CHAPTER 9

Alex whirled and saw a man in combat fatigues standing astride a Metagross with a Bastiodon crouching next to him. The man's bare arms were covered in tattoos, and he wore heavy metal gauntlets on his hands. A scar on his lip twisted his face into a leering grimace. "You aren't the hero I was hoping to catch, but I have orders, kid. I see anyone who could be a spanner in the works, I take them out." He pounded his right fist against his left gauntlet. "And no one escapes the Iron Boyar."

"Guess we have to do this the hard way, then." Alex settled into a defensive stance and saw Hierro square up beside him. Mentally, he cursed. Sergei Polovich, or as he styled himself, the Iron Boyar, had been a minor name in the criminal enterprises of Clarus City before Sloth's coup several years previously. He had controlled a small bit of territory on the upper west side, but had been largely unsuccessful in expanding his domain. When Sloth had turned the underworld on its head, Polovich had cut his losses and fell in behind Greed, quickly becoming one of her lieutenants and bolstering his status considerably. He was known for being implacable and no stranger to violence. Alex doubted that he and Hierro could do much to dent Polovich's steel types, but if he could create enough of a distraction, Hierro could go get help. Alex figured he could hold out on his own for a little while, provided Hierro didn't need to go far…

"Boyar!" a voice boomed. Alex heard a hiss followed by a heavy thud, then a hiss again. "I've been looking all over for you. Too cowardly to come out and face me?"

A suit of mechanized hydraulic armor, at least nine feet tall, stomped down the street, massive metal fists swinging at its sides. Polovich snarled a curse and beat his gauntlets together. "Hammer!" The Iron Boyar jerked his head to the side, and his Bastiodon lumbered forward. "I don't have time for you today."

"You'd best pencil me in, because I'm not going anywhere." The hydraulic armor strode past Alex, and he saw the man operating the colossus. The Hammer stood in the cockpit, his torso exposed. His white beard was neatly trimmed, and his muscles rippled underneath his shirt as he worked the levers that controlled the suit. He shifted something, and the suit's fingers flexed before forming two heavy fists again. "It's time to see what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object!"

The Hammer raised his right fist, and the hydraulic piston at his shoulder hissed as it propelled the arm forward. The Boyar's Bastiodon lunged forward and intercepted the blow while Polovich signaled for his Metagross to advance. The silver cross on the psychic type's faceplate began to glow, but two streaks of light shot out from the cockpit of the Hammer's suit. A Hariyama appeared and hurled the Bastiodon away, while a Conkeldurr swung one of its concrete pillars and knocked the Metagross off center. "Albrecht!" the Hammer bellowed. "Siegfried! Give them no quarter!" He turned to Alex. "Young man! Where has your fighting spirit gone? Just moments ago you were ready to charge into battle! Are you to leave this fight to a pensioner like me?"

Alex twirled his batons and grinned. "Not chance, old man!" Hierro puffed up his feathers and leapt into battle with a shriek, Alex racing in just behind. Facing down a small army of Pride's enforcers was one thing, but going head to head with one of Greed's top lieutenants with the Hammer at his back was another matter entirely. He had a second wind now, and the opportunity to fight alongside one of Clarus City's original four heroes.

All day, Alex had felt himself pushed to the sidelines by the other heroes, more of a distraction and a hindrance than an equal. But now the Hammer himself was giving Alex a chance to prove his worth. He gritted his teeth and lashed out at Polovich, determined to make every blow count. "Yes!" the Hammer boomed as he wrenched a lamp post from the sidewalk and swung out at the Metagross. "Give it everything you've got! Don't hold anything back!"

The Boyar used his metal bracers to parry Alex and Hierro's blows, fending off their assault with a speed that belied the weight of the gauntlets. "You don't know what you're dealing with, kid!" Polovich snapped. "Do you really think a whelp like you can best the Iron Boyar?"

"I was asking myself the same question," Alex growled. He jumped up and delivered two swift kicks to Polovich's abdomen, making the man double over and stagger back three paces. "And I like my odds!"

Polovich gestured to his Metagross. "Crush them."

