Kotetsu was in major trouble. On his knees in front of the man he'd looked up to as a kid...

'I just...just...until morning...'

"Ahh, what was that?" a foot met his face with a crunch for what was probably the fourth time, and he would have been spitting out teeth if not for his timely duck. Instead, his face slammed into the mud, and he choked on a mouthful. "I'm sorry, I don't speak to traitors..."

He couldn't see Jake's smile as he pushed his face further into the sludge, but he knew it was there. A sharp kick enhanced with a blast of blue to his side flung him from the muck and into a nearby wall. Blood dribbled down his chin. It hurt to breathe, and he had to cough, but he still staggered to his feet.

"I'm not...going to..." he leaned against the wall, clutching his ribs, 'broken, no doubt'. And closed his eyes, a huge mistake-

Barriers slammed into him, one after the other. "You honestly thought that you would get away with this?" Concrete pebbles pinged off of his head as the dent in the huge stone wall got bigger and bigger with each successive hit. "No one gets away unpunished~" Jaked chided, though he wasn't listening, having to focus his full attention on simply staying concious. "You know, I liked you. You had potential. I see that that means nothing to you; you're nothing but a piece of trash now." He only had a second of rest before Jake got up close and personal, jamming his nose into the side of his muddy face. "You know what happens to people who betray me, don't you?" there was a second pause before-"Bang." he whispered in his ear mischeviously. Kotetsu's eyes widened, 'Oh FUCK-' before a final sharp blast cut into his right side, shattering what remained of his suit and splattering blood onto the wall.

He slumped down against the wall, vision blurry, leaving a trail of red behind him.

"You can come and collect him now, Heroes. I'm done~"

'Oh...fuck...this isn't good.'

"His heart rate is dropping!"

The whir of wheels, lying down. A soft groan. Focus on breathing.

"We're still loosing blood fast; prepare for a blood transfusion, now!"

'I can't-'

"Bonjour, Heroes."

His hand twitched, and his eyelids fluttered, and he immediately regretted even waking up. Every single cell in his entire body was singing with pain. He groaned unhappily. "We've set up the jammers. I want you to take out those Mad Bears controlling the exosuits..." he couldn't understand the rest of whatever he was saying, but didn't let it bother him. He remembered to breathe. "Blue Rose, take North Bronze. Dragon Kid, you've got South-"

What were they talking about? Mad Bears? He groaned again, and lifted his hand to his face, feeling the oxygen mask. Oh yeah. Those ugly things that Kriem-

Kotetsu's memory came rushing back with a whir that made his head hurt, and he groaned again. "Fire Emblem, you go-"

"I'm going too." It was muffled, though it got everyone's attention. The mask came off, 'Shit, even breathing hurts'. "I'm going too," he repeated, a bit deliriously, and sat up to an entire symphony from his body, and had to resist the urge to lie back down quickly and pass out again. "Where should I go?" His vision swam a bit, but that was nothing to be concerned about, as long as he was careful.

"WHAT? Are you crazy-?"

"-Mr. Wild Tiger, you're in no condition to be-"

"Kotetsu-"

He slid gingerly off the bed, and took the IV out of his arm. "I can't...lie down while you guys do all the work." he staggered forward a few steps, having to put his head between his knees to avoid puking. The world was spinning, and it was making him dizzy, like a bad roller coaster ride that he couldn't get off. "Agnes, I have to go-"

"Will you cut it out?" Karina's voice brokw him out the stupor he was in, trying not to be sick all over the floor. "You'll just be a burden if you come! Totally useless!"

Agnes sighed. "This is no time to be fighting."

Karina ignored her. "You're Barnaby's partner, aren't you? You should be thinking of a way to help him defeat Jake!"

Jerking and almost falling over, he groaned unhappily but he managed to stand up straight again. Karina had already hung up on him, but it didn't matter. "Stupid kid...that's why I need to go..."

"Blue Rose is right. Just stay put for now, you idiot." ah that was Antonio. Good to see that he was Okay, even though he was wearing a neck brace.

Another wave of nausea crashed over him, though it had nothing to do with his injuries, and he hand to pitch to the floor, bracing himself on his gurney. The TV was broadcasting Barnaby's fight with Jake, and the blonde...wasn't looking so good. Was he that worried? "D-Damn it...Say...while I was out, did Bunny manage to land any hits on Jake?" he recieved an entirely negative answer.

"How did you do it?"

"Huh?"

Ivan shifted on the chair. Oh, he was looking better, too. That was good. "You're the only one who has landed a hit on Jake. How?"

Kotetsu looked away. "I think...that I might have figured something out." he lied. "That's why I need to go. Bunny won't be able to do anything against him. He's far too rash, and thinks too much about everything he does. Jake will be able to see right through him."

"What?"

