Chapter 6

Stretching his thick, blue arms as he watched the last of his employees safely flee the building from the emergency exit doors on the work floor, Logan turned to his opponent with a smirk,

“Alright, now that my people are out of here, we don’t have to hold back. I don’t mean to rush you either, but I’d rather not spend too much time on you thugs. Cuts into production time, and what not.”

“Haha, The Digger won’t take long to bury you, worry not!” the shirtless, shovel-handed man laughed as he spread his legs and broadened his shoulders, digging his combat boots into the cement floor.

The two stood several feet apart for a second, each one daring the other to make the first move. Finally, it was the Syndicate member who bolted towards the towering blue dragon, where the muscular man aimed one of his shovels forward before jabbing it towards his target in a powerful lance. Despite his heft, Logan was able to dodge, where Digger sailed past him before turning on his heel to attempt a swipe with his other hand, the metal shovel grazing the foreman’ scaly chest.

“Those scoops of yours would make you a great employee in our coal furnace,” Logan chuckled as he reared back one of his clawed hands, where he then delivered a powerful uppercut slash to his opponent’s side, shredding one of the legs of his camo pants. “Tell you what, if you surrender now, I’ll give you a legitimate job here.”

“Thanks, but The Digger doubts that this place can match the pay of the Kyroshi Syndicate!” the shovel-handed man replied as he ignored the scratch on his thigh, instead attempting two rapid-fire jabs to Logan’s arm. The dragon scooted back just in time to avoid the blows, his small wings flapping as he then wound up his fist and delivered a powerful punch to the digging man’s chest. Coughing, Digger stumbled backwards a bit, his abdomen turning red from where it’d taken the hit.

His angry eyes hidden behind the dark goggles that he wore, the Syndicate member attempted another counter attack as he came back at Logan with an additional long lance from his left shovel hand, which the dragon easily dodged again. However, this move ended up being a diversion, as Digger quickly swung his right hand at the foreman’s face with a powerful slap, the metal tool making contact with the dragon’s jaw as his large figure staggered back from the blow.

“Urg that hurt, you prick!” Logan growled as he spat out a bit of blood from the hit that he’d taken to the lip, before raising his arms and putting his fists back up. “Though unfortunately for you, pain just makes me even more pissed off!”

The dragon lunged forward with a rapid left-hook, which Digger merely blocked by crossing his two shovels in front of his face. This ended up being intentional, however, as Logan smirked while getting low and charging towards his opponent, catching the buff man’s body and hoisting his writhing form into the air.

“W-What are you doing?!” The Digger demanded, kicking as he was lifted over the stout reptile’s shoulder.

“Shoulder throw: wall-breaker!” Logan yelled as he flung his opponent with all his might, sending the large man crashing against the nearest concrete wall some 12 feet away.

“Gaahh, too hard!” Digger groaned, clutching his back as he staggered back to his feet after the impact. “Looks like I’ll really have to dig my way out of this one.”

The shirtless villain again charged forward, shovels bared and ready to dig into his opponent, but Logan had already anticipated the move. Turning on his hip, the husky dragon swung his weighty tail and smashed The Digger with the spiky appendage, again sending the man careening to the ground, sliding across the concrete floor from the impact.

“Look, I don’t want to kill you, so just give up before I turn you to jelly,” Logan chuckled as he cracked his neck and again stretched his arms, watching as the Syndicate member merely rose to his feet, his legs visibly quivering from the hits he’d taken.

“The Digger would rather dig his own grave than surrender!” the grunting man barked as he scraped his shovels together while sparks flew out from the tough metal. Clenching his muscular legs, the villain again broke off into another charge towards his blue adversary. “Like you, I don’t wish to kill my opponent, and for that to happen, I need to finish this now!”

Shaking his head as he watched The Digger break out into another sprint towards him, Logan widened his stance as he prepared to deflect the attack. Stopping just short of the hulking foreman, the Syndicate member spun around to attempt a roundhouse kick to the towering dragon’s chin, but Logan simply leaned back slightly to avoid the spinning kick. This ended up being a distraction, however, as Digger took advantage of his opponent’s exposed chest.

