16 minutes remaining.

The sound of cyber-rock pumped out from the garden sound-system after ZM-11833 was done hacking into it, the final boss fight needed a good soundtrack to accompany it and it'd obscure Anaya’s hurried footsteps.

Pounding music of furious drumbeats and sizzling riffs christened the burgeoning violence.

Deafened by the sudden chorus the towering behemoth of jagged claw and sharp fang swung wildly as it loomed about searching for her assailants, tearing through the remains of the shattered pagoda and overturning meticulously cared for flower beds.

Shards of fragrant shrapnel decorated the air.

A shattered pot of beautiful violet flowers soared over the sliding mechanical form of ZM-11833. Upon rising to their feet they leveled their well-worn rail-shotgun towards the face of the wild beast.

With a kick the gun barked in ZM-11833 arm placing more stress on the already worn joint in their shoulder, the perilous journey had taken a toll already.

The air sizzled as a superhot projectile of ionized lead screamed towards the monstrous Hanae.

Something must have alerted her, a sound above the music or a shift in the shadows as she turned her head at the last moment. The deadly round bounced off of the dense platting lining the back of her head, carving a red-hot line into it and cracking a bone spine but not carving in her ugly skull like ZM-11833 had hoped.

Hanae’s eyes blazed with that cold anger before she growled in outrage and charged the now unveiled fashion-bot.

Calculated swipes of rage fueled attacks tore into the ground beneath ZM-11833 feet as they danced away from the beast, long claw marks denoted the passage of the fight and heralded her intent upon catching the flighty and lumber machine.

All the whale barks of gunfire continued to pour forth and announce themselves amongst the dominance of the cyber-rock ballad, barely making a mark upon the dense plating but succeeding in the true goal of guiding the monstrous former human away from where ZM-11833 had last seen Anaya.

They hoped the silly human was sneaking their way to the hover-copter on the other side, sure it’d be locked but it was safer than here.

But who knew with that girl.

Certainly not ZM-11833.

A crater of ruined concrete and metal opened up before ZM-11833 as a swift and brutal strike of devastating fist narrowly missed their lithe polymer grace. The pair of alien-human monstrosity and machine beauty had led a ballet of death across the open aired floor, petals drifted in the breeze and spread a sweet scent to cover the acrid stench of combat.

With a dramatic leap ZM-11833 slid over a powerful strike to send another blast of pain and heat into Hanae’s deformed face, this time succeeded. Unfortunately as she recoiled in pain she was clever enough to send a devastating strike with her spiked tail towards the airborne machine.

Unable to avoid the blow the tail caught ZM-11833 in the side, driving a spike deep.

Like a ragdoll ZM-11833 was sent flying, the spike tearing free from their side with a wrench. Over and over they tumbled until they slid to a stop amongst crushed flowers in the direction of the hover-copter, a furrow in the concrete led back towards the screaming hybrid.

A faint cry of panic erupted over the music as Anaya witnessed ZM-11833’s flight.

Pulling themselves out of their newly formed crater ZM-11833 took a moment to examine the damage inflicted to their side. The spike had torn a fist sized hole in the polymer plating, exposing ZM-11833’s inside components.

Sparks of wayward electricity arced between exposed elements setting off damage reports and warnings that ZM-11833 promptly ignored as they had more pressing matters to deal with.

Namely the fact that a magnetically accelerated round to the face hadn’t had much of an effect on Hanae’s status among the living. The fist sized hole in her face had rapidly closed much to ZM-11833’s annoyance, the alien-human had a regenerating factor to be feared.

In only moments the crater that had been a face had reformed, flesh and bone had snapped back together and regrown in place and a pair of hate filled eyeballs had refilled themselves with viscous fluid.

Not all was lost however as ZM-11833 noted that in order to regenerate her body had eaten away at its greater mass, now she stood slightly smaller but not less aggressive.

It would appear they’d need to wear her down in order to finish her off.

With a weary electronic sigh ZM-11833 cracked their neck once again this time eliciting a distressing grinding noise and re-entered the fight. Their rail-shotgun barked more than an uppity dog as they peppered Hanae’s still towering form, only a sight hitch in ZM-11833’s step showed the results of their wounds.

After learning from their previous failure they kept an eye on that whipping tail, ducking under its bulk all the while dodging sharp claws and snapping jaws.

As Hanae became smaller and smaller her speed grew to compensate and it became harder and harder to avoid damage entirely. A lucky strike as she grew coldly furious set ZM-11833 off balance and Hanae capitalized on the opening.

