"These two are more trouble than they look like. You'll have to handle him on your own!"
Nafeez groaned and narrowly dodged Mechaboy's missiles and tried to put some distance between them.
"Damn it," Nafeez gritted his teeth, "Why do 'villains' obey so many damn rules? She can only use her powers against ranked heroes? Seriously?"
A mechanical voice buzzed from Mechaboy's body, "We don't have a lot of info on the Black Company. But we know a lot about you, Nafeez."
Nafeez ducked behind a pillar, which Mechaboy easily smashed through.
"You know all about me, huh? You know how my powers work?" Nafeez questioned.
The robotic voice came out, "You can strengthen others and yourself. Pretty simple."
Nafeez stopped dodging and stood still, causing Mechaboy to stop moving as well.
Nafeez wagged his finger, "Nuh-uh, Mechaboy. Didn't they teach you in school that there's always more to superpowers than meets the eye?"
Big Country appeared from behind one pillar and punched at Mechaboy.
Mechaboy flew backwards a short distance and shot Big Country with a missile, exploding into a foam across his upper body that hardened into a substance harder than stone.
Big Country fell forward onto his face while trying to break free.
Chef Tim approached Mechaboy from behind, electricity dancing off the tips of his fingers. He placed both palms on the back of Mechaboy's suit, immobilizing him.
Nafeez looked at the scene in shock and looked behind him at Medusa, standing a short distance away with her arms crossed.
"Are you gonna help us or are you gonna watch us get beat up?" Nafeez asked, distressed.
Medusa scoffed and flipped her hair, "I'm here for support, that's it. Besides, you know what I can do. My powers can't do anything to that armor!"
The two of them watched as Mechaboy broke out of his immobilized state and grabbed Chef Tim by the wrists. He swung his arm back to throw him, but a bullet grazed him before he could. He dropped Chef Tim and rushed toward Goldenboy.
Nafeez groaned and exhaled loudly. He put his finger on the palm of his other hand and rubbed it back and forth.
"Fine. Ms. Friendly wants to fight with honor? Big Country got subdued immediately? Medusa wants to be useless? That's fine. I'll just do everything myself, like I always do."
The air distorted around his body like a heat mirage.
He stomped over to Mechaboy, putting cracks in the ground with every step. Mechaboy turned away from the restrained Goldenboy and faced him.
"I'm going all out now, Mechaboy. Still think you can keep up?"
Nafeez disappeared and reappeared in front of Mechaboy. He threw a punch at Mechaboy, who promptly caught his wrist in mid-air. Mechaboy flew high into the air, above the capitol building. He dropped him, and Nafeez landed on the ground with a decisive thud, shattering the surrounding ground.
Mechaboy flew back down, directly in front of Medusa. Her long braids turned into snakes, and she aimed them at Mechaboy. The snakes bit at Mechaboy but could not penetrate his armor. He grabbed the snake with one hand and shot a rocket at her point blank with his opposite hand.
The rocket exploded into foam, which hardened immediately and caused her to fall over.
Mechaboy looked down at Medusa for a few moments as she struggled, before turning to Ms. Friendly, Etienne and Nairobi across the street.
Etienne laid on his back, clutching his side and staring up at Ms. Friendly. Nairobi held a hand over her mouth, blood seeping from between her fingers. She struggled to stand upright as her knees shook violently, and her grip was loose on her large nail.
As Mechaboy took a step towards them, an unknown force yanked him backwards and threw him through several walls of the capitol building.
"Hey team! I got 'em. Let's go!" A professional-sounding young man's boomed throughout the area.
The young man walked from inside the capitol building towards Ms. Friendly, with a jovial smile on his face.
"Hey Auntie!" He called out with a wave, "Is that Ninjaman! Hey Ninjaman, I've been waiting to meet you."
He crossed the street in an instant and stood over Etienne with his hands on his hips.
"GoGo told me a lot about ya, my man!" The young man snickered, "He was supposed to join us for this little party, but he got assigned somewhere else at the last minute. Don't worry, I'll set up a reunion for you two soon!"
Nairobi weakly pointed her large nail at the young man and extended the tip. Ms. Friendly intercepted it before it could get close and bent it into knots.
The young man smiled at Nairobi, "I know you too beautiful. Hardware, one of the most respected heroes in Southern California history. Is Ninjaman here your boyfriend?"
Etienne spoke between labored breaths, "Who…are you?"
The young man bent down in front of him and spoke with a devilish grin, "Me? My name is Isaac Forsynth. I'm the leader of the Black Company, at least this sector of it."
As Isaac spoke to them, Mechaboy flew out of the hole in the capitol building and landed near Nafeez and Medusa. The hardened foam pinned Big Country high on the Capitol building not far away. Goldenboy was stuck to the street with the same foam. Mechaboy looked back and forth between all the restrained criminals.
Between sputters and coughs, Mechaboy shouted, "These guys have a teleporter! I've encountered him before, but he can't teleport if someone is looking at him!"
Isaac looked at Ms. Friendly, confused, "Wait, they know about the Opportunist?"
Ms. Friendly shouted out, "Don't worry about Goldenboy and the Others, Opportunist. I will give you the opening, so grab anyone who isn't restrained."
Ms. Friendly's eyes flickered with electricity, and she muttered, "Anti Weather System: Anti Thunderstorm."
All the light in the air disappeared, leaving an overwhelming and complete darkness.
Through the darkness, Ms. Friendly's voice echoed, "I had a lot of fun with you, Ninjaman. Next time we meet, there won't be any interruptions. We'll fight to the end."
After Ms. Friendly stopped speaking, a deafening silence filled the area. Etienne scrambled to his feet and tried to speak, but he couldn't hear his voice. Etienne stumbled around for a little while, bumping into cars and tripping over the curb. Finally, as he got used to the overwhelming darkness and the deafening silence, an abhorrent sound filled the air. Like a woman shrieking at the top of her lungs. The sound was so oppressive that Etienne fell to one knee and attempted to plug his ears.
The sound only increased in volume, causing his ears to bleed and forcing him down onto the ground. He writhed in pain and rolled on the ground. After a few more seconds, the sound ceased and the darkness slowly lifted.
Etienne stood up slowly and looked over at Nairobi, who barely kept herself propped up with her nail. Ms. Friendly, Isaac and Chef Tim were nowhere to be seen. Etienne walked over to the capitol building, walking up the steps to where Mechaboy kneeled near two of the subdued villains. As Etienne walked up, Mechaboy's armor fell apart, and he fell onto his face.