wall to check her supplies... she heard a noise from behind a rock ahead, and a soldier ran screaming out... but before she could snag her assault rifle or her combat knife, a quick burst knocked the soldier to the ground, dead.

Then a huge male emerged from behind the huge, broken rock, looking disgusted as he lowered his own assault rifle and hit the switch on the side. He paused, glanced up ahead, then shrugged and shouldered the rifle before emptying the last of the clip through the barbed wire that surrounded a small mine 'garden,' sending up a volley of explosions before ejecting the clip and changing it out for a full one, muttering under his breath: "Hopefully that'll draw out a few more flies or they'll think I'm dead. Either works for me."

Then the memory-Zerrex paused, his eyes narrowed as Cherry peered up from behind the wall, and he grinned a bit, aiming his rifle at her and saying callously: "Hey, bitch, I recognize you. You're the one who was having the party with the guys in the shower, right?"

"Fuck you, asshole. Bet you didn't join in 'cause your cock ain't big enough to please a girl, since you can't even please your butt-buddies, right?" Cherry shot back, standing and drawing her own rifle up in a smooth movement: the two faced each other with a grin... and then Zerrex snorted.

"You should watch what you're talkin' about, sweetheart." He replied darkly... and then he lunged to the side, so fast that Cherry wondered if he had the same ability as her, the burst of bullets she'd fired only hitting the stone behind him. She snarled, then ducked before covering her face with her arms in surprise, as Zerrex simply charged forwards and kicked through the brick wall, knocking her back into the crater behind her, her rifle flying from her hands... and she rolled a few times before managing to get her feet under her in a crouch and immediately lunge back up with a snarl, grinning and dodging bursts of bullets as she sprinted back up the crater wall.

She snapped her combat knife out of her leg holster as Zerrex looked at her furiously, recognizing him now as the current leader of the pack... and that if she overtook him, she'd be the one in charge, and everyone would have to bow to her! It made her grin wider, her eyes burning with vicious desire as she ducked under another burst of assault rifle fire, drawing in close... before dodging as he swung the hot barrel of the automatic rifle at her and lunging forwards to attempt to cut his guts out of his stomach.

Zerrex snapped the butt of the rifle down in time to block, however, snarling as he switched his grip to the body of the gun... but then Cherry got her other hand up and simply ripped it out of his hands, knocking it into the mud beneath them as she slashed forwards with the knife again. The Drakkaren infuriated her by once more stepping backwards, however... then, when she stabbed forwards, putting too much weight into her front and almost overbalancing herself... he caught her arm and then spun with a snarl, throwing her towards the stone behind him as ghost images spoke too late in front of her eyes.

She only grinned, however, snarling and forcing her body to flip... not forwards, but in reverse, slowing her progress through the air as she revolved so that her back was facing the ground, arms pinwheeling once... before her feet slammed into the body of the rock and she charged up it with the momentum built from her athletic movement, then kicked off and twisted in midair, throwing the knife straight down at the same time.

The Drakkaren, however, slid to the side, the blade cutting through one the pouches on his uniform shirt and spilling its contents out as she landed gracefully in a crouch... and then the reptile drew his own combat knife and quickly threw it back at her. She grinned immediately, twisting out of the way and reaching out... then catching it and letting her arm cross her body, prepared to throw but recognizing it was a useless attack, calling instead: "You're pretty good, motherfucker. You must be the asshole currently in the lead of our little games."

Zerrex snorted as he reached down and drew her combat knife out of the ground, then he flipped it so the blade was pointing downwards, wiping it off on his shirt before holding it out and ready, saying softly: "Like I care. Power isn't determined by rank. I just want a job where I can do what I do best."

"And mess people up..." Cherry breathed softly... and Zerrex looked at her in surprise... before the two grinned at each other and charged forwards, meeting in the middle. Knife-blade met knife-blade, and hand met hand... then they both suddenly lunged their muzzles forwards as well, trading a sloppy, passionate kiss even as Cherry revolved her wrist to free herself from Zerrex's grip and then slid her forearm across his hand, locking her elbow against his palm as she snagged his other wrist and tried to force the blade of the knife down... but Zerrex easily twisted her arm and yanked her to the side, then drew himself back, the kiss breaking as she slashed at him again with the knife as she was thrown away, the blade almost cutting into the reptile's throat and instead catching his hair, shredding his shoulder-length locks as they both leapt away and drew short trenches through the mud, skidding backwards.

Then they ran forwards again... and Cherry's eyes flickered as she suddenly turned and snapped the knife off in one direction, and Zerrex hurled the other knife over her head, into the chest of another soldier that had been attempting to sneak up behind her: meanwhile, the sniper on a high, rocky ledge above fell... and then the two Drakkaren slammed into each other, and this time their jaws locked and their arms went around each other's bodies, holding each other close...

The image faded, and Cherry protested loudly: "Hey! No! I remember what happened after that, I want to see us fucking! That was some frigging great sex!"

"And he taught you to love yourself. To love sex. And to love your position... as his second, as his slave, as his bitch." murmured Cynterra... and then she laughed quietly as she whispered: "And the only person you grew jealous of... was..."

A flicker... and Cindy was sitting on the couch with Zerrex, who had his head rolled back and was snoring loudly, making the Zerrex who was watching wince. I didn't know I did that. A moment later, however, Cherry walked into the room from the kitchen, glowering at the two before saying mildly: "He only snores when he's with you, you know."

"Well, he only swears when he's with you." Cindy shot back, and the two glared at each other for a moment before huffing and looking in opposite directions, and Zerrex continued to simply sleep through it all. The Drakkaren wondered quietly exactly how much he had slept through and missed between the three he'd started to think of as his girls... and then he found himself surprised when the next image faded in, of Cherry standing quietly in Marina's room, back when she was just a baby.

The room was plain, neat and organized... a... Zerrex could never remember the name... hung from the ceiling, suspended on invisible wires, spinning, slowly forever-spinning, made of rocket ships and feral animals and mythic beasts... the shelves were full of books, and a trunk in the corner stuffed with baby toys... and stuffed animals filled the crib, and Marina was under the blankets, a pacifier in her mouth, and clutching a fluffy brown bear. And from the nightlight in the corner and the gentle glow coming in from the doorway... Cherry looked so goddamn sad.

The usually rough, fearless female then blinked when Marina suddenly made a quiet noise in her sleep... then began to kick at the blankets and cry, her eyes flicking open and the pacifier falling out of her mouth. She flailed quietly in the bed, and Cherry gripped the edge of the crib with something like terror, looking back and forth and muttering under her breath: "Oh crap, I don't know... what the fuck do I do? Oh shit!" A pause, and then she turned and ran, and Zerrex's vision followed her, almost like a camera was running behind her as she charged towards the kitchen and stared at a note on the fridge written in Cindy's neat handwriting.

She hit the freezer door as the crying became louder, wincing and mumbling: "Baby this, baby that, dear fuck, Cindy, I get it. Don't drop the baby. Okay... here. 'If she starts crying, she wants to be... fed?' What the fuck? I ain't lactating!" Cherry stared down at her own huge breasts, squeezing them, then she made a face before continuing to read and sighing. "Oh hell yes. Formula in the fridge."

She opened the fridge... and stared at the empty baby bottle before touching her lips with an expression of horror... and Zerrex was somehow... not all that surprised. After all, Cherry wouldn't care about the difference between a baby bottle and a regular drinking bottle... and if she saw something in the fridge... "Oh shit. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit."

Then she winced, opened her mouth to yell as the crying got louder, and immediately snapped it shut and slapped herself across the face, snarling: "You are not going that route with this kid, Cherry! Don't think about it!" she paused, then closed the fridge door and muttered: "Cindy's calmed Marina down plenty of times... okay... okay... let's try this... maybe she's just... had a nightmare or..."

