Sasha, Miranda, Karen and Stephannie were all gathered together on the outskirts of a large city. In front of them was a large iron works, surrounded with workers as the chimneys billowed out smoke, filling the air with the smell of iron being smelted. Miranda was examining the forge entrance with a set of electronic binoculars, as a large jet black car pulled up to the forge.  A small monkey driver got out and opened up the rear passenger door to let a large hyena out of the car.

"See him yet?" Sasha asked pacing back and forth feeling a little nervous.

"I think so, you said he was a hyena right?" Miranda asked to confirm the details

"Yes, that's right" Sasha confirmed  before stopping next to Miranda

"Was he always so jacked?" Miranda asked as she turned some knobs on the binoculars to zoom in closer on the target

"Jacked? What are you talking about?" Sasha asked feeling confused now

"Take a look" Miranda replied handing over the binoculars

Sasha took them and looked through to see her old foe. Gazing down at him, she saw he was huge, with a large body, it looked muscular but seemed off somehow. He now seems hulking in size with a large chest, arms and legs. The only thing that looked even remotely similar to how he looked years ago was his attire and face. He was wearing a black and white business suit with a long red tie, his clothing looking immaculate for a crime boss. His face looked gruff with a large burn scar on the left side of his face and had neatly combed back brown hair.

"No..... he most definitely was not that jacked when I last fought him" Sasha answered handing the binoculars back to Miranda

"Maybe it's someone else like a next of kin" Stephannie offered up as a theory

"No, that's him alright. I could never forget his face" Sasha replied trying to convince herself to not wimp out now

"Seems strange this guy would come this far out from the city" Karen commented looking at the forge from afar

"Well he has to make personal visits every so often to maintain his authority. Make sure everyone is working and no one is trying to pocket anything" Sasha replied "It's why we are staging our figt here. He won't have as much back up out here"

"So how did you beat this guy last time?" Karen asked

"Well he used to have his operations at the dockyards. Being next to the sea, it gave me all the water I could ever need to fight him. Though it seems like he abandoned any businesses near large water sources. Probably didn't want to risk another water mage using the nearby water to fight him" Sasha theorized having known that this wasn't going to be easy

"That's why we brought our own water" Karen replied pointing to her taurus summon. The large minotaur looking creature stood there carrying a large container of water on its back

"So you sure you can handle this guy solo?" Stephannie  asked "We can help out after we take out his goons"

Sasha shook her head no, "It has to be me that fights him. My water can diffuse his blast magic. He is too dangerous for any of you to fight, you'll get caught up in his explosions if you try to get near him"

"Are you sure about the range of his power?" Karen asked

"Positive, he is limited to close range without projectiles" Sasha answered

"And with?" Karen asked

"Medium.... least that was when he was still his scrawny self, this new him might be long range so stay away from him and I'll keep his attention on me" Sasha answered

They all nod in agreement, "Right, so we're ready to do this?" Miranda asked watching the hyena walk into the forge

"Now or never, let's do this. Time to take this bastard down!" Sasha exclaimed feeling pumped up now

Karen struck a pose, causing her taurus summon to shift into a feral bull, the water still strapped to its back. it readied itself  digging at the ground with a hoof before lowering its head so its horns were pointing forward. They all watched as the bull suddenly charged forward with great speed, leaving a dust cloud behind it. It charged towards the doors of the forge and smashed on through sending the large metal doors flying forward into some machines. The others raced on in after it, entering inside seeing all the stunned workers and the hyena standing there looking slightly annoyed at the damage done.

"Do you have the slightest idea how much that will cost me to get that fixed?" He asked turning towards the group, his expression going back a neutral look "Guess I'll hafta it out on you lot. Been too long since I had to....." He began to say before trailing off as his gaze landed on Sasha, his eyes narrowing as they began to fill with anger. "You..... you...." He muttered, his throat filling with a growl of rage before closing his eyes and calming himself back down.  "Been a while since we last met, little otter. I see the years have been treating you well" He smirked some "Not as well as they been treating me of coarse"

"Shut it sykes, I've come to put an end to you once and for all" Sasha replied brandishing her scythe

"Ah yes, and tell me, how did that work out for you the last time? Coulda finished the job back then, but you hero types are all the same" He began to walk around, the employees just standing there frozen not sure what to do, their boss not having given any orders. "You just refuse to go for that killing blow, well people like me...." He began to explain as he walked up to his simian driver. The monkey looked up as he began to shake in fear. "You nearly made me spill my drink when you hit that pothole. This suit cost me a pretty penny. Such carelessness can not be tolerated" 

"GET AWAY FROM HIM ASSHOLE!" Sasha yelled as she sliced the water container open. Water began to gush out, allowing her to pull some of it around the blade of her scythe.

Sykes, not paying any mind, placed a hand on the monkey's shoulder. "Consider yourself fired"

Sasha swung her scythe at his direction, sending a blade of water towards him. The water blade just splashed harmlessly against his arm seemingly having no effect aside from splashing them both with water. A sizzle sounded as a small puff of smoke arose from the monkey's shoulder where he was grabbed. Releasing the simian, Sykes turned his attention back towards Sasha, allowing the monkey to fall backwards onto his butt. In a panic he began to crawl away, as the others quickly fled from him keeping their distance afraid of the primate now.

