CHAPTER 36

Alex dozed in an uncomfortable molded plastic chair at Hierro's bedside. He had been up half the night waiting outside the operating theater while Hierro had undergone an experimental surgery to remove the last of the Seviper venom in his system. The poison had remained in Hierro's bloodstream despite the doctors' best efforts, and so it had been determined that the lengthy surgery was Hierro's best hope of recovery. Fortunately, the surgery had been successful, but the doctors wished to keep the Hawlucha in the hospital under observation to ensure that he recovered and that Hierro didn't overtax himself upon release.

Alex roused himself and smoothed his sleeping partner's feathers, doing his best to filter out the noise of the hospital in the background. Hierro twitched in his sleep, his eyes moving behind their lids. As the morning sun streamed through the window, Alex heard someone knock on the wall behind him. The Ronin leaned against the doorframe, a paper cup of the hospital's awful coffee in his hand. "How's he doing?" the vigilante asked.

"He pulled through," Alex replied with a smile. "The worst is over, the doctors think. He just needs to rest now and his body will take care of the rest."

The Ronin nodded. "Good to hear." He held out the coffee to Alex. "You want to get going?"

Alex forced the coffee down and winced at the foul taste of charred grounds. He'd been drinking a lot of Metro General's coffee lately and, contrary to what the nurses had told him, the taste had not grown on him. He ran his hands through Hierro's feathers again as the Ronin swaggered over to the Hawlucha's bed. How long 'till he's back on his feet?"

"Soon, the doctors hope. Maybe a little longer before he's fighting fit again."

"Told you he'd pull through, kid. That bird's a fighter."

"Yeah. But I'm wound tighter than a Spoink's butt."

"Good thing we're going to go work off some of that stress, huh?"

Alex grinned and downed the last of his coffee. "Hell yeah. Let's go."

He and the Ronin strode out through the pokemon treatment wing and out through the lobby. The Ronin ambled through the parking lot and pulled the keys to his motorcycle out from his jacket pocket. The vigilante had parked the bike alongside an SUV that was dangerously close to double parking, and as such had left a margin of empty space in the parking spot.

"Anything to save a few bucks?"

The Ronin smirked. "You know how expensive it is to park around here? If this guy is going to park like an asshole, I might as well take advantage." He opened a side compartment on the motorcycle and pulled out a helmet with a tinted visor. "I've only got the one, so you can wear this, since you're the goody-goody law abiding type."

Alex slid on the helmet. "Probably for the best. If I'm seen with you, it could really hurt my squeaky-clean image."

The Ronin rolled his eyes and swung onto his bike. "Shut up and get on, kid."

The motorcycle roared to life between Alex's legs, and he wrapped his arms around the Ronin's waist as the grizzled vigilante gunned out of the hospital parking lot and headed west. The streets of Avenbrooke flashed by in Alex's peripheral vision, and before he knew it, they were hurtling across the Concord Bridge. The Ronin drove recklessly, weaving between cars and trucks, but he did so with a kind of careless grace, knowing exactly how much he needed to accelerate to cut in front of a car, or how much space to weave as he wove between two sixteen wheelers.

"Are you crazy?" Alex cried as they nosed in front of a moving truck.

"Just enough to be interesting!" the Ronin called back.

And then they were over the bridge, darting through traffic in midtown Clarus and swerving around taxis. As they forged a path deeper in to the city, the buildings around them rose higher and higher, the steel and glass canyons casting the streets into shadow. As they drew closer to the city's core, the traffic dried up, aside from a few drivers making deliveries.

When they reached Sasaki Tower in the heart of midtown, the Ronin braked hard, spinning the bike in a wide drifting turn before coming to a stop at the curb. Alex staggered off the bike. "You drive like a maniac!"

The Ronin calmly fed a few coins into the meter. "That's why I gave you the helmet, kid." He glanced over his shoulder. "Hey, how long do think this is going to take? I don't have a lot of change."

"If everything goes according to plan, you could probably leave in like half an hour?"

"The meter goes in twenty minute chunks. I'll give it forty, I guess." He undid the clasps that kept his broadsword's scabbard attached to the side of his bike and slung it over his shoulder.

The glass doors of Sasaki Tower slid open as they approached, and Alex saw the receptionist at the front desk glance up at them. He gestured for the Ronin to follow him as he made his way to the glass turnstiles that barred the way to the elevators. After quick glance from the receptionist to a burly security guard, the man interposed himself between Alex and the Ronin, but the Ronin pushed past Alex and stuck out his chin, daring the man to challenge him.

"I don't think you two belong here," the security guard said, taking in the Ronin's worn clothes.

"That so?" the Ronin drawled, settling his weight on the balls of his feet and reaching over his shoulder for his sword.

"Easy," Alex admonished. "We've got an appointment."

The guard smirked. "With who?"

"With me."

The security guard whirled as Noriko Takeda stepped into the lobby, her heels clacking rhythmically against the tiled marble floor. She tapped something on her tablet, and the glass turnstile swung open. "This way, gentlemen."