A pause, and she stared as she stepped into the baby's room, at the cradle, and a tremble ran through her body. Zerrex could almost feel the self-doubt and self-loathing running through her form... and finally, he understood, feeling his heart thud in his chest as he saw the truth. Cherry had never been able to produce children... never would... and she had grown up hating her family so much that she had eventually written them out of her mind, redesigned her entire history so much that she hadn't even been able to talk to Zerrex about it... had honestly come to believe her own made-up stories.

But Marina had started to break down that wall... had brought back the memories Cherry had of Cynterra... and of her own horrible, abused childhood. Now she was faced with a choice of repeating those atrocities... and likely meeting her death at the hands of her master... or trying to break free of her own mental walls. Face the demons in herself she'd let parade and run her all her life until she'd come to love the feelings of being taken, the hatred, the darkness... and try to be a bit, for lack of a better term, 'well-adjusted.'

She walked quietly over to the crib, and reached down, picking up Marina under the armpits ... and Marina stared at Cherry, and Cherry stared at Marina. They looked at each other for a long time in the darkness of the room... before Cherry finally bit her tongue and carefully pulled Marina close against her bosom, cradling the baby in her arms and trembling slightly. Marina, however, curled against her more than willingly... put her thumb in her mouth... and as Cherry held her silently in the darkness, a tear trickling down her cheek, the baby fell asleep with a few nonsense mumbles, and her other hand reached down and quietly snagged one of Cherry's fingers, squeezing it firmly as she slipped off to dreamland.

Cherry stood for the longest time, with tears rolling down her cheeks at this beautiful thing she held in her arms, this piece of Zerrex, this beloved child... and bowed her head silently, whispering quietly: "I won't ever let you go, Marina..." A pause, a long hesitation before she murmured: "Littlest sister..."

Then the memory faded... and Cherry whispered in a broken voice: "But I did fail Marina..."

"No..." Zerrex said softly... and his voice echoed through the folds of memory, time and space inside this strange world, and he could sense Cherry suddenly looking up as he said clearly: "You didn't!"

"You didn't..." echoed Marina and Cynterra... and the two sounded almost heartbroken as images flickered in and out of reality: Cherry, Cindy and Zerrex laughing as Marina took her first steps... Cherry and Zerrex sharing a grin, a laugh, and then quailing from Cindy when Marina's first word turned out to be 'fuck...' Cherry and Marina holding hands as they walked out to get a treat - ice cream for Marina, a skin mag for Cherry.

Then more; the two sitting together, playing with building blocks... all four of them sitting outside and Marina curled up in Cherry's lap, snoozing, and Cindy looking at the larger female almost enviously... Cherry grinning stupidly as she gave Marina things to chew on, winced when she started choking on one, and slapped her on the back so hard it not only made the puzzle piece fly out of her mouth but the baby do a somersault... Cherry using her precog to throw herself up the stairs of the Mayor's House and catch Marina as she fell, then twist and safely secure her against her oversized breasts as she landed heavily on her back and half-slid down the bottom row of steps.

And last of all, Cherry chained in the throne of the Breeding Queen with Cherubim - not yet known as her sister - beside her, watching as two huge Dragokkaren brought a bruised Marina in a dirty tunic inside with Narrius and the Blind Girl, who looked at her with distaste before saying mildly: "I promised the little girl she could see her family members once a year. She wanted to see who she keeps calling her older sister, even though you're more likely just a fucktoy of my son's."

"Don't swear in front of her." Cherry snarled, then she grinned viciously as she strained at the manacles, leaning forwards, panting hard as she looked around and said furiously: "By the way, you're dead. You... and everyone else here. Dead." A pause, and then she looked into Marina's eyes and said clearly: "Because Daddy's going to come back... no matter what they do to him, Zerrex is going to come back, darling, and he's going to put a stop to these bad people. I promise... your big sister promises that."

"Time's up." Narrius said darkly, an eye twitching, before he glanced over at Cherubim, saying coldly: "Now it's time for a different family visit, for you and us both." A pause, a glance down at Marina, then he made a disgusted face as the female ran forwards and leapt up into Cherry's lap, hugging her around the neck tightly.

"I love you, Cherry!" she cried, then her eyes bulged before she slumped forwards, and Cherry screamed in fury, pain and protest as electricity raced over both of their bodies from Narrius's hand. A moment later, Marina was lifted limply into the air, sparks still arcing over her scales as she hung from his grip.

"You fucking bastard! Let's see you pull that shit on someone who can fight back! You motherfucker, I'm going to fucking kill you!" snarled Cherry, fighting hard enough against the manacles to dig into her scales, jerking back and forth as the metal protested loudly. "You let her go, you piece of shit!"

Narrius's red eyes surveyed her coldly... then he gave a snort of disgust and turned away, waving a hand idly and saying darkly: "Deal with her."

As he walked away with his convoy of guards, Cherubim slid in front of Cherry and down into her lap, looking at her with sympathy and love as she leaned in close, causing Cherry to draw back in distaste and surprise as the other female's scales glowed and rippled, Cherubim whispering: "It's horrible, sister, I know, but it'll all be okay in the end... you'll see. We're together again, and I know we can make each other happy... I'll take great care of you once you're... settled in..."

"What are you talking about?" Cherry whispered, staring at horror into eyes that were so goddamn familiar... and then she swallowed thickly as she protested weakly: "I'm an only child... I was a waitress... my mother... was..."

Cherubim smiled softly at her, taking her face between her hands and quietly kissing her lips, and suddenly Cherry's body felt weak, slumping back as she felt drained... tired... and Cynterra whispered: "It looks like we have a lot of work to do... big sister..."

A moment later, the memory vanished as Cherry's eyes widened in the throne and she began to scream in horror... and her shrieks faded as the Cherry of now asked, her voice hitching: "God damn you, Sin... why are you showing me all this... I always protected you, now you're... what? Being a vengeful spirit because I failed you too? Because we couldn't stick together?"

"No." Cynterra murmured, and she sounded devastated, before both she and Cherry faded into existence on a plain cement path between two fields, like a sidewalk that ran not beside a road, but through a plain. They were facing each other, and both crying, holding each other's hands tightly as the younger, smaller female whispered: "You have to see yourself... from every angle... and now choose your path."

"But what about you?" Cherry asked in a murmur, trembling and looking at her sister with agony in her eyes... but Cynterra only smiled, and Cherry bowed her head silently, whispering: "I don't want to lose you again. Fail you again."

The younger Drakkaren hugged her older sister tightly as Cherry fell limp... and then she smiled against her bosom and said quietly: "No. From now on, we're together forever and ever... Master Zerrex has made sure we'll never be apart again."

Then, slowly, her body merged with Cherry's as golden light shone up from her melting form, Cherry's back wincing and agony on her face as her body bucked a few times, like she was being shocked... and her tears turned gold for a moment before the female was left standing alone in a final flash of light, leaving her standing on the sidewalk, trembling violently as she looked around. Zerrex couldn't say anything, could only watch as Cherry stood there, eyes closed, head bowed, hugging herself for a few moments... before she looked up and down the path to a fork in the road.

The female slowly approached this... and then stopped, looking down the left first and swallowing as she saw an encampment that was a mix of military and gypsy, and the sky above it was red... the ground beneath it black. The world there was lit by burning barrels that reeked of chemical fuel and dead bodies... and she could see the silhouette of erotic dancers and yelling males in some tents, and assassins polishing their prized weapons in others. Huge, bulky males walked slowly through the mud and dirt... and barely-dressed females stood at every corner, a handgun ready beside them... but the cocky grin on their features speaking of a more dangerous tool at their disposal.