"I see you brought your own water, but will it be enough?" He raised a hand into the air and snapped his fingers. "Kill these intruders, if anyone so much as grazes a hair on the one with the scythe, I'll blow you up piece by piece. She is my quarry"

In an instant everyone in the forge began to rush the others, grabbing whatever they could to use as weapons. Karen, Stephannie, and Miranda all split up, the taurus shifting back into its minotaur form before following after Karen.

"I have been waiting so long for the day I got to meet you again. I wanted to show my subordinates that my loss was nothing more than a fluke" Sykes replied rolling up his sleeves

"Is that what you are calling it? That's some serious mental gymnastics you are pulling off. I remember as you being unable to keep up with me" Sasha replied as she bent the water around herself and her scythe

"Well as you can see, that's not going to be an issue this time around!" He thrust out his right hand towards her, creating a large explosive blast in her direction

Sasha had quickly reacted to his attack seeing his arm movement, putting up a wall of water to shield against the attack. As Sasha began to engage Sykes, an armadillo began to swing a piece of rebar at Karen but was quickly knocked unconscious by the taurus summon as he charged towards them. Miranda was quickly sniping away some of the others  with her bow, shooting arrow after arrow. Each arrow striking the makeshift weapons of the attackers to disarm them. Stephannie was leaping around behind the now disarmed foes, delivering a knockout blow to each mook, with precision strikes.

"These guys aren't that tough" Stephannie commented looking down at the unconscious foes.

Thunderous footsteps could be heard as a large rhino began to stomp on up. The large creature wielding a large sledge hammer that had to have weighed hundreds of pounds. 

"These slackers aren't even competent enough to shine boss's shoes. You deal with me" He commented with a deep gruff voice. Slamming The sledge against an empty smelting vat, making a very large dent.

"You just had to jinx it didn't you?" Karen asked looking towards the ferret girl

Just as the rhino began to stomp up towards the group, the taurus summon ran on up, putting himself between them and the rhino. The rhino just snorted seeing the summon standing before him, not recognizing it as a threat. Raising his large sledge, he prepared a mighty blow. As he swung down with his sledge, the taurus blocked the attack with its own large battle axe.

"Hmmm... arms not broken from that, maybe you will be a challenge" The rhino muttered

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"Sounds like the foreman of this place is already taking on your friends. He'll smash them up good. Haven't seen anyone survive a single blow from that sledge of his" Sykes commented trying to rile up his foe

"Oh? Does that include you?" Sasha not taking his bait but instead tried to twist it around onto him

"Hah! He wouldn't dare. He knows I could blow him up before he could even swing that sledge. He might be built like a tank but even a tank will give with a strong enough blast. He knows that, it's why he works for me keeping these idiots in line" Sykes responded pacing around the otter woman

Sasha just kept her eyes trained on him, keeping a sharp eye on his hands and feet, anticipating some sort of attack. "So he obeys out of fear. What would happen to you if he no longer feared you?"

"Not going to happen. Cause I'm going to kill you. I will prove that you just got lucky last time, make a good showing of just how powerful I am now. Show this whole city the true meaning of fear" Sykes commented as he finally stopped pacing and stood in place

"And then? What, going to go after the whole tri state area?" Sasha asked mockingly

"No, for one that's stupid. Two, Why spread myself thin? I control this city, I'm living quite comfortably. Sure I can go higher, but let's be honest. That's how all great empires fall. Too big, too fast. They can't maintain themselves and collapse under their own weight. I plan to be smart about this, keep it small and manageable. Why risk it all to take another step up the ladder when I have all that I need now?" He asked reaching into his suit

"I seem to recall when you were a scrawny little crime boss operating from the shadows, that you wanted it all" Sasha readied her scythe, trying to keep his attention on it while she prepped a water clone

"Haha, yes I was quite the ambitious little runt wasn't I? So foolish back then, but I have matured since then. Now I have my ambitions in check." He began to pull something out from his suit "And I know I won't lose again. Here's a lesson for you to take to the afterlife. Never fight someone on their home turf" He suddenly threw a metal ball towards Sasha

Sasha caught a glimpse of the metal sphere as it began to glow red, charged with his explosive mana. She quickly threw her scythe in the direction of her water clone that had run to the left of the hyena. Just as the ball was about to explode, she swapped places with her clone, catching her scythe by its blade. With a loud BANG, the ball exploded, leaving a small smouldering crater on the ground below where it was.

"And there's that old trick of yours again. Quite impressive you can still move like that after all these years. Guess old man time has been taking it easy on you" Sykes taunted her. Sasha just stared him down trying to not fall for his attempts to get her riled up. "Though perhaps not that kind, I seem to recall you being far more wild back then"

"Heh," Sasha replied breaking her silence "Sorry to disappoint you, but the wild child you fought so long ago has matured. INow I am far more calculating. You might be stronger but are you smarter? Let's find out"

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The rhino grunted in frustration as he was pushed away, his feet skidding on the ground. He came to a stop several feet away from the group, watching the taurus walk on up to him.

"What a pain in the ass this is becoming" He commented to himself. He slammed the hilt of his sledge against the ground before bellowing out his voice. "LISTEN UP YOU MAGGOTS! WHOEVER HELPS ME OUT THE MOST IN TAKING CARE OF THESE PESTS, GET'S A BONUS OF ONE MILLION IN THEIR NEXT CHECK! THE ONES WHO HELP OUT THE LEAST WILL BE JOINING ME IN FURRY RESOURCES INSTEAD OF CLOCKING OUT!"

In that instant many of the staff were suddenly motivated more than ever, as they began to rush the group from all sides. Miranda tried to focus her bow and arrow shots at some of the assailants, but was distracted when an unconscious body was flung towards them. The rhino had picked up one of the workers rendered unconscious by Stephannie, and threw them at Miranda to stop her from shooting at the others.