“Grave Digger!!” the muscular man yelled as he rapidly jabbed his shovels into Logan’s scaly abdomen, dealing blow after blow as the metal appendages brutalized the dragon’s rib cage.

“Gahhh, shove off!” Logan roared as he retreated backwards, clutching his aching chest as he again swung his tail to ward off his foe, who’d also backed away to survey the damage that he’d done. His ribs throbbing, the dragon felt up his abdomen to gauge how much he’d been hurt, where he almost smirked at feeling that despite the repeated direct stabs, the shovels had still failed to pierce his thick scales. It wasn’t as much damage as he’d expected, although he’d definitely suffered some major bruising on his chest or may have even broken a rib.

“That really stung, so as you can imagine, I’m a little less sympathetic to killing you now,” the burley foreman growled coolly, taking a few steps forward as his opponent slinked away slightly.

“T-that was one of my strongest moves, people are rarely left standing after that!” The Digger stammered, visibly disturbed that the dragon hadn’t faltered from his attack. “No matter…if digging at that fat body of yours is like digging into bedrock, then your head must be the soft topsoil that sits on top of it!”

“You lost me there, buddy,” Logan chortled as he watched his enemy again start a charge towards him. Cracking his knuckles, the foreman’s main concern was ending the fight as soon as possible. On the upper atrium that overlooked the work floor, he could hear the suit-clad hamster doing battle with the yellow, spiky-haired Kyroshi Captain, while the clown girl accompanying him had gone to the roof and was currently fighting the red-haired woman in armor.

“Those guys stuck their necks out for me to help fight these guys, the least I can do is pull my weight,” the dragon thought to himself as Digger prepared to unleash another series of rapid, shovel-stabbing blows upon him. Watching the man’s muscular arms as he wound them back to attack, the Syndicate member was caught off guard as Logan managed to grab both of his wrists, stopping the shovels a mere inch from the blue, bruised chest.

“W-what are you doing now?!” the villain gasped, struggling to free his arms as his opponent maintained a tight grip on them, immobilizing him. “How dare you stop The Digger’s digging!”

“Your thing is digging, eh? Well guess what I do?” Logan asked as his face donned a mischievous smile. “I’ll give you a hint: I’m a dragon, and what is it that dragons breathe?”

His eyes widening in horror from behind his dark goggles, the muscular man struggled even more as Logan opened up his wide mouth, where a peculiar red glow began to emit from his throat.

“Coal Belch!” the dragon coughed as a short puff of intense, orange flame exploded out of his maw, momentarily engulfing The Digger’s entire head in the furious heat. The flames subsiding, the man’s face was darkened with soot as he stumbled backwards, wheezing.

“H-how dare you, I don’t dig being set on fire!” the foot soldier complained, smoke rising from his head. “I also don’t dig third degree burns…”

Tripping a little bit to the side, “The Digger” fell backwards and lay there on the hard floor, the shovel-man evidently defeated.

“That took a lot longer than I expected, but I’m totally glad that I didn’t have to kill you,” Logan chuckled with a smirk, stepping past his fallen foe as he made for the atrium to see how the hamster was faring with his fight.

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McWanda skipped up the metal, winding maintenance staircase that led to the power plant’s roof, following the armor-glad woman who’d challenged her to a duel. Emerging from a door beneath the grey skies of Acidystopia, the clown girl coughed at the smoggy atmosphere, where some smoke from Fumageddon’s many chimneys wafted in her face as she fanned the air around her. Gretchen was waiting for her across the flat rooftop, her broad axe drawn and swung over her shoulder. Smirking, Wanda drew her spatula-sword, Server-Max, and stood with her weapon pointed forward and ready.

“I almost feel bad for this,” the short-haired lady chuckled as she glanced down at the clown’s hilted-spatula. “Here I am with my axe sharpened and ready to kill, but there you are with your little kitchen utensil all ready to grill.”

“She’s good for more than just serving up a good burger,” Wanda replied, taking a defensive stance as she spread her legs. “Come closer and find out.”

“Heh, your funeral, hun,” Gretchen grinned as she stomped forward in her armor, her large axe wound back and ready to strike. As she approached the makeup-wearing girl, the former-sitcom star was surprised that her opponent hadn’t taken any evasive measures, but as she brought her heavy weapon down in a mighty swing, it became apparent why. Kicking up her red clown shoe-clad feet in one swift movement, McWanda scooted out of the way as the slow axe harmlessly swung past, instead scraping the metal door from which she’d emerged.