The males looked like the Dragokkaren clones Cherry had called her children, but rougher... and in some cases, bigger, dressed in tight military uniforms. The females, on the other hand, looked like Cherry... and then several of both genders walked forwards to the edge of the path, calling out softly in horrible, siren voices: "This way, Cherry... let your darker nature take over... build yourself a body that's a living weapon, fucking and murdering your way to glorious retribution... and when you go to hell, you'll already have a head start as a demon and even the devils will bow before your might, lick your feet and kiss the ground for a chance to fuck you and spread their demon seed and birth the mightiest of dark children..." The females moaned as the males grabbed them, growling like they were prey, and the females ground themselves against them like they were toys. "At least come and walk amongst us..."

Cherry tore her gaze away, snarling and closing her eyes... before looking up at the other pathway. At the end was a house... a plain white house... and her eyes turned almost glassy as she began to walk towards this, motorcycle boots thudding along the sidewalk as the dark souls cried out in anguish and fury. She walked to the door, Zerrex's vision following her... and then quietly stepped through a rose garden to look in through the window, and Zerrex was seeing again, two images... one of Cherry... and a larger one of the inside of the building, as if through her eyes.

Inside, sat... him. He was reading the newspaper in a reclining chair, looking strangely in place with his blue dress shirt and black dress pants on, a pair of slippers on his feet... and then he lowered the paper to smile and watch the three little girls playing on the rug. Baby versions of Cherry, Cindy and Marina... but all the same age, all giggling happily as Cherry played with the cars and toy soldiers, zooming around blocks that Marina was putting together and scaring the princess dolls that Cindy was playing with. Then the image flickered, and instead Zerrex was sitting with the three females cradled close, all of them in dresses, and he was talking to them about how proud he was of them... that he never doubted they'd get through high school... and they were all beautiful, they were all together, and Cherry was her old self but lither, better looking, and... happy. Happy and in a dress that she was uncomfortably adjusting every few minutes... and somehow she knew that the three of them were all going to prom that night and waiting for their dates, just as Zerrex did.

Then Cherry tore herself away from the window, rubbing at her eyes and crying quietly to herself, trembling violently... and how she wanted to go through that door. But then she quietly touched her throat... the collar there... and instead she walked slowly back down to the fork in the path and sat down as Zerrex softened, watching her wipe at the tears on her face, curling her legs up against her body and bowing her head forwards to rest on her knees, crying quietly as she hugged herself and then said in a trembling voice: "I want to be happy... but I... don't belong there... and I don't want to go back into the darkness...

"Oh please... give me a sign... god... no... god has always lied, always betrayed me, I want my Daddy, I want my Zerrex, my master, my fa-father..." And with that, she began to cry again, falling over on her side and covering her face, and Zerrex clenched his eyes shut, unable to bear seeing her like this, and snarling, opening his eyes to claw at the fabric of reality himself... before he felt his body slipping through, heard his feet on the cement as he forced himself to walk forwards... and ripped through into this dream world.

The entire world twisted and jarred as Cherry looked up in shock... and Zerrex dropped to his knees and hugged her, and she threw herself against his chest and wrapped her arms around him, crying hard, sobbing against his chest. "I'm so goddamn sorry I never told you... I'm so sorry..."

"It's okay... it's going to be okay..." Zerrex whispered, and then he quietly stroked her face when she looked up at him with tear-filled eyes, smiling faintly and silently rocking her in his arms as he murmured quietly: "And to be honest... I couldn't ever see you as a goody-two-shoes like that either... that's Cindy's job, not yours."

Cherry laughed faintly, squeezing him tight and pressing silently against his chest... before she said weakly: "But I don't want to... to be swallowed up again by Hell... I don't want to be evil..."

"It doesn't matter... so long as you do what's right." Zerrex said quietly, and he slowly straightened, looking down at her softly and stroking her face gently as she gazed up at him, tears silently rolling down her cheeks as her breath hitched in and out. "Good and evil... without them both, there's no balance. Just like without... you and Cindy, say, in my life, there'd be no balance." He smiled faintly and kissed her cheek gently. "Okay, bad example. Cindy can be pretty nasty at times and you can be pretty cute."

"Fuck you." Cherry murmured softly, then she took his hand quietly and closed her eyes, lowering her head as she said shamefully: "I... I don't want to go to the darkness... but at the same time... I want it, and I'm lying. I want it to fill me up... I want to soak and bask in it..." a pause and look up at him quietly. "And I just know... if I walk into that good place there... I won't come out the same. But if I go into the darkness..." she looked down and murmured quietly: "Fuck, this is so corny and stupid. But it'll be like... intensifying who I am. Purifying myself... accepting myself.

"Yeah, I... I've always needed sex. Even being raped turned into... almost something consensual, with how much I love it. And there was always the need for power... and then the need to be yours, and your soldier, and your most elite... but never, ever above you in anything." She looked up at Zerrex silently, squeezing his hand as she whispered: "So I can't go in there alone. Please... help me down that path. And don't ever let go."

"I never will." Zerrex said softly... and then they quietly walked down towards the darkness together, Cherry closing her eyes as they stepped across the boundary... and into blackness that was without form and eternal... but as it burned so deep and dark, swallowed them up, their hands stayed locked... and there was the knowledge that they were together.

A few moments later, however, Zerrex's eyes flickered... and he opened them to see Marina gazing down at him softly with a quiet smile. He immediately sat up and said breathlessly: "Cherry! Where's..."

"It's okay." Marina gently stroked his chest, and he blinked slowly as he realized he was in reality... before glancing down at the capsule and watching as it beeped quietly and the arms began to work faster, the strange body inside seeming to begin solidifying on its own. He stared at this... and Marina hugged him gently around the neck, saying softly: "She's okay now... her soul's descended, her body's constructing itself to match her desires." A pause and a faint smile. "You guys never told me Cherry was such a badass."

"She and I... go back a long, dark path." Zerrex said softly, looking at his daughter softly. "It's why... Cindy always got cranky when you wanted to go out with her. She knew Cherry would never hurt you... but she was worried that you might start takin' after her in a few of her more unsightly ways, so to speak."

Marina laughed faintly, then closed her eyes and quietly pushed her head against his chest. "I guess I did after all..." A pause, and a soft look up at him. "So... you ready to do the next?"

Zerrex looked back down at her softly, wrapping an arm around her quietly and murmuring gently: "Only if you're okay with this... mentally and physically." A pause and a quiet laugh. "You're amazing, you know that?"

"Nah." Marina blushed quietly, glancing down. "It's Narrius's genetic tampering... his plan was to turn me into a Breeding Queen that would pass my powers on... give him a race of super-Dragokkaren that could kill with just a look, and control the Empty Ones, even reprogram them and others with just their minds if necessary..."

"I'm not talking about your powers, even though they're pretty awesome too." Zerrex said softly, and Marina looked up at him in surprise as the reptile smiled a bit and kissed her cheek quietly. "I'm talking about your spirit. Not a lot of people would have the courage to do this."

Marina blushed even deeper now, glancing down in embarrassment and rubbing the back of her head slowly... and Zerrex laughed quietly before murmuring gently: "Let's try this again, then, daughter. We'll go to Cindy... she's probably the least screwed-up of the bunch."

"Alright, Daddy." Marina smiled faintly up at him... and then closed her eyes, wrapping her arms tight around his neck... and the two slumped quietly back down against the bed as they once more stepped into darkness... and then images faded quietly in.

Cindy was apparently still on her own path of memories... and Zerrex blushed a bit as he saw himself standing in a bar with her and the deceased Elliot... then watched as he bent and kissed her hand, and she blushed and smiled in pleasure. The first time they'd met... and they hadn't even known they were daughter and father yet. Elliot, her godfather, taking care of her after her mother had been raped and murdered... and who had just propositioned Zerrex, turning him into a mercenary that would eventually become the fearsome lord of Comfort Town, and eventually of all of Baskin's Grove.

The image flickered... and Cindy murmured softly: "Daddy... you were so uptight at first..." A quiet laugh, and then she was waiting tables, smiling quietly as Zerrex stepped into the bar, looking around grouchily before sitting at his usual table and wincing a bit when Cindy approached. The two stared at each other for a long while... then she asked meekly: "Mr. Zerrex, what would you like to drink?"