"GET UP YOU USELESS SLUGS! NO SLEEPING ON THE JOB!" The rhino bellowed angrily. 

Stephannie darted off to try and split up  to take on as many as she could. Leaping from the various support beams around the place, she climbed up onto a scaffolding to get the height advantage. She then pulled out some throwing knives from a pouch around her waist, holding them in between her fingers. Looking down at the brawl below her, she saw a few mooks sneaking up towards Miranda while she was trying to take some shots at the rhino foreman. Not wanting to let them get the drop on her, she threw the knives at the would-be attackers, striking them all in the legs making them fall to the ground, screaming in pain. Miranda quickly turned around seeing them all rolling around on the ground before looking up at the ferret, and gave Stephannie a thumbs up of thanks before running off to find a hiding spot to shoot from.

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A cloud of smoke filled the area as a large explosion went off. Sasha was gripping her scythe tightly, running around behind some large Containers filled with iron slag as she was looking for any water lines. Sure she had some water trailing around her currently but it wouldn't last forever. If she was to beat this guy, she had to find more, but Sykes wasn't going to just let her do that, she needed to think of a way to throw him off his game, get under his skin. She had to get him to lose control of his anger  so he couldn't focus. Footsteps could be heard as Sykes was just calmly walking through the forge, looking for the otter woman. 

"You know what my days used to be like before you came along? They were pleasant. I would wake up in my nice penthouse, enjoy a luxurious breakfast then go to work" Sykes spoke trying to get a reaction from Sasha himself. He too wanted to get her to lash out at him and get her close enough to him to blow her up. "I would go about collecting my protection money, collect my money from my businesses, and check if my shipments came in yet or not. It was nice, it was routinely, it was perfect" He continued explaining, describing his usual criminal activities

"My ass it was perfect! You hold everyone in this city in your grip of fear. You misuse your gift to bring harm to everyone" Sasha yelled as she swung her scythe, sending out a blade of water, slicing some cables holding up a crane hook. She watched as it started to fall down on top of the hyena before he held up his hand and created another explosion. The blast sent the hook flying off from its mark making it hit the ground with a loud bang.

"My dear, you seem to be mistaken, I'm using my gift to its full potential. You are the one who squanders their gift by holding back" Sykes replied with a slight chuckle.

"It's called control, something you never bothered to learn. I can tell that the scar on your face was self-inflicted. How weak can you be to injure yourself with your own ability?" Sasha asked mockingly

This seemed to finally strike a nerve with sykes, as he lashed out losing his cool for a bit. "I. AM NOT. WEAK!" He yelled creating explosive blasts all around in front of him towards the tanks Sasha had been hiding behind.

The explosions ripped them apart like nothing, causing them to fall over and spill their contents all over the forges floor. The toppling containers tore down some catwalks causing even more destruction to the place. Sasha had bolted as soon as she saw the explosions coming towards her. Having cleared herself from the destruction she looked back towards him pulling the water they brought in, around herself. "Like I said. Weak"

He gritted his teeth as he stared at her, breathing heavily. If there was one thing he hated, it was being called weak. He was big, he was strong, he was powerful. How could anyone dare call him weak? He reached for a large piece of metal from one of the tanks he blew up. Gripping it tightly with his hands he hefted it up with relative ease, holding it like a bat. "How's this for weak!?" 

He charged at her, swinging the piece of metal wildly. She spread the water onto the ground beneath her feet and glided swiftly to the side, dodging his attack as he ran on by. He kept on charging, his rage fueled attack now being focused onto one of his flunkies. Sykes didn't get a chance to pummel the mook though, as Sasha quickly sent her water towards the mook, pushing him to the side before Sykes could smash him with the makeshift weapon, not wanting to let anyone get killed. Sasha breathed a sigh of relief seeing the enraged hyena's attack having missed but her eyes suddenly opened wide when she heard a loud finger snap. In an instant, several explosions were set off all along the floor where Sykes had run across. Sasha braced herself as much as she could, having used a lot of her water to push the mook out of harm's way.The blasts sent her flying back against a wall, leaving her to sit there and pant as she checked herself over for injuries. Thankfully she hadn't suffered anything major, just some small burns and bruises, she could still fight.

"Hahahaha" Came a laugh, "Did you really think that such simple insults could really get under my skin?" Sykes askes turning around dropping his weapon, "Gotta admit, seeing that look of confidence on your face made it all the sweeter to see you laying there on the ground where you belong." He spoke as he began to slick back his hair and fix up his suit and tie, "You know you could have protected yourself if you hadn't pushed that guy out of the way. So what if one of them dies? Do you really think saving his life is going to change anything? Do you think he is suddenly going to change sides and help you fight me?" He asked and looked at the cowering meerkat that was on the ground then looked back at Sasha

"I saved him cause it was the right thing to do. I'm not going to kill him just because he got caught up in a bad crowd" Sasha replied getting back up to her feet

"What about me then? Gunna spare my life like last time? Leave me to get locked up and have the keys thrown away?" Sykes asked mockingly

"No, you have made it perfectly clear you are a lost cause. The others here can still turn things around, but you. You are beyond redemption." She replied pointing her scythe at him

"Sorry girly, not gonna happen. If you wanted to kill me, ya should have done it way back then. You have no chance now" He replied coldly

"So you say" Sasha replied saying nothing more as she swung her scythe at the hyena

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Meanwhile the fight with the foreman continued on. The taurus doing everything it could to keep the ragin rhino focused on itself. Miranda was trying to stay mobile while also trying to strategize a plan to take him down. If they didn't take him down soon, they would lose the fight of endurance. She gritted her teeth as she hid behind machinery to catch her breath,  while Stephannie was doing her best to stay up on the rafters and catwalks  to provide support from above. 