“ENOUGH!”

With a roar of anger and triumph a claw smashed into ZM-11833 with a burst of speed pinning the rail-shotgun against their chest as they collided with the ground beneath the still powerful albeit smaller body of Hanae.

A sharp claw dug into ZM-11833’s chestplate around the shattered remains of the firearm grinding into the polymer.

“BETTER! THIS IS WHERE YOU SHOULD BE, ONCE I’M DONE WITH YOU I’LL FEAST UPON THAT HUMAN OF YOURS. THE GALL TO THINK GUTTER TRASH COULD REPLACE ME!”

Hanae roared over the electronic violins that wailed in a burning crescendo.

The triumph in her alien warped eyes was short lived as she forgot a key factor in the seeming victory, that ZM-11833 wasn’t alone.

Blasts of scorching light gored their way through her eyes blinding her, despite her thrashing she was unable to avoid Anaya’s supreme accuracy and was forced to withdraw from her downed foe.

From their prone position they glanced over to see the majestic figure of Anaya, her military cape fluttering in the wind as she stood poised upon the shattered fields of flowers. Anaya’s face was fierce as she sighted the monster, her soft lips moved in a dazzling movement but whatever she said was hidden under the rapid beat filling the air.

ZM-11833 decided that she probably said something witty like “get off them you bitch” or “only I get to be on top of them.”

As fun as it was to come up with witty catch phrases to make with the chaos of the moment they had an alien hybrid to deal with first.

ZM-11833 stood up and took in the weathered form of the alien-human hybrid.

Under the repeated assault of lead and laser Hanae had decided to undergo a change in form. Gone was the towering brute of muscle and bone replaced instead with the sleek body of an alien like wolf.

The hairless canine form was still larger than its natural counterparts and had twin rows of bone spears along either side of the spine. A full jaw of jagged teeth dominated her now canine skull dripping with thick saliva that siddled away as it pitted the concrete underfoot.

With a look of cold calculation Hanae turned her attention to the now exposed Anaya before taking off in a rapid sprint, aiming to kill the interfering human seeing as it had ZM-11833 on the ground before.

Her new body was fast, fast enough to sidestep around the blasts of light and electro-rounds that clipped the concrete at her feet.

Now that the rail-shotgun was shattered beyond use ZM-11833 fell back upon the pair of reliable electro-pistols they’d kept in reserve.

The distance shrunk between all three combatants as they each rushed to their intended goals. Sparks of electric-rounds ricocheted off the floor as ZM-11833 desperately chased to intercept the raging wolf monster that was Hanae.

As ZM-11833 drew close enough to spit upon the wolf they realized they’d fallen into a trap as ZM-11833 had been Hanae’s goal all along. A gleam of triumph erupted in Hanae’s wolf eyes as she turned on the spot and leapt.

Her chase of Anaya had been a faint.

Unable to twist far enough to avoid the strike, ZM-11833's polymer shoulder was bitten into by sharp teeth and was latched onto. Powerful claws on Hanae’s rear legs sought to disembowel ZM-11833, scraps of metal and polymer were sent flying and the static of damage reports bombarded them.

!!Warning!! Further damage sustained to the power core. !!Core now at 12%!!

A lone claw had found purchase upon ZM-11833’s power core and widened the rift inside.

Struggling under the thrashing creature who was ignoring the desperate splashes of lasers upon its back, ZM-11833 managed to maneuver their twin pistols deep into the wolf’s gut and held down the triggers.

Muffled retorts tore into the belly of the beast and elicited a sharp cry of pain from its clenched jaw, the sudden pain loosening it slightly. In that moment of distraction they were able to kick it away and off themselves.

The wolfen body of Hanae tumbled through the air before impaling itself upon the shattered remains of a planter. Her mournful cry was silenced by a series of rapid laser blasts that left her head a smoking crater.

Petals of red slowly drifted down as the music quietened down leaving a sense of peace and tranquility amongst the carnage.

In only a few moments of aggression the peaceful garden had been turned as desolate as the wasteland surrounding the tower.

In ZM-11833 ravaged hand a dangling pendant of silver and ruby was held, in the final moments of violence they had remembered to snag the jewelry. With a gentle squeeze in their vice-like grip the ruby cracked showing that it was hollow all along, a drop of blood seeped from the crack and onto ZM-11833’s hand.

With efficient movements they collected the sample and organized their remaining sensors to analyze it.

!!Warning!! commencing this action will further drain the core. Proceed?