"The regular." Zerrex said lamely... and when Cindy continued to look at him, he scratched his head, realizing she'd have no idea what that was. "Whisky. A bottle of... your... hardest? Er... the one with the most alcohol..." He stopped as Cindy continued to stare, blushing deeply and looking like she was about to cry... and then he finally said stupidly: "Actually, just get me some ice, a big mug, and a few cans of frost cola."

At this, Cindy brightened and almost stumbled over her own feet to get it... before pausing and asking: "Oh... Mr. Zerrex, do you want anything else with that? Food, I mean?"

"Uh. Fries." Zerrex muttered for no reason at all, and rubbed at his head as she blushed and ran off to prepare that in the back. The vision followed her, but Zerrex remembered what had happened after that... he'd dropped his head against the table, then awkwardly stood and left the bar, rubbing at his face and feeling horribly embarrassed.

But Cindy had still come out ten minutes later... and she looked crestfallen, Zerrex missing from the table. Elliot, standing at the bar, had laughed quietly and smiled at her faintly, saying softly: "You be careful around him, little miss. He's a dangerous person."

"He's cute." Cindy had murmured in reply, but not loud enough for Elliot to hear before she'd slipped back into the back... and had sat at the little table and eaten and sipped at the cola herself. The image flickered to later that night, after the bar had closed down... and Elliot was going through various bottles of whisky with her, explaining malt, alcohol percentages, grains, and the fermentation process, as she listened, enthralled.

Another flicker... and now Cindy was sixteen, standing at the bar and laughing a bit as she talked to two cute males... football players from the local high school, on the other half of town. She didn't understand why everyone was looking at them so angrily... they, after all, had nothing to do with the conflict between Apple Villa and Comfort Town. But when Zerrex stepped into the bar, she looked over at him softly and realized that maybe she just had the power to see things that other people didn't.

She excused herself as she picked up a round metal tray with a bottle of whiskey and an empty glass already placed at the ready on it, walking quickly over to the Drakkaren and placing it down with a polite: "Sir." Then she paused as she looked down at his slumped shoulders and lowered muzzle, asking quietly: "Are you okay, Zerrex?"

He looked up at her as if startled, then gave a bit of a smile and nodded. "Yeah, sure. I'm... fine." he said softly, then grabbed the bottle of whisky and pulled the top off, taking a long drink from the neck with a sigh. He paused, and glanced up with a bit of a frown as Cindy lingered nonetheless, asking gently: "Don't you have something else to tend to?"

She blushed quietly, glancing down and bobbing her head once as she kneaded her hands together... before murmuring quietly: "I'd like to help you, if I could. You're a good person-"

"I'm not a good person..." Zerrex said quietly, swirling the whisky in the bottle and looking into the liquid silently... then he glanced up as Cindy smiled faintly and tilted his head, asking dryly: "What? Do you have some fairy-tale line to think I am, or to make it all better?"

"What happened?" Cindy asked quietly, undeterred, and Zerrex glanced down, suddenly looking ashamed of himself for his behavior. She reached out and touched his shoulder... and he flinched away a bit, tensing up before slowly relaxing, but not meeting her eyes as she asked again insistently: "What's going on, Zerrex?"

She'd never found out, though... Elliot had stepped out of the bar and told her quietly but firmly to leave Mr. Zerrex alone and tend to her job, and she'd flushed and nodded. Zerrex had gone back to looking miserably at his bottle... and the Drakkaren, watching this, smiled faintly: it hadn't been anything big, but he'd been thinking too much, thinking about his life, and his inability to do much of anything except kill. He remembered that because it had been during one of the long stretches when there'd been no 'business' to be had...

The image flickered... and then Cindy was standing quietly at her mother's grave, in the outskirts of town, wearing one of Elliot's old jackets and rubbing at her face quietly. In the distance, she could hear a funeral service, mixed with angry yelling; Apple Villa thought it had a monopoly even over the dead, and thus even things like funerals became business transactions, and the rich people always asked ridiculous prices for a plot... and even more if you wanted to be cremated.

Elliot was standing around near the edge of the neatly-cut lawn... he hated Cindy walking around on her own, and so accompanied her everywhere he could, even though both sides of town were starting to be much neater than before: Zerrex had worked wonders in the town. And Cindy smiled faintly: that was almost part of the reason she was out here.

"What do you think of him, Mom?" she asked the grave quietly, dropping down on her knees and gently grasping the headstone, looking at her mother's name chiseled there. "Would you like him because he's trying so hard to bring justice to this town... or would you hate him for his methods and his violence? He's so polite... but so cold at times... and I feel such an attraction to him, too..." she smiled faintly. "He's the Boss, so I guess a lot of the girls like him, since he's a badass... but... I can't explain it..."

If Zerrex had known who Cindy's mother was, he could have told her that she would have hated him... but not for the reasons she'd given, but because he'd raped her and tortured her with it. Drawn it out... crushed her spirit... made her his when she didn't want to be. He laughed faintly, glancing down... and then the memory faded out, before another faded in...

Cindy was looking down at Zerrex almost irritably... and he was shirtless, grumbling, and working away underneath the stove, a few tools laid out beside him and splattered with grease as he asked in an annoyed voice: "How the hell did you manage to break the pipes, again?"

"Shut up." Cindy muttered, and Zerrex gave her a surprised look as she blushed a bit, but added in a mumble: "Just fix it, okay, Boss?"

There was a short silence for a few moments as Cindy went back to washing dishes... and then Zerrex asked from beneath the stove in a hesitant voice: "You... okay?"

"Not really..." Cindy paused and glanced down, then she glanced back at the stove that the reptile was still buried under, before saying quietly: "I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier. It's just been a long day... Elliot and I had an argument about the Apple Villa people coming in and out of here, I guess..." she stopped, then continued on in a stumbling voice: "I just... I don't understand why there has to be so much violence still... I know, I'm young, and it's...not something that's simple-"

"It is simple." Zerrex said mildly, then he slid out from beneath the stove and lowered it back to the ground, standing up and looking across at Cindy with what she thought might be compassion... a rareness from the Boss. "It's... Cindy, look. I grew up... I mean, I was a soldier when I was younger." He stopped, hesitated... then continued quietly as he stepped a bit closer to her... and she slid closer to him, looking up into his eyes. "Death, and death, and sex and violence. That was all that surrounded me... a lot like here. People fight... and when two different cultures of people meet... it's almost never in unity and it always dissolves into violence, one trying to prove they're better than the other." He stopped... then quietly reached up and stroked her face, leaving a bit of a grease smudge behind as her body shook at the thrill of contact, as he added in a soft murmur: "But around you at least... I always feel... at peace."

"Thank you... Boss." Cindy replied, looking up into his eyes... and their muzzles slowly lowered towards each other... before they both glanced up as Elliot shouldered his way through the door with a tray full of empty plates and glasses. They missed the kiss, but instead Cindy threw herself against Zerrex and the Drakkaren hugged her impulsively, looking down at her with surprise.

Then Elliot glanced up and saw them... and he rolled his eyes, and Cindy felt... almost despair as she saw that glimmer of fear in them as he said in a voice a bit harsher than his usual tone: "Get away from him, Cindy... I mean..." A faint look of startled shame at his own meanness, as Zerrex's features darkened a bit... but Cindy thought that was just his way of hiding pain... that look of frustration and bitterness mixed together. "You still have work to do before you can bounce your baubles with the Boss."

"Yes, sir." Cindy murmured, then quietly parted from him and smiled faintly, murmuring gently: "Take care of yourself, Boss."

"You too." Zerrex nodded, looking a bit stiff, then he began to gather up the tools to leave, and the image faded out.

