//------------------------------// // Chp. 8 - Flawed... // Story: Indomitable // by Slendy //------------------------------// |Take a left, there's the pathway!| My living SAT-NAV pointed, with an arm bent around a trunk I redirected myself onto a dirt road, finally kicking up more dust with a clear shot toward the exit. This was it, the first open glade since I got to this world, too bad it was going to be destroyed if I didn't do something. Light crept through the thinning trees, and I immediately flew out of the treeline and past a cottage to my left. Coming up and over the hill, I finally had a view of the town built for many events to come. It was larger than most towns, but thanks to Merry I should have no issue navigating the streets. Peeling my eyes from the colorful view, I rushed toward the large plume of dust that rose among the maze of homes. |The others better be there...| Merry was agitated but worry damped my aura, and the growing tsunami of terror was building. I had to hurry! Come on, faster! Buildings and ponies blurred, my eyesight filled with white flames and blue coloration, my movements were precise, ducking and weaving over objects without breaking a sweat. |We're here!| Merry leapt off my shoulder, and I came to a stop, clearing away the dust while ponies ran for their homes. The epicenter of this rage was before us. Gashes scored the road and houses, some hissing under the corrosive substance. Ahead, a roar bellowed with a howl. A large Timberwolf was suddenly swung toward us, body littered with large gashes that continued to eat away at the bark. The Alpha Timberwolf snarled ahead of me, pawing away at the ground while several smaller wolves came into view from alleyways and a ruined house. I gulped, watching the pack surround the monster that sent a shiver down me. Can I fight Nargacuga again? The body of a T-Rex with large, scaly protrusions lining its back. The body gleamed a variety of emerald and blue shades, with dark grey spikes and horns. Its large, broad tail covered in sulfur yellow crystals. Two beady, dark red eyes glowered back at the pack. The monster merely curved the tail around, biting down on the crystals as the jaws tore away the hardened sulfur, risen to cover half the monster's face was a large, dull-blue, katana-like blade. The Sulfuric Cutting Wyvern, Acidic Glavenus roared. The Alpha challenged it, sending forth several Timberwolves to intercept. With a low spin, the blade swiped the air, blowing the wolves away. With one leg it bent back around, tail crushing another Timberwolf. One pounced, biting into the scales so Acidic simply spun back around, decapitating another while throwing the Timberwolf off. It sliced across the right, then to the left as I rolled away from the rainfall of wood. A powerful thrust shattered another, leaving on the Alpha to face the monster. With a final push, the Timberwolf lunged with all means of attack. Acidic curved the blade, then spun with the elegance of a swordsman, in a single, horizontal slash, the Alpha Timberwolf came crashing down, Acidic flexing out its tail in the end. Now, the head sniffed and eyes locked solely to mine while I raised a stance, Bone Rush active. The acid quickly reformed across the tail-blade, the monster didn't so much as a roar, instead, I only felt interest crawl through its eyes. "You want a real fight..." I spun my bo-staff around in both hands, holding it back while Merry moved to the rooftops. "Come and get me." The second I spoke the serrated monster curved the tail-edge, driving it forward into where I was last seen. Under it my staff struck the edge of the tail, immediately deflecting off the surface, with a swing I lunged up, striking along its back with consistent strikes, seeing my staff chip away at scales with ease. The tail pried itself free, pulling away for an attack, only for several blobs of white frubbles to trap Acidic's feet. With a combination I conjured just now, I threw the bo-staff high, cracking both my fists together, lightning crackled in my left, and the chilling air froze around my right. With a one-two punch, the elements tore Acidic free but left a sizable gash for lightning to fry while ice turned the exposed skin black. Acidic roared, immediately spinning once, raining sulfuric slag in a wide arc. I grabbed the aura staff and performed a feint, parrying the thick tail while shaving a number of the crystals. The weight of that tail, not to mention the acid, we could be in trouble... I went for the attack but Acidic side-stepped, lunging with a chomp that locked with my staff, his weight downing me to my knees, those eyes narrowed with