The security guard backed down in the face of Sasaki Industries' COO, and Alex and the Ronin followed her to the bank of elevators. Noriko tapped a sequence of commands on her tablet and glanced at Alex. "You really think this will work?"

"Volcarona Mask thinks it will," Alex replied. "And that's good enough for me."

"Then why isn't she here?"

"Because we figure this is the one thing I can do better than her."

The elevator arrived, and the three of them stepped inside. The doors closed with a barely audible hiss, and Alex felt his stomach drop as the elevator whisked them up to the top floors of the tower as fast as industrial safety standards would allow. They arrived at a small landing, where a reinforced steel door was the only thing to break up the monotony of the neutral tone walls. Noriko inclined her head to Alex. "The floor is yours, Hawlucha Man. My brother and I have been trying to get that door open for weeks."

Alex stepped towards a small metal panel on the wall next to the door. "Identify yourself," a robotic voice intoned from a hidden speaker.

"Hawlucha Man," Alex said.

There was a pause, and a light on the panel flashed red. "Access denied."

The Ronin stepped forward, as though he could force the door open with his bare hands. Alex held up a hand. "Override protocol: Puppeteer. Access code: 'tangled strings'."

Nothing happened for several heartbeats. Alex was beginning to think that Jiro had changed the contingency plans that Isabelle had discovered among the Hammer's effects after his death, but then a light on the panel flashed green. "Lockdown override. Access granted."

Alex let out a breath he hadn't know he had been holding, and Noriko's eyes widened. This had been their final bet to drag Jiro out of his self-imposed exile. Isabelle had learned that before the raid on the Sin compound, Jiro had installed a special system override for the Hammer to use if Jiro had been compromised by the esper. Alex had remembered Jiro mentioning something to that effect, and after Isabelle and Lakshmi admitted to not knowing anything about it, Isabelle had taken it upon herself to look through the Hammer's workshop and computer. If it hadn't been for a hastily scrawled post-it note on the Hammer's desk, they never would have learned of the override code, but as it stood, Alex was grateful for their good luck.

The door slid open, revealing Jiro's private apartment in disarray. Dirty plates and scattered papers covered every available surface, but Alex paid it no mind. A hunched shape hauled itself off a couch as Alex strode into the room, trailed by Noriko and the Ronin. "Hawlucha Man?" Jiro Sasaki said. "But how did—"

Before he could say anything else, Alex punched him.

Jiro fell to the floor, one hand holding the side of his face. Masakado hauled himself up from a nearby swivel chair, but Alex saw a flash of light in his peripheral vision as the Ronin summoned Muramasa. The hulking Samurott interposed himself between the Blaziken and Alex and growled low in his throat.

"You bastard," Alex spat. "You selfish coward!"

"Alex, please understand, I—"

"You've been up here for weeks," Alex said. "The city's gone completely to hell, and Dominion's running roughshod over all five boroughs. People are dying, Jiro!" Alex paused to catch his breath. "I… I was in the hospital. They could have… Hierro nearly died. And you didn't… you weren't…"

Jiro struggled to rise, but Alex kicked him in the chest, knocking the wind from his lungs and sending him back to the floor. "All of us have been fighting as hard as we can, risking our lives just to hold the line," Alex snapped. "But it's not enough. Even if we beat back everything the Sins throw at us, we're still losing the war. The city needs a symbol of… of something. Something to believe in. It should have been you, but you weren't there!" Alex watched as Jiro seemed to deflate even further, curling in on himself.

Masakado moved to help his trainer, but Muramasa moved into his path again, his low growl growing even deeper and more threatening. There was a ring of metal as the Ronin drew his sword and moved beside his pokemon.

"We needed you, Jiro. Isabelle, me, the other heroes, the whole city."

Jiro shook his head. "After what happened to Johannes, I realized that I'm not cut out for this. I can't be the leader I made myself out to be. I'm no hero. I'm just a pretender in a fancy metal suit."

"No," Alex growled. "You're Jiro Sasaki. Blaziken Man. You made a promise to Clarus City, to protect it from the bad guys and to lead its heroes to victory, no matter what."

"That's not me anymore. I'm giving it up."

"Like hell you are."

Jiro slowly started to get to his feet. "I'm done, Alex. I'm putting the armor away."

Alex waited until Jiro was halfway up before decking him hard enough to make his knuckles hurt. He stood over Jiro with his fists balled. "You don't get to put the armor away," Alex said. "Not until this is finished. You started this fight, and you have an obligation to see it through. You can't set yourself up as the city's protector and then bail once the going gets tough. That's not what a hero does."

Jiro tried to crawl away from Alex, but Alex drove a kick into his abdomen. "Either stand up as Blaziken Man, or don't stand up at all!"

Jiro's eyes hardened, and his jaw set. He heaved himself to his feet with a roar and punched Alex across the face. Alex reeled a few paces backward and grinned. "That's what I'm talking about!"