Cindy's voice laughed softly, and it sounded like she was smiling as she whispered: "You were always so stubborn... so damn bitter... but so resentful when someone interrupted our time together... and so protective."

A flicker, and another image came up... Cindy walking along the sidewalk, still dressed in her usual barmaid outfit, glancing over a shopping list as she walked down the streets... and then someone shouldered her roughly, and she fell back against a wall with a wince as several rowdy punks in ripped, baggy clothes laughed... but a moment later, as Cindy looked at them with the old innocent hurt in her eyes - she'd been so damn naïve back then - their laughter died, and one of them ran away, squealing in terror as a large, imposing figure seized the other two by their collars and lifted them into the air, and Zerrex snarled: "I think you should apologize, pelt!"

"I think I should too!" the cat whimpered, and Zerrex dropped him and his canine friend down, then promptly spun them around to face Cindy, who looked at them with gentle sympathy. "Miss, miss, I uh... I'm sorry! Really really sorry!"

"Zerrex, please let them go... if you just beat apologies out of people, it doesn't make them really sorry." Cindy said softly, and the taller male Drakkaren looked at her with surprise... before he sighed and threw the two punks to the side instead of into the wall as he'd obviously wanted to, looking at the brick almost longingly as the kids ran away, before she stepped up to him and smiled a bit, wrapping one of her arms in his and causing him to start in surprise as she'd guided him quickly down the street, arm-in-arm and saying happily: "But thanks very much for coming around and lending a hand... you know that without you I'm completely defenseless... I can't bear to hurt a fly..." She stopped for a moment, then began to babble away as a blush rose in her cheeks, and Zerrex looked down at her with quiet, badly-hidden affection, soaking up every word.

Then the image faded out... and suddenly Cindy was standing back at the grave site of her mother, crying quietly and resting against the headstone, clutching it. Night had long fallen... and a mist was slowly rolling through the cemetery like a dense white cloud. Zerrex watched her quietly... and then she bowed her head against the stone and whispered raggedly: "I found my father... and he's... the male who raped you... I'm sorry, Mommy... I'm sorry...

"I'm so sorry... but... I don't know... I don't want him to suffer. Maybe he really is a violent, cruel monster... but... I don't want to hurt him... he's my Daddy, and he's taught me so much... please forgive me... forgive me..." Cindy began to cry harder, curling against the headstone and sobbing violently. "He's a bastard... but how he's suffered over his life... don't hate him from where you are in Heaven, because I don't... and he's taking good care of me... never hurts me... and he's lost everyone else he cares about. I can't leave him, I just can't... I love him, and I want to be with him... I'm his little girl, nothing's going to change that, and I don't ever want anything to ever mess that up..."

She continued to cry for the longest time, as Zerrex watched, his heart wrenching and wishing everything could be simpler... and then the memory faded out, and Cindy murmured softly: "I remember... how long I struggled with it. And yet... at the same time... I just... it was never uncomfortable with him. It was only when I was alone that I struggled... with him, I was happy... and always his beloved daughter..."

A few moments later, and a new memory faded in... Cherry and Cindy were walking somewhere, Cindy bouncing along behind her as she asked impatiently: "So tell me, come on!"

"Look, bitch, these ain't like... fairy tale stories or... Princess Mumpty meets the Kind-Hearted Dragon." Cherry rounded on her suddenly, and Cindy stepped back to avoid running into her with her eyes wide, as the masculine female threw her arms out and continued darkly: "This is like... fuckin'... tales of super-hardcore sex and violence from slutty twat the thirty-third."

"You're a bitch." Cindy said plainly, then ducked a swing of Cherry's aimed at her head, making the muscular female blink in surprise... then before Cindy could say anything, she cried out as Cherry kicked her in the ribs and knocked her on her ass, her eyes filling with tears as Cherry looked at her with disbelief.

"I barely nudged you!" she whined, then looked back and forth in terror as Cindy began to bawl loudly, cursing and then throwing the female over her shoulder like a bag... and Cindy grinned for a moment through her tears before beginning to pound on Cherry's back, sobbing louder now. "Shut up, shut up..."

Cherry charged off the road and into a narrow grove of trees, then dropped the female back on her rear... which just made Cindy start crying louder, yelling and rocking her head from side to side as Cherry looked aghast, waving her hands frantically in front of the female's face and seeming to forget for a moment she was dealing with an adult as she hissed: "Come on, shut up and I'll give you anything! Porn, ice cream, sex, whatever! But if Zerrex hears about this he'll fucking kill me!"

Cindy continued to cry... and then Cherry winced before squatting in front of her and saying miserably: "Alright... what if I tell you that story you wanted to hear, then?"

The smaller female perked up a bit, sniffling and rubbing at her eyes as she asked in a whimper: "Really?"

"Really really." Cherry still looked uncomfortable as hell, however, before she sighed and sat back on the ground, glaring at Cindy morbidly. "But don't you go spreading this shit around, got it? And you didn't hear it from me."

"Okay." Cindy nodded a few times, snuffling some more, but leaning closer... and Cherry hesitated for a few more moments before the muscular female finally sighed and began to speak.

"Look. I don't know much about it... or at least, not as much as you seem to think that I should." Cherry looked confused for a moment at her own words, then shook her head and leaned a bit closer, continuing in a conspiratory voice: "Zerrex and I were part of the Goth Legion unit... I know you've gotten that much out of him, sure. And you've probably read some of the shit we've pulled and seen that in the logs... but the Captain Ravenlight I knew wasn't dumb enough to put down everything he did.

"It's pretty stupid shit to keep records of all your past crimes, after all, and the Cap'n ain't stupid... but here, yeah, it looks like he's able to relax his guard, being above the law... hell, making the law, even." Cherry paused, then added meditatively: "In any case, the Goth Legion was made up of the strongest, best soldiers, a platoon of elites..." Another pause and a grin. "Well, elites and one mascot, the Tinman."

Cindy blinked a bit, leaning in close and asking curiously: "So Mr. Pettigrew really is-"

"Mr. Pettigrew? What's this shit?" Cherry snorted and looked at the other female with amusement. "Tinman, Tinny, girl. Say it with me." She paused, then winced at Cindy's flat look. "Fine, fine, be a bitch. But so yeah, anyway, Tinny too, he's one of the former members, not just some kid Vamp picked up off the streets 'cause he liked his ass. We all had our unique powers... I guess the reason Tinman got in, is because he was the most unique in some ways... but he also balanced the team. A zero to Zerrex's perfect ten, some of the commanders used to joke, which was pretty mean but unfortunately also true. He was a useless shit for half the first year... then just got in the way for the last half..." But Cherry spoke with a strange fondness, smiling as if recalling a happy memory.

"Anyhow, Captain Ravenlight... Zerrex, I mean, the Boss... was the commander of the platoon. The reason was because he was tougher than all of us..." A pause and a quiet laugh, and she shook her head slowly. "We started with a hundred people, all of us handpicked applicants for the Goth Legion... and every day we'd do some sort of test, and every day five to ten of us would go home, and sometimes overnight, others would 'mysteriously' vanish. Finally, we were put on an old battlefield... and told to kill each other." Cherry's eyes glinted as Cindy looked shocked.

"Zerrex was leading the pack... the tests they'd done almost specifically targeted that lucky bastard, after all." A wink and a grin. "The only one he ever lost in was accuracy. He scored a seven-five, which sounds great, yeah... but your average grunt gets sixty on the course, your average officer eighty, and snipers were expected to get ninety... elite snipers one-ten." A pause and a snort of amusement. "It's called using a lineup." Cherry illustrated the following points using her fingers. "See these two here? Well, this other finger here is the bullet... and if you fire it at the right angle, from the right elevation... you pierce through both targets: the first at head, the second at chest level. It was a tough-ass course, nothing actively realistic but designed to see if you could accurately assess a situation and your shots. I got a hundred and fifty..."