“Tag, you’re it!!” Wanda exclaimed as she playfully slapped her spatula against her foe’s metal-armored rear, drawing an angry groan from her.

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“What, you think this is some kind of game, kid?” Gretchen frowned as she lifted the handle of her weapon back into the air, before attempting a horizontal swipe at her enemy. The clown girl merely did a little backwards hop to avoid the axe’s blade, where she playfully stuck her tongue out in response.

“I take fighting very seriously, I’ve dealt with some shady characters at the Southopolis Special Victims Center!” Wanda retorted as she again flanked her opponent to give an additional lively pat on the butt with her spatula, before jumping out of the way to avoid another powerful swing. “It’s just that after a while, you begin to pick up on who’s harmful vs who’s harmless.”

“And let me guess, you think I’m harmless or something?” the armor-wearing woman snorted as she committed herself to another vertical chop with her axe, which predictably failed to hit Wanda as the clown jumped back while the blade harmlessly scraped the concrete roof. “You’ve got fancy footwork, but you’re eventually going to slip up, and then we’ll see who’s harmless or not…”

“Hey, can I ask you something about ‘Meet the Wilsons’?” McWanda asked, ignoring what her opponent had just said. “That was such a cheerful sitcom, you and your demon-cyborg husband really stole the show. But how’d you go from sitcom actress to working for the dang Kyroshi Syndicate?”

“Ugh, playing that sugary-sweet mom to those brats was mentally draining, they couldn’t pay me enough to keep that charade up,” Gretchen replied, pausing as she again squared off with her foe, before doing a quick few swings of her axe towards the clown. “But then –ugh hold still- I ran into a recruiter for the Syndicate in Southopolis. I picked his brain, and to my surprise, he actually convinced me that these guys aren’t just your average street gang. Our boss has this vision, this dream where our world stands united beyond these 6 realms. A unified nation that extends beyond the borders of these sliced-up pockets of discorse.”

“Now that sounds as ideal as a triple-patty cheeseburger with fries,” Wanda smiled innocently as she skipped around another axe swing. “But I must question your boss’ methods. Your cake friend in Southopolis punched by friend in his- I mean, her- boob! He was trying to kidnap her to take to your leader.”

“As a low-level foot soldier, the reason why the boss needed your friend is beyond me, but you guys dared to attack one of ours!” the armored woman growled, now attempting to jab her axe towards Wanda. “I hope to rise through the ranks of this organization, as even in this lowly combatant position, I finally feel like I’m part of something bigger than myself!”

Panting, Gretchen had to take a break from swinging her bladed weapon as she’d swung herself to exhaustion, leaning against the roof entrance that the two had emerged from.

“Hey, I totally get wanting to leave your career if you no longer feel fulfilled,” McWanda began as she started to unceremoniously fire up a short charcoal grill that had inexplicably shown up, where she proceeded to grill a single hamburger on top of it using her spatula. “But I just can’t get behind someone with your talents joining the Kyroshi goons. Like, what are you even doing here wearing armor and trying to hit me with a potentially-dangerous weapon?”

“Stop trying to change my mind, kid, it’s not going to work- also, where the hell did you get that grill?!” Gretchen stammered as she began to spin the axe in her hand. “Doesn’t matter- I’ve had enough dancing with you on this rooftop. Get ready for my first named move: Spin Slash extreme: Razor Whirl!”

Spinning her axe as fast as she could, the armor-clad woman stomped towards her opponent as she used the momentum to attempt a fast, diagonal swipe at the grilling clown. This time, McWanda swiped her own weapon up to halt the attack completely, blocking the axe with her spatula, her arm trembling from absorbing the blow.

“The name definitely needs work, if I may offer some constructive criticism,” Wanda offered with a smile, before retreating as she readied Server-Max. “If you’d be so kind as to please allow me to demonstrate a named attack of my own.”

“Hah! Bring it, sister, I’ve been waiting for you to use that thing this whole time!”

Dashing forward in a white and red blur, Gretchen was caught off guard at the clown girl’s surprising swiftness, where she dashed towards her in a zig zag with her spatula drawn.

