CHAPTER 1

LIKE THERE WAS ANOTHER OPTION, or: F FOR EFFORT

Kotetsu stared at his ceiling, looking for shapes and patterns in the textured plaster. It was a tough task, since the harder he stared at them, the more they seemed to sway and shimmer like a mirage. It was about as much stimulation as he could handle for the moment, given how heavy, and stiff, and warm, and basically awful he felt.

He'd had worse, of course. In the grand scheme of things, this was nothing - a minor fever, brought on by… whatever causes fevers. Probably all that hand-shaking and autograph-signing and relentless interviewing - all of which Kotetsu would gladly have skipped, but Barnaby insisted he keep every appointment. ("Maintaining a good public image is the second most important part of hero work!" - Feh.)

Not that he would complain about his sudden popularity in the wake of the Justice Day incident. After more than a decade hero-ing in the shadows, Kotetsu was enjoying having an actual fanbase of his own.

But it was tiring! Having people stop you on the street every time you went out to buy rice… It had been fun the first week, but now, three weeks in, he marveled at how Barnaby did it. Was this why he always spent his free time locked away in his apartment alone? And of course it figured that his first day off from public appearances in almost a month, he'd be stuck feeling lousy...

Oh - there! That plaster wrinkle looked like Keith's dog when it wavered to the left...

His wristband beeped at him. Agnes. An escaped arsonist with two, maybe three accomplices. She wanted them all in pursuit.

Good, he thought, despite his aches and exhaustion. After their mixed bags of results of their first seven - eight? - outings, Tiger and Bunny needed an opportunity to climb up the scoreboard. Especially Bunny, who for some reason seemed more points-happy than ever now that he was back on the First League again.

"On my way," Kotetsu confirmed, forcing himself up with a groan. Okay, Kaburagi Kotetsu, he told himself, you can do this. Time to go be a hero.

He paused inside the door of their prep van to catch his breath. Hurrying had been harder than he'd expected. Barnaby was in the seats, already suited up. He looked annoyed - but then Kotetsu thought he always looked annoyed these days. "It's been almost twenty minutes. We'll be lucky if the chase isn't over by now. Did something happen?"

"Sorry," Kotetsu huffed, trying to grin. "I, uhm… I had a call from Kaede." He cringed inwardly at himself. Using your daughter as a fake excuse for your own slow feet? He wasn't even sure how the excuse made sense. But it worked. Barnaby's expression softened. Before any other comments could be offered, he hurried over to Saito's suit-up machine. "I only need two minutes!"

By the time he'd squeezed into his armor, the van was racing into position on the Silver West Expressway. Kotetsu found Barnaby by the back bay prepping their bikes. "Ready, old man?"

"Ready when you are, Lil' Bunny," he said, climbing into the sidecar - and for once grateful for the chance to just sit and let Barnaby take control. "What's everyone's status?"

"The criminals are on foot down on Bronze. They already evaded Sky High and Dragon Kid. Fire Emblem is in pursuit. No sign yet of the others."

"Good," Kotetsu said. If Karina froze them in an ice blast, this would all be for nothing. They needed to at least make an appearance and put in an effort before that happened.

"WILD TIGER!"

Kotetsu flinched as Saito's voice screamed in his headset. "Saito! Turn it down, would you?"

"...IS THIS BETTER?"

Only a little. "Yes. Better. Thanks. Now, what?"

"YOUR HERO SUIT IS SENDING BACK UNEVEN READINGS. I'M SEEING ELEVATED BODY TEMPERATURE AND IRREGULAR HEART RHYTHMS. DO YOU BELIEVE THIS IS A MALFUNCTION? ARE YOU UNWELL?"

Kotetsu swallowed, his heart thudding harder at having been discovered. Not that he was hiding. Was he? He hadn't thought this far ahead. He only knew that, three weeks into being back on the First League (and three weeks into having fans, and three weeks into being Barnaby's partner again), ignoring Agnes's call was not an option. And screwing up wasn't an option, either.