Cherry took a moment to look pompously proud of herself, crossing her arms and tilting her head up... then she returned to explaining the tests. "The others were stuff like... toughness, and strength, endurance, etcetera. The stuff that... that your dad really excels in." A pause and a snort of amusement. "They did the toughness test by locking our hands up at our sides... then just having some big muscle freaks beat on us until we screamed that we couldn't take it anymore or we fainted." A pause. "I fainted, didn't scream then. Just afterwards when I brought the dudes out back for some relaxation afterwards."

"You're such a whore." Cindy said mildly, and Cherry leaned back and laughed heartily, rocking a bit on the spot as she crossed her legs, then returning her grin to Cindy.

"Told you, bitch, this ain't fairy tale time." she paused and winked. "The first time the Boss and I fucked was during the final battle exam. Unprofessional, but damn, it scored us a ton of extra points. And he exhausted me, too... I couldn't even reach for my gun or anything, and he put his right against my temple afterwards... his real gun, I mean, not the bigger one in his crotch region..." But Cherry looked dreamily into the sky, like this was the most romantic thing that had ever happened to her. "And I figured I was dead, no precog could save me now... and oh, he made me beg for a while... toyed with me... I played along, I begged for my life, said I'd suck him off, and he said he'd like that idea but I wasn't good enough for him, I was just a dirty, muddy whore... and then he uncocked the hammer, jerked me to my feet and grinned, said that if I proved I was better than the other girls, however, he'd let me live...

"At the end, there were twenty-five of us left... and I was the last female out of the thirteen that tried out." A pause and a wink across at Cindy, who looked torn between enthrallment and revulsion. "It was fucking awesome. One of them had been raped to death, definitely by Zerrex's hand... and then, finally, we drew lots for one-on-one duels inside a ring. Three ways to lose: surrender, die, or get thrown out of the area."

She rocked a bit back and forth, tilting her head downwards thoughtfully. "And after that... we were together. We were the Goth Legion... and Captain Ravenlight was chosen as our commanding officer, our leader. He could toss all of us around like rag dolls, after all... and back then, even fighting him together, we would have lost. Our strengths weren't developed as they would be later on... but even now I think we'd all get our asses kicked." She laughed faintly and shook her head slowly. "We had some... major, fun times together. And not your idea of fun either." A glance up at Cindy as she smiled a bit. "So that answer your question?"

"It does sound like a fairy tale, when you add this end to the story in... almost a happily-ever-after." Cindy murmured, and Cherry looked at her curiously as Cindy looked back with amusement. "You know, the original Sleeping Beauty? Prince doesn't kiss her awake... the prince rapes her, makes her pregnant, and she gives birth to twins. And then one of the twins sucks this enchanted piece of flax out of her finger and she wakes up and takes care of the kids. And when the prince comes back and find her, they fall in love."

"Shit, I need to get me some fairy tale books." Cherry said, looking honestly surprised, then she jumped up to her feet with a grunt, brushing herself off. "Now come on, the Boss is going to wonder where the hell we are and if I've been doing naughty things to you. I just told him I was going to do a short scout around, after all..."

Cindy nodded, climbing up herself... and then the memory faded out again, before another faded in... and this was later on, a few years in the future. Cindy was again following Cherry around the house, clad in her spiked bracelets... and Cherry naked except for a pair of shorts and a towel that hung over her sweaty bosom, apparently after a workout. She also looked irritated as she kept playing with the ring on her finger, muttering: "I don't know why you'd want to call me that, Cindy. Seriously. It's not like I'd ever make much of one... and like, we're... comrades-in-arms-"

"Friends." Cindy said stoically, and Cherry winced as she opened the fridge, digging through it as she added gently: "But technically, you are my stepmother, Cherry... so I really don't have any issue calling you Mom or-"

"Yeah, well, it's creepy." Cherry retorted, then shuddered as she snagged a bottle of beer, looking at it mildly. "Dunno why Zerrex never drinks this stuff." A pause as she used her mouth to pop the cap off, then spat it into the sink before taking a deep drink and sighing as she returned her look to Cindy morbidly, who was blocking the door to the next room... and Cherry was aware that she couldn't simply barge her way through the once-innocent girl anymore. This Cindy didn't cry when you pushed her down on her ass... she grabbed your legs and jerked you down after her. "Look, I'm just not comfortable with it..."

The image flickered... and suddenly it was Cindy standing quietly in front of the fridge as she played idly with a ring around her finger that Cherry had once worn, murmuring softly to the muscular female - who was leaning in the doorway, muscular, tattooed, and for-once, somber-looking. "I'm just not comfortable like this... it's hard to think of being... that... to Zerrex..."

"He loves you." she said gently, then glanced down and laughed softly, looking back up with a bit of a smile. "Enough to make me envious." She paused and nodded slowly at Cindy's surprised look, then touched her collar gently. "You know, he punched me out after I gave the ring back, did I ever tell you that? I think the only thing that stopped him from really losing it on me was that I promised to always stick around... I've... gone behind his back a few times now with shit, and I hate myself for it.

"But he didn't object... he... knew we were playing a fake reality." she added quietly, as Cindy's face softened. "Look, girl. You're still his daughter. He loves you. He really, truly loves you... and I know he loves me too, yeah." She looked awkwardly up at the ceiling. "And... and I do care... love... him... but it's different. I wish it could be like yours, pure and innocent and all that shit... but between me and him, it's pretty fucked-up.

"I've come to realize that... this is what I want. And I can't even pretend to the Boss... to my Master... to be his wife." She stopped and murmured quietly: "I never want to be his equal... I never want that. It's too hard to think of... and I'd kill myself if I was ever his superior. Yeah, I'm a better shot... I talk harder but I'm probably a bit smarter in some things... and I got freaky-shit powers... but he'll always outrank me. And I want it that way." She looked up across at Cindy with a faint smile, at the female's quiet frown. "I can't explain it, babe. But there's a comfort in knowing that I'll always be protected by him... as his... and that he'll treat me as property, take care of me like... a favorite weapon or some other objectified shit like that. I love it. But you...

"You're pure, and you're better than I am in a lot of ways. You deserve him..." Then Cherry walked over, swallowing, before hugging Cindy tightly, surprising the female into hugging her back as the muscular female murmured gently: "Don't feel bad because you're taking my place. Feel good because you're filling up a hole in his heart... I know where I belong - under him. And you, you belong with him."

Then the memory faded out as Cindy began to cry quietly and slumped in the female's embrace, looking grateful and sorrowful at the same time... and then it was ten months later, the day before Marina's birthday. Cindy was in the hospital, in labor and groaning quietly in pain, and Zerrex was standing beside her, squeezing her hand gently... and the two were smiling even as tears of pain flowed down the female's cheeks, as she whispered: "Well, it hurts like hell... but it's not as bad as they say. But I guess I've had a lot of practice with you, huh?"

"Shush, don't scare the doctors." Zerrex said softly, patting her hand gently as he laughed a bit, clad in a blue hospital gown, white gloves... and a hairnet that he kept adjusting with his other hand, as he made a face. "I don't see why I have to wear all this stuff though..."

"To protect the baby." Cindy muttered, glancing up at him and then giving a bit of a glare. "She's not going to come into this world-"

"She's our kid. She's tougher than any stupid germs." Zerrex replied gently, leaning down to kiss away the tears from one cheek... and Cindy laughed a bit before closing her eyes and grunting as the doctor gave the order to 'push, push.' The Drakkaren glanced down with a wince, then mumbled: "Thank Gods Cherry isn't here. She'd likely try to reach in and rip the poor kid out."

Cindy laughed a bit, then glanced up at Zerrex and asked in a whisper: "Is she going to visit later, though?"

Zerrex smiled softly and stroked her face gently with the back of his hand, wiping away the tears on her other cheek as he nodded. "I made her promise. She says childbirth is disgusting, but she'll show up to see the baby after she's born, sometime tomorrow afternoon."

