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The vehicle rolled to a halt, and Cindy glanced up at the open window as Cherry leaned out it, murmuring: "There's three snipers here. I think we're here, because there's some heavy-duty barricades here and an underground parking garage with a closed shutter... but we've got no welcoming committee other than the morons who think they're hidden. I can't sense any other snipers, can you, Marina?"

The female lowered her head and closed her eyes, hiding how glad she was to be included with a frown of concentration. "No... wait. Yes. There' someone in the building to the left as well, he's waiting for something... probably a sign from us."

Cherry grunted, looking back and forth out the clear metal windows. "Mahihko or Cindy should handle that. Maybe Mahihko, since he looks friendliest and he's in uniform... plus the little bastard can dodge a bullet, and I don't like the setup of this place.

It was true... it was even worse than a bottleneck. It had used to be a four-way intersection, including the ramp on the their right that led down to a closed shutter Cherry would bet money was reinforced by a professional. In front of them was a barricade of sandbags, welded metal doors, and probably crates stacked behind that... and the same thing was on their left. The building ahead of them on the left wasn't perfectly rectangular, however, but instead had an flat side facing into the intersection, so it left a small opening on either side around the barricades, but the double doors leading inside had been boarded up and several crated piled in front of it. Finally, Mahihko nodded meekly and carefully slid out the back as Cherry focused her precog, opening her door slightly and muttering: "Tell them we come in peace and all that shit. You're still safe."

"Okay." Mahihko nodded again and blushed a bit, currently over six feet tall and with a build to match... and he rose his hands in the air, saying in a clear voice: "I... we come in peace! We're looking for... for refuge, and we heard this is where the shelter is... we just broke into the city, we're here to help!"

"Who are you, what military group are you with? Lailland Core Division or 32nd Infantry?" asked a voice coldly, and a figure appeared at the window, another canine wearing a bulletproof vest. The snipers rose up and made themelves more apparent, and Cherry was unsurprised when several more soldiers jumped out of buildings a block down to their rear and dropped to their knees, aiming rifles at them. Nice tactic... but worthless against demons...

"I... my name is Mahihko, and... and I'm here with my sisters, Cherry, Cindy and Marina... we're... we're here to help, we're not with Lailland but the Allied Forces of Lunis and Hez'Ranna... that's... that's how we have this." Mahihko patted the huge machine, and one of the snipers twitched a bit, Cherry noting it and narrowing her eyes. These guys aren't even completely trained... is there any real military here? "We want to help..."

The dog above snorted, then shook his head slowly and leaned on the window, asking mildly: "Let me see the rest of your family, then... your sisters. How can one family help us out?"

"Asshole." Cherry rumbled, and she kicked open the door, Mahihko staggering away with a yelp before she jumped out, spreading her arms wide and her demonic appearance shocking the soldiers as she shouted: "Go ahead, give it a shot and see what happens, but bitch, you suck. I could've killed everyone here twenty times over, and five bucks says none of your guys can land a shot on me."

"Kill the demons!" the dog shouted, and Cherry grinned widely as she snapped out the .52s, her eyes blazing as her precog kicked in and she spun on the spot, gracefully firing three times, the boom of the huge guns challenging that of the rifles. The air itself seemed to spark, and then there was silence as the dog winced back from the window in shock.

Cherry dropped the handguns back into the holsters as one of the snipers jammed his gun while trying to reload it, and the other two took careful aim once more, both of them focusing on Cherry... before she swayed almost absently to the side, a bullet blasting past her head to ting off the ground as she shouted: "If your dudes keep shooting at me, I'm going to kick someone's ass! I swear, you think you'd get the point when I shot their fucking bullets out of the air. Now let us the fuck in, I obviously-"

She halted and spun around, creating an orb of white-hot flame in her hand and raising it as she stepped in front of Mahihko with a snarl, but the bullet still tore through it and cut into her palm before it was disintegrated completely, and the wolf covered his head with a whimper as she snarled: "Leave the little faggot alone, motherfuckers! That's a real good way to get on my bad side, real goddamn fast... now I recommend you let us in so we can talk about this all civil-like before I break the doors down."

She clenched her hand into a fist, the ball of fire vanishing as blood dripped down her palm... before she glanced to the side and winced as the two soldiers that had moved up behind the Grim Hearse simply collapsed into unconscious heaps, forcing herself to calm down as she said in a softer voice: "Seriously. Open the doors or there'll be some nasty consequences, and they won't just be from me."

"We're not afraid of you." The dog replied as he leaned out the window, but he was trembling as he shouted: "Grenades, use... Han? Trevor?"

The two snipers slowly slumped over as the third with the jammed rifle simply fled, and Marina strutted slowly forwards, smiling darkly before she rose a finger and beckoned gently, and the dog gargled before he fell out the window and crashed loudly on the pavement with a groan of pain, two soldiers immediately running up to the window and looking helpless as Cherry winced and rubbed at her head slowly, watching as Marina made her way over to him and squatted, her hands on her knees as she asked the dark-furred canine gently: "Now how about you show us inside, huh?"

He looked up groggily, blood running from a nasty cut in his head, before he finally slumped and said raggedly: "It's better that you kill me too than that I put everyone's life in jeopardy... I..."

"Are you so stupid that you haven't recognized all your soldiers are fine? We've only been using nonlethal tactics because some shithead keeps ordering them to attack us after I've demonstrated I could kick all their half-baked asses with one... foot." Cherry finished lamely, then she cleared her throat as she walked over and yanked the dog to his feet, glaring into his eyes. "Az'Iriel is the enemy, not all demons. And believe you me, the motherfucker is dangerous enough that it's becoming painfully-obvious he's not so much having trouble fighting you off, he's just ignoring you."

The dog stared stupidly up at her, then he shook his head, saying weakly: "No, we... we have better defenses and... I mean... we've fought off attacks from his soldiers before, I..."

Cindy walked up, first quietly pulling Marina away and murmuring a soft ‘good job' to her before carefully prying Cherry's hand off the canine, leaving him to stand shakily on his own feet as she brushed gently at his plain black uniform and bulletproof vest, asking softly: "The conscripts or the actual soldiers? Because there's both out there on the battlefield... and believe me, one is far more dangerous than the others. But come on, let's get you up on your feet and we'll explain ourselves a bit better. My name is Cindy, the demon is Cherry, and the psychic is Marina... and we're here to help out and seal the Black Hole."

The dog blinked stupidly, then he stumbled towards the double doors before sliding down past the barricade, mumbling: "Come on... I... oh..." He staggered back out from behind the barricade, looking up at the soldiers in the window and shouting: "Open the garage! I... you can... put your vehicle in there, and I'll... wait out here."

Cherry climbed back inside the vehicle, and Cindy smiled and nodded, saying pleasantly: "I'll wait here with you. Mahihko, Marina, would you two mind going with Cherry to grab our equipment?"

The two nodded and climbed into the open back of the vehicle, the dog looking nervous... and Cherry grunted, expecting an ambush as the shutter slowly slid up. She carefully guided the heavily-armored transport down the ramp, looking back and forth furtively before rolling her eyes as she noted the guards half-hidden behind cars, a few of them trembling so badly and standing out so obviously she almost felt sorry for them before she pulled slowly into a spot beside a large truck, almost squashing a deer holding a large rifle as he threw himself back against the pickup before Cherry opened the door and stepped out.

She ignored the shouts of ‘freeze!' ‘don't move!' and ‘what the fuck?' as she looked down at the deer moodily, then she grabbed him and said irritably: "Okay, let's at least do this right. First of all, actually put your hand on the fucking handle, like this..."

The deer squeaked loudly as she grabbed him and spun him so his back was against her, adjusting his hands as she muttered: "And let's see... this hand goes here..." She guided the deer's hand to the grip, squeezing her own larger one firmly around his to hold it tightly in place, and then she jerked his other arm roughtly and slapped his other hand into place on the underside of the stock. "And this goes here, see? You can slide it to be more comfortable if you want, but for the love of shit don't grab the fucking barrel."

Cherry paused as she noted the sloppy ring of soldiers surrounding the Grim Hearse, and she made a face before shoving the deer away, then sighed as one of the soldiers discharged his shotgun into the air and knocked himself over, and some genius screamed: "They're attacking us, oh god, Mike got hit!"