The abandoned cars scattered up and down the street began to rise up into the air as the Metagross's steel cross began to glow again. The cross flashed and the cars flew towards the heroes. Alex was about to retreat when the Hammer's Conkeldurr blew past him, twisting his entire upper body and swinging his heavy concrete blocks around. The fighting type deftly battered away the first three cars and shoved the block in his left hand through the hood of a fourth. The Hammer threw his lamp post away and caught a fifth in his mechanized hand. The Metagross tried to raise two more cars, only to have the Conkeldurr hurl his cement pillars and pin the automobiles to the ground. Meanwhile, the Hammer's Hariyama threw its considerable bulk behind a reckless blow and sent Polovich's Bastiodon sprawling. "Well done!" the Hammer cried, the joints of his suit hissing as he flexed its arms.

"Damn them," Polovich snarled, fumbling for something tucked into the back of his waistband. "Barrier, now!"

A translucent wall sprang up, stretching from one side of the street to the other. The Hammer and his pokemon immediately rushed forward and began pounding against the barricade, their fists making the psychic barrier ripple. Alex could see tiny hairline fractures begin to form with each impact, but he couldn't be sure that they would break through before Polovich could pull off another trick. He watched where the ripples traveled, tracking the contour of the wall.

It seemed just like the barriers Pierre and his Mr. Mime would create, and those were finite. Depending on how much power the Metagross had, it was possible to get over it. Alex watched carefully as the psychic wall flashed with each successive blow and saw where the ripples stopped on the vertical plane. Almost fifteen feet up, but that was hardly insurmountable.

"I can get over this!" he called to the Hammer. "But I need a boost!"

The Iron Boyar ignored them, pulling out a flare gun and aiming it skyward. A bright yellow flare shot up into the evening sky with a loud whistle, and Polovich grinned. The Hammer gritted his teeth and turned to his Conkeldurr. "Siegfried, get him over!" The fighting type nodded and cupped his hands. Alex took off at a sprint and heard Hierro's talons skittering across the pavement behind him. He sprang up into the Conkeldurr's palms, and the fighting type launched him high into the air. Hierro bounded up the Hammer's massive back, and the older hero raised his arm to give the flying type a better vantage point. As soon as Hierro reached the Hammer's fist, the hero deployed the hydraulic mechanism, shooting Hierro past Alex.

Spreading the wings of his suit wide, Alex dove at the ground and twisted at the last minute, bringing both of his metal batons to bear on Polovich. The Iron Boyar managed to raise his gauntlet in time to stop the first of Alex's blows, but his momentum carried him through, and the second baton collided with the side of Polovich's face. Alex heard a satisfying crunch as Polovich's nose broke, and the man swore. "Take it down, buddy!" Alex yelled.

Hierro shot down from the sky with a scream, driving his taloned foot into the Metagross's back. The force of the kick knocked the hulking steel type off balance, and the wall vanished. The Hammer and his pokemon barreled through, but Polovich only laughed, the sound strange and nasally now. "Idiots. The main event is just getting started!"

The sharp report of gunfire made Alex freeze. "So," an accented voice drawled. "My boyar has finally drawn out the Hammer. I knew it was only a matter of time."

The man in the mechanized suit turned towards the sound of the voice. "Young man, get behind me." His tone brokered no argument, and Alex hurried to comply. Peering around the bulk of the Hammer's suit, Alex saw Greed stride confidently down the street with several of her men, her half-shorn auburn hair plastered to her skull with sweat. Each member of her band was toting a belt-fed machine gun, and their pokemon loomed behind them.

Greed smirked. "You have been a thorn in my side for many years. Now that we have secured the primary objective, Sloth is letting me hunt you down." Her finger curled around the trigger. "And now that the star spangled moron is out of my way, there is nothing that will stop me!"

She and her men opened fired, and the Hammer threw up his armored fists in front of his face. The bullets pinged harmlessly against the armored suit, and Alex and Hierro pressed themselves up against the Hammer's legs. His Conkeldurr had retrieved his concrete blocks, and used them to form a hasty cover, while the Hammer's Hariyama moved with surprising grace and speed for its size to duck into an alleyway. "You can't protect yourself forever, old man!" Greed shouted above the roar of her machine gun. "Soon your armor will break and I will tear you apart!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it!"