"Come on Miranda, think.... THINK!" She muttered to herself, getting briefly distracted as a small donkey goon slid in front of her on his back, knocked out unconscious. "Okay, try to block out all these distractions" She told herself trying to clear her mind. "Now think...we can't take him on head on, he would pulverize us in one hit. Stephannie has a limit to her ranged abilities, but not me. My arrows can't pierce his hide though, but it will get his attention. If he sees me, then he will just chuck something big and heavy at me and knock me out cold." She muttered to herself before pausing for a moment "If he sees me...if...." she muttered pondering her thought "What if he couldn't see me.... what if.... " She thought to herself before looking at her smaller portal gun. "It should work. Dunno if the battery in this thing will like it but"

She put in some coordinates on the device and shot a portal at a wall. She then readied her bow and shot an arrow on through. An arrow suddenly struck the ground from above, looking up she saw the exit  portal on the ceiling. 

"This can work, but if the goons catch wind of this  they will hunt me down relentlessly" She thought to herself as she peered out from behind her cover to get an idea of where the rhino was at. "Okay let's see if this works"  She put in new coordinates and made another portal on the wall. Drawing her bow, she unleashed another shot that struck the rhino's head from behind. 

Just as predicted, the shot itself barely scratched him but it was still enough for him to feel it. "What hell!?" He exclaimed looking around behind him for who did that.

As soon as he did, Taurus took the opportunity to swing its axe, slamming the blunt face of the axe into the rhino's arm. The blow was strong enough to make him drop his sledge, letting it hit the ground with a thunderous boom.

"Now hear this you maggots..... find whoever shot me in the head and kill them! The one who brings me their head gets a year off work..... with pay" He replied through gritted teeth focusing back on the taurus, grabbing his weapon with his other arm muttering obscenities.

The others became even more motivated as they began to search the place more ferocious than before. Miranda just watched as she peeked from around her hiding spot. "Crap, knew this wouldn't be that easy... but still, it let Taurus get a good hit. If we are lucky that blow might have broken that arm." 

Karen was fending off a couple tabbies when Stephannie dropped down, knocking one out cold. Karen quickly used the opening to dispatch the other one and began to catch her breath. "Just how many guys work here!?" Karen asked in frustration feeling exhausted

"A lot more than we expected. It's like one of those clown cars at the circus. You think that's all that could fit in there but they just keep coming out of the car" Stephanie replied with a deep sigh "If there's this many outside the city, I'd hate to see how many we'd be fighting inside the city"

"Well, now we see why Sasha chose this place" Karen replied trying to look for Miranda not wanting to leave her alone after hearing that decree be made

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"Sounds like your foreman isn't holding up so well" Sasha taunted standing there panting, holding her scythe "Neither is your suit"

Sykes was standing there looking down at the front of his suit, a large slash now marked it, exposing his chest. A long but shallow cut now marked his chest as well. "So it seems..... this suit wasn't cheap you know. I'll just hafta break you slowly, piece by piece. Your screams will make the loss all the more worth it.

Sasha took a defensive stance hearing that, "Great plan, only one problem with it"

"What is that?" He asked taking a more aggressive stance

"You still hafta defeat me" Sasha answered, bending the water around her blade. 

She could see some restrooms on the other side of the room they were in. Restrooms would meen plumbing, plumbing would mean water, water would mean she wins. Unfortunately the room was large, housing blast furnaces and large cauldrons of molten metal. She had a lot of floor space to cross and the heat in this room was starting to evaporate her water. Her water clones won't be able to keep their form long enough for her to swap places with one.

"Then let's fix that shall we" Sykes called out as he began to charge at Sasha

She lept into the air, jumping to the side to dodge his charge. She used her water to cover the ground where he had been running on, hearing the tell tale sizzles of his explosive magic defusing. Another danger of her depleting water, If she didn't get more she wouldn't be able to counter his magic. Landing on top of a fuse box she watched as he  stopped and turned to look at her. Both had grown tired of bantering to each other, now it was time to bring this fight to an end. He gave chase, grabbing hold of equipment, tearing bits and pieces off as he gave chase. Sasha found herself being forced to take cover behind whatever she could to protect herself from the exploding debris being thrown at her. He was trying to keep the damage to a minimum but he was getting annoyed of chasing down Sasha. He just wanted her dead and was finding himself caring less and less about the place. He stomped forward to where he saw her dive down for cover only to find the spot vacant. She had already curried off when the explosions stopped.

"Come on, hang in there. Almost there" she muttered to herself as she moved from cover to cover. She saw a tool bag on the ground next to an open electrical panel. Someone had been doing repairs before they started their attack. She grabbed a pair of wire cutters and chucked them on the opposite side of the room to try and trick Sykes while he was looking for her. "Take the bait you overgrown idiot, take the bait. Please be an idiot" She pleaded in her mind

Hearing the clatter of the tool on the ground, Sykes turned his attention to the direction the sound came from. The thought did cross his mind that it might be a trick but then again he wouldn't forgive himself if she really was there and ignored her. He made his way there setting off more explosive blasts, to try and beat her. The noise from the explosive booms helped cover her footsteps as she made her way closer and closer to the restrooms where she could replenish ehr water supply. It was so close now, just a mad dash and she'd be there. She prepared herself as Sykes let out a frustrated yell after realizing he fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book. He began to punch things, causing them to explode, taking out his frustration on whatever he could, starting to lose control for real this time. Sasha used his meltdown as an opportunity to make a run for it.