Barnaby asked, sounding annoyed again, "What's going on? Are you ready or not?"

Kotetsu shook his head at them both. "It's fine, Saito, get off my helmet." What did I just say? "Go, Bunny."

Barnaby revved the motor and flipped the switch to open the bay doors. "Kotetsu, everything's okay?"

"Yep. Let's go."

Barnaby took his cue. They exploded out the back of the van and merged into traffic just in time to fire down the ramp to Bronze.

The criminals weren't NEXTs, but they also weren't idiots - and they knew this part of West Bronze.

At first it looked like they'd have an easy arrest when Barnaby chased them toward an alley. They'd pulled this trick off with success last week. Kotetsu would jump off the bike and pursue them down the alley on foot, while Barnaby zipped around the block and trapped them at the other end. Kotetsu didn't love the idea of a foot-chase, but he figured he could handle a quick sprint down an alley, especially if it meant an easy arrest.

Unfortunately, the arsonists knew what they were doing. Before Barnaby had re-appeared to trap them, they'd jumped up a fire escape and ducked into the adjacent building through a broken window.

Kotetsu sighed up at the metal staircase. At least the cameras couldn't follow them inside. The only one who would see him falling behind would be Bunny. Small comfort.

And fall behind he did. In seconds, Barnaby had outstripped him. Kotetsu huffed and puffed and struggled to keep him in sight as they wove through the halls of the abandoned warehouse. "Barnaby!" he called. "We're going to have to activate our powers to catch up to them."

"We should wait until we've chased them outside again where the cameras can get it," Barnaby called back over his shoulder. "Come on, old man, we can catch them!"

"Bunny-!" Exasperated, Kotetsu ignored the heat in his own breath and dug down deep for extra energy. He couldn't run and argue.

He'd known it was a long-shot request. These days Barnaby was freshly interested in both points and popularity ("We only increase the public's trust in NEXTs if our heroics end up on the show.") Not only that, but also "team-action". "Team-action" was Barnaby's new mantra. Everything they did on the show, they had to do together. Team attacks, team rescues, team poses. Kotetsu liked being Barnaby's partner, but this strategy meant that Barnaby was hampering himself - only making use of one fifth of his Hundred Power time. Wouldn't a better plan be to let Barnaby do the criminal-catching while Kotetsu focused on protecting bystanders? But Barnaby would not be convinced that this was a smart strategy. ("We're partners, the audience expects us to do things together!" - Again: Feh.)

Eventually the complex of offices led to an open space - an old factory floor in disuse. They had a clear view of the fleeing arsonists, but they were already on the far side of the building. Maybe Barnaby could catch up to them as they reached the street, but Kotetsu knew it was hopeless for him.

Bunny wasn't going to like this, but too bad for Bunny. "I'm going for it." Kotetsu activated his powers. All of his exhaustion was momentarily subsumed by that familiar, welcome rush of energy. "Hundred Power activated! Countdown!" came the digital voice in his ear, and a small sixty-second timer appeared in his helmet display.

"Yes!" He lined himself up, dug deep again, and launched himself at the culprits.

"Tiger!" Barnaby cried as he rocketed past him.

One of the downsides - or upsides, depending on the situation - of his declined abilities was that sometimes, unexpectedly, he got an extra boost to his power. This was one of those sometimes. The extra speed almost sent him into a head-over-heels tumble - he cried out and flailed - thank goodness there were no cameras. He kept his feet, but lost control over his trajectory…

He slammed into one of them - managed to trap him in his arms - and then smashed through a window and onto the pavement.

Kotetsu lifted his head and saw his captured arsonist groaning on the street nearby. Luckily Kotetsu had taken the brunt of the impact with the glass, so the man didn't have any serious lacerations, and probably wasn't too badly bruised.