She sighed and looked back and forth before spotting the soldier she guessed was the leader, from the fact he had the largest gun and was currently yelling at the people around him. Or he could just be a douchebag. Either way, let's tame the fire. Fuck, I should be paid for this shit, seriously. "Hey, prick! Put the gun down, along with the rest of your other jerkoffs, before I make an example out of you!"

"Fuck you, bitch! Take off your weapons and..." The muscular bear paused, then half-turned as several of the survivors fled, screaming: "That isn't how we stay alive around here!"

"Ted's right, put your weapons down." said a cold voice, and Cherry grinned slightly, raising her hands as someone pushed a gun into her back, and then he added mildly: "And yes. I'm the leader of the group, before you ask."

"Good stuff." she spun immediately on the spot and knocked the handgun flying with a hard slap, before her eyes flicked to the side and she immediately ducked low, throwing a punch into the stomach of the coyote she had just disarmed before drawing one of her .52s and aiming at a rabbit wearing a pair of glasses, who winced and stumbled backwards, dropping his gun and swallowing as she added softly: "Double-feint, using brains over brawn. Too bad, but I'm just too damn good, motherfucker. What say you call off the hounds, ‘cause I can see the sort of nastiness in your eyes it would take to become the leader of all these shitheads through brains alone... but I can see you're a coward, too, and you know as well as I do I could pop a cap in your head before anyone could say anything."

And then there was another gun pressed against the back of her head as an irritated voice said: "Triple feint, actually, but who's counting? Now, unless you think you can-"

Cherry leaned forwards as she snapped her heel up, and it struck hard into the crotch of the dragon behind her, who grunted and cursed before Cherry spun around, this time being far-more unforgiving as the same foot she had slammed into his groin twisted around in a high hook kick and smashed into his muzzle, the red-scaled dragon's eyes bulging as he flew to the side and crashed to the ground with a groan of pain on his side, twitching a bit as his ivory-handled .50 slid across the cold cement and she clenched one hand into a fist, shouting angrily: "Now before we go through the whole motherfucking group, which one of you is really in charge here!"

"That would be me." The dragon said from the ground, still laying on his side in his expensive black suit and looking dazed, before he slowly pushed himself up with a groan, clutching at his groin as he panted hard and winced across at Cherry. His other hand slowly wiped blood from his muzzle, and he flicked it away as most of the others fled, muttering as his eyes roved over her: "Well, it was bound to happen eventually... although I never expected someone so beautiful to be the one to conquer us... at least, not in a way so brutally physical, in any case."

"Don't go there, assface." Cherry said pettishly, then she reached out and grabbed his red tie, jerking him forwards as his brown eyes bulged in horror, before he gagged violently as she dragged him towards the entrance, Mahihko and Marina finally slipping out of the back of the transport and both looking morbid as they walked towards the ramp, both carrying a duffel bag of stuff over either shoulder and Marina also wearing the backpack she'd been assigned. "Come on, let's go talk to the other assface outside."

The tall dragon wheezed loudly in response, but Cherry didn't slow her pace as several of the soldiers followed the small group fearfully, looking awkwardly at each other. They emerged back out into the hazy city, and Cindy sighed from where she stood, the canine standing beside her with a new black eye and several brawny males picking themselves off the ground with loud groans of pain. "So, I take it you ran into a cute little ambush, too, huh?"

"Yeah, real fucking adorable. Meet the prick of many faces." Cherry tossed him to the ground, and the dragon landed with a grimace of pain on his stomach, looking terrified. The demoness then turned her eyes to the dog, looking at him icily. "Now, are you going to bring us inside or not? Again, we haven't killed anyone."

"I..." the dog seemed to be searching stupidly for the right answer, and Marina frowned, cocking her head before looking disgusted, and Cindy and Cherry glanced over to her as the canine babbled: "Well, why don't we just go-"

"There's another emergency ambush set up. Much simpler and more effective: behind either barricade there's a straight corridor, and there's at least eight troops hidden at the end of each, most of them ex-military from Lailland. There's a niche just big enough for someone to hide in the side wall, and he was going to slip in there while they killed us all." Marina said softly, and the dog turned pale before she looked over him slowly, adding quietly: "He hasn't even informed his superiors of our arrival. He's a vulture: he wants our gear... just like the dragon."

The red-scaled reptile immediately began to get to his feet, raising a hand and saying defiantly: "Now that's just not true, since-" A pause as Cherry glared down at him threateningly, and he cleared his throat before slowly laying back down on the ground, putting his hands behind his head. "I... nevermind."

"Hey, it's a rough world, and I was always meant for better things, right?" Marina mimicked his thoughts in a masculine voice, and the dragon looked up at her with shock as she continued with a shrug: "So what if a few people die... it doesn't matter. And even if these lunkheads are telling the truth, there's no way they could ever make it to the Black Hole... hell, we've got great people like me guarding the place, and we barely keep the shelters secure." A pause that sprialled out into silence before Marina said with contempt: "You're a farm boy who always believed he was destined for greater things. The only problem is, dreams don't come true. This isn't an action movie, kid."

Now her gaze roved around to the dog, but he broke down into tears before she even opened her mouth, staggering backwards and begging: "No more, please, no more... I... I can't take it. Yes, you're right, you're right... we were going to kill you, but look, you can read my mind, look, I'm going to ask them to tell the boss right now... that... you're here, you're here, and you're gonna help, you can come with me even but just... please... please, no more..."

He slid slowly towards the side barricade, and Marina said quietly: "You're pathetic... but fine. I'll be keeping an eye on you... and if you do anything bad, I'm going to do something like... this."

Her eyes glowed purple, and the dog cried out in pain as he gripped his skull, clenching his eyes shut for a moment before Cindy gave Marina a look, and her muzzle wrinkled in disgust before she let up on the psychic torment, muttering: "Get the hell out of here."

The canine scrambled off, and they only had to wait half a minute before there was a loud click, and the dog called in a ragged voice: "It's... it's safe. Please, you know I'm not lying... I... it's safe. Dan, go and tell the barracks to drop the alert... I... I don't think we need it on anymore."

The dragon nodded and slowly got up from the ground before slinking away... and the others looked over to Marina, who nodded and led the group around the barricade and the heavy boxes piled beyond. Cherry noted the scorch marks and bullet holes, and she thought she would have noticed something was wrong anyway... but it was a lot better than most of their ideas so far, I'll give ‘em that. Too bad they've done nothing but underestimate us... this almost feels unfair...

She snorted quietly as they walked down the path, the soldiers at the end standing ready... but they had a sense of uncertainty around them anyway, as Cherry grinned widely at them and half-leered at the larger males, but more out of habit than anything else. The dog was cowering by a steel door, fumbling at the buttons and cursing quietly before he finally entered the right code, and it dinged before unlocking, the dark-furred canine pulling it open and leaping backwards to bow them in as he whispered: "Welcome to our home, Shelter 32... the boss is waiting for you at Headquarters, I'll guide you there..."

"He'll never be our Boss..." Marina said quietly, and Cherry grunted as she patted the younger female on the back, stepping first into line as the dog looked at them oddly for a moment before making a face at Cherry's glare, quickly running on ahead. Marina looked after her oldest sister, feeling both furious and a calm sort of happiness: after all, she knew that Cherry was only stepping forwards to protect her... to keep me safe... but I don't need her to keep me safe, I am strong, I am powerful...

Marina shook her head slowly, and Cherry glanced over her shoulder a bit before exchanging looks with Cindy, standing at the back of the line. She only shrugged helplessly as they walked down a long steel hallway, however, before Cherry returned her eyes to the front of the line with a tense look. At any moment, she knew Marina might snap... and as much as she wanted to rampage herself, she had to hold it in and keep herself steady. But I understand, Marina... goddammit, do I ever understand...

She sighed inwardly, then focused herself forwards as they stepped past an open doorway, curious civilians looking up and many of them paling at the sight of Cherry, before they slipped through a metal gate in the wall leading into an alley that was blocked-off by crates and across into another building. Cherry wondered absently how big this entire ‘shelter' could be, if it encompassed several buildings... and she watched as the dog tapped another keycode in, at the same time babbling: "We're... it's a big place, so... so we're halfway there, just... we just have to go a little bit further through this building and then we'll be at headquarters, I promise..."