"Okay..." Cindy smiled faintly, laying back and closing her eyes... and the memory faded out.

Then it faded back in to her nursing Marina, the baby suckling at one breast as Cherry sat across from her, staring, and Zerrex rested on the couch beside Cindy, apparently engrossed in a child-rearing book as he murmured: "Did you know that Drakkai are really more mammal than reptile? That's why the females often have such large breasts... few other reptilian species possess mammary glands or any sort of bust..."

"Dude, you guys are freaks." Cherry muttered, and shook her head before coughing and asking cheerfully: "Hey, Cindy? Can I suck at your other tit? You got two, after all."

"Fuck you." Cindy said mildly, and Cherry looked stunned as the other female stared and covered her mouth with her free hand, even Zerrex glancing up from his reading before she spluttered: "I'm sorry, I don't know what-"

"You've been hanging out with Cherry too much." Zerrex responded amusedly, then he reached down and tickled Marina's stomach as the baby withdrew herself from Cindy's bosom, saying cheerfully: "Your mother's developing a nasty mouth, Marina."

"Man-doo!" Marina agreed in baby talk, looking up at Zerrex happily before she yawned, and then she gave another smile as her limbs flailed a bit more, and Cindy laughed softly as she carefully readjusted her bra and sweater back to cover her large, swelled breasts, as Cherry looked at Zerrex reproachfully.

Then the image flickered and faded out... and Cindy said softly: "So many good memories... so much to cherish... and so much innocence hidden in the darkness. You taught me that, father... that you don't have to be a good person to do the right thing, you don't have to follow the path of light... to combat evil and cruelty. And that sometimes, only darkness can make light shine bright enough to wash away a worse, encroaching evil..."

Then static filled the air, everything buzzing strangely before a plain dirt road appeared through a forest... and Cindy faded into to view, rolling her head on her shoulders and breathing softly. She smiled as she looked over her shoulder... and Zerrex knew that even without being there, she could sense him, could see him somehow. "Daddy..."

"Cindy..." Zerrex said softly... then he smiled faintly as he realized there wasn't a fork this time, but the path was straight and true, the skies above beautiful, birds singing in the trees, animals running through the forest... and everything was right, everything was good. Cindy truly had always been the straightest arrow of them all, always seeking out the truth, always being herself... and then she laughed softly and smiled brighter as she turned towards him and dipped in a curtsey, holding out a skirt that was invisible - she was clad in jeans and a plain exercise top, after all.

"Thanks for always leading me right, Daddy..." Cindy said softly... and when she turned and started to walk down the path towards a strange castle in the distance, Zerrex thought he saw a flicker of two other silhouettes on either side of her, gently grasping her shoulders and leading her forwards: Celestial and Requiem, his mother and uncle, the parents he'd always wished he'd had. "And thank you for never giving up... for carrying us through everything. For taking care of Marina... for letting me know the truth." She stopped in the distance... and looked over her shoulder with another loving, gentle smile, her blue eyes seeming to gaze into his soul even from here. "And for always being yourself... and teaching me all I know."

Then the Drakkaren's vision slowly faded to white light... before his eyes flickered again... and he was staring up at Marina, whose own eyes were overbright as she whispered quietly: "Oh Daddy... she's so-"

"Beautiful and good..." Zerrex finished in a soft murmur, reaching up to stroke his daughter's face and looking into her eyes lovingly. "Just like you, Marina... just like you inside. You've got her beauty... my power... her good nature... and my sense of right and wrong..."

"Daddy!" Marina cried, and dropped down against his chest, curling against him and crying softly, and Zerrex simply held her tightly for a few moments, bowing his head over her and closing his eyes as he rocked her gently in his arms. Nothing else mattered... nothing else was important... and they were together, as the capsule pinged and form inside rippled, starting to finally take shape.

But after a short time, Marina quickly collected herself and straightened, wiping at her face embarrassedly as Zerrex looked at her softly, and then she said gruffly: "We should keep going... just one left to do, after all..."

"Only if you're up to it." Zerrex replied gently, and Marina nodded firmly as she sat up a bit, and the white-haired lizard laughed quietly as he brushed his hair out of his eyes. "Alright, kid. Let's finish this off, then... last is Lone." A pause and a glance over at the capsule, wincing. "And I'm sure it'll be a bit twisted up in there."

"You can handle it, Daddy... you've never failed us when we needed you." Marina said softly... and before Zerrex could respond, he already felt his eyes closing and his body once more relaxing, then he stepped into darkness... and the darkness faded in on a crazed, twisted city that literally loomed to a dark sky above. Cars - fancy cars, big cars, fast cars, muscle cars - were parked on either side of the street, and the road was charcoal black, with a single yellow strip like a messy slash down the center lane; and in the middle of this sat Lone, huddled up in a small ball and crying quietly.

Apparently Zerrex had missed the memories part of the tour: instead, the wolf was looking back and forth in terror, ignored by the faceless, suited canines that walked back and forth in large crowds along the clustered sidewalks, as Zerrex looked at him with a strange wrenching sensation in his gut. And down the road, he could see a fork... one that led deeper into this maze-like, monstrous city, and another that seemed to rise towards the sky, a high overpass that bridged over a deep gorge that separated the city from the outside world... and then the road dived down, turning into a rickety, wooden bridge... and then going beyond into a beautiful valley full of trees and flowers in bloom.

The other fork, however, traversed a dangerous path of street thugs, broken windows, and torn buildings... and then reality twisted, and Lone was suddenly thrown backwards as the street rippled, howling before hitting the pole with a thump and a loud, cruel voice yelled at him angrily: "Choose!"

As Lone curled up against the lamppost, another male canine came into view... a gaunt, white-furred wolf with angry features, clad in a rich suit and all manner of finery: gold and silver rings, a necklace that was made of golden circles, and he had a pair of sunglasses perched over his periwinkle eyes, as he looked down at Lone and put his hands on his hips, gritting his teeth - revealing several that glinted gold. "Goddamn, Lone! Are you a kid or an adult?"

"I'm a kid!" Lone cried, and he clung to the pole as his father kicked him hard in the ribs, yelling: "I hate you! Go away! I hate you!"

The male looked repulsed... then he snorted and grabbed the back of Lone's neck, dragging him up as his son clung to the metal pole, pointing at the valley and shouting: "That's worthless! You're not a faggot, are you? Are you?" A glare, and then he snorted and pointed in the other direction, saying coldly: "And there! That's the big city, money, power, everything, not that nature bullshit! So go... there!"

And then he flung Lone forwards, causing the white-and-black-furred lupine to stagger before falling on his face as he cried out loudly, trembling as he lay on the broken roadway that led down to the slums and office buildings, the urban warzone... and he looked up in horror as he saw several versions of himself standing nearby. Zerrex recognized the one in front smoking a cigarette all-too-well... a pure white wolf with a bit of brawn and a cruel grin, all attitude and only so tough as long as he had the huge revolver on him... and the idiotic name flashed in the light, Excalibur II. He blew out a long puff of smoke, cigarette in his other hand, and another revolver jammed in his waistband under his leather jacket... and if Zerrex had to guess, he'd say that was probably Excalibur.

Lone Wulfe, the arrogant, cruel, and idiotic bastard, the real Lone Wulfe that was inside of Lone, that had briefly surfaced in Alone, strutted forwards down the street... followed by a huge, dumbly-grinning musclebound wolf that was twenty feet tall and naked except for a pair of shorts that bulged at the crotch, and another naked white wolf who had a pair of female lupines with him, his arms wrapped around them as they giggled and leered. He spun the revolver on his finger, then said tauntingly: "Hey, what's wrong, bitch? You lost or something? Or do you want a piece of this action... to encounter this power..."

