After that mass of destruction, it's time to settle down as Demencia and Cherri take some time off to meet the locals...while also causing some more mayhem. Enjoy!
With the base more or less trashed, Demencia and Cherri decided it was time to find somewhere else to cause chaos and make soldiers darken their pants in fear. The former took off with her new draconic wings, flying through the skies of Panau with no trouble save for occasional feud with a bird. Every time she got into a flying collision, the lizard-like demoness would spend several minutes chasing after it hoping to use its feathers to make a bed-nest for herself.
Cherri, while many would guess got the short end of the stick in terms of new powers, found her new grappling hooks to be extremely fun. She swung from place to place, letting her learn the reach of her cables was over 250 feet, and that they would magically stick to anything. Combine this with her near-instant healing of any injury and she was laughing like a lunatic as she lurched from point to point pulling herself along and occasionally letting herself crash into the ground just for kicks. Now she could brag to the boys back home that she had heard her own neck snap in eighteen different ways!
The snowy peaks eventually gave way to lush forests as the demonesses made their way down and away from the center of the island. With the two also realizing that they never got exhausted in the mortal world (a fact that was also giving Cherri verrry naughty thoughts), the two reached a small town just as the colors of sunrise faded.
The town was maybe two-dozen houses all built out wood with bamboo supports to lift them up in case of any flooding. There were few creature comforts to be had as some buildings were little more than shacks, everyone drove a beat-up motorcycle or well-worn car and there were no signs of electricity. The people, naturally put off by the appearance of two black-eyed women who just wandered in after slaughtering a military base, were always apprehensive and walked with their heads down. It was soon made apparent why as they spotted a jeep filled with more red-vested Panauan soldiers, every person they passed looking away and trying not to lose their bower control.
"Man, what's gotten into these pussies?" asked Cherri as they eventually stopped on a random person's shaded porch to watch foreign television. Said person was very confused about why two strange-looking women were on his property, but was keeping quiet on account of the revolver Demencia was happily twirling around her finger.
"My guess is a classic dictatorship," responded Demencia with a frightening level of astuteness given her usual personality, "The leader of this island has funneled an absurd amount of tax money into his army, both to appear strong to foreign powers and to intimidate any potential uprising. They are probably doing regular rounds to prove their superiority and bully more money out of people."
"Wow…You got all of that out of just looking around?"
"Hey, I'm not just dumb muscle! I had to learn all the essential aspects of evil to be a certified employee at Black Hat Industries such as various aspects and methods of tyranny."
"Cool. What else did you learn there?"
"I learned the ideal way to steal lunch money!"
Cherri, and the homeowner they were holding hostage, blinked in confusion.
"What? Evil has to start somewhere!"
The other demoness had to give her a point there, but her train of thought was interrupted when the program was cut off by a sudden news announcement. A cheery jingle played as a picture of a white star over a red background, the apparent symbol of Panau, came on and cut to a stout, freaky looking man in a hideous green suit with a chameleon on his shoulder.
"Greetings, people of Panau," droned the man in an insanely grating voice, "Your beloved President Panay has tragic news for you. A group of foreign agents ravaged one of our key installations in the Berawan Besar Mountains last night. 103 of our respected soldiers lost their lives to these terrorists and destroyed thousands in government-property. We suspect that this is the work of one of the many diabolical factions looking to overthrow our impervious government for their own malicious means. We encourage all citizens of Panau to report any possible suspects to your nearest station for a financial reward."
The cheery jingle played once more before returning to the scheduled broadcast.
"Well, now we know the egocentric shit-wad in charge of this place. I'm honestly surprised there aren't giant statues of the guy all over the place," commented Cherri.
"Actually, there's almost a hundred of them all over the island," gulped the hostage homeowner, hoping that if he distracted the two with things to blow up they would leave his house. Unfortunately, he said that just as one of the patrolling guards walked by his property and overheard him.