3-2-4-1. Simple. Cherry thought absently, nodding a bit as they stepped into the next building and down another metal corridor, before the dog opened another security door with a different combination of the same four digits. Nice system. Faulty, but hey, simple but a bit of a pissoff for anyone trying to pass through... except demons just smash doors down, they don't enter keycodes. "How many buildings does this whole place encompass? And how many people do you have?"

"Just over four hundred... four hundred people, I mean." The dog said quickly, looking both relieved and terrified at the fact they were talking. He pushed open the door, and they walked into a wooden corridor, the canine motioning people out of their way as a girl gave a gasp of horror at the sight of Cherry, who gnashed her teeth and sent the leopard running. "We... we have about a dozen occupied buildings, including the garage, which... which works as a small barracks, it's very handy and... it keeps our real soldiers... gives them a place to train, you know..."

He laughed shakily, and Cherry crossed her arms meditatively as they turned down another corridor, people peeking out of rooms and apartments, and most of slamming their doors while the others simply stared, making her feel all-in-all a touch conspicuous. She thought absently about shifting her body, but figured that would cause the dog walking ahead of them to piss his pants and fall unconscious, so instead she asked sourly: "How many people around here are actual soldiers?"

"We... most of the military here was wiped out..." The dog hesitated, glancing over his shoulder and adding in a murmur: "We stopped... really... fighting for victory a long time ago, and instead we're only trying to survive..."

He continued to look almost thoughtful for a few moments, still gazing back over his shoulder before Cherry rolled her eyes, and he frowned just before he walked into the door and fell over with a grunt of surprise, rubbing at his head slowly and blinking stupidly a few times. Cherry offered his hand, and the canine looked almost terrified before she let out a loud groan of irritation and simply hauled him up to his feet. "Well, if you're trying to survive with that few brain cells, it's a wonder you fuckers are all still alive."

She paused and glanced down in irritation a moment later as a small child ran up to her and began to vehemently beat on her shin with a ruler, squalling angrily: "You're a meanie! You demons are all killing the mommies and daddies of my friends!"

As the dog stared in terror, Cherry dropped to a kneel in front of the child, his mother standing horrified a few feet back as she caught the ruler and looked mildly into his eyes as he stepped back in fear, and then she said mildly: "And see, what if you actually managed to hurt me? ‘Cause you know I might be someone's mommy, too... and even if I ain't, I'm someone's kid. The fighting ain't gonna stop until someone with enough balls stands up and says: ‘that's enough,' because believe me... even I don't have the guts to walk away even though I know the whole damn thing is pointless."

Cherry pulled the ruler free from the kid's hand as she stood up, then she gripped it by the middle and squeezed, cracking it in half and dropping it in two pieces as the child stared up at her in shock, and she reached down to ruffle the hair on his head as she added: "Fighting doesn't stop even if you kill everyone on the other side, ‘cause there ain't really another side, not really. There's only us and them. The fighting only stops when you figure out why you were fighting in the first place and correct that problem. It's complicated kid, so go back to your video games or whatever shit you do for kicks around here, or draw a fucking picture. You don't need to listen to shit like this at your age. Hey, let's move it."

The dog nodded quickly and turned around, open the door and leading them through into a small garden, and there was silence and Cindy offered a faint smile and a nod at the end of the line, but the mother only scowled at her, picking up her son and slamming the door of her room. Cindy sighed and shrugged a bit, looking sourly at the back of Cherry's head... but she did have to admit she was surprised, as one of her fingers quietly touched the sword on her back, and she looked down quietly. When did I forget all that, and everything else both Daddy and Requiem taught me... when did I just... start wanting to hurt people... despite knowing that it was all pointless...

She shook her head slowly: at this point, self-chatisement would be pointless. Instead, she forced her attention forwards, not even letting the beauty of the gardens they were walking through distract her. And indeed it was pretty, with all manner of flowers and fruit-bearing trees as they walked along a curving path towards another building... and the canine approached another number pad on this, tapping in a quick combination.

The door buzzed loudly, and the dog pulled it open, holding it for them as he bowed them inside... and Cherry looked at him distrustfully for a moment before walking inside, the others following as they filtered into a narrow hallway. She strode slowly down it, leading the group as the canine mumbled from behind them: "It's the first set of double doors... I... you can't miss them..."

Cherry grunted in response, looking back and forth at the paintings on the cement walls before she paused at the red oak doors, grasping the handles and shoving them both open as she walked into the empty bottom floor of what had to be some sort of contemporary dream house. She glowered at the white marble floors, the red carpets, and the enormous granite pillars that supported a curving ivory staircase... and near the foot of this was a white-metal, red-cushioned throne, in which sat a massive elephant. He smiled to them almost patronizingly as they walked inside, a giraffe and a dolphin fanning him from either side with large leaves, and a third zebra feeding him from a bowl of grapes that sat upon a golden bench nearby. I guess our eyes are supposed to be so drawn to him and the fact he's got hot chicks in togas taking care of him... that I'm supposed to entirely miss the second floor balcony and the soldiers stationed all around the curl of it, right? "So who the fuck are you?"

The elephant stuttered to a halt in the middle of his welcome, and he frowned a bit as he stood up, brushing his long red cape out behind him before smoothing down the lapels of the expensive white suit he wore. Cherry guessed from the large bulge under one side of the tight suit that he either had a handgun on him or a tumor in his breast as well... but either way, it would be utterly useless where it was. Good luck actually pulling that out of there in a flash. "I was about to answer that after I bid you fair welcome... but I suppose I couldn't expect much in the way of manners from a demon, now could I? Although you look exotic and exquisite enough to join these fine ladies here..."

He smiled at her with too-perfect teeth before continuing eloquently: "My name, however, is Orlando Terrez... and I must say, it's a pleasure to have useful hands coming in." He paused as his eyes roved over all of them, adding nonchalantly to the dog as he walked up beside his boss: "No wonder you wanted to keep these fine ladies all to yourself, Lance... and a strapping young soldier in uniform, too, likely a perfect fit for our own barracks."

Orlando paused, glancing to the side at a pair of shadowed doors as they opened... and Dan walked in, the dragon still looking a bit sulky as he adjusted the sleeves of his suit idly. He walked to Orlando's other side, and the moment the elephant looked away, he leered at the giraffe and reached down to squeeze her buttocks, but she only flushed and looked down. "And now that my military advisor has joined us, I'd just like to say that you are more than welcome to stay as long as you like... although I'm rather curious to hear what you have to say on the issues that have arisen in this fair land."

Cherry looked over to Cindy, who stepped forwards and nodded respectfully. "My name is Cindy Narrius, of Hez'Ranna-"

"The same Narrius name as that of the ex-Patriach?" Orlando tilted his head, frowning slightly. "I wasn't aware that he had children. Do you share the same ambitions as your father? Or are you here on a more peaceful mission?"

"I can say that I share the same ambitions as my father... and that Ifret Narrius was not him, but Zerrex Narrius, a war hero in Hez'Ranna... and in many others." Cindy said firmly, and she saluted as she stood rigid, before continuing in a curt voice: "I represent the Allied efforts of Hez'Ranna and Lunis in driving back the demonic forces and restoring peace to Lailland. I have come here with this special unit to close the Black Hole currently polluting the world with demons, and although I would appreciate any help you might provide, my main task here is to give support and ensure that this refuge and the surviving civilians stay protected and safe."

Orlando leaned over to Dan and murmured something in what Cindy guessed was their native tongue before the dragon grunted and stepped forwards, rubbing the back of his head slowly. "We don't have a lot of military power... perhaps thirty ex-soldiers, and most of them already guarding the most important or vulnerable areas of the district-" Yeah, just like this pretentious sack of shit here... "-and the rest on standby waiting to respond to oncoming attacks from the demons. They've been growing more frequent as of late... which is why I guess we're all a little bit edgy and responded badly to your arrival, ma'ams and sir."

"It's already forgotten." Cindy shook her head, waving a hand dismissively as she asked quietly: "So most of your protection comes from civilian volunteers who have kept themselves alive long enough in the city to make it here?"