“Fine, dumbass, run right into the blade of my axe!” the armor-clad foot soldier scoffed as she raised her weapon over her head, ready to strike her foe as the dress-wearing clown sprinted towards her. Anticipating Wanda’s movement this time, Gretchen brought her axe down in one broad swing, only for a quick slash from her opponent’s spatula to end up deflecting the heavy blade and send the former sitcom star teetering off balance.

“Burger Flip: Triple Patty!!” McWanda yelled as she got right up to her adversary and delivered three rapid-fire, devastating whacks of her spatula-sword upon Gretchen’s left cheek, the metal tool still hot from when the clown had been grilling with it, which ended up leaving a defined, spatula-shaped imprint on the woman’s face.

Dropping her axe, the Syndicate member groaned as she staggered forward before dropping to her knees, her head spinning from the surprisingly heavy blows.

“You’re not a bad person, but whatever fulfillment you’re looking for in life isn’t with this crowd that you’re with now,” McWanda advised with a smile, sheathing her weapon as she could tell that the fight was already over. “Now, if you don’t excuse me, I’d better see if my new friends are okay.”

Sighing, Gretchen’s vision was blurry as watched as the clown-faced woman went back down the stairs of the roof entrance, leaving her alone on top of the plant.

“Geez, I thought she was just some silly little girl, and yet I couldn’t even land a scratch on her?” the armored woman thought to herself, laying down on her side as she nursed her throbbing, swelling cheek. “No matter…to make myself useful to this organization, I will surpass her!”

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“Alright, Mister S.A, kick his ass!” Dwight cheered from the entrance of the darkened staircase, watching as the suit-clad hamster and the spiky-haired man across from him stepped towards each other. Down below on the work floor, the sounds of crashing could heard as Logan and the strange, shovel-armed man continued to duke it out.

“I remember you now, we’ve tried recruiting you a few times before haven’t we?” Rodrick asked as he idly spun the metal rod in his hand, his yellow mohawk sparking as he paced slowly in front of the rodent. “Tell you what, ‘hamster hitman of Southopolis’, if you accept an invitation into the Kyroshi Syndicate now, I’ll let your big-meloned friend walk out and just tell the boss that we lost her or something.”

“Sorry chap, but I’m not open to negotiations right now,” Mister S.A replied as he withdrew his miniature pistol from his jacket pocket, pointing it at the man across from him. “Counteroffer: how about you and your subordinates walk on out of here, and I won’t bury all 9 rounds of this clip somewhere in your body?”

“All 9 rounds? Heh, you can try,” the Kyroshi Captain replied, spinning his rod again with a confident smirk on his face.

Shrugging, Mister S.A casually squeezed the trigger of his weapon, rapidly firing to unload the entire magazine as gunshots rang out around the metal-concrete atrium. His body bracing, Rodrick suddenly spun his metal pole at a much more rapid speed, which evidently caused the brief shower of bullets to be harmlessly deflected off of the rod, where the flattened shells fell to the floor with a crackle.

“What the heck?? Damn, this guy is fast!” Dwight exclaimed enthusiastically, sitting down at the top of the stairs to give himself a reprieve from his weighty chest.

“He’s a Captain, so I figured he’d be a little more skilled than foot soldiers like our cake friend in Southopolis,” the hamster hitman admitted. “No matter, I doubt that this gentleman can match my experience.”

“Hahaha, skilled assassin or not, at the end of the day, you’re still just a little rat,” Rodrick laughed, taking a few steps forward. “In fact, I bet I could-”

Mister S.A didn’t let the Syndicate member finish his sentance, where all Dwight could see was a small brown and white blur as the hitman leaped high into the air and struck the spiky-haired man in the throat, causing him to retch as he fell backwards and attempted to swat the trained rodent out of the air. S.A didn’t let up, and quickly pulled out a hamster-sized switch blade and dragged it across the man’s pale-skinned cheek, leaving a long, thin, but evidently deep cut that began to immediately ooze blood. Landing back on the concrete floor, the furry creature ducked and rolled out of the way as Rodrick then attempting to kick him.