"Hey you, was that conspiracy I heard?" threatened the guard while pointing a pistol at him. Cherri just rolled her eye as the man practically looked ready to pass out.
"Beat it, bitch-face, we're trying to think of stuff to blow up."
"You threaten Panau soldier!" yelled the guard as he pointed his weapon at her instead, "That capital offense! Apologize or die!"
"That's seriously written into your laws? Man, at least in Hell you get to say whatever you want."
"Die!"
The guard unloaded multiple shots into her, but the barely blinked as each wound closed up in seconds.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" shouted the guard before Cherri sent a cable through his leg, sending blood everywhere and shattering his kneecap like a twig.
"Aaaaand…now I'm tired of your talking. Plus I always wanted to see what these babies could do to a person!"
And so Cherri proceeded to launch the other cable into his other leg, causing the guard even more agony. She then proceeded to yank her wrists back, ripping the legs off from the rest of him in a trail of blood and screams.
"AWESOME!" cheered Demencia as the guard's anguish (And Cherri swinging his dismembered legs around like flails causing even more blood to stain the patio) soon called the rest of the group to his position. Soon three more red-vested goons approached the girls with more weapons locked and loaded. The homeowner did the smart thing and ran for the hills.
Demencia decided that it was her turn for some fun and revealed her wings, flying through two of the beams supporting the porch roof with a sawed-off shotgun in each hand. The three troopers opened fire on her, but even shooting her wings did no good since the holes would mend seconds later. The draconic girl fired shells into their heads one at a time until all three of them were dead with hemoglobin leaking from the remains of their craniums.
"And Flug said giving me a gun was a 'recipe for disaster', I'm a crack shot!" As she descended to the ground, she noted that Cherri had gone off and jacked the jeep the four soldiers drove.
"Get in, nutcase, we've got places to go."
"What have you got cooking in there?"
"We're gonna go meet with those three guerilla groups President Douchebag mentioned on TV. They might be fun to help out."
"Meaning we get to blow even more bases up?!"
"Exactly. But first…" Cherri launched one of her cables at one of the remaining porch beams and yanked, causing the entire patio to come crashing down.
"I never said we only had to blow up military shit, right?"
And so the demonic duo drove around Panau on a lengthy road tour…Or at least that was the plan. Not ten minutes after they left their starting point, they came across a gas station where a group of Panau elite soldiers was shaking down the store for money to fund their "glorious military."
Demencia felt it was only appropriate to walk up to the head of the group, shoot him in the face with a revolver and then use his dead body as a blunt instrument to beat the others to death. The storeowner looked at the crazed demoness with genuine appreciation.
"You save my store! How can I repay you?"
Demencia only had to look over to Cherri for the answer. She drove their jeep straight into two of the gas pumps and caused a massive explosion. The draconic girl then revealed her wings and flew herself into the last two pumps, bringing about another giant fireball and bringing down the roof over the pumps to give one last ka-boom as the two reformed. The owner looked at the two in horror.
"Well, that was fun!" Demencia cheered as the two got into the jeep left by the group of goons they just massacred and drove off once again. Another six minutes later, they crashed the jeep into a ditch for shits and giggles and eventually just traveled using their unique abilities.
As they went on their merry way, they eventually found a map of the island and learned that Panau was about four-hundred square miles with a large central island and smaller island chains surrounding them. There were also three factions fighting for control while also sticking it to the government. They actually got that info free or charge, but it took Cherri punching a hole through someone's head and a brief gunfight to get the map. That is what happens when try to shill a basic paper map to a blood-hungry demon for the equivalent for twenty bucks. They both laughed at imagining that man's obituary.
They eventually found out that three factions battling for control consisted of a nationalist group made of descendants from the island's indigenous people who want to reclaim their birth called the Ular Boys, a revolutionary cell called the Reapers who wanted to overthrow the government for "the good of the people" and the Roaches who are more or less Panau's equivalent to the mob. Cherri and Demencia decided to pay them a visit first.