"That's... uh... that's about right, yes." Dan said evasively, reaching up to rub the back of his head, and Cherry wondered absently if the dragon was really this stupid or if he was brain-damaged. That's not a tell. That just screams ‘I'm a lying sack of shit!' Fuck, everything's a sack of shit to me today. "I just want to say that I was incredibly impressed by uh... Cherry, right?"

The demoness tilted her head and batted her eyes, saying tenderly as she laced her fingers together under her muzzle: "Oh, you said my name, how sweet. But don't give me too much credit, the gangbang you and your friends set up for me was tres cliché."

Dan's smile dropped from his muzzle as he looked at her darkly, and then she turned her gaze over to Orlando, asking mildly: "Hey, fatty, so like... why this whole getup? And by the way, if you don't mind..."

Cherry smiled, then sketched the symbol of the Judgment Cross in the air, and both Orlando and the dog winced backwards with the zebra, their eyes glowing... but amazingly, Dan only looked dumbly at her and slowly tilted his head as she said dryly: "Oh, you have so got to be kidding me. Dude, you have to be possessed."

"What are you-" Dan began, and then he screamed and flew bonelessly through the air as Orlando irritably slapped him aside, the elephant's eyes burning black as the dog cowered and covered his head, attempting to hide behind the throne. The dragon, meanwhile, crashed to the ground and slid all the way to the doors as the zebra leapt up by the elephant, snarling as her eyes shone with eerie blue light.

"Prince Az'Iriel will not be defied... in his name we'll destroy you, traitor of Hell!" Orlando thundered, and he ran forwards as the zebra jumped at Cindy, but Mahihko quickly slid into the way, catching both her fists and shoving her hard backwards as Cindy ran to the side, snapping her grenade-shotgun off her hips and firing several rounds into the stairs as soldiers ran towards it.

It erupted in a blast of fire, knocking several soldiers backwards with screams of agony while several others leapt down, while the non-possessed girls screamed in terror as they attempted to make for an exit. Marina, meanwhile, had backed off and was slowly gathering her concentration as Cindy shot a grenade into the face of the first soldier to charge her, and it blew his helmet and most of his armor off, the draconic demon underneath grabbing at his face and screaming in agony before she launched a kick into one of the other disguised demons as the soldiers above panicked and fired rounds at random into the floor.

Mahihko snarled as he dodged out of the way of a swipe from the zebra, then he punched her hard across the jaw before slamming his other hand into a breast, and she winced and snarled before shoving him roughly backwards, then threw herself at him. The wolf was knocked to the ground with a grunt of pain before howling in agony as she grabbed the sides of his head and simply began to crush his skull in, but Marina grabbed the zebra by the mane with one hand reached the other down to seize her skull.

The zebra screamed in misery, writhing violently on top of the wolf and causing him to flush as he felt a terrible, strange arousal from her pain and jittering movements, before darkness flooded out of her maw and nose and quickly fled through a nearby door, and the zebra slumped to the ground. Marina snorted, then looked at Mahihko and said coldly: "Do what you do best. Cower and shoot the panicked soldiers above. And if that gets you off so much, then next time I capture some demons I'll let you rape one or two."

Mahihko blushed furiously in shame and humiliation, and then he fumbled for his rifle as he slid behind a pillar... but his pants were still tight, and something evil inside him was laughing at him as he tried to stop his hands from shaking so badly as the others danced between bullets while they engaged the demons.

Cherry twisted and slid back and forth between the elephant's strikes, before she kicked a foot into his stomach and ran quickly up his body, the Possessed staggering backwards with a grunt of surprise and uselessly grabbing at her ankle as she kicked off his head and flipped gracefully through the air before twisting her body to land neatly on her feet facing the elephant's back in his own throne, spreading her arms and bowing as he stared at her, saying teasingly: "So I heard that demons like to possess either what arouses them or what they're similar to. Which are you, fatass?"

"I am Duke Terronius of Hell, a powerful mage of great reknown!" The elephant stormed, spreading his arms and then grinning widely as he said loudly: "But I wouldn't be so quick to call me names... after all, I served as the Inquisitor to your dear father Zerrex, and I can't tell you how often he screamed in torment while I tortured him..."

Cherry's grin froze on her face, and then it slowly fell away as her horns lengthened slightly, her expression turning into a snarl as a tremble of fury rolled through her body, and part of her was thankful that Marina hadn't heard over the sound of gunfire... but most of her wanting to see what she would do to this coward if she had. "I was going to play with you a little while longer and then exorcise you, but I think I'll just kill you instead. And by you, I mean literally, you."

"You don't have that kind of power." Terronius replied coldly in Orlando's voice, and then he held up his hands and stumbled backwards as Cherry stepped off the throne, a terrible, vicious grin returning to her muzzle as he shouted in a strangled voice: "Wait, wait, I can give you information, I can tell you about the Princess, how she betrayed us, me, you, Lord Zerrex..."

"I don't need your kind of information." Cherry charged forwards, and Terronius opened his mouth to begin a spell, but he was cut off as Cherry slammed two fists into the gut of the huge body he was in, knocking the wind out of him before she jumped up and kicked both feet into his chest, sending him crashing into a granite pillar, which cracked and slowly fell over as Terronius collapsed to the ground with a grunt of pain. He began to look up, and then stared in horror at the circle of runes Cherry had already begun to draw through the air with floating red fire as he gasped for breath and shrieked: "No! How... how did you learn that?"

"I have friends in high places." Cherry said coldly, then she snarled the incantation and shoved the runic circle at the elephant, who was in the middle of his own protective spell, but it was too late: the burning circle struck him and turned into a conflagration that greedily rushed over his body, the fires turning blue as he began to scream in agony.

He writhed violently back and forth, his suit untouched by the flames but his skin turning black and peeling off as the flesh beneath boiled and hissed, muscles coming apart like string as his eyes turned into black, sunken holes in his head, steam rising from the empty sockets as he howled and spasmed in agony. He continued to convulse and twitch as ash rose high into the air above him, and then a burst of darkness flowed up from the elephant's now-skeletal body, but it too was caught in the blue flames, and for a moment the image of Terronius was imprinted against the fire as Cherry shouted furiously: "This is for fucking with the Boss!"

Terronius's demonic body burst into black flames, and then the image of it slowly cracked apart as it was consumed completely in darkness before flickering out of existence in a burst of blue electricity, and Cherry snorted, her eyes cold as she looked down at the bones that were all that remained of Orlando's corpse, muttering under her breath: "I did you a favor, motherfucker. Better to face Hell than an enraged miniature society."

Cindy, meanwhile, dealt two swift punches to the face of a Nightmare, and it fell over before bursting into tears, grabbing its broken muzzle, and she sighed before kicking it down onto its back, pinning it easily with one foot as she looked around at the groaning wounded and the corpses that otherwise littered the hall, before she glanced over at Cherry, who was scowling darkly. But the demoness shook her head slightly when Cindy opened her mouth, and instead the female paused and asked quietly: "What do we do with them?"

"And what about him?" Marina asked in disgust, jerking the dog over by the back of his neck, and when he tried to scamper away, she caught him in a headlock before pausing as she looked at Cherry, and her eyes blazed as she snarled: "Are you another Inquisitor for my father? Did you fuck with my Daddy? Tell me!"

The Possessed gasped for breath, then whined loudly: "Dear fuck, I'm a fucking Incubus! I swear to God, I never met Lord Zerrex... Gigataurs showed up at my house in Lust and forced me to join the army, what was I supposed to do, get my head cut off?"

Cherry reached a hand up and grasped the wolf's forehead, closing her eyes... and a moment later she caught a distinct image of a miserable-looking fox with a pair of leathery wings and ram's horns, and she paused before bringing her hand back, tilting her head curiously as he rage faded for the moment. "Are you a Savyl instead of a Rogant?"

It made utterly no sense to the others, but he nodded with relief, sighing quietly. "Yeah, your rare furry Incubus instead of a lizard like ninety percent of you. I get the fact you reptiles are far more-attractive and simply have bodies that look a lot more sexual and demonic, but hey, Hell runs on the backs of a variety of people, isn't that right?"

"The indiscrimination of torturing everyone, sure." Cherry nodded and smiled slightly as she nodded to Marina, dropping her hand as the youngest female grudgingly let go and instead walked over to the bones of the elephant. As the others watched, she began to kick and stomp the suit, and Cherry made a bit of a face as the dog lowered his head and slowly played his fingers together. "So what's your name then? And how long have you been inside this body?"