The wolf slowly waved around at the others, the huge male chortling, the other lupines laughing together... and then Lone's eyes flashed as he looked at the trembling mess of fur and confusion that made up the real wolf who didn't yet realize where he was or the consequences of his action, crawling forwards hesitantly as the white wolf murred: "That's right, baby, that's it, come on... you know what's down this path? Power. Attention. Love. Sex. You'll never have to be any male's bitch again... not even Zerrex's... and you'll dominate everyone around you, you'll have powers unbound, a sexy bod, a big cock, whatever you need... whatever you want... be Lone fuckin' Wulfe, baby, because Lone Wulfe is bad ass..."

The black-and-white wolf hesitantly climbed to his feet... took another trembling step forwards... and then his eyes filled with uncertainty as he staggered backwards, swallowing and shaking his head quickly as he whispered: "Zerrex is... good to me..."

"Ha!" Lone spat as the others laughed hard. "Good to you? The motherfucker ground me... us... into the ground! He tortured you... forced you down... even made you suck his cock, do you remember that? How humiliating it was, how-"

"Fulfilling." Lone murmured, and then he fell over at a scream of rage from Lone, as the white wolf immediately began to stomp forwards... and as he passed from his zone into the main road, his body began to change, his muscles turning flabby, his features becoming ugly and twisted, his voice turning into a spoiled child's shriek.

"Fulfilling? Fulfilling? You faggot! You worthless shitting punk!" he screamed, and the real wolf fell over, crying out loudly and beginning to crawl rapidly backwards as Lone's leather jacket turned into a dirty cloth windbreaker because he couldn't do laundry on his own, as his guns rusted because he'd learned to shoot but never take care of them, as he left a trail of blood behind him because he'd bragged and relied too much on the toughness of his paws when they were oh-so-tender... "You're just a gay weakling, you don't like chicks but dick, you can't do anything right or... or... you're useless! Useless!" And Lone began to cry in rage as he threw the broken gun down and went into a temper tantrum, shouting and stomping around as Zerrex snarled in fury, watching Lone begin to prance around the real wolf and land kicks against him every now and then, as he covered his face and cried out in agony.

Zerrex forced his way forwards... and after a few moments of struggling, felt himself rip into this twisted world, landing heavily on the ground before charging forwards and glaring furiously at the fat white wolf that was still tantruming and yelling at the lupine on the ground. A moment later, however, Lone looked up, and he looked horrified at the behemoth Drakkaren charging towards him... before screaming and dissolving as Zerrex leapt forwards and slammed a fist through his body.

Lone exploded into a vile filth that vanished into the air... then reformed at the border between dark and roadway between, flying backwards and bowling over the other wolves as he popped back into reality in his previous form, knocking them all sprawling. The reptile snorted at this, then ignored their yelling and cursing as he bent down beside the wolf and gently took his hand, helping him up to his feet as he snuffled and whimpered quietly. "Zer..."

"It's okay, kid." Zerrex added the last automatically, and Lone's eyes filled with tears before he threw himself forwards, clinging to him and crying quietly.

"I don't wanna be Lone anymore! Lone's a bad person!" he sobbed, and once more he sounded distinctly childlike... and Zerrex just held him close, looking down at him quietly as he swayed on the spot with him silently. The wolf's body shivered, crying hard as he said in a trembling voice: "I'm so sorry, Daddy..."

The last just slipped out, and Zerrex twitched in shock before looking down at him, at Lone's teary eyes... and he swallowed as he realized... that yeah, maybe he was a father figure even to the wolf, strange as it seemed. They hadn't exactly met like father and son... but... Zerrex had always been the one to clean up the wolf's messes... to pick him up when he'd fallen... had given him more chances than he'd given anyone before and of course... had taught the little bastard so much. Hell, they'd even gone fishing together once, as one of the wolf's brilliant ideas...

He had never realized until now that Lone had gone from hating him to admiring him... just as he'd never realized they'd gone from archenemies to... what could be called friends. They spent time at each other's homes... they had gone out as... a family, almost, cottaging and camping for short periods of time, with Cherry and Cindy and Marina... Lone had even wormed a few private trips with Zerrex out of the deal, and had - well, after a lot of enmity and kicking the wolf's fat political ass - come to him for advice on everything from how to run the city to what he should do to get along with people better - the last wasn't exactly Zerrex's field of expertise, of course.

Lone had done everything he could to change from being Lone to someone else, someone who he didn't know inside... and Zerrex had always observed with interest that wasn't entirely impartial. He'd always wondered exactly what the hell the wolf was really capable of... after all, as Lone, he'd really been a stupid, power-hungry jerk who didn't seem to get the world wasn't his playground, more a child than anything else. A stunted adolescent who just didn't seem to understand that other people were even real, that they had feelings... even during his rapes, probably thought they were really having fun, they were just upset because he was so powerful or something dumb like that.

And he was still a child... his mind trapped in never-never land, and he wasn't worth hatred... he was simply pitiful, and in need of guidance. He was just a little boy who had likely just grown out of diapers before he'd stopped growing up mentally. So Zerrex just hugged him close, then murmured quietly in his ear, when he looked up at him with something like horror that he'd said the wrong thing after the long silence: "It's okay... it's okay, Lone... son..."

The word was strange coming from his mouth, and he didn't know if he yet felt that way about the wolf... but Lone smiled weakly and hopped up quietly against his body, and Zerrex laughed faintly as he took the hint and picked the lupine gently up into his arms, curling him close and walking slowly towards the other path. Lone, meanwhile, had stuck a thumb in his mouth... and as Zerrex looked at him, his body shrank down a bit, making it easier for Zerrex to hold him close as the wolf looked up at him with the faintest of smiles, the tinges of grey fading from his muzzle and his features becoming youthful again, young and child-like as he whispered: "Thank you, Zer..."

"So are you sure you want this path, Lone?" Zerrex asked gently, looking down it and wondering what it held for the wolf... but thinking he had some faint ideas as he looked at the wolf's changed body, halting at the ramp leading up to the overpass. Lone looked up at him... then he nodded quietly before blushing a bit.

"I don't want to be called Lone anymore..." He murmured softly, then he smiled a bit as he stroked Zerrex's face gently. "You can think up a new name for me, huh? I wanna be yours."

So many people... so devoted... it's... strange to me... Zerrex felt a twist in his gut... but he smiled faintly nonetheless and nodded quietly, murmuring softly: "Alright, kiddo. I'll think of something then."

With that, he started forwards down the path... but after only a few steps, everything faded back out... and he opened his emerald eyes to a quiet ding and Marina slumped on his chest.

He looked at her with concern, stroking her face gently... but she only gave a quiet snore in response, and he softened, smiling faintly as looked at her lovingly. She had exhausted herself for him again... hidden her own tiredness until finally she'd collapsed. And he felt a bit tired himself, too... but knew that he had a job still to do. So he only laughed quietly, gently slipping his arms under his daughter's body and standing carefully as she instinctively curled up, still deep asleep as the Drakkaren carefully wound his way past the capsules and out the open door. He paused, then pulled it closed behind himself with one foot, then winced at the loud click... but Marina didn't so much as shift in his arms.

He gazed down at her lovingly for a few moments... then quietly kissed her forehead, standing there and feeling... so complete, so warm. Sure, he was in the middle of a war... but his family was safe and secure, he was helping to fight and bring down a tyrant - even if that tyrant was his father - and for once his hands felt clean... clean of innocent blood, at least. He knew it wouldn't stay that way... it never did... but for now... god damn, it was nice.

He smiled a bit as he looked at Marina lovingly, the reason for all his success... the reason he was able to fight so hard and continue on so long. As he walked carefully back towards his room, shouldering his way through the door and putting her down on the bed, he only wanted to curl up with her and sleep... but he knew that sooner or later, the other rebel commanders would want to see him, and he sighed a bit before leaning down to kiss her cheek gently again and murmur to her: "Sleep well... I love you, Marina."