unrivaled concentration. The tail swiping once at the buildings as a trail of bubbles struck his back. Releasing me, Acidic clamped down on its tail, sparks flying while I panicked and immediately erected Protect. In a manner unlike any monster, Acidic tore across the street, the tail carved through walls and scored the earth with the remains of the sulphuric crystals. Now, his gleaming blade swished in a hasty 'X' behind it, knocking Merry away. I gasped, diving to my right as the whole body turned, smashing the tail down, then with an almost immediate reaction, the blade crashed down to my left, grazing my forearm. That immediately triggered a number of negative thoughts to build, and with a sharp red wind, my Special Attack rose as I grinned, lunging as a blur of black and blue with my staff in-toe. I slid under its jump that ended in a powerful slam, I blocked the three-sixty slant, driving the point of my staff into its thigh, lunging up and over the tail to spin the staff with a powerful crunch, snapping one of the large spikes adorning its back. Acidic fell over and into a pile of purple spikes that plunged through the scales, poisoning the Wyvern. |If there's one upside to being this, I'm the perfect trapper!| Merry called over, firing another stream of bubbles into the downed monster as I discarded the Bone Rush in favor of straight palm strike to the underbelly, followed with a Quick Attack/Metal Claw combo that tore into the emerald plating of the rising Glavenous, I then saw the panic in Merry's eyes, |Watch it!| My guard was up but the resulting impact smashed me through a window, that was immediately followed by the tail-edge carving through the foundations, dividing the home as I leapt out the window in time for Acidic to slam its forehead into the building, leaving that tail open. My metal claws carved into the weaker scales, the limb flailed to shake me off but I remained long enough for a scarlet kick to the limb seeing cracks web across the bone. That cost me almost instantly as Acidic bit down on my left leg, thrashing me to the ground before kicking me through the dirt, blood was spat in seconds and even with Life Dew, I was still bleeding. Dammit, should have... seen that. Despite my healing, my vision doubled for a moment as that numbness from before came back with twice the nauseating sensation. I swayed slightly, just as something cut off Acidic's attack with an attack, it looked like a purplish-black ball that erupted the second Glavenus sliced it in half. Patting my cheeks, I felt the strange, sickly feeling fade as a new entity stood beside me. |Are you hurt? We came as soon as the chaos began| It was a deep yet smooth voice of an Umbreon, the rings on its head glowed a little I held a thumb up, then noted the hailstorm that now blanketed Acidic, while the acid did melt the growing snow, some flakes clung to the scales, slowing its movements enough for a brown blur to collide with its jaw several times. The whole pack was here! An Eevee with a matching red scarf, and a Glaceon with a rather bemused expression, all of which turned to me. |A Lucario? So other Pokemon do exist here!| The Eevee spoke in a higher pitch, her hazel eyes softened, |I'm sorry we couldn't arrive sooner| She smiled, |Thank you| |Hate to break this but I doubt my ice will keep that thing down for long...| A huff from the Glaceon, she then tapped a paw to Umbreon. |How's he anyway?| |A number of cuts, but other than that he's fine, seems he and Merry know each other| The Froakie in-question kept up her hit-and-run tactics, using Quick Attack to dodge the swing of the tail. |Are you still able to fight?| I nodded, coughing a little. From there, Glavenus peered my way, clearly bored of fighting Merry as it lunged with a horizontal arc, the Eevees scattered and I drew Bone Rush to counter the attack, diving to my right to avoid its follow-up vertical slant It poised the tail down, flicking up as I passed under the legs, vaulting over its body to fire two consecutive Aura Spheres, both of which paired with Shadow Ball and a sharp gust of ice shards. Just then, the acid grew back with its leer and I jumped, sulfur splashing across the road and onto debris, Merry acted immediately and doused the acid in water to dilute the effects. Glavenus bit down on the empty air, missing Glaceon who simply vanished, appearing a second later to crack her back leg against its underbelly, followed by Eevee's Iron Tail that diverted the acidic blade from Umbreon who shot another sphere of darkness, stunning the monster. I quickly dove for Glaceon, raised my staff to block a downward thrust that burned