"Felix Rosemary." The Possessed rubbed the back of his head, then glowered at Cherry when she snorted laughter. "What's so funny? It was a common name two hundred mortal years ago, I swear! Besides, my father owned Rosemary leatherworks..." He paused to look almost dreamy as he rubbed slowly at his muzzle. "That was probably part of the reason I got sentenced to the Lust Circle... the things you can do with simple leather straps...

"But uh..." He blushed deeply and rubbed the back of his head slowly, looking back and forth awkwardly. "I've been here for about a mortal month now... I was ordered to serve as one of Terronius's aides, since... well, you saw him." He looked down shamefully, adding quietly: "So I handled sneaking in demons to work as soldiers and with messing up all the technical controls to ensure that this place wouldn't have any communication with soldiers outside. Otherwise, Az'Iriel plans to use this place as a slaughterhouse... he stationed guards outside it, even, and said that after we gathered more than five-hundred civilians, we were to alert him and..."

He broke off, and Cherry crossed her arms, saying darkly: "A ritual to add more power to that dark haze floating around above Lailland, huh? Well, Rosemary, I guess you did your job well enough... and it explains why exactly this place hasn't been wiped out, yet. Not enough souls inside to create a powerful-enough mass sacrifice?"

Rosemary shrugged, shrinking back a bit as he mumbled: "Um... no. Not yet. But that's right... Az'Iriel wouldn't release the details, but I... I heard a rumor that it's supposed to be a giant portal. Apparently Az'Iriel's having them work on it from the other side, too... and that once it's completed and opened, the entirety of one section of Hell will be warped into Lailland. All I know is that Lieutenant Ezekiel is in charge of maintaining this city and keeping the mortal troops busy... although we received a warning about you."

"No wonder you were so terrified..." Cherry muttered, and then she made a face as Mahihko walked over to the dragon and carefully nudged him with his paw, but Dan was still out cold. "Are there any other Possessed? And moreover, what the fuck is up with him?"

"Terronius employed the easy-to-manipulate... Dan always told me he always wanted to be a movie star, and Terronius... made him the star of his own real life movie, made him important here at the base." Rosemary shrugged, blushing a bit and rubbing slowly at his head as he added quietly: "And no. No other demons other than the ones in this room, either..."

He paused to glance over the corpses and the three wounded, and he watched quietly as Cindy carefully helped a draconic demon to his feet, the creature looking surprised as he cradled a mangled arm with his other limb, and she offered him a faint smile before Rosemary turned his eyes to Marina, who had gone from crushing the elephant's body to quietly sketching. Finally, they returned to Cherry, and he asked quietly: "Why... why haven't you killed us all? The psychic is so powerful she almost drove me out of this body before she even knew I was a demon... and I saw that spell you used on Terronius. That's a Forbidden Art in Hell..."

"Because I learned the hard fucking way that killing, unfortunately, doesn't solve everything. What the hell, were you not listening when I was talking to that kid?" Cherry shoved Rosemary, and then winced and sighed when the dog toppled over and whacked his head off the floor with a grunt of pain. "Fucking hell, but every Possessed I meet is a douchebag."

"Have you ever attempted to possess someone? It's like wearing twenty layers of clothes, and they're all itchy." Rosemary mumbled as he sat up, then winced and looked over at Dan as Mahihko managed to prod him awake. "Oh, but is this ever going to take a lot of explaining..."

Cherry grunted a bit, trying to hide her amusement as she took long, slow steps over to Dan, swaying back and forth at the same time as the dragon flailed at Mahihko's paw, then sat quickly up and looked around, rubbing at his head slowly. He went pale at the sight of the chaos and debris, and then turned completely white upon seeing the surviving demons. A moment later, he creakily turned to look at Cherry as she approached, then he immediately spun and attempted to make a run for the doors.

Mahihko grabbed him by the arms, then turn and threw him towards Cherry, and the dragon flailed his arms out to either side before he whacked into the demoness's body and fell over with a groan. He blinked several times and stared up at her with terrified eyes, and Cherry grinned widely down at him, licking her muzzle slowly and saying playfully: "Well, look what we have here, it's a big time movie star." She accented her voice at the end, softening her pronounciation into a drawl. "So, Mr. Movie Star, how do you like the beginning of this action flick we just put on?"

"I... I have no idea what you're talking about." Dan babbled, and then he squealed in terror as Cherry grabbed the expensive suit jacket he was wearing and hauled him into the air above her head, Dan kicking wildly before Cherry grabbed one of his ankles... and he immediately peed his pants at the fact the demoness was able to hold him up with one hand just as easily as she was with both.

A bit of this trickled out his pantleg and onto Cherry, and she made a disgusted face before chucking him to the ground, muttering irritably: "That's gross. That is so fucking gross." A pause as she mumbled a cleansing incantation, and then she sniffed at herself moodily as the smell and feel of his urine vanished, before glaring down at the dragon as he scampered backwards until he hit a pillar, curling immediately back against this. "You suck. I'm going to kill you in the face if you ever do that to me again.

"But okay, let's see... it seems that you and shithead over there are now the lead dogs of this place." Cherry crossed her arms, looking down at him disdainfully as her eyes roved slowly along his body. "I mean, only a moron would be serving a Possessed like that, but whatever..."

"He... he gave us all this home, this dream in the middle of the battlefield... why shouldn't we have served him, done whatever he wished?" asked Dan in a strained voice, and Mahihko cocked his head curiously for a moment before mouthing Dan's next words as he spoke them: "He was like a father to me, look at everything he gave me... because of him, I'm where I am now..."

"That's... that's um... from the Battle of St. Gabriel, the speech Victor Lionheart gives to his troops..." Mahihko mumbled, and Dan looked over at him with a mixture of sharp surprise and a wince. The wolf coughed a bit as Cherry snapped her fingers, then he looked around embarrassedly before sliding away to help Cindy with the bandages, leaving Dan to whatever fate Cherry had in store for him.

"Rosemary!" Cherry called over her shoulder, and the Possessed glowered and blushed before walking over, lacing his fingers together and looking embarrassed as Cherry said mildly: "Put Dan here in some plainer clothes and explain the situation to him while I hunt me some demon ass and make sure this facility's clear. And when you get back, we're all gonna sit around and have ourselves a friendly little chat."

The Possessed winced a bit as he walked over to Dan, then he helped the dragon to his feet before walking quickly towards the doors with him, and Cherry sighed before walking over to sit in the throne, crossing her legs and putting her hands behind her head as she gazed up at the domed ceiling above and muttered: "You know... it's like my work is never fuckin' done anymore. Fuck, I wish I was just killing shit still instead of like, caring and sharing. Those were such simpler fuckin' times..."

Three days later, Cherry, Cindy, and Mahihko were helping a group of volunteer soldiers clean the roomful of rifles and handguns the base had, while Marina wandered around the base, likely looking for prey. The demons they had helped out had currently all been thrown into prison, but Rosemary and Dan, at least, had a shaky alliance going.

The dragon was no long wearing a suit, but plain, casual clothes like everyone else, despite how miserable he looked about it. And for now, he was just a puppet of the girls... but Cindy honestly hoped that he'd manage to make a good leader with some training, and Cherry just mumbled about how his head was so far up his ass it had gone back between his shoulders. He wasn't managing very well... but on the other hand, he did get some leniency from the fact that his boss and one of his only friends in the facility had both turned out to be Possessed.

Explaining that whole mess had been dealt with by Cherry's usual tact, although she'd been tempted to break into a musical number and explain through song the moment she'd stepped foot into the open courtyard where about half the refugees were gathered. They had actually taken to it with a surprising lack of compassion or caring... and Cherry wondered absently if the lack of feeling came from the fact Terronius had obviously been a douchebag or if it was something that had been bred into them.

She was disgusted at the absolute self-centeredness that very quickly became evident, however: when she suggested closing rank and compressing the shelters â€" the fact everyone got their own apartment in this large area was ridiculous for a ‘secure shelter' â€" they had all immediately begun to whine, and a few people had actually walked away, as if that solved everything. Cherry had immediately reacted in her usual violent manner and immediately begun to flail her arms around, stomping back and forth and shouting like she was a pissed-off dictatorial leader, which she quickly became for a little while.