"Please stay angry, please stay angry" She repeated in her head as she dashed as fast as she could
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Miranda found herself having to keep moving while shooting down a few goons who had caught sight of her shooting her arrows through a portal. If she was lucky they would call her out and give their positions away. If not, then they had a chance of getting the drop on her, so she had to keep paying attention to her surroundings. Karen and Stephanie were doing their best to keep as many of the underlings distracted or pinned down as much as possible but only so much they could do. The taurus was giving it's all, striking at the rhino with all it had, trying to bring him down. Miranda's barrage of arrows would distract the rhino enough to let the taurus get in a strong blow . The foreman was wearing down looking rather beaten and bruised, but not out yet. He kept holding on, refusing to give.

"Why won't this guy go down already?" Miranda asked as she found a new hiding spot, "Just what is keeping this guy going? Never seen anyone tank so many attacks like that before" She commented as she fired another portal on the floor.

Miranda unleashed another hail of arrows, pelting the foreman from above. The attack forced him to drop his weapon to shield himself with his good hand. With him unarmed and his other arm too injured to use, he was open to attack.

"What are you idiots doing!? Why aren't you dealing with these intruders!? He yelled out angrily  struggling to keep up the fight much longer.

No one could respond however, anyone that was still standing was busy fighting a losing battle with Karen and Stephanie, the others were knocked out, laying on the ground unconscious. Taurus put its battleaxe away on its back, before cracking its knuckles. Taurus then began to unleash a series of unarmed blows, striking the rhino repeatedly, punching away to bring the beast down. The rhino tried to put up a counter offensive, but with only one good arm it was futile, it was all he could do, to defend and block some of the blows. The rhino was getting pushed back, till his back was up against a wall.

He just stood there panting looking worse for wear, anyone else would already be on the ground but he was still standing, too stubborn to go down. "What ... *pant* are you... *wheeze* slackers doing?" He stood there clutching his sides, staring the taurus down, never before has anyone brought him to his breaking point. Not since Sykes at least. "Are you all.... really... that *groan* inept? Are....*pant* *pant* you all.... really going to make me..... do all the work?" He grunted starting to sound pissed

The mooks still standing had stopped  fighting, now just watching, seeing their boss on his last legs. If he fell to the maidens, then what chance would they have? Karen just struck a pose, shifting taurus back into its feral form.

"Time to bring this fight to an end, taurus, run him down!" She ordered out with a yell.

The summon just lowered its head, aiming its horns at the rhino. The rhino just grunted as he tried to get into a similar stance, to try and charge back in return. The two clashed as the rhino tried to grapple the taurus with one arm. He began to push back the bull at first but battle weariness was starting to hit as his injuries were starting to sink in  causing him to be pushed back. The push started off slow, pushing him back against the wall. The rhino tried to brace himself against the wall. The rhino was pushing back as much as he could, bracing himself against the wall with his legs, while pushing with his good arm and using his own horn  to try and keep the bull from getting any closer. His arm and legs began to shake and wobble  as all the strength was leaving his muscles unable to fight any longer, his arm going slack. Taurus began backing up to the other side of the room upon seeing the rhino stand there limply unable to resist any longer.

"Do it now!" Karen called out

Taurus nodded in confirmation and charged towards the rhino, picking up more and more speed, making contact with the rhino.

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Sasha stood there just mere feet away from the restrooms, Sykes now blocking her path. The hyena was staring down at her triumphantly, with a soft cackle.

"Well, well, well, it seems you are all out of tricks. Any last words before I finish you off?" Sykes asked holding the palm of his hand out towards Sasha

Sasha didn't get a chance to say anything before both of their attention turned towards the restrooms as there was a loud rumbling sound. The ground was starting to shake as the rumbling got louder and louder until they both saw the walls explode in a shower of debris. Everything seemed to pass in slow motion as both Sykes and Sasha watched as the rhino foreman was being used as a battering ram, his body smashing through brick, and metal piping, water showering all over. Sykes never had a chance to move as the rhino was barreling towards him, being pushed towards him by the taurus.

"What...the...fu" was all Sykes could get out before the rhino slammed into him, and was now being pushed along as well.

Sasha just watched as both him and the rhino crashed through several pieces of machinery and control panels  wrecking  the place beyond all hope of repair. Taurus shifted back into its minotaur form as Miranda, Stephanie and Karen came running in through the new hole in the wall.

"I'm glad you are all safe, did that big brute give ya too much trouble?" Sasha asked checking her friends for injuries

"We should be asking you that question you silly girl" Miranda teased

"Guys, don't relax just yet, the big boss isn't down for the count yet!" Stephanie yelled out seeing the rhino being lifted up with ease

The foreman was lifted up and thrown to the side of the room like a useless bag of trash. "Get off of me you dumb animal!" Sykes yelled out as he panted, his suit a mess now being all ripped and torn. "You lot, have officially pissed me off!" he exclaimed, giving the foreman a kick to his side, making the rhino groan. "Oh shut up you idiot! You don't get to complain after your colossal failure! You had one job, and you screwed that up!" He kicked him again "AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Useless! Useless! USELESS! EVERYONE HERE IS SO DAMN USELESS!"