After getting the coordinates from a very cordial drug dealer who was beyond understanding that Cherri could only pay for his fine product with money she looted from a soldier's dead body, they were shown the way to their headquarters. Much to their surprise for the local drug cartel, the Roaches were located in a large three-story manor with an eloquent garden and all the trappings expected of an enterprising millionaire.
After confirming that, indeed, they were the ones who trashed that mountain base, they were welcomed inside and led into a well-furnished yet dark office often seen in old-fashioned mobster movies. The head of the operation was Razak Razman, an aging dark-skinned dressed in an impeccable white suit with absolutely no hair on his head. Despite looking like the kind of man who spent his afternoons in country clubs, he had a definite danger to him on top of his sophistication.
"Ah, so these are the masterminds behind that attack?" he asked, already aware of the situation thanks to his informants, "You have done my operation well! That factory was home to many soldiers who continue to poison our waters with their interference."
"Eh, it was just fun for us!" asked Demencia, showing off her newly acquired demonic smile. The man was not fazed in the slightest.
"Is that so? Hah ha, if that is the case, then we could use two brilliant doctors like yourself to help cure the plight that is that horrendous president and his cronies."
"Keep up making excellent crystal like this and we're in," complimented Cherri as she crushed the meth by just closing her hand and snorted it, kicking her head back as the high took hold.
"Oh ho! Perhaps you would be interested in a different form of payment?"
"Fuck yeah! You give us the good stuff and we'll trash any base you point us at! Wanna try some, Demencia?"
"Sure!"
Back at Black Hat headquarters, Dr. Flug was in the middle of constructing the next evil device that would raise his master's profit margin when he suddenly stopped. A deep, menacing chill ran down the back of his spine.
"I don't know where…or why…But something unspeakably horrible has happened. The world is now in greater danger than it has ever been before. I actually feel…sorry?"
"FLUG! Back to work! You used your five-minute break for the day already!" shouted Black Hat over one of the many surveillance devices around the lair.
After watching the hilarity that was Demencia's first exposure to hardcore drugs, Cherri carried the girl out on her shoulders as she was coming off her high.
"I saw so many colors…" swooned the half-unconscious demon, "They were all so pretty…"
"Yeah…you get used to it," chuckled Cherri, fondly remembering her first time tripping balls. She was only grateful that her friend did not have to go through all those troublesome side effects like losing her teeth, depression or her organs going ape-shit.
"So now what? We still gonna see those other two groups?"
"Why not? If it means more shit to blow up and chaos to be had, then fine by me!"
"But won't they get angry that we're going behind their back and working with another faction?"
"What are they going to do, kill us?"
As she said that, a pick-up truck ran the two over. Turns out that Cherri was too distracted and carried them right into the road. They both reformed a few seconds later, Demencia even becoming sober thanks to the shock.
"Good point!" she admitted before shooting the truck driver in the head with a pistol and taking the vehicle for their own use.
"To the communists!"
After a quick drive down the west coast of the island, or as quick as you could be after driving off of multiple bridges, killing about fifteen more military grunts for funsies, and stopping for a soda, the two arrived at the secret hideout for the Reapers. This one was much more what they were expecting with a small compound far off the main roads and surrounded by trees. Outside was a shooting range where many of their members were using several propaganda billboards showing the esteemed President Panay as target practice.
"I like this place already!" cheered Demencia as they stepped inside the bunker. An older woman wearing a dress and baggy pants in all neutral colors quickly met them at the entrance named Bolo Santosi, the leader of the revolutionaries. She eyed the two curiously, looking for any signs that they could be of use to her.
"Welcome, comrades," she greeted them in an accent so bizarre that this author honestly cannot do it justice in typing, "I have heard whispers of two strange-looking females who toppled a mountain base belonging to that tyrannical president. Let me be the first to congratulate you on a job well done."
"Thanks! We made it rain metal and body parts! It was a fun day!" Demencia said she as she began crawling on the walls and sniffing random people. Bolo somehow maintained her composure at this.
