S.H.H.A.

An Old Friend

After exiting the cave, I wanted to take back my offer to the hero siblings. Standing on the ledge right outside the cave was the tabby's "friend", a massive humanoid robot. Like a gigantic version of those stupid toys human children played with.

Just like the toys, metal cubes created the different parts of its body. Glowing blue rectangle eyes gazed in our direction. On the "body cube" was the emblem of a broken heart in the middle of a gear. The left heart half had been filled in while the right half remained the same silver as the rest of the robot.

"I'm beginning to doubt your friend making abilities." I hadn't come at all prepared for battle, and considering how the robot's arms were equipped with huge guns, it seemed like I'd be part of one.

Ignoring me, the tabby hollered to the giant, "Took you long enough! I was beginning to think you'd never find us!"

In a robotic tone, it announced through its speaker mouth, "Ha. Ha. Ha. I'm glad to see you still haven't lost your sense of humor. I see you have a new friend. Finally replaced that black cat, have you?"

"Ooh, your humor's gotten a bit rusty," said a voice laced in amusement from behind me. The tuxedo sauntered out of the cave in a light pink cape and mask as if she were walking into a ball with a beautiful gown. "Just like your robot."

"You'll regret that," the robot said before raising its gigantic arm to point at us. The hollow cube hand began spinning and turning yellow. Tuxedo and tabby bolted into the air, leaving me just standing there.

Suddenly I regretted leaving the cave. Using my back legs, I launched myself back in before a huge explosion destroyed the ground where I had been standing. Yep, I'm just gonna hang out in here for a while. You guys have fun!

"Come back here," called the robotic voice. The ground beneath my feet shook with each heavy step it took. "I haven't introduced myself yet."

Oh, there's really no need. I'm perfectly content waiting until I'm off the cliff to get to know a twenty-foot tall mecha. I desperately fiddled with my watch while diving around a corner so it wouldn't see me. Would now be a good time to think about the effects of the ceiling caving in?

"My name is Gear and my friends say I'm a pretty nice guy," said the robot. The sound of the spinning arm filled the cave along with his robotic voice, "It's what I've programmed them to say."

The wall I had been hiding behind crumpled into dust from the explosion. Large rocks fell from above as the tunnel caved in. As dust filled the tunnel, I scrambled out a hole in the wall, taking flight last second.

I flew around to a hole behind the robot that had to crawl on all fours to fit its massive body through the tunnel. "Nice to meet you. My name is Metal's Worst Nightmare and my friends say I can be hard to get along with."

It tried turning to face me, further collapsing the cave, but it was too late. My claws had already turned red, scalding the rock beneath them. I slashed the robot's feet, melting what looked to be the jet engines it had used to fly up the mountain.

I managed to swerve back out of the crumbling mountainside to the safety of the air. If you count being hundreds of feet up in the air as safe. The tabby, who had been a huge help when the robot was trying to kill me I might remind you, flew beside me.

"Metal's Worst Nightmare?" She asked. Had she been in human form, her eyebrows would have been raised, but in cat form, the slightly bent corner of her mouth was enough to get the message through.

"That's Misha to you. Do you have a name or will I be forced to remember you as the mysterious tabby?"

"Marshmallow, but Mysterious Tabby works too," she replied with a small smile forming beneath her nose. "My sister is Ninja, but as you've seen, our friends call her Black Cat."

"You call me Black Cat and I'll give you a taste of bad luck," replied the tuxedo. Her medium length hair waved in the wind along with her short pink cape. She shoved a white paw into her puffy white neck, "You see this? White. White as snow. Don't forget that."

"Relax," I replied, trying not to think about how stupid I must have looked with my red cape that had been torn in half by the shark. "My Boss was also a tuxedo, and she didn't even have white paws. She might have brought bad luck though..."

"Our answer is yes," announced Marshmallow earning her a confused look from me and another smirk from the Black Cat, oh sorry, Ninja. She looked at Ninja and said, "Cut it out." Now I know how much it stinks being left out of an inside joke, I thought to myself with a slight frown. 

Ninja turned away, and continued smirking off into the distance. Marshmallow turned back towards me and explained, "To your offer. We would be happy to join S.H.H.A."

"Great, but just so you know, I'm your leader. No more of this, leaving your leader to be killed by the gigantic robot stuff."

"We assumed you could handle it," replied Marshmallow with her emotionless voice. That's not an acceptable answer, but since denying it would mean I'm not capable of defending myself and you're new, I'll let it slide.

"Now that that's handled," I said, looking towards the ground warily, "How about we finish our discussion on the ground. Maybe flying's fine and dandy for the two of you, but my feet have a great desire to be attached to the earth at all times."

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Hello Readers!

This chapter's a little short, but since I have a habit of accidentally making really long chapters, I'll take what I can get. Hope you liked it and I'd love to hear what you think.

Don't forget to vote, and thanks for reading!