Miranda just glared, villain or not she didn't like watching this guy kick someone while they were down. She pulled out her portal gun and fired a portal under the rhino, dropping him on through before closing it. They could deal with him later after they take the big boss down.

"Right, he isn't the one who I should be beating up right now. I should be taking it out on you four, thanks for the reminder" he replied turning his attention back towards them.

"Karen, you might want to switch out taurus for draco" Sasha replied bending all the newly supplied water around her and her friends

Karen just nodded her head, striking a pose. As she did, the taurus vanished and Draco appeared in its place, in its anthro form. This form of draco was built for speed to use hit and run tactics, more suitable for someone like Sykes.

"Whatever you all do, don't get too close to him, if you can attack from afar, do so. Leave me and draco to get in close to attack" Sasha instructed the others keeping her gaze on the hyena.

"Sounds like a good plan, let's see how well it works out for you all!" Sykes yelled as he charged forwards at them. 

Sasha didn't bother keeping the conversation quiet, there wasn't any point now. He was the only one left standing, the others still standing had lost their will to fight. Didn't matter how much they helped him now, they were as good as dead for having let them do as much damage as they did. 

Sykes reached out towards Karen with an open hand as he rushed towards her. As he did, Draco stabbed the back of his hand with its spear. He reeled his arm back and thrust it back out towards draco. The dragon, however, just zipped away before he could finish his arm thrust, getting clear of the resulting explosion.

"Okay, now just one minute here!" Karen exclaimed, having watched Draco stab his hand. "How in the hell is your hand not bleeding!? That stab had to have pierced something!"

"Heh, curious are we?" He asked grinning menacingly, "Since you're all going to die, I guess I can tell you" He cackled and held up his 'injured' hand, showing metal underneath faux fur and skin. "Cost me a pretty penny, but I went and got me some augmentations. Improved my body to rid myself of weakness"

"What the hell!?" Karen asked looking in surprise

"Where did you get such augments?" Miranda asked eyeing  him trying to figure out just how much work he had done on himself

"Oh some guy, I believe he was a dr. Kozacky, Kozacky.....Otariinae if I recall correctly" Sykes answered

"That asshole! Was there no limit to how much he would bastardize my research!?" Miranda asked feeling pissed

"Heh, guess you and him had some history, ah well, why dwell on the past when we are dealing with the present?" He stopped grinning and slammed his hands onto the ground "Cause presently, I have some pests to kill!" 

Sasha quickly whipped the water up around them and their feet , creating a wall of water to protect them. As she did the ground began to explode sending chunks of concrete flooring up into the air. As the larger chunks flew up into the air, they charged up with energy before detonating as well, like small fragmentation grenades, sending shrapnel of rock all over the place. Sasha's water wall helped block out the explosions themselves, though some debris from the secondary blasts got through. Thankfully the wall of water was enough to weaken their impact as they struck each of them leaving minor bruises. 

"As you can see, this guy is no joke, that power of his is not to be taken lightly. Just be careful, I can't be everywhere at once" Sasha told them as she dropped the waterwall

Once the wall of water had dropped down the others scattered, Karen and Stephanie taking cover, keeping their distance. The ferret girl knew she couldn't do much to help while Karen wanted to keep her distance to keep commanding draco. Only Miranda stayed nearby to use her bow to fight. 

Sykes went in for the attack, clapping his hands in front of him with his arms outstretched as far as they could reach. Upon making the clap, they released a powerful blast that threw his arms outwards, creating a large fireball focused in the direction of Sasha. Sasha had to go back on the defensive blocking the fireball with her water. It was clear he wanted to keep her from being able to attack and just exhaust her instead just as she did to him in their first battle. 

Draco wasn't just going to stand idly by as he performed this onslaught. Seeing him focused on attacking Sasha, Draco went in to strike, flying on down as fast as it could in the limited space it had. With a mighty thrust of its spear, stabbed Sykes in the back, but made no significant damage. Sykes's body work had extended well past his own arms, something Miranda took notice of  as she tried to shoot a few arrows at his hands and arms trying to do something to stop his attacks.

"Of course.......  knew he had done more than just the arms...." Miranda muttered seeing Draco backing off as he tried to swat the summon out of the sky with a backhanded swipe. 

"What do you mean?" Sasha asked looking back at Miranda briefly

"It was something that was a major roadblock to my research years ago. Was tasked with robotic prosthetics, but was finding a fatal flaw with them. Apparently the brain would easily become addicted to the power the prosthetics could give. Subjects would want more and more to keep improving their body when they found the replacement limb was better than the flesh and bone they had" Miranda explained

"So he started with one augment and got another?" Sasha blocking another series of blasts

"If that asshole never fixed that flaw then yes. No telling how many he has had, how much he replaced" Miranda answered gripping her bow tightly

"Is there a limit to what can be replaced?" Sasha asked

"Yes! You can only replace so much. The body would just reject them after a while, it was another thing I could never fix. If this guy went overboard he'd have to be in serious pain from his body trying to get rid of the augments, I could go on and on about the issues with them. The fact that he isn't showing such signs means he has to have limits to the work he had done" Miranda replied looking him over

Sasha just gritted her teeth trying to decide on something. "So his vitals should still be there? Heart? Lungs?" She asked

"They'd have to be" Miranda answered

Sasha lowered her wall of water once she noticed the explosive blasts had stopped.  "Where'd he go!?" She asked as she saw he was no longer there in front of her

Sasha looked around in a panic before seeing Draco crashing down to the ground, its chest smoking a bit from taking a hit from Sykes. 