The TV interrupted them, Jake's voice ringing in their ears. "Did I ever say that I only had one power?" Koetesu winced when he laughed, but wasn't surprised at all, unlike the other occupants of the room he was in. He couldn't even force himself to act shocked, not with Bunny being manhandled right in front of him like that. "Oops, that's all the hints you're getting. Come on, Bunny-boy. Let's play some more!" Alright, that did it, Kotetsu was officially pissed off now.

Antonio growled in frustration before yelling: "What hints? He's obviously mocking us!"

"Well, one thing's for sure." Kotetsu sighed, and moved to stand up again now that he wasn't feeling so much sick as as worried out of his mind. "I'm right. His second power is what's stopping us from hitting him."

"What, you mean you figured it out? His second power?"

He didn't answer, but as soon as he tried to stand, his body immediately refused him, and collapsed back down, panting hard. Shit, the drugs that they gave him must be wearing off, or something. "...Ugh. I have to tell Bunny, right away." at this rate, he definitely wasn't going anywhere right now, though.

"You're a wreck! It has to be—"

Kotetsu cut off his friend, as much as it pained him to talk right now. "No. It has to be me. Sorry, Antonio." he fought to control his breathing, and, when he was calm enough, reached for his Hundred Power with a yell. "I...have to go. See? Good as new." he panted when the blue faded from intense light to the glow of a regular NEXT, and then back to nothing at all, having exchanged the rest of his time for an even faster recovery. He slipped on his shirt, vest and tie, making sure to mask the pain that was still there. He could only do so much; the little cuts and bruises were healed, sure, but the big one, from when Jake tore a hole through his side was pretty hard to repair, even with the Hundred Power. It wasn't the best, but it was certainly better than nothing, though the morphine or whatever had completely worn off thanks to it. There were concequences to these things, after all.

"It can't be...you used your Hundred Power to accelerate your healing?" Keith looked pretty shocked. Well, it was kind of amazing.

He smiled. "Yeah. A full recovery. Don't worry about me..." his smile turned into more of a grimace, as the remaining wound gave a painful twinge and he made for the door. "Well, see you." Kotetsu was honestly just grateful that Antonio hadn't stopped him. Once he rounded the corner away from the room, he had to lean against the wall for support, clutching his side gently. He brough up his wrist and pressed a few buttons. "Hey, Dr. Saito? I need a favour."

"Hey, you Okay? Bunny."

The other jerked away from him as if he'd been set on fire. "What?" His words were watery. Had he been crying? The blonde cleared his throat softly. "Old man! What are you doing here? Have you come to get in my way again?" Ouch, that stung, he winced a little, but the small smile soon returned to his face. Bunny swayed a bit before collapsing to his knees. "What about your injuries?"

He couldn't lie to his face; Kotetsu looked away and laughed a bit. "Oh those? Not a huge deal." Jake yelled something that he couldn't bring himself to pay attention to. The brunette grimaced as his partner turned away from him, ready to jump back into the fray, and thought what he thought should be intensely distracting things, just in case. He wasn't going to fuck this up again. "Wait."

"So you have come to get in my way again." The blonde scoffed. "I don't have time for this-"

"I know Jake's other power." Bunny stopped dead in his tracks, turning to stare iredeculously at him. 'Carrots, turnips, roast beef, cats-' Kotetsu closed his eyes, but quickly opened them again, having learned his mistake once before. "He can hear your movements, and predict where you're going to attack. Super-hearing." Barnaby stared at him like he'd grown a second head, and he was tempted to laugh at him. 'Come on, Kotetsu, you can do this. Autumn, weddings, dinosaur, pickles-' "Take this. A gift from Dr. Saito—a special ultrasonic grenade. Attack him after you wreck his ears with this."

Bunny stared at him, and then at the grenade that he placed in his hand. "...I can't trust you." He turned away, and began walking to the edge again. So they really were fucked, huh? Well, he'd tried his best. He pressed his hand against his side again, cringing at the pain. Shit, this was his nicest vest, too. That was never going to come out. 'Gay porn, asparagus.' it was pretty useless now, but well, just in case it went off..."Because you didn't trust...me..." Bunny paused, and then stopped walking altogether. "Is that...blood?"

He turned around faster than he'd ever seen someone do so before, and it was faster than Kotetsu could bring himself to drag his hand away from his bleeding side. And awkward, sheepish laugh escaped him before he could stop it, and he continued to think up different ridiculous things. At this distance, Jake should be focusing his entire attention on Barnaby, but on the off chance that he wasn't...it was better to not take the risk. "You idiot! Your body will-!"

