Locked Aura

by TundraStanza

Ch. 5: Triple Drive Check

If wishes were instant fixes, the whole hive would have been back to full health by the next day. That was simply not the case. While he was in this drained state of being, Xavier could not produce more than a few Heal Pulses. It didn't matter how much he mentally sang or how positive his thoughts were.

He had offered the last pulse to Pharynx, but the commander declined. Pharynx reasoned that as long as the squad drones were temporarily indisposed, it wouldn't matter how healthy he was alone. Instead, he gave Xavier the order to heal up Purple and Blue. Those two had seemed to 'adopt' Xavier aside from Thorax.

After healing those two as well as he could by dividing up the energy from one pulse, Xavier hobbled around with his staff as an impromptu cane. With half of the hive either injured or tending to the injured, it was pretty quiet in the rest of the chambers. In his slow walk, he saw no changelings in the mess hall, training court, or even the throne room.

His slow walk brought him to a rocky ledge. This ledge curved around to the top of one of the hills that surrounded the hive. After a few more limping steps, the Lucario found the view at the top. The surrounding plant life was looking larger since the day he arrived. It was kind of out of place in the midst of the drier badlands. He slowly looked around at the horizon.

A pink pinpoint twinkled in the corner of his vision. He gasped, jumping out of the way, just in time for that pink pinpoint to grow into a rush of energy. The incoming object crashed into the hilltop, turning the rocky peak and ledge into a flying cloud of dust and pebbles. As Xavier slid down the hill, he grunted against the pain of his worn out paws.

Danger! He mentally called out to anyone he hoped was within shouting distance. Distant enemy along the East horizon!

Xavier clenched his teeth at the foot of the hill, holding his staff with one paw and his chest with the other. He squinted while trying to sense any potential auras. In the distant chambers behind him, a few flickers in the shape of changelings were flying as fast as they could. Others, however, were stuck in what could only be their injured state. Meanwhile, in the lands way out in front of himself, several flames surrounding hollow entities were closing in fast. Some ran on two legs. Others stomped on four thin points, like an imitation of bones.

Defense Pattern: Wild Scarab! He called out while clearing his mind. "Rucaaarrrr!"

The multiple colors of the Lucario's Psychic attack spread to the nearly see-through enemies. Many were flung backward and up and around. However, several more were charging in to take their place. Xavier limped along and focused his staff into its Bone Rush form. He panted from the exhaustion of his previous fight.

A swarm of the changelings able to battle was zigzagging back and forth, knocking some of the shimmering enemies off balance. When the opportunity rose, one or two of the changelings up front redirected blades before disarming the ghostly beings entirely. The only sound of response from the invaders was a cross between hissing and low-pitched chuckling.

Dark pink projectiles fired from the invaders' leader who was standing atop a hill. Xavier could barely make out an outfit of tan with pieces of blue and red before the arrows started flying. His side's swarm was knocked out of formation by one of the large projectiles exploding on contact. Ten changelings fell to the ground at random plants and spots. The rest were too spread out to make a dent in the invading forces.

Perhaps it was a miracle or sheer insanity, but the leader's arrows started going through members of his own side. In either case, one large energy arrow was coming right for Xavier. He started spinning his Bone Rush in front of him as rapidly as he could. When the projectile impacted with his laser-esque staff, it forced him to slide his hind paws along the ground for several feet. That extra wear and tear was not doing him any favors.

Still, the attack pushed him on in spite of his paws crying out in pain. He growled, grunted, and finally howled when the arrow exploded and sent him crashing through one of the hive walls. The Lucario was sent for a tumble as his staff landed next to him, back in its normal state. He finally stopped chest-spike down.

A light shimmered in Xavier's convenient tuft of fur. He grunted as he pulled out the card and broadly called out. At this point, I will accept help from anyone. There's a man with a lethal bow, shooting what looks like energy arrows! His aura resembles a magenta inferno!

Xavier chanced a look up and grunted. Another fierce light arrow was traveling toward him. In his state, his staff was just beyond reach and he didn't have enough time to charge up his Bone Rush. He growled at this entire situation.

"Mac Lir! Perfect Guard!"

The arrow exploded, but at least a foot away from Xavier's position. He exhaled confusion when he saw what was in the way. Some heavily armored person was holding up a ridiculously big shield that resembled obsidian. As soon as he caught a glimpse of the bulgy man, the entity vanished. A set of four hooves walked in front as well as two armored legs of a humanoid.

"Looks like our enemy's a marksman this time," commented the red-hooded mare. "You ready to face him, Anakin?"

"Always, my Vanguard." The other newcomer held up his blade that looked like a broken fork for a sword.

The pony held up a few cards in her hooves. "On Blaster Dark Revenger, I ride! Illusionary Revenger, Mordred Phantom!"

A circle of light surrounded the swordsman. It crashed into him and altered his form in an instant. A fully-garbed prince of a darker world rode an equally shaded horse. With barely a nudge from the mare, the large horse and rider galloped through the battle-torn land. Some smaller energy arrows peppered the ground, forcing them to veer left and right. One of the arrows hit the man's chest piece, causing him to flinch and yet he kept riding.