"SHIT!" She exclaimed running out to get a better look up above.

She could see Karen and Stephanie fleeing from Sykes, running along overhead  walkways. 

"Miranda, I need a portal up there!" Sasha called out panicked

Miranda ran on up whipping out her portal gun seeing its charge was low, her using it the way she did to fight the foreman had taken a toll on its battery. She pressed some buttons and created a portal on a nearby wall, still having enough juice for a few more portals. Seeing the portal, Sasha ran through, not wasting any time. popping out the other side up on the second floor she started to bend that water up to where she was as she chased down Sykes. Draco rushed in, zipping past Sasha to unleash a flurry of strikes and stabs against Sykes as he approached Karen and Stephanie. The ferret girl was searching her satchel for any tools that could help, but she had used up almost all of her arsenal, only having a few smoke bombs left, but seeing they were being cornered, found them to be useless. Draco's spear just clanged uselessly against Sykes's back, the hyena no longer giving him  any mind, the attacks too light to put a scratch against the metal that now made up his back and spine. 

"Game over for you two" He replied, charging up his hands, readying to blow up the floor they stood on.

"That's enough!" Sasha yelled running up from behind, swinging her scythe. She didn't have enough water at that moment to use anything besides a water blade. 

A blade of super thin water sliced its way towards Sykes. She intended to slice him in two but her aim was off slightly, striking his right arm instead. The blade passed right on through before slicing into a wall cutting deep into its surface. Sykes stood there for a moment and looked to his right seeing he was now missing an arm. The cybernetic appendage having fallen off the side of the walkway and into a large vat of superheated iron.

Sasha just panted standing there seeing the hyena having stopped what he was doing. She had managed to collect all the water she could around herself once more. Seeing an opportunity, Stephanie used a smoke bomb, concealing them in smoke as the ferret girl led Karen to safety, leaping off the side back down to the ground floor. Sensing something bad was going to happen, Draco backed off putting as much distance as it could between it and Sykes. 

Sykes just glared angrily at his missing arm  as he began growling louder and more deeply. "GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR" He breathed hard, clutching his fist in rage. "That's it! I've had enough of this! I wanted to toy with you all before killing you. I wanted to enjoy this game of cat and mouse but no!" He clutched his head as his eyes filled with rage. "You wreck this place, you take out my foreman, you take out my lackeys, and then you cut off my arm! Well I've had enough, no more of this! NO MORE! EVERYONE DIES RIGHT HERE! RIGHT NOW!"

He slams his remaining hand on the ground as his mana could be visibly seen. the red energy spreading all over the catwalks before he detonated it. With a loud bang, him and Sasha tumbled to the ground. Sasha used the water to cushion her fall but Sykes just landed on his feet, readying to slam his hand back down to take out this whole forge. She bent the water to flow towards him not wanting to give him the opportunity. He slammed his hand back down, too blinded by rage now to pay Sasha any mind, hoping to bring the place down before she could do anything. The energy began to spread out in a radius around himself, to prime the room for detonation. Sasha rode the water towards him, coating the areas that were being charged up, defusing them while readying for a final swing of her scythe. The others just watched as she swung her scythe at his back, the blade piercing through the metal plating and emerging through his chest, stabbing him through the heart.

"You hero types, never go for the head" Sykes replied

Sasha's eyes opened wide in surprise pulling out her scythe and backing off. "You said his vitals should still be there!" Sasha yelled looking back at Miranda

"Well they should! But like I said, I can't exactly examine him to know!" She yelled back trying to make sense of this

"I s-s-s-see you are confused" Sykes commented, thumping his chest trying to clear out the stutter in his voice. "I wanted an immortal body. The good doctor complied with my request" 

"How?" Miranda asked

"Replaced every last ounce of my pathetic weak flesh, for the beauty of metal and machine. Until n-n-n-n-now" he thumped his chest again starting to get annoyed with his newly created glitch, "No one has been able to damage my body, so tell me you bitch, how is it you could slice through my body like nothing?" He asked, glaring at her. He needed to know so he could get such imperfections removed, he had to be perfect.

"Heh, my scythe is far sharper than you can imagine. Even its water blades are equally as sharp" She replied keeping her focus on Sykes

"If he really got rid of every last bit of your organic body then that would mean you are already dead" Miranda replied examining him trying to imagine how he could even still use mana

"My weak fleshbag body is dead. My brain was downloaded into this new body, a body that was supposed to be flawless" he replied growling as he looked back at his severed arm "You have no clue, how much I HATE you" He replied looking at Sasha putting strong emphasis on the word hate. "You made a mockery of me, you disgraced me, peoples fear in me faltered. I had to work my ass off to regain their fear, to put them back in line to regain my grip. I had to look at my body in the mirror everyday, look at my imperfect body, my body that couldn't outperform a slut like you!" He is now breathing hard, grinding his teeth as he was beginning to lose control again "I had no choice! I had to remove my weak-weak-weakness FUCK!" He slammed his fist against his chest trying to make that stop "BECAUSE OF YOU I HAVE A S-S-STUTTER! I'LL TEAR YOU APART!" 

He blindly charged at her without warning trying to make a grab for her scythe to prime it for detonation. Sasha dodged and swung her scythe at him, but he twisted his body enough to avoid the worst of it as the scythe sliced into his side.