At first, they tried to stand up to her by screaming, but then Cherry glared at a nearby tree and caused it to explode into flames and fall apart, and that silenced any other whining. She felt, personally, like her first task should be to make these people feel as miserable as possible, so she quickly moved everyone to the parking garage with all manner of threats and harassment.

On the way out, some enterprising soul shot her with a handgun... and after the bullet simply bounced off her demonic body, she slowly turned around and cocked her fist back at the horrified rabbit, but Cindy had luckily caught her before she could do anything regrettable. The fact she barely had a bruise made the point far better than anything else she had said, however, and people quickly decided obeying her was likely the smartest course of action for them.

Cherry personally made sure that every single inhabitant of the massive shelter area â€" it comprised more than a full city block, and it was painfully-obvious Az'Iriel could have wiped them out at any time after only a short check of the area â€" was at the parking garage, before having Marina scan things over... but they hadn't missed any intelligent lifeforms. Cherry had then brought in the demons to act as guards, to try and ‘bolster some friendship' between the demons and the mortals... but moreover, to add to the mortals' misery.

Admittedly, she'd gotten a mean little kick out of it after the way they had all treated her and what she was beginning to think of as ‘her kind,' and after a long, sick, tired night, Cherry informed them irritably that that's what most refugees went through. The upper floors of the parking garage now stank of shit, piss, and fear, and everyone was more-than-willing to listen to Cherry and consider her ideas now. Sometimes fear works. It might not be nice, but I don't have the time to play nice with these motherfuckers. They're all fat pigs for the slaughter right now... I gotta torture ‘em a little and make ‘em thin so Az'Iriel doesn't have a feast.

She had moved them into a set of four buildings that easily held the entire group still: originally, Cherry had wanted to keep them in the parking garage, but Cindy had drawn the line there. Once the demoness had them settled in two families to a room, she personally checked over the state everyone was in before drafting several of the larger and more cooperative males to help her fortify the new defenses she had planned out the night before instead of sleeping.

The result was that they were now in a miniature fortress of connecting buildings, protected not only by metal and traps, but also demonic runes. Cherry had also had them prepare small charms made of household items to hang at every entrance, which she muttered would keep out evil spirits... and she was pretty sure if Ezekiel was calling the shots here, there would be more than simply demons to be dealing with.

But things had started to come together... and thanks to the egoism of the people here, they had apparently decided that as long as she kept them safe, they would listen to her, demon or not. Of course, Cherry had made it clear she didn't want to stay here very long, and her sisters â€" and brother, she supposed, despite the way he looked and acted most of the time â€" couldn't stay here, either.

"And yet now they're clamoring for us to stay. Must be real nice to have some muscle around after being led by a jackoff demon in a suit, though." Cherry muttered, as she put down the handgun she had just reassembled, and then she sighed, rubbing absently at her arm. "I think we should get out of here."

Cindy held up a finger, and Cherry thought mildly about biting it before Cindy looked up and said mildly into the headset, as she gave Cherry a significant look: "Alright, we'll be there. Give us five minutes."

"Great." Cherry picked up the handgun she had just put down, double-checking the clip before slapping it back into place and looking morbid. "Another visitor. I swear to shit, if this is another demon they've already shot the face off of, I'm going to be pissed off. Mahihko, are you coming?"

The wolf nodded as he finished loading shells into the shotgun across his lap, then he pumped it once before shouldering it and following the two girls out as they pushed away from the table. Cherry exchanged a nod with one of the volunteers as she passed â€" an ex-solider, so he had been one of the few non-whiny ones about her whole plan â€" and they made their way out towards the only way in and out of the facility anymore: the same intersection where they had first come to the shelters.

Cherry threw the door open, Cindy and Mahihko following behind her in their plain military uniforms and the demoness naked but genderless, before she spread her arms with a grin as a feline with goldenrod fur and long hair falling over his multicolored eyes aimed a plain-looking .45 at them. His features were youthful but serious, and Cherry couldn't help but snort. This job does have perks, right? "Gee, I really like you already. Lower the gun and don't make any sudden moves, or you'll be chewing on my handgun in the next five seconds. This is a safe place, so calm the fuck down."

"You're a demon. What the hell are you doing here?" the feline frowned, lowering his gun only slightly as his eyes flicked from Cindy to Mahihko, and he added in a mutter: "And those are Hez'Rannan uniforms..."

Cherry's eyes flicked over him, sizing the cat up. He was a few inches less than six feet tall, and his body looked lithe from the looseness of the zip-up sweater he was wearing beneath a thick jeans jacket. His clothes were dirty and patched, and Cherry wondered absently if it was from tangling with nasty demons or attempting to go incognito through a city that was by now, basically floored with rubble and broken glass. He was leaning slightly over an ancient-looking motorcycle with a large, broken headlight and a few scratches over metal that had once been a smooth marble of different shades of blue, and a pair of riding goggles hung from one of the handlebars, confirming how he'd managed to get here. Her eyes roved over this, and she smiled slightly at the sidecar that was currently stacked with the rest of the cat's gear... including what looked like the handle of some sort of sword. Looks like he was travelling a bit heavy... I'm surprised he made it here at all in this hunk of junk. "Your powers of observation amaze me, genius. Now come on, drop the gun and come inside before you start attracting the attention of something big, mean, and hungry. You can put your bike there behind the barricades for now, since the garage door went to shit a few nights back. The guys up top can watch it for you, give ‘em somethin' to do."

The cat glanced slowly behind him, then up to the windows where the snipers Cherry had posted were slowly drawing back, before he finally nodded and holstered his handgun. "Sorry. I haven't really run into any demons until now who didn't want to eat my face..." He paused, slowly drawing his eyes along Cherry and still looking a bit hostile, before his eyes flicked back to the uniformed wolf and Drakkaren, but he seemed to take a bit of assurance in this. "You guys sure don't look like invasion forces that were left over from the Patriarch's reign of terror."

Before Cherry could say anything, Cindy shook her head and nudged her sister out of the way, Cherry muttering under her breath as she half-bowed a bit. "My name is Cindy... we're part of a special group that was sent in here as part of the Hez'Ranna-Lunis Alliance to help put a stop to the demons and seal the Black Hole."

The cat nodded, looking over at them with a curious tilt of his head as he grabbed his goggles off the handlebars of his bike and tossed them absently into the fair-sized sidecar, before he slowly pushed it around the barricade, asking at the same time: "A new alliance, huh? I'm from Dremony myself... or at least, I used to be... now I don't even know how much of it exists anymore after all these demonic attacks."

He dropped to a kneel, throwing the sword over his shoulder and tightening the strap a bit as he picked up a few more odds-and-ends and shoved them into his pockets, before straightening and looking over at the three, bowing slightly in return. "My name is Leo Midori. It's good to find a place to rest... I was getting a little tired out there."

"I'm Mahihko." the lupine said with a bit of a smile and a nod, rubbing absently at his piercings as Leo's eyes traced over the wolf with curiosity. "And yeah... we heard it's getting pretty dangerous out there."

"Fuck danger, its prick is half as back as its whiny roar." Cherry muttered, and then she rose her hand and leered over the cat. "Just call me Cherry. This here is Shelter 32 or 37 or some shit, but I just call it the Big Refuge. Come on inside, we'll get you a room and show you around for however long you'll be staying... you look like the moving type."

"Yeah." Leo nodded as he followed after Cherry and Cindy, Mahihko staying out a moment longer to check down the empty alley before signaling to the snipers to withdraw and following them at a short distance, closing the door behind him. Leo paused to glance over his shoulder at the wolf lounging along, and then he returned his eyes to the unarmed female Drakkaren ahead of himself and the demoness leading the little group, looking a bit apprehensive. "I've been on the move for years, trying to get away from the Dremony Military... but I guess that doesn't matter anymore with how things look for the world. I meant to be off this continent a long time ago, probably bound for Ire or maybe even one of those little islands around Hez'Ranna, but then the major attacks started and I guess I sorta lost my chance to get out of here. Now I guess I just want to do what I can to help out with the military efforts in the area."