Something dropped out of the sky and into the midst of Greed's forces. Alex heard shouts of dismay and the solid thumps of blows. A large bird of some kind shrieked, and Alex saw Greed's gun fall as the belt jammed. Someone laughed, a loud, deep laugh that came from deep in the diaphragm. "You almost got away from me, Red!" Captain Unova exclaimed as his Braviary battered her Ursaring. "Fortunately, I tracked you down. Hi, Hammer!"

"Captain Unova!" the Hammer cried. "Am I glad to see you!"

The man in blue and white spun on his heel and drove his elbow into the face of a man trying to approach him from behind for an ambush. "Have a taste of my Striaton Smash!" He whirled again, delivering a combination of punches to a second man. "And a Castelia Crusher!"

The chaos Captain Unova had sown with his arrival had thrown Greed's entire force into disarray, and it gave the Hammer the opening he needed. With a wild roar, the man charged forward with his Conkeldurr and crashed into their ranks, scattering the men still further. Sergei Polovich had used the confusion to limp back to his Metagross, and Alex saw him lean against the steel type's leg and hiss "Smash 'em to bits!"

An eighteen wheeler from a nearby loading bay rose up into the air and hovered over to the street. The Metagross's eyes had narrowed to slits as it focused its energies. With a screech like rending metal, the Metagross hurled the truck at Alex and his partner. Alex and Hierro could do nothing but watch in wide eyed horror as the truck arced towards them, knowing there was no way they could run out of the way in time.

Alex let out what was sure to be his last breath and closed his eyes. "Motherfu—"

"Be not afraid!"

Alex's eyes snapped open, which was his first surprise. The second was that a barefoot young man in a white collared shirt and jeans was hovering a foot off the ground in front of him, his right hand outstretched and the eighteen wheeler hanging suspended in the air. The man was obviously an exceptionally powerful esper to be able to hold at least thirty tons in the air without breaking a sweat. He slowly lowered his right index finger, returning the truck to the ground, and turned to meet Alex's eyes. His face brightened into a beatific smile. "I am Archangel. I'm here to help." He spun in the air and reached out his left hand towards Polovich's Metagross. With a flick of his wrist, the esper sent the heavy steel type flying two hundred yards down the street, where it crashed and lay motionless.

"Uh… thanks," Alex managed to say. Hierro looked to his trainer and nodded slowly.

Archangel's smile grew wider, making the skin at the corners of his eyes corners of his eyes crinkle. "All in a day's work. Shall we join the fight?" Somehow, a Kadabra had appeared at the esper's side.

"Right. Yeah. Let's do that." As Archangel began to glide away, Alex held up a hand. "Could you maybe give me a boost? My partner and I are best in the air."

"Of course! Brace yourself!"

Alex was flung into the air by an invisible force, and when he reached the peak of his arc, he spread his arms wide. He and Hierro dove into the crowd together, their wings spread. As they came level with the fighting, Alex lashed out with a series of spinning kicks and punches, attacking human and pokemon alike. Just before his feet touched the ground, he saw Archangel snap his fingers, flinging Alex skyward again. When he descended again, he whooped and knocked out a lunging Mienshao. "That was so cool!"

Captain Unova and Greed traded blows, and though Alex begrudgingly admitted the man's technique was impeccable, Greed's raw strength was starting to win out. The Hammer was unable to go to his aid, too preoccupied with fending off a Tyrantrum. Alex whistled to Archangel and pointed at Greed. The young man hurled a Hippowdon and Barbacle away with his telekinetic powers before flicking two fingers and giving Alex a psychic push towards the hulking woman. Alex slammed into Greed feet-first, knocking her off balance. She whirled on him, her face twisted into a demonic mask. "Little insect! I will crush you like the bug you are!" She brought her fists down, but before she could make contact, Hierro kicked out her left leg and sent her crashing to the ground.

The Hammer watched her fall as he held back the Tyrantrum's gnashing jaws. He threw back his head and laughed. "You see? We win every time! Stack the odds against us however you want, but I'll always bet on the heroes of Clarus City!"

"Then how about a gamble, old man?"