"STOP CUTTING ME UP!!!" He screamed as he started grabbing and touching everything he could  as they began to glow red readying to blow.

"HIT THE DECK!" Karen yelled as everyone immediately went prone.

Loud explosions rang out as tools, equipment and support beams began to blow up, sending shrapnel all over the place. Once the blasts ceased, they all got up to check themselves over, making sure they hadn't taken any hits. Except for Sasha who was looking around for Sykes.

"How about I repay you!?" An angry voice called out "You melted my arm into slag, so how about I melt you down  to make up for it?" Sykes asked as everyone saw him next to one of the vats of molten iron.

"Run.... RUN!!!!!" Sasha exclaimed as loudly as she could

Sykes primed the vat for detonation as he got out of the room to seek out safety for what was about to happen. Sasha and the others were also running as fast as they could as the vat suddenly exploded, sending a wave of molten metal spilling out all over the place. The sounds of machinery melting and bursting into flames filled the room as a bright glow lit the place up.

"Shouldn't a place like this have fire suppression!?" Miranda asked looking for something to extinguish the metal

"You seriously think this guy cares about safety?" Sasha asked "He couldn't care less if anyone dies working here, cheaper to replace than to make safe"

"Do us a favor and go for the head when we see him again!" Karen exclaimed as they ran up some stairs. 

Sasha could just slice through the walls  to get to safety but they had to get this guy before he could go back into hiding. Running through the placethey ran past all the unconscious workers yelling at the ones who were still standing to stop standing around liek idiots and get the others out of there. 

Sykes was running through the facility, trying to get back to his limo, running back to the entrance. He didn't need a driver, he could drive the limo on his own. He just had to get back to the city, get himself repaired, then track down those sluts to kill them. Surely they'd be held up thinking he'd be hiding somewhere inside.  As he Made his way back to the front, he saw where the frontt doors had once been and started to run outside to where his limo still stood. Just before he could cross the threshold of the doorway, he fell forward, unable to run forward anymore. As he fell forward, he could see a blade of water skim the ground and seeign his left leg now severed. just below the knee.

"HOW!?" He asked angrily looking for anything to use as a projectile

"Easy, we knew you didn't care for safety here, so why build anything like a safe room? You don't hang out here, only stopping by to make sure things are going like they should. That meant only a few options, underground tunnel, helipad, or your precious limo." Sasha began to explain slowly approaching him menacingly. Sykes grabbed some rocks and chucked them at Sasha, who just blocked them with her water. "Helipad was out of the question, you didn't arrive in a chopper and calling one in would take too long" 

"A tunnel would have been likely. Smart even" Miranda replied keeping her distance

"But someone like yourself would likely be unwilling to use a tunnel. Too much money to build one from here to the city" Karen continued

"And lets face it, a sewer would be too dirty for someone like yourself" Stephanie added on

"So that just left your precious limo" Sasha finished off readying her scythe for the finishing strike

"STAY BACK!" He swatted the air, trying to create an explosive blast. When he did though, only small pops and crackles came out

"Awww, out of mana?" Miranda asked "Seems like the good doctor didn't know what he was doing after all, a talentless hack to the bitter end"

"S-S-S-STOP! I'LL PAY ANYTH-TH-TH-THING!" He yelled in desperation

"I'd say go to hell, but your real self is already there" Sasha replied swinging her scythe cutting off his head

"System...err....or" Sykes replied as he finally fell silent

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the time authorities finally showed up Sasha and the others had already portaled on out along with Sykes's remains. Everyone inside was either being questioned or arrested as the fires inside were being put out. It would take some time but eventually, his empire he built up would crumble apart without him keeping things held together. In time, the city would return to how it was before he came to be. 

Upon returning to the castle, Miranda had taken Sykes's remains down to her old lab to try and figure out how thyis guy could even use magic. She refused to let it go and couldn't rest until she got to the bottom of the mystery. It had been several days since then. While everyone else had been getting lots of sleep and rest, Miranda had been keeping herself busy.

Inside of Mirandas lab, the otter girl was sitting in front of a computer. Next to her was a large table covered in tools and parts, having dismantled much of Sykes's body to learn what all  Kozacky had done. She had been examining a strange looking canister she had extracted from Sykes's body. It was cylindrical and made of a metal she had never seen before. She wasn't sure of what was inside and wasn't about to take any chances by opening it until she knew what it was. She had hooked up some equipment to it, hoping her computer could figure it out for her. Looking at the computer screen she looked at the progress bar as it was lingering on seven percent.

"Ugh......" She groaned feeling so impatient. "Its been days and its not even at ten percent...." She slumped forward on her desk letting out a deep sigh. "Gotta ask Katie when I see her, to help me upgrade this thing. At this rate, I'll be an old ass lady before it finishes its tests and scans"

She got up from her chair and just rubbed her eyes walking to a small breakroom in a corner of her lab. She made her way to a minifridge to get some food and drink inside her stomach while she was waiting. Opening the door of the fridge, she could see a few wrapped sandwiches  and a few bottles of the sasparilla. Grabbing a bottle and sandwich, revealed Sykes's head sitting inside the fridge, several wires hooked up to his neck. The wires were hooked up to a power cell to keep him powered on and alive. If he wanted to live forever, then she'd help him with that. But she was going to make it a living hell for him, to turn it into a monkeys paw wish.

"Just kill me already!" He pleaded looking at Miranda

"Hmmmmm........" She replied with a pondering tone as if giving it consideration,  "NOPE!" She then slammed the door on his face,