"Ah, eager to fight for the people! That thirst for action reminds me of myself in my youth."
Cherri made a mental note to find out who supplied this woman's drugs. If looking at a one-eyed pyromaniac and a half-dragon girl reminded her of herself, she must be on some amazing dope.
"So, you want to take down that micro-cunt Panay for 'The good of the majority' right?"
"Correct. His fascist rule is ruining this once-great island nation! The people now live in fear of his retribution, but our spirit will not be quelled! We will dethrone that swine from his pedestal and share the bounty he has been hoarding with the good citizens of Panau! So, comrade, are you interested?"
"Lady, if it means getting to hear more of you, we've got a deal!"
"Excellent! Flattery will not always win me over, but I will accept your proposal."
She walked off, no doubt planning some more propaganda to win over the population and/or getting her pharmaceutical fix. Cherri just grappled Demencia by the wrist as the girl started playing Russian roulette with a crowbar.
"Yahtzee!" she shouted as she thwacked herself with the metal bar hard enough to force it into the shape her head.
"Come on, numbnuts, we've got some island boys to meet with!" Cherri then grappled a sports car passing by on the road outside the Reapers' hideout and rode it to their destination much to the displeasure of the rich douchebag driving it. Once they got off, Cherri was sure to give him a face-breaking punch for his troubles.
The Ular Boys' hideout was an island temple, more than likely built centuries ago for religious purposes, that had been converted into a military outpost overnight. When the two set foot on the ancient base, they were immediately met with several guns pointing at them and at least one person asking how much they charge per hour.
"Hold your fire, serdadus, these are special guests!" cried their leader, Sri Irawan, a mustachioed young man wearing a green beret and a brown vest. He spoke with a Malay accent, but seemed to have a fair grasp of English for a man who supposedly wanted to shun foreigners.
"My apologies for my brothers, ladies, they are unused to foreign visitors," he greeted with remarkable poise as he led the two inside to a small room.
"Whatever, guns don't scare us," brushed off Cherri, "We took down an entire base like it was nothing, right?"
"Indeed! We were greatly impressed by your work in the mountains and were wondering if you would be willing to assist our cause to claim the birthright of the Ular people!"
"Can we blow shit up?" asked Demencia as she poked a random guard in the head. When he fired at her leg, he quickly realized that was a bad idea as the bullet hole closed seconds later.
"Of course! That despicable president Panay has defiled our home with his industrial and military complexes! We would be honored to ask for the help of two demolition experts such as yourself."
And with that, the duo had all three factions under their belts. The sun was beginning to set as Demencia lazily flew around in circles on her wings while Cherri laid back in a beach chair with several bottles of booze she hijacked from a nearby bar. As she drank her third bottle of tequila, she gazed her one eye at the beautiful sunset.
"So Cherri, what are going to do tomorrow?"
"Well, since now I can't get hangovers here, we're gonna start working for our bosses tomorrow."
"You think they'll ever found out that we're playing them?"
"I'm fucking sure they will, but we're freaking invincible so who cares if they do?"
"Right! You got any more drugs?"
Cherri had to giggle at her naivete. She pulled out a syringe from in between her breasts and chucked at the dragon-girl as she landed.
"That's heroin. Go nuts."
And nuts she did go with her first dose of opioids. Demencia proceeded to fly through several houses, literally ripped a soldier's heart out and eat it (which needed more salt, in her humble opinion), and then broke into a hotel room rented out by a government official. She promptly shot the bastard in the chest fifteen times with an assault rifle before finally crashing in the hotel bed as her high wore off. Cherri just laughed, fondly remembering her first time tripping balls, and climbed into bed next to her new best friend. While today was relatively tame, the one-eyed demon could tell tomorrow would be something special.
Okay, I know, a bit boring compared to last time, but next time we have another huge mission for the duo that will lead to many, MANY more explosions!