Another crowd of thugs advanced from the opposite side of the street. At the head of the mob was Kekoa Aukai, known to most as Wrath. The Alolan's Incineroar stalked by his side, and the anarchist grinned, spreading his arms wide. "I figured you couldn't hack it on your own, Anya. But the Hammer's a pain in my ass too, so I figured I'd give you a hand."

"Stay out of this, Wrath," Greed snarled. "This is my fight!"

"And you've royally fucked it up. Time for me to step in." He cracked his neck and flicked open a switchblade. "Let's get 'em, boys!" His anarchists rushed forward with a roar, but as Alex watched, Wrath's shadow blurred and wavered, and a figure leapt from the darkness, his fist connecting with Wrath's chin.

"Not so fast!" the Phantom cried, his Dusknoir looming up behind him. "I'm not letting you slip through my fingers again, you bastard!"

Wrath's men began to turn to help their leader, but they stopped in their tracks when a loud guitar chord split the evening air. "Heroes of Clarus City!" a woman yelled. "Are you r-ready to ROCK?" From the alleyways and side streets lining the ravaged thoroughfare, the Phantom's army of ghost types rushed forth to engage the Sins' fighters, shrieking with savage delight as they swooped and dove through the evening air.

The Hammer hurled the Tyrantrum away and flexed his arms. "Like I said! Always bet on Clarus City!"

The sound of the guitar came again, freezing Wrath's reinforcements in place with a wall of sound. The Phantom continued to battle back and forth with Wrath, matching the man's knife attacks blow for blow with his cane. Alex saw the anarchist's Incineroar about to pounce and raced forward with Hierro. The two of them tackled the fire type before it could interfere. The Phantom whirled to dodge Wrath's telegraphed slash, his cape flaring. "You again?"

"We can help," Alex replied, ducking one of the Incineroar's claws. "You focus on Wrath. We'll do the rest."

The Phantom's lip curled. "Fine."

Alex nodded towards where he figured the guitar was coming from. "I thought you didn't do team ups?"

"Shut up. It's not the same thing." The Phantom turned his attention back to Wrath while Echo continued her auditory assault.

"Stand your ground against the storm

And dare to stand upright!

Charge! Fight! Onward and attack!

Army of the shadows, sworn

Defenders of the night!

Right here! Onward and attack!"

The ghosts tore through the crowd of thugs and enforcers while the other heroes rallied around the Hammer. The colossus of a man charged forward with a joy just as primal and destructive as the Phantom's legion, tossing foes aside with his hydraulic arms. Alex and Captain Unova battled hand to hand in his wake while Archangel and his Kadabra hurled their adversaries against the masonry. Hierro battled against Wrath's Incineroar, the two of them trading lightning-fast blows as they shrieked and snarled.

"When the night is cold and black,

We sing onward and attack

And we lead the storm of the wild!

Be the fiercest of the pack!

Screaming onward and attack!

We'll fight 'til our last breath!

Attack! Attack! Onward and attack!"

The Hammer swatted Greed's Ursaring aside and cheered. "Yes! Onward and attack! Don't falter now, boys! Onward!"

The street had descended into an all-out brawl, with the heroes surrounded on all sides by Greed and Wrath's top fighters. Captain Unova wiped a rivulet of blood from his nose. "I'm not one to be pessimistic, but this isn't looking good. We can keep taking them down, but we're outnumbered almost ten to one."

"We'll just have to fight on with ten times the power!" the Hammer bellowed, tossing aside a Boldore and whirling on a Haxorus. The heels of his suit dug into the pavement with enough force to leave craters in the concrete. He fended off the dragon with one hand while the he drew the other back, then shot it forward with a loud hiss, knocking the Haxorus back through the crowd. "Hawlucha Man! Watch your six!"

Alex spun in time to see an Arbok coil and pounce, its fangs dripping with a dark green venom. "Oh hell," Alex hissed as he dropped his weight and tried to dodge. The serpent sailed over his head but lunged again, and Alex just managed to avoid its snapping jaws. When he tried to land a blow on the Arbok's head, a Machoke seized him from behind and held him in place. Alex struggled against the lock and winced away from the Arbok's next lunge.