"Just trust me, Okay-!" There really was too many explosions cutting their conversations short, these days. It was getting a bit ridiculous. He could only pray that Barnaby had heard him, because, no doubt, Jake had already noticed him. He really was trying his hardest to think of distracting things, but he was running out of random, unrelated shit. On his knees and panting, he took off his vest and shirt, not wanting to stain either of them furthur. The black of his tattoo stood out against his skin, and though his shorts had covered it earlier, his low-cut dress pants certainly did not. He draped his shirt over his belly, examining the leaked through bandage that remained, completely useless now.

It was probably best to leave it on. He didn't really want to see the extent of the damage done.

A piercing screech—the ultrasonic thing, yes! Bunny had believed him!-rang through the air, and he wasn't sure weather to laugh or grimace. His pounding headache was bad enough, he didn't need that crazy thing on top of things. He worked his way to the edge, and saw Bunny get slammed away with another barrier, and stood-

He covered his eyes just in time for the blaze of light that came afterwards. "NOW, BUNNY!" and he could hear the impact of his partner's kick from here, as well as a scream that got closer and closer. Jake Martinez slammed into the metal roofing now three feet away from him, Bunny following quickly after. He had the presence of mind to put his shirt back on, leaving the vest draped over his exposed stomach for now. "Hi." he said cheerfully from his position on the ground when Bunny stopped strangling Jake for a second to stare at him. "Don't mind me, just asessing the damage."

Their attentions, however, were quickly reverted back to the situation at hand. "W-wait" Jake rasped, hands coming up to clutch at Barnaby's arms, though it was pretty much in vain. "Don't...don't kill me! You're a Hero, aren't you?" Barnaby hesitated, and looked at Kotetsu, who was still lying on the ground, but he didn't say anything.

Barnaby dropped him, and after several fits of coughing from the man, Kotetsu smiled at his partner. "There's no need to thank me."

"I wasn't going to!" Kotetsu made a small sound of confusion before it was explained to him. "Why did you trick me? You should have just told me it was a stun grenade in the first place!"

Jake was still coughing, and Barnaby placed a foot on his chest to keep him exactly where he was. "Oh." Kotetsu grinned. "That. Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep secrets in your own head? He would have figured out the plan instantly if I had told you." Bunny just kind of stared at him as he buttoned up his shirt, but left it untucked. Kotetsu stood, and clapped him on the shoulder. "You still don't get it? You're pretty slow today, Bunny-chan. He can read minds."

"How did you-"

The distinctive thrum of a helicopter interrupted them. "Hand over Master Jake! Have you forgotten that we have hostages? Do you not care what happens to the people of this city?"

"Ehehe, too bad!" Jake rasped, staggering to his feet and startling them both. "Traitors always get what they deserve, you know, Kotetsu. You wanna know so much about Ouroboros, eh kid?" He looked at Barnaby, who was understandably extremely confused, "Why don't you ask your fucking friend?" he spat, and Kotetsu's heart plunged into his stomach and instantly regretted advocating for this rat's life. Whoa, he seriously hadn't thought this through, had he? Shiiit...

Bunny looked at him, and then back at Jake, "What are you saying...?"

He tried to think of someway to damage control the situation, but it was amazing how blank his mind could be at the most inoppertune moments. 'You don't want to do this.' he thought furiously, and tried to keep his oncoming panic attack under control. 'I just saved your life, you ungrateful twat, you don't want to do this!' "Ohh, 'you don't want to do this, you don't want to do this," Jake mocked with a leer. "Why don't you just tell him, you pussy? I mean, you've already fu-"

Blue Rose's voice rang through the loundspeaker, and cut off that particularly vulgar sentence, thank God. "Hi, this is Blue Rose. We've taken care of those nasty mobile suits. That means, no more hostages~" She winked at the camera. Fire Emblem and Dragon Kid each made a cameo, before the camera cut off.

Jake cursed like a sailor of the particulairly surly and intoxicated variety. The whole thing was very dramatic, really, but Kotetsu couldn't really pay attention, mind still swimming. "Kriem! Catch me!"

Oh, that was new. The man leapt off of the bulding like a thing possesed, and Tiger finally snapped out of it. "Oh, no you don't" The wire shot out of the gadget on his wrist before he could do anything else. He needed to think these things through more, sometimes. It latched on to his target perfectly, and he skidded along the roof, wincing and clutching his side. "...Ugh, shit! Ow!"

"His hip, kid!" Jake yelled up at the blonde with a grin. "Get a good look a Kotetsu's hip. Now, you, get te fuck outta my wayyyy!"

A blue barrier was aimed poorly. It whizzed by Kotetsu's head, and smashed into the helicopter above. Oh son of a bitch. "How to I undo this thing, fuck." he scrambled to get the gadget off of his wrist, managing to undo the clasp that held the wire in place just in time for the helicopter to throw Kriem out of the window and go down with Jake, resulting in a spectacular, firey crash.

That was the last thing on his mind. Barnaby looked at him, but he couldn't bring himself to meet his eyes.