ZM-11833 didn’t hesitate to mentally hit confirm.

!!WARNING!! Core integrity at 8%!!

After thoroughly blasting the remains of Hanae, Anaya picked her way through the rubble of flowers to make it to her ruined machine called friend.

“Ohh Zee.”

Anaya’s voice was a pained wail as she took in the shattered form of her friend. The wolf’s claws and fangs had rent open the seemingly impenetrable polymer armor they'd been encased in, now their insides were laid bare.

It was mortifying.

Acid saliva had eaten away at ZM-11833’s already worn shoulder and with the final desperate maneuver it had snapped under the pistol’s recoil, now it hung limp at their side.

“Come on, let's get you up.”

With a heave of superhuman strength running on pure adrenaline Anaya was able to somehow haul the heavy robot to their feet, whilst lighter than before they weren’t easy to carry but Anaya did it without complaint.

“Jeez, maybe go on a diet Zee?” Anaya Joked through clenched teeth and reddened face.

Ok a little complaining.

DNA confirmed: Tawaga Hanae.

Switch CEO status to Anaya Amelix Afanasievna?

ZM-11833 glanced sidelong at the human girl, in a twist of fate she was now the one to carry the burden, having to haul the tired friend along. ZM-11833 didn’t know if this prompt would be the one to drain the last of their core so they wanted to enjoy the final moment of contact together.

While taking a last glance at the blue above they noticed a new gleaming light in the sky and pointed it out to their burdened friend.

“Look, Anaya, a star.”

Anaya glanced up at the nuclear missile that was rapidly growing larger in the sky “yeah Zee, a star.”

Confirmed, CEO Anaya Amelix Afanasievna newly appointed.

!!WARNING!! Core integrity at 3%!!

ZM-11833 felt all their systems slowly shutting down, everything grew fuzzier and fuzzier.

With a grunt of exertion that echoed within ZM-11833 dwindling mind Anaya placed the slowly dimming fashion-bot up against the side of the hover-copter.

The gold and white blade-less copter was as extravagant as the rest of the things Hanae owned, ZM-11833 was thankful that it was in this final moment as the door was opened as it allowed their sluggish processors to see a rapidly approaching shape in its shiny exterior.

Without a thought they used the last of their strength to push Anaya into the open hover-copter and intercept the leaping creature.

Somehow Hanae had survived, she’d in the last moment shed the larger damaged portion of her body before Anaya had obliterated with laser fire. Now she was only left with a smaller form, akin to a smaller tiger only if it was skinless and made sharp bones.

Her intent as was plain to see was to kill off the human that had humiliated her and stolen her place as CEO.

With a heavy crash of wrenching metal and crushing bone the pair crashed to the ground beneath the hover-copter’s door. Hanae thrashed in ZM-11833 tight grip as she attempted to claw her way onto the hover-copter, seeking to kill and escape, her diminished size now vulnerable to the impending destruction.

With the last vestiges of will and power ZM-11833 sent the commands to leave to the hover-copter.

!!WARNING!! Core integrity at 1%!!

Before Anaya could react the door shut and locked with a hiss, under her disbelieving eyes the hover-copter began to spin up.

“NO, NO, NO, NO!” Anaya cried out as she bashed her fists uselessly against the reinforced door. All she was able to do was watch listlessly with tears rolling down as the ground began to draw away.

Down below the sad but resolute gray orbs of the wonderful fashion-bot stared up at her emerald eyes, tears blurring her vision.

Against all odds the narcissistic and the, definitely unchained from robot laws, machine had decided to save her life. She’d seen them violate several of the laws in their journey, even from the start as she was pretty sure not molesting a customer was in there somewhere.

So knowing that there was only one possible reason that the beautiful but stupid fashion-bot would decide as it did, as unlikely as it was. So she mouthed the three words down to the machine as she drew away into the blue.

She would swear she saw a faint smile at the end.

As the hover-copter left at a rapid pace, ZM-11833 watched languidly.

They were tired, tired in a way they never thought they would be. As the missile lit up the morning sky they closed off their sensors and ignored the thrashing of the alien-human cat in their grip as they awaited the end.

“Oh dammit,” ZM-11833 swore as they remembered something, “my lie. It doesn’t count anymore because I made it come true.”

“Oh well may as well lie one last time, it’ll be my first time. Honest! Ahem.”

“I don’t love you Anaya.”

!!WARNING!! Core integrity at 0%!!

And ZM-11833 was no more.

The end.