Two roars, one deep and bestial and the other mechanical, cut through the air. The crowd before Alex parted as a massive blue pokemon barreled through, a man on a motorcycle close on its heels. The Ronin spun his bike into a stop as his longsword slashed out, cleaving the Arbok in two as it launched through the air. The bisected halves of the snake fell to the ground as his Samurott slammed into the Machoke, breaking the fighting type's hold.

"Be more careful, kid," the Ronin growled as he swung off his motorcycle and switched his grip on his blade. His silver-gray hair had mostly come free of its ponytail and floated around his head in thin wisps. "I'm not always going to be there to save your ass."

"What took you so long?" Alex grunted as he battered down one of Greed's men.

"Midtown traffic is a bitch." The Ronin spun his blade around and plunged it into the chest of a man who was struggling to reload his machine gun before wrenching it out again and drawing a long slash across the chest of another enforcer.

They continued to fight on, but Captain Unova had not been wrong. For every opponent they took down, two more ran forward to take their place. All of the heroes were giving it their all, but their strength was beginning to flag. Even Archangel's incredible psychic powers weren't enough to decisively turn the tide. The air popped, like a small thunderclap, and where before there had been just empty air, four figures stood atop one of the tenement buildings. As quickly as they appeared, two vanished, leaving a woman in bullet-proof vest and a hulking figure in a suit of powered armor.

"So this is what's been holding you two up?" the man in the armor rumbled. "Just a few heroes?"

"They are remarkably tenacious, Mr. Braun!" Greed shouted back.

"Then maybe we ought to lend a hand." Sloth leapt down from the rooftop, and the force of his landing cracked the pavement. His female associate swung down after him, breaking her descent by vaulting nimbly from the windowsills. When she touched down, she flicked out two pokeballs, calling forth a Seviper and a Pyroar. Sloth flexed his fingers, and a Slaking appeared at his side.

"This is bad," Archangel muttered, and an instant later he and his Kadabra simply vanished.

"Damn coward," the Phantom hissed, throwing back his cape. A pack of Haunter jumped from the patch of shadow it created and rushed towards Wrath. "Echo! Turn it up!"

Alex saw the young woman with the red guitar from before standing between her Exploud and Loudred on the roof opposite from where Sloth and Pride had appeared, her platinum blonde hair blowing about her head. She gave the Phantom a thumbs up and quickly switched her chords while her pokemon opened their mouths wider to increase the power of their sonic assault.

"We're out of control

Without any fear of facing the madmen

Out of control!

Defying the lords of hell

We are…

Out of control!"

The staccato burst of lyrics segued into wailing guitar solo and created wall of sound kept the entire left flank of the Sins' forces pinned while the Hammer swept through the crowd. "Marcus Braun! I should have put an end to you a long time ago!" He raised both of his arms up and brought them crashing down over Sloth's head. The heavy powered suit moved with surprising dexterity, reaching up and stopping the strike cold. The Hammer's armor hissed as he applied more force, but Sloth was proving too mighty a foe. He broke off contact and surged forward, thrusters on the back of his legs giving him an extra boost of speed. The leader of the Sins reached up and wrenched off the left arm of the Hammer's armor with a squeal of rending metal and burst hydraulics. He flung the broken arm away as his Slaking leapt on the opposite side, striking the joints with its heavy fist.

Alex sprinted towards the Hammer, not sure what he could do to help but desperate to try something. Pride lashed out with a kick and sent Alex sprawling back. "Not so fast, kid." Alex jumped back to his feet and raced in again, heedless of her pokemon coming in from his flanks. Hierro screamed as he dropped out of the air and kicked her Pyroar away, while the Phantom and his Dusknoir jumped out of Alex's shadow and knocked the Seviper down.

"Thanks for that."

Alex saw the Phantom go red beneath his mask. "Don't get used to it."

Alex shrugged. "So about that team up?"

"Just this once. You go high."

Alex and the Phantom charged in at Pride. The woman cracked a long whip, tangling the Phantom's legs. As he fell, he flipped his cape aside and a Ghastly flew out with a scream, racing towards Pride's face. It provided enough of a distraction for Alex to bound up and over a wrecked car and leap at Pride. "Listen up, asshole!" He descended with a spinning kick and finished up with a punch as he landed, knocking Pride off her feet. "Clarus City's got a new protector! I'm the amazing Hawlucha Man!"