Cherry nodded as they walked into a small, mostly-empty room with a round wooden table, and Leo frowned a bit as Cherry grunted loudly at the two civilians playing cards and sent them fleeing through the metal door as Mahihko quietly closed it behind them. The cat glanced back and forth at the plain walls and the wooden stools, and the demoness sat down on one of them with a sigh of relief, putting the gun down on the table and saying mildly: "Sorry, it's a security precaution to ensure you're not possessed by a demon or evil spirit, or that you ain't some shapeshifter, either. You okay with running a little test?"

The grin on Cherry's face and the tense look of Cindy as she rested against a wall told Leo he didn't have much of a choice... so he nodded, sitting down on the stool opposite and trying to keep his expression blank as he said calmly in return: "Of course."

"Excellent. That's the first question done right." Cherry paused, then glanced over to Cindy and sighed, muttering: "You're really absolutely no help when it comes to this shit. Where the hell's Marina?"

"Probably drawing somewhere or harassing one of the demons." Cindy shook her head a bit, then she smiled a bit over to Leo as he looked from one to the other, sensing his tenseness. "Don't worry too much. Marina's our sister... she's got a useful ability for finding out whether or not someone is hiding something."

Leo nodded, then he smiled slightly as he held out his hand, and the two watched with slight surprise as it glowed with darkness before a needle of solid obsidian energy formed and dropped down into the table with a quiet thunk. A moment later, it vanished as his hand glowed white, the cat glancing down at this thoughtfully. "I have some interesting powers myself, which is why I've been able to stay alive for so long... my white and black energy. The power to harm people or help them... or help myself, of course."

The cat laughed a bit, then looked with amusement at their surprise. "What, you didn't think there was a reason I was being hounded by a dictatorial nation that usually doesn't set foot outside its own borders for any reason? I was part of their special soldier program... something modeled off all the research that I heard Ire used to do."

Cherry snorted, muttering: "Good ol' Ire. King of screwups." She paused long enough to sketch the symbol of the Judgment Cross in the air, and Leo only tilted his head curiously at the strange symbol. "Good shit. So you ain't possessed, and likely ain't a demon... so uh... I guess last of all is asking you what you're going to do around base if we let you stay here."

Cherry adopted a more businesslike attitude, and Leo shrugged a bit, saying mildly: "I don't plan to be here too long... just long enough to recover my energies and recuperate. But... I really can't say ‘no' to people in need." He paused and rubbed the back of his head, then flicked his hair, and Cherry noticed the gleam of a ribbon. I really hope Mahihko doesn't steal that. Little sparkle-obsessed faggot that he is... "Well, I'm pretty good with a rifle, and I've been trained in all sorts of different weapons... and I can certainly hold my own with a sword, too."

The demoness nodded thoughtfully, then Cindy tilted her head with a slight smile, saying gently: "You know, we're about to leave ourselves for the Black Hole, likely tomorrow... and if you could stick around while the military clears the city, that'd be great. Right now we've got a possessed dog and a dragon who thinks he's a movie star heading things, so we could really use your help."

Leo winced a bit, looking back and forth before he sighed and nodded, laughing a bit as he rubbed absently at his shoulder. "Well... I guess I could... but what sort of unit are you taking in to attack the Black Hole with? I mean, the defenses surrounding it have got to be nearly impenetrable... the demons out there are way different than the demons around here." The feline shook his head slowly, making a face. "I can count the times I've had to retreat from battle on one hand, and that was one of them."

"We'll be fine." Cherry said airily as she stood up, then she squeezed Cindy tight around the waist against her side, grinning widely. "Me and my sisters... and the little wolf dude... have gotten through worse situations, especially when..." She halted, then added in a quieter voice: "When our father was alive. Zerrex never stopped fighting... not even at the very end."

"KIA?" Leo asked quietly, and Cindy nodded before he bowed his head forwards a bit. "My condolences... I'd offer to help, but... I guess it's a bit late at this point." He smiled faintly as Cindy nodded with a grunt and Cherry looked away, before he stood up and put his palms against the table, looking over the two and asking curiously: "But hey, why don't you let me go with you? More people is never a bad thing when it comes to storming the enemy... and there's a heck of a lot of enemies out there."

Cherry grunted something, and Cindy made a bit of a face, then they traded a look before the younger Drakkaren sighed and nodded slowly, Leo smiling warmly. "I guess we could use the help... but afterwards we'll have to break off, since we're set to meet another military operation that should currently be underway..." She paused and cursed quietly, punching the desk. "We're already so behind..."

"Well, I'm ready to go whenever..." He paused, rubbing at his stomach absently before offering a lame look to the two. "Actually... a meal would be really nice..."

"Cindy, why don't you show him to the cafeteria and I'll go find Marina?" Cherry tilted her head towards her sister, and the female nodded, motioning respectfully for Leo to follow. The cat smiled at her, and he opened the door quickly for the Drakkaren before heading out after her. Cherry watched them leave, then she shook her head slowly, muttering under her breath: "Wonderful. Taking care of another hero... I hope he plays his cards well, at least."

She made a face as she walked out the door, glancing over to smile a bit at Mahihko, who was leaning with his back against the wall and looking a bit concerned. She reached up to ruffle the fur between his ears, and he made a face before saying quietly: "I don't like this, Cherry. We've spent so long here... I want to get moving, and do something, and..."

"And kill. I know." Cherry said quietly, and Mahihko looked down with a flush of embarrassment before she reached up and nudged his shoulder gently with her fist, mumbling lamely: "It'll be okay." A long, awkward pause. "Let's go find Marina. I could really go for eating a fried child right now or something, too. I'm fuckin' irritable."

"You're always fuckin' irritable." Mahihko murmured, but he offered a bit of a smile as they walked down the corridor together, heading in the opposite direction of Cindy and Leo. The wolf still felt tense, however, and at the look on Cherry's face, he could help but ask: "What did you find out?"

"He's ex-Dremony... dictatorship. Pretty small, awkward, out of the way place not so far away from here. The thing is that it's another island country like Lunis, but it's got steep cliffs on one side and the other is protected by the Navy... a bitch of a place to assault. I heard that most of it was cleaned out by Narrius's shock troops, but he claims to be part of some special unit." Cherry paused reflectively as they stepped through a side door and out into the blocked alley, heading for the next building over. "I believe him. He's got some special power shit like everyone seems to have these days."

"Yeah." Mahihko looked down at his fingers, and electricity sparked between them before he glanced up with a faint smile, tilting his head a bit. "They aren't that special anymore, are they?"

"I think it's a corrosive effect from Hell." Cherry said seriously, and Mahihko lowered his ears a bit, unnerved by the fact that Cherry wasn't acting like... well... Cherry. She's so... distant. Solemn, even. "I think whatever Narrius's doomsday device did, it broke the last remnants of... whatever the fuck sort of barrier was weakening between the demonic world and this one, creating those rips, the Black Holes. And like, we might have closed most of them, but everything's still on the fritz and people are still acting crazy, even in places with few or no demons. I think it's like some barrel of sludge broke open and was spilled onto our motherfucking collective lawns, and we might have wiped it up... but dude, the shit that sank in is still there, and now we ain't growing grass but fuckin' people-eating plants."

"You're scary." Mahihko said mildly, and Cherry groaned and shoved him sideways as they walked towards the door, the wolf immediately smacking into the wall and letting out a yelp of pain as he fell backwards onto his ass... but oddly enough, it made him feel better as he scampered behind Cherry to catch up with her.

They found Marina quietly sketching out a demon that was posing nude beside Dan, who looked humiliated and kept trying to cover his own naked groin. Cherry opened her mouth, and Marina said icily: "Silence. I'm almost done."

Cherry immediately closed her muzzle, and then she slowly began to lean towards Marina to see what she was sketching, but Mahihko jerked her back to avoid Marina throwing a fit, and the demoness stuck out her tongue at him sourly. A few seconds later, Marina closed her sketchbook and nodded to her two models, and both of them looked relieved as they began to climb back into their clothes, Mahihko walking over and blushing a bit as he helped the draconic creature, since his good arm was closed up inside a makeshift cast and he was still obviously unused to mortal clothing.