"You don't get to talk down to me like that," Jiro hissed. He squared his shoulders and brought his fists up. "I may not be Blaziken Man anymore, but I don't have to take this from you!" He lashed out with a punch, but Alex sidestepped and caught the older man's fist. He tracked down Jiro's arm and pivoted, using Jiro's weight and momentum against him and sending him careening into the couch. Jiro stumbled over the back, and the Ronin scoffed as he struggled to his feet. Alex saw something flicker in Noriko's eyes, almost cracking her stoic visage.

"You're getting rusty, old man. Maybe you ought to get the suit out after all." Alex smirked. "If you can't even handle me, what are you going to do when Dominion shows up here?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Are you kidding? If an upjumped kid from Avenbrooke and a grungy vigilante can get through the security around your fortress of solitude, it's going to fall apart like wet paper when Dominion decides to come for you." Alex shrugged. "Whatever else happened at the compound that night, you bloodied her nose, and she's going to want to settle the score. Once she checks off a few more things on her to-do list, she'll be on your doorstep, whether you retire or not. So either you can sit up here moping until she comes around to tie up some loose ends, or you can finish what you started, put on the damn suit, and take the fight to her."

"I…"

"For Arceus's sake!" Alex cried. "The Jiro Sasaki I idolized wouldn't have pulled this crap. What happened to that guy five years ago after the Crown Royale bombing, the one who said he'd take on all seven Sins himself if the police weren't going to do anything about it? What happened to the only man that Marcus Braun feared? What happened to the guy who was willing to charge right into Dominion's bunker with no backup because he was afraid the people following him might get hurt?

"What happened to Blaziken Man, huh? Because all I see is a pathetic coward, a selfish bastard who's willing to let good people and pokemon die just because he lost once."

Jiro's expression darkened and he swung out at Alex again. This time, Alex didn't dodge, and simply brought his hand up to catch Jiro's fist, closing his fingers around the older man's in an iron grip. Jiro winced in pain and glanced towards Masakado. The Blaziken vaulted over a chair, only to be tackled out of the air by Muramasa and pinned to the ground. Alex tightened his grip and pushed, forcing Jiro to his knees. He didn't let go until he felt the small bones in Jiro's hand start to shift and pop under his fingers.

When he disengaged, Jiro bowed his head. "If you want to quit, then quit," Alex said. "The rest of us are going to keep fighting, even if you've given up. But if Dominion comes for you, you're on your own." He started to turn, but Jiro raised his left hand.

He flexed his fingers, and something whirred on the opposite side of the room. A red and gray gauntlet shot across the apartment and affixed itself to Jiro's hand, the repulsor on the palm humming with latent power. Jiro swung out with a left hook, and Alex dropped his weight to duck under the punch. Alex heard a hum, and another gauntlet shot across the room, affixing itself to Jiro's right wrist.

The powered gauntlets supplemented Jiro's strength, and the other man had the advantage of height and reach. For most people, that would have been enough to end the fight then and there, but Alex had been the smaller, weaker guy in plenty of dust-ups, and he'd only gotten better at grappling since becoming Hawlucha Man. When you went up against a bigger opponent with a longer reach, you had to get in close, to rob him of the advantage and maybe even turn it into a handicap.

He slipped inside Jiro's guard and tracked outside, seizing Jiro's arm above where the gauntlet ended. The larger man couldn't reach all the way across his body to fend Alex off with his other hand, so Alex took his opening and elbowed Jiro in the ribs. As Jiro staggered away, Alex pivoted into a roundhouse kick, but Jiro threw up his gauntleted forearm to block.

"Kid," the Ronin growled. "Your stitches…"

"They took 'em out last week," Alex replied through clenched teeth.

"Oh. Well, carry on."

The steel back plate of Jiro's armor flipped across the room and anchored itself to Jiro's back. When Alex came in again for another flying kick, Jiro spun and presented his armored back to Alex as his chest plate flew into place and engaged with a hiss. As Alex continued to rain blows on Jiro, more pieces of his armor flew up from around the room and attached themselves to Jiro's body. Soon, the suit's pauldrons, leg pieces and greaves had all attached themselves to the other components.

Alex retreated a pace as Jiro grabbed his beaked helmet from atop the apartment's refrigerator and slammed it onto his head. The visor slid down, and the eye lenses flashed. Jiro settled into a ready boxing stance, but Alex spread his arms wide in surrender.

"Doesn't look like you're ready to hang up the suit."

Jiro looked down at himself and flexed his fingers. The repulsors on his palms hummed as energy from the suit's power cells coursed through them. "I suppose not."

"Feels good, huh?"

Jiro's visor lifted, and he smiled. "It does. Maybe… maybe I was wrong."

"Sir," Noriko said from the doorway. "Does this mean we have you back?"

Jiro nodded. "Yes. I'm back. I don't think I'm suited for retirement anyways."

Noriko raised an eyebrow, as close as she ever got to genuine expression. "Wonderful, sir. Shall I schedule a press conference to deliver the good news?"

"Too tame. If Blaziken Man is going to blast back onto the scene, I've got to do it in style." He turned to Alex. "What do you say? Are you ready to suit up with me?"

"Uh, yeah," Alex said. "About that… I'm going to need a favor."