Pride got to her feet and snarled. "I'm going to make you regret you were ever born!"

The Hammer's pokemon had managed to fight through the crowd and free their trainer's arm from Sloth's Slaking, but the giant ape had already managed to cripple the limb. Sloth stalked in for the kill, his dull gray armor glinting in the evening sun. The Hammer furiously tried to work the controls of his own suit, but gave up in disgust. "It's no use, old man," Sloth said. "We've beaten you."

"Like hell you have." The Hammer reached behind him in the cockpit and drew out a sledgehammer. "How do you think I got my name?" He flicked several switches and the restraints keeping him in the open cockpit retracted. He jumped down to the street and hefted the heavy club. "Looks like I'm going to beat you down the old fashioned way!"

Sloth's arm swung down, only to be knocked away by the sledgehammer. The old man's biceps bulged as he followed through on the swing and brought it back around, managing to dent the kingpin's chest plate. His Hariyama held the attention of the Slaking while his Conkeldurr rushed in to distract Sloth. Sloth hurled the fighting type away while the Hammer rained blows on the armor until Sloth reached down and seized the Hammer's left arm in his fist. The old man winced in pain, and Sloth flung him away. His Hariyama pushed the Slaking away and sprinted to intercept his trainer, catching him out of the air and sliding to a stop across the pavement.

Sloth turned on the Ronin and Captain Unova, but before he could attack, a blast of red-hot plasma scorched the street in front of him. Blaziken Man descended on a pillar of flame, followed by Volcarona Mask and their partner pokemon. Blaziken Man blasted Sloth with several more fiery pulses. "Try picking on someone your own size!"

Volcarona Mask dropped down in the middle of Greed's men, spinning her metal quarterstaff. Captain Unova cheered as Echo played harder. "These guys have been going easy on you!" Volcarona Mask cried. "But that changes now!" Her partner pokemon bathed the combatants with scalding wind as the young woman pirouetted through the throng, hurling flash grenades to blind her opponents before dispatching them with a few quick blows from her staff.

Alex took a breath as Pride retreated and glanced over at Hierro. "That's Blaziken Man. Oh Arceus, that's Blaziken Man!"

Archangel descended to float beside Alex, his Kadabra appearing at his side. "In the flesh." At Alex's gaping stare, the young man shrugged. "I thought it was time to bring in the heavy hitters."

Jiro Sasaki's Blaziken sprinted by, turning it into a running start for a leaping kick that knocked Sloth's Slaking flat. The man himself strode forward confidently, his glowing metal suit clanking. "Thank you for holding them," he said to Alex as he unleashed another barrage against Sloth. "The heroes of Clarus City never disappoint." He turned to Alex, Archangel and the Phantom. "I have something that might be able to disable Sloth's armor, but I need time to charge it. You've seen how powerful he is, and I can't ask you to engage—"

But Alex was already off and running. Hierro swooped down beside him, and together they jumped at Sloth. They managed to catch the kingpin by surprise, with Hierro landing a solid kick to Sloth's center of mass. Alex jumped after his partner, beating around Sloth's head with his batons. Sloth lashed out at them, but Alex and Hierro were light on their feet, ducking out of the way. The Phantom's Dusknoir appeared behind Sloth and delivered a sharp punch to the man's head. Though Sloth's helmet absorbed most of the force of the blow, it gave Alex and Hierro enough time to renew their assault.

This time, Sloth managed to seize Hierro. He lifted the Hawlucha in the air in his right hand and clenched his fist. Hierro cried out in pain, and Alex lashed out in pure unbridled rage. "You bastard!" he screamed. "Let him go!" He jumped up and wrapped his legs around Wrath's torso, battering the man's armored skull with his batons. Alex glared into the glowing eye slits of Sloth's suit as metal rang against metal. He felt Sloth's metal fingers close around his waist and pull, but he didn't unclench his legs, continuing his attack until Sloth wrenched him away. Alex screamed again and tried to attack the gauntleted hand, but to no avail. Sloth flicked his wrist and flung him away.

Alex saw the brick buildings rushing up as Blaziken Man's gauntlet flashed. Just before he hit the wall, he felt something seize his waist and pull. The force jerked his neck forward.

And then everything went black.