Before Cherry could talk, Marina glanced up at her and said absently: "I know already, don't worry. Leo Midori, age thirty and three months, seven days, five hours, he's got an odd-shaped birthmark and a tattoo he's very proud of, his assigned number from the Dremony Military is 88. He's also got special abilities, based around his emotions, of all things... his mind was easy to pick into until some idiot told him that I'm a psychic, and he immediately started trying to cover his thoughts... but it was like throwing a blanket over a mountain of rubble. He's safe, though, if that's what you wanted to ask after you scolded me."

The demoness stared, and Marina shrugged a bit, murmuring softly as she looked down at her sketchpad: "I like to listen while I sketch. He just happened to wander into the base, so I just listened in to what he was thinking. I think we should pack up and move in two hours."

Cherry's first instinct was to scold her, argue with her, make fun of her, and eventually push her own ideas forwards... but as she opened her mouth, she saw the frown crest over Marina's face, and she slowly closed her muzzle. Why do I pull that shit... fuck, now that I think of it, all of us have been pretty mean to her lately, even if she can be a bitch... oh fuck me, there I go again. "I... I think that's a good idea. What if we gave an extra half an hour or so to that, though, just because now we have a new person and... I'm kinda worried that he might need a moment to adjust to you and the rest of us." Oh shit. Bad phrasing.

Marina dropped her head, looking sulky, but after a few moments she finally muttered: "Fine. I'll go and get my stuff and then I'll meet the bastard... but I can feel the energy in the air growing, and I know you can too. We need to move in fast... and something... something bad is coming."

She paused, her misery seeming to drop away for a moment as she tilted her head, and then she shook her head quickly, touching her forehead quietly and looking down in confusion, before she quickly strode past Cherry, shoving her aside as the demoness frowned, feeling a bit of psychic static in the air. Not enough to hurt, but enough to make her tingle... but it vanished as Marina left. What the hell... she's acting weird as fuck, and that only comes out when she's really pissed or stressed about something. But she's right... there's something in the air, and I can feel the essence getting thicker...

As it turned out, Leo greeted Marina calmly enough when they met in the room Leo had first been interrogated in, although he at first looked like he was tempted to retort to her calling him a pussy. Cindy quickly shook her head before he could, however, and pulled him aside to explain quietly that Marina was just upset over the death of her father. Leo had accepted this, and mentioned he didn't even know where his own sister, Julia, had vanished to... so instead he attempted to befriend the youngest daughter of Zerrex.

He failed miserably, but Marina went from trying to piss him off or upset him to mostly ignoring him, but he was able to talk easily with Cindy, on the other hand, and he seemed to settle into the base a bit, looking surprised at the amount of equipment they carried. Cindy shrugged a bit, only murmuring that they carried what they needed to be prepared, and a few moments later he stared in shock as Cherry came back with a wide grin in her old mortal body, fully-clothed and flexing her muscular arms as she said cheerfully: "Fuck yes, let's go retro and bring back the faves!"

"I hate you." Marina said darkly from across the room, and Cherry immediately crossed her arms and dropped her head, looking sulky as Mahihko absently patted one of her enormous biceps. Cherry, however, snapped up the backpack before Marina could automatically try and put it on, and she looked surprised as Cherry mumbled that she was the big muscular precognetic one, so she'd try carrying the extra gear instead for once.

Marina looked almost embarrassed for a moment, but she'd only nodded as she checked over her own weaponry: a Dragokkaren Enforcer 5000-Class Assault Rifle. It had a drum larger and thicker than Marina's head that snapped into place behind the handle to counterbalance the four enormous, rotating barrels â€" a mutant combination of gatling gun and classic tommygun. The weapon had two intelligent triggers: a pressurized one to cycle the barrels at various speeds, and another to actually fire the weapon. It also had a long strap that securely locked against the shoulder so that the massive weight was better distributed, and the monstrous weapon was designed for the largest of the Dragokkaren from Hez'Ranna... but several different guns had also been sold to various people around the world, although the enormous weight of the weapon at least worked to counterbalance the recoil from the small nine-millimeter rounds.

Leo stared at the female carrying this, but she only grunted as she pushed it behind her back to slip a simpler .45 into a holster at her side and a plain combat knife in her boot. His own armament â€" a serrated combat knife, his .45, and the sword on his back inside its gleaming sheath â€" almost felt insignificant at the sight of the psychic carrying that massive weapon, as Marina shrugged it back around to ensure she could bring it out fairly quickly if necessary, then she gripped the L-shaped handle at the front of the gun that extended out of the long rectangular body beside the barrels, looking sourly amused as she tweaked it into a different position. "Got a problem?"

"None at all." Leo laughed a bit, rubbing the back of his head, and then he glanced around, noting Cherry's chain whip and the strange, smallish rifle that Mahihko was currently reloading. They're all pretty professional... "So uh... how much combat experience do you all have?"

"Oh, about three thousand years' worth." Cherry replied absently, as she loaded an ancient, bolt-action rifle with several rounds before tossing it over to Cindy, who caught it and slid it onto her back in one fluid motion. "Fifty or sixty of ‘em mortal years. The others have about twenty-thirty years of experience each. We've seen our fair share of war."

"Too much." Cindy murmured softly, smiling faintly over at Leo, and the feline rubbed the back of his head a bit as she asked curiously: "What about yourself?"

"Most of my life." The cat admitted, nodding and rubbing his hands together slowly. "Especially once the discovered my abilities... then I was put through all sorts of training programs and tests, and I was out on the field, either healing people or using my powers to kill enemy troops..." He made a bit of a face, shaking his head slowly. "I really preferred to heal, but... I suppose with my kind of powers, having me out there fighting really saved more lives than I could with these hands."

Cherry grunted something, then she looked over at Cindy, but the female only bowed her head slightly towards her, and Cherry sighed as the silent communication ended, saying sourly: "Everyone, listen up. Since there's only five of us, we're going to have to focus more on moving quietly over ramming our way through the enemy... we'll save that for afterwards."

She paused, then unwrapped the plastic tube and put it down on the wooden table, pulling it open to reveal the digital readout as the others leaned in, Cherry tapping the blue circle on the map as she became serious. "This is us, the Big Refuge. While we're away, I'm posting snipers and I'll give Dan the keys to the Grim Hearse to park it in the front alley... that should ward off a lot of the demons on its own. But see, we have to navigate roughly twenty blocks... to here."

She tapped a red glow on the map, gazing around at them all to size up their reactions. "This is the Black Hole, and as you can see even on the map, there's a lot of corruption and terrain damage around it, and we're also going to be dealing with Lieutenant Ezekiel, just to further complicate things. The others can tell you about him as we move, Leo, but for now I'll keep things brief."

"Right." Leo murmured, glancing down over the map and flicking one of his bangs out of his blue-green eyes slowly searching the map, and Cherry noticed a flaw in one of them: a patch of red-tinged chestnut, as he shook his head a bit. "I don't know how we can do this. There's golems and those eye-creatures crawling all over the place..."

"They're too big to fit in buildings, so we'll do this the same way the soldiers used to navigate Hez'Ranna during the Great War: we'll use the buildings and structures to our advantage and slip through them. Security will only increase once we approach the area the Black Hole itself is in, and then we'll do the usual straight charge, make-some-noise bit. We'll know we're close when we start hitting warded buildings." Cherry said mildly, then she grinned slightly, her eyes flashing. "You can always stay behind if you want though."

Leo only smiled slightly at this, and Cherry nodded and closed the map, looking around at the others as her professionalism returned. "We move in a single line formation. I'll take the front and scout ahead a bit, followed by Cindy. Marina follows after that, and Leo and Mahihko will follow from the rear. Wolf, I want you covering our backs: Leo, we'll likely need your abilities as healer soon into the night." She paused, then glanced over them all and grunted, saying dryly: "Four of us have a personal stake in this, and we know who we're doing this for. Leo, thank you for the aid, we all appreciate it more than any of us can say."

Leo nodded and rubbed his hands together, saying quietly: "Well, I can't just sit around while these demons are flooding the world... if I can help out with stopping them, I'm more than glad to do whatever I can."

"Good. Then we move." Cherry said softly, and she headed for the door, at the same time lowering her head forwards as that strange feeling rolled through her again, that sense of familiarity. She shook her head slightly, pushing a hand against the door before opening it and grinning slightly, murmuring: "Fuck yeah. Let's show these bastards a thing or two for the Boss."