Staring up at sky, Kotetsu saw a Hero TV helicopter hovering above them. How will this play on the show? he wondered. And then Barnaby was standing over him with his hands on his hips. "Well, at least you got one of them," he said. His tone was less than congratulatory.

Kotetsu grimaced. "The other one's all yours. I better stay here and turn this guy into the police." With only about forty seconds left on his clock, he wouldn't be much help to Barnaby now… in fact he might even be a burden. And really, he just wanted to stay where he was. Except for all the places his hero suit dug into him at funny angles, it was nice to be horizontal again. "Go get him, Bunny!"

Barnaby seemed to hesitate. What did he want, more 'team action'? Kotetsu only had thirty seconds now. Maybe they could 'team pose' or 'team nap on the pavement'.

"Barnaby, what are you waiting for? Get moving!"

Barnaby nodded, and disappeared. Kotetsu gave a feeble thumbs up to the video chopper.

His arsonist scrambled to his feet. Well, Kotetsu sighed, at least he's not injured. He rolled over and tackled him to the ground again. "Nice try."

The guy shouted vulgarities at him. He was obviously going to be a handful, so Kotetsu cuffed him to a lamppost using a metal bar from the busted window. Then he struck a heroic pose - at least he could still do that - and waved at the video chopper again. Hopefully they'd use that footage instead of the video of Barnaby standing over him while he'd lain in the street like a beat-up grandpa.

He was just glad he'd scored some points this time. Barnaby may not have liked the tactics, but he couldn't argue with the results.

That was when he heard the engine.

Kotetsu whirled. Someone in a mask behind the wheel of a car, barreling down on him. "Uahhh!" He spun again, looking for escape. Run? Dive sideways? The street was so narrow… He spotted a ledge above. Good, he could swing away. Kotetsu aimed his wrist cable at it, fired, pulled-

SLAM! First he was smashed onto the hood of the car, tumbling backward up the windshield. Then he was catapulted forward, a ragdoll jumble of limbs and military-grade plastic. His cable - extra strong and durable, thanks for that, Saito! - ripped at his arm before disengaging from the bricks above him.

Finally, the unrelenting crush of the pavement. He skidded to a halt somewhere down the street.

Kotetsu lay there, defeated, staring at the sky again, watching the last few seconds of his Hundred Power tick down. Five. Four. Three. "Good Luck Mode!" his suit declared, and the gadgets hidden in the armor around his right arm, currently pinned beneath him, all needlessly activated. Two. One.

He felt his power leave him - and his fever come flooding back. He groaned. At least they'd hit him before his powers had finished, since it had saved him from real injury. But he'd been achy before, and now...

The car engine again. These guys didn't give up. Kotetsu crawled out of the way just in time - the car whizzed past him.

And had he seen two people in there? He looked back at the lamppost.

No more captured criminal.

Kotetsu sat up, grimacing at a sharp ache in his shoulder, and tapped his comms. "Hey, Bunny," he said, deflated. "Mine got away. Two of them are in a car - small, green…" He reached up to scratch the back of his head and winced at the movement. "...probably dented on the front. Heading north from where I had him."

Barnaby's frustration was audible in the silence that preceded his terse reply: "I understand."

Kotetsu put a hand on the wall and dragged himself upright. He knew he should find a way to get back into the chase - heroes don't give up! - but inertia was a powerful force. At this point even putting one foot in front of the other felt like an uphill battle. He wondered if Mr. Legend had ever had a day like this.

"Are you in pursuit?" Barnaby wanted to know.

Heroes don't give up. "I will be!" he would say, with enough conviction to convince even himself it would be easy.

But the words stuck in his throat. Running after them was pointless. He couldn't use his cables - not with his shoulder screaming at him. Even if he could muster the energy to hurry back to his bike, his sixty seconds of usefulness wouldn't refresh for another hour. Heroes don't give up… "Kotetsu?"

"Not this time, Bunny." With a heavy, dejected sigh, Kotetsu started his long trudge back up the street.

So much for not screwing up.