Nafeez looked around as the skies cleared and the oppressive darkness gave way to moonlight.
He turned around and looked at Ms. Friendly, his eyes wide, "That's what your ability does, Ms. Friendly? Are you sure you're not unranked?"
Ms. Friendly scowled at him.
Nafeez turned to Big Country on his right, "We moved on up in the world, big guy! Look at who we're rubbing shoulders with now."
Nafeez looked directly in front of him at the towering mech in front of him, now reduced to little more than a scorched hunk of scrap metal. Nafeez walked up to it and knocked on the circular glass panel on the front of it.
"Hello?" he called out in a sing-song voice, "Still alive in there, Mechaboy? Or did Ms. Friendly just cook you alive?"
Through the tinted glass panel, Nafeez spotted something shifting slightly. Sparks flew off of several parts of the severely damaged mech.
"Mechaboy! The boy hero, the hope for the future!" Nafeez laughed maniacally, "You're looking kind of rough right now. Where are your allies? Your friends? And more importantly, where is your mentor?"
Mechaboy hit his hand against the tinted glass panel, causing Nafeez to jump back slightly.
Medusa, standing a short distance away, chimed in, "Now that you mention it, I haven't seen Senshi Sentinel here in months. Not here at least."
Nafeez nodded his head in agreement, "Your mentor left you here to do his dirty work. Now he's going to let you die. He won't even step in during your moment of need. That's not very…heroic," Nafeez laughed once again.
Nafeez stepped even closer, nearly putting his forehead against the glass panel.
"You know, you could work with us," Nafeez's voice changed. He spoke slower, and he lost the taunting edge in his voice, "There's nothing stopping you from joining the Black Company. There are a few former heroes in our ranks."
Nafeez paced around him, "We'd have to talk to the boss first, but…I'm sure he'd accept you. You're certainly strong enough."
Nafeez stopped in front of him, "We're not supervillains per se. We're…assassins. Probably doesn't sound like much of a difference to a goody two shoes like you, but just because we kill, doesn't mean we have no regard for human life. If anything, I think we do more good than your average hero. Help us take out the real scum of society. The real plagues on society, not just idiots in tights holding up banks or whatever. What do you say?"
Mechaboy yells through the tinted glass of his mech, his voice muffled, "If you're so altruistic, why are you attacking the capital?"
Nafeez gritted his teeth, "I just told you that, Mechaboy. You're not listening, Mechaboy. These people are scum. They're more interested in bureaucracy and power games than they are in saving people. Citizens are getting killed left and right by meta incidents and villains, and they haven't done a thing about it."
Mechaboy yelled through the glass panel, "They're getting killed by villains from your group! You all caused these problems, and now you think you have the solution."
Ms. Friendly walked up behind Nafeez, arms crossed, "This is going nowhere, Nafeez. Stand back and let me finish him off."
Nafeez smiled at her, "No need, ma'am. He's already finished."
Nafeez gave the mech a decisive push, and it toppled over with no resistance. Some of the more damaged pieces broke off and rolled away, and the glass panel on the front popped open.
Mechaboy stood up out of the cockpit slowly, wearing a futuristic form fitting one piece suit. He stared at the villains surrounding him defiantly.
Nafeez smiled at him, "There you are, sunshine! Looks like your mech suit could protect you from Ms. Friendly's attack. I wonder what would happen if she were to hit you with it again…"
Mechaboy stepped out of the suit and backed away from them slowly. Nafeez approached him and motioned for Big Country, Medusa and Ms. Friendly to stay put.
As Nafeez closed the distance between them, he noticed something flying just over Mechaboy's shoulder. It was small at first, but it grew bigger and bigger, until it brushed past Mechaboy's shoulder and struck Nafeez in the chest.
Nafeez pulled the object off his shoulder and examined it. He frowned at the four-pointed star-shaped object.
He turned to Ms. Friendly, "I think Ninjaman is he—"
Before he could finish his sentence, Ninjaman appeared in place of the shuriken and struck Nafeez in the face.
Nafeez stared at him solemnly, completely unaffected by the blow.
Ninjaman jumped back near Mechaboy, and Nairobi immediately joined them.
Nafeez's jovial expression morphed into visible irritation, "Ninjaman is here. Hello again."
Nairobi looked Mechaboy up and down. He was free of any wound, but he panted heavily.
"Are you okay, Mechaboy? Have you been fighting all four of them yourself?" Nairobi asked.
Mechaboy nodded his head, "When I first got here, there were seven of them. I incapacitated two of them, and one fled into the capitol building."
Mechaboy looked over at Ninjaman, "So you're the famous Ninjaman. Your name has been getting a lot of buzz in the hero world. Everyone is interested in you. Including my master."
Etienne shook his head, "So how should we split this up? I've encountered most of these people before, so I'm pretty familiar with what they can do."
Mechaboy looked back at the villains standing in wait, "You two take on Ms. Friendly, I'll take the other five."
"Are you serious, Mechaboy?" Nairobi protested, "We just fought unranked metas yesterday! I can—"
"That lady is strong, Nairobi," Etienne cut her off, "Even after fighting Cupid and Floren, I would still say she's the strongest metahuman I've encountered."
Alex touched his chest, and a video game-like blue menu appeared in thin air. There were six items in the circular menu, simply labeled 1 through 6. Alex pressed 2, then clicked a small confirm button below the menu.
The giant mech suit evaporated into small blue cubes and disappeared into the air. A futuristic white suit covered his body tightly. The suit featured intricate paneling all over, and the arms were large and bulky.
"I guess that means we're fighting now."