“I could have sliced an artery just now, but I figured I’d give you the chance to rethink surrendering by just cutting your cheek,” Mister S.A chuckled as he flicked the blade in his hand.

“Your mistake, dude, should have taken me out when you had the chance,” Rodrick grinned as he held up the metal rod in his hand, which to the surprise of Dwight, began to spark while visible, yellow bolts of electricity began to emanate from it. “Here, let me show you why I’m called ‘Lightning’. Now, Thunder Wave Arena!”

Slamming the end of the rod into the floor, Rodrick laughed as forks of electricity exploded from out of the top and shot all throughout the room, striking almost every surface as Mister S.A frantically jumped and flipped in an attempt to dodge them. A smaller bolt eventually struck his small, furry body, sending him flying sailing over the floor and into the wall by the staircase where the massive-breasted avatar was hiding.

“S.A! You okay, man?” Dwight asked as he unwittingly dodged another wayward bolt that struck just above his mint-haired head, bending down to look at the now-smoking hamster.

“Ughhh cripes almighty that stung!” the hitman grunted with a cough as his fur became quite frizzled from the electricity, before turning to the busty gamer looming over him. “Stay back, Dwight, before you get hurt!”

“Yep, you’ve probably guessed by now that I wield some rather shocking superpowers,” Rodrick snickered as he lifted the metal rod back into the air and resumed spinning it. “So unless either of you fancy taking a few thousand volts to the face, I’d stand down and let my squad and I add this power plant to the Kyroshi Syndicate’s growing empire.”

Mister S.A responded by whipping his switchblade at the Captain’s face, the tiny knife striking the villain in the mouth and imbedding itself in his lower lip.

“Gahh! You little fucker!” the man shouted, angrily pulling the rodent-sized blade from his face, which began to trickle blood. Glaring, Rodrick angrily pointed his metal pole back at S.A. “Lightningwand!!”

A long, sustained bolt of electricity belted out of the rod and shot towards the hamster hitman, who only narrowly dodged the deadly blast as he back-flipped into the air and ricocheted himself off of the wall, again attempting to strike his opponent’s face. Lowering his pole, Rodrick held up his hand instead.

“Sparkshield!!”

A force field of electricity momentarily surrounded the yellow-haired man, where Mister S.A unfortunately flew straight into the sparking barrier before it dissipated. His small, furry body lighting up for a second, the hamster growled in pain as he harmlessly felt to the floor in a curled-up ball, his frizzy fur puffed up and singed.

“M-Mister S.A, dude!” Dwight exclaimed in horror, standing up and narrowly avoiding falling backwards down the stairs from the weight his massive rack. Searching his brain for a way to help his miniscule friend, the mint-haired avatar could only watch helplessly as the Syndicate Captain loomed over the rodent.

“See what I mean? At the end of the day, despite all your skills, you’re still just a rat to me,” Rodrick sighed with a smirk, before using his metal pole to swat the hitman like a golf ball, sending his now-bruised body flying against the wall again.

“Bloody hell, this little form of mine can’t tolerate that much electricity,” Mister S.A panted as he tried to stand up, turning to his overly-busty acquaintance. “I feel half-paralyzed, and my heart is beating quite quickly. This guy is dangerous, Dwight, and if anything happens to me, you must flee to ensure your own safety. I don’t know what these guys want with you.”

“B-but…” was all that Dwight could muster, before slinking back into the darkness of the staircase. He felt a pang of sympathy for the hamster, but his beating chest and terrified, trembling legs prevented him from moving an inch further. A reclusive gamer who had merely created the “Mimi” character that he was currently stuck as to jack-off, Dwight wasn’t at all prepared for adversity.

“Poor, poor little hamster,” Rodrick smirked as he again pointed his weapon towards the helpless rodent. “Relax, I shall end your suffering. Heartopper: Single Tap.”

A short, brief bolt of blue electricity sparked out from the rod, striking Mister S.A directly and causing the suited hitman to let out a loud, animal-like squeal while he flew back again and crashed against the wall, before slumping to the floor, convulsing.

“Mister S.A!!” Dwight yelled in anguish, a tear unexpectedly welling up in his right eye as the yellow-mohawked man now turned towards the gamer,

“Well, now that the furball is out of the way, you’re coming with me, Misses Melons,”