my paws. Grunting I ran while carving the tail above me, pushing up with a spin to imbed my staff into Acidic's foot. It growled, digging the tail-edge through the mud for a wave of corrosive dirt to blind us, using my aura I watched the wave of slag sail through the dust, I slammed my staff to my left, crossing by the monster as both of us turned and poised our weapons, repeating the action immediately with the same burst of spiritual energy and sulphuric acid. Despite the raging aura that spilled from Glavenus, its movements had slowed considerably, and it was panting. It's near its limit, now's our chance! I raised my Special Attack, alongside the sound of clapping hands as a new wave of power flurried deep in my bones. I dropped the aura staff and sprinted toward the beast, the tail slashing a wall of ice and Frubbles from its sight, though a few locked its foot in place while Eevee's tail mimicked the upward slash of Glavenus, spraying acid into the cracks in its armor. Roaring angrily I was overwhelmed by the rage as the tail came twisting round, spearing me in the chest. |Lucario!!| |Heh... Counter| My eyes glowed, and while the acid singed my fur, I held it centimeters from piercing my chest, as the silver light built, turning a sickly yellow as my claws sunk into the crystals, tugging the monster free of the frubbles as I held in my gut and braced against the overpowering body that I threw straight through the remains of a building, burning the monster in its own corrosive rubble. Slowly, I sat on my knee as blood continued to drip from wounds, and that numb feeling spread to my arms, was the corrosive substance poisoning me? I could use some real medicine if my Life Dew doesn't work. I sighed, noting a new group of ponies approaching, one of which I smiled cheekily to. "Sorry I can't jump with joy, I'm a little sore," I pressed my thoughts to Yui, seeing her sigh herself, and while I wanted to finally come face-to-face with the Mane Six something else swam in the sea of blue flames. "Yui... I... think something's wrong." "What?" She ran toward me, and my eyes immediately dilated, as though I used Quick Attack, reality moved with a snail's pace, and my heart thumped in my throat "𝐘𝐮𝐢, 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧!!" My throat tore through the groups of ponies and Pokemon, my arms reached forward as the building's form washed over us with grey and yellow, a deafening cry was heard as I threw Yui away, and a horrific burning impression tore through my body. I landed face-first in the ground, coughing up blood violently while I clutched my side, using Life Dew to at least slow the blood that poured from the wound, my bones were made of steel, but my skin had no such power, nor have I learned how. I bit back a pained cry, hearing the battle continue with the enraged Glavenous that tore apart the street, as I could only feel something cold force my feet further into the mud. My eyes fell to the ponies aiding Yui, that Glaceon sat next to her, she was alive but with a large gash across her right leg, I... wasn't fast enough, why didn't I see it? If not for Glaceon, would she have... died? Another wave of dust threw me into the street again, rubble struck me as I flinched, seeing the jaws of Glavenous snap mere millimeters from my snout as Umbreon bit down on its shin with a shadowy set of jaws, the monster flinched and turned to shake him off. Was I... going to die...? Would they die too...? Just like... My vision clouded and all I could focus on was that tail, how it already reproduced the crystals, my ears rung with the hiss of corrosion in the dirt, despite the attacks it kept trudging toward me, towering over my paralyzed body. They were doing what I swore I'd do for those girls, for Merry, and now... I'm just in the way... when it really counts, when my life's really on the line... I was terrified to die. I was so sure I had gotten stronger since coming here, the speed, strength, agility, foresight with aura, but compared to this single monster, I'm... still too weak. My legs were trembling and my body wouldn't move. I heard Acidic grunt, turning to continue attacking the group that pestered it. But if they kept this up... they'll die before Glavenous would. I can't just sit here, If I didn't move, Merry would... all of them would die! All because of me! Useless bastard! Your resolve breaks once and there's nothing left, is that it!? The power to defeat monsters with your bare hands and this is all you've got!? A dark shadow soon enveloped me, and I lost all focus in my eyes. Tears stung my eyes, Why... can't I save anyone...? To Be Continued...