Meanwhile, the hooded mare flinched and checked a card on top of her deck. Xavier wasn't sure, but he thought he saw a small green square on the top right corner of that card. The mare pointed the card behind herself and a new aura funneled around the Lucario. He was still in pain, but it almost felt slightly fainter. He managed to push himself up onto one hind paw.

What was that just now? He wondered.

"Let's save the yapping for after the fight." She pulled out a card with a different pattern on its back. "Knight of darkness become the heart of a destroyer that may take flight in the future. Stride Generation!" She held her card above her head.

Three light circles of varying sizes flashed around the galloping steed and Mordred. They spun around, creating a brief rainbow of three shades. When the colors broke away, a giant dragon with scales resembling the night sky flew toward the enemy archer. The rainbow of circles somehow carried the mare through the sky in an arc pattern, placing her onto the dragon's back. She pulled two more cards from her pocket.

"Call!"

Two light circles appeared on either side of the dragon. They revealed a dark witch wearing a butterfly mask and a new black swordsman that looked just like Blaster Dark. These two humanoids floated on the turbulence underneath the dragon's wings. Though the energy archer fired wildly at these new enemies, the new tailwind was working against him for the entire time.

The swordsman descended and slashed through the archer's hand. He grunted as his bow was forced to fall to the ground. The witch followed up by casting black fire in the shape of a monster's head. The attack slammed into the archer, causing a kind of pain that forced him to scream deeply.

"Carnivore Dragon attacks!" The mare flipped over three cards. Two of them glowed yellow. "Double critical trigger! All effects to the Vanguard!"

The two shadow paladin humanoids moved in opposite directions out of the way. The giant dragon unleashed three consecutive fire balls, adding to the volume of each other. When the combined blast impacted with the invader, he was knocked off his feet as the hill crumbled backward.

After the attack, the dragon landed on the ground and whooshed out of the physical plane. The mare was sitting on top of the horse and right behind the back of Mordred Phantom. Meanwhile, the partially invisible enemies turned on their heel and vanished into thin air. The mare jumped off her Vanguard and trotted over to the fallen archer.

"I am the stronger one..." He wheezed. "You're supposed to die."

She flipped her hood back, revealing her blond mane. "When you see your fellow Merchants in whatever counts as your afterlife, you can complain to them."

The archer's eyes closed before his body faded from existence.

---

"Name's Céri."

Thank you for helping us. Xavier sat up as well as he could.

"Nah, don't mention it." Céri waved her hoof dismissively. "It was pretty much blind luck."

"You kind of look like one of Princess Twilight's friends." Thorax blinked.

The mare chuckled. "Yeah, I get that a lot. But as much as I look like her, I ain't Applejack. Still, I won't let a few mishaps with Displacement stop me from living."

That's a fair attitude to have. Xavier nodded. So... do you have any idea who those invaders were?

"Not all of them." Céri shook her head. "But I'm pretty sure the ringer for Takumi from a Fire Emblem game was a Merchant, someone who sells innocent-looking objects that actually teleports and sometimes transforms con-goers into something else upon arrival in an alternate Equestria."

There's more than one cause of the Displaced? Xavier's eyes opened a little.

"If what the other victims have told me is right, yes." Céri shuffled her cards slowly. "Some were tricked into buying magical items. Some found a convenient costume piece and put it on, not knowing that was the trigger. Then, some omnipotent beings dragged more humans into different Equestrias to play some cosmic-scale version of a board game for kicks an giggles."

Xavier growled a little. Monopoly for keeps, and we're the cars and wheelbarrows.

"Yeah, that's pretty accurate." Céri idly tapped a hoof against her necklace. "Hopefully the ones toying with your Equestria give it a break for a while. It looks like they hurt you way harder than anything back at my default home."

Thorax sighed. "Yes, it will take time to heal and rejuvenate."

A circle of light appeared under Céri's hooves. "Wish I could stay and help somehow, but it looks like my ride is here. Good luck, y'all." The circle shrank and took the mare with it to somewhere else.
---

The days that followed involved recovery and reconstruction where possible. The downed mother Maulwurf was collected and skinned. It provided ample food for the expanding diet options of the changelings. Additionally, the hide provided enough material to form larger tents while many of the resting rooms were being repaired. A few changelings that used to craft spears for the old changeling army found ways to reuse the beast's bones and forged blunt weapons. They discovered by accident that just one bone could break a nearby boulder in half when tossed at it.

"Are you sure you don't want one, Lucario?" asked Pharynx in passing. "It'd make your bone-shaped laser attack make more sense."

I'm fine with what I have, thank you. Xavier twirled his staff around before holding both of his paws on top of it.

"Whatever, loser." The older changeling continued on his way. "Don't whine to me if we break your stick in practice."

I think I'd be amazed rather than mad. Xavier smiled before following on toe. The creature who holds the weapon is more important than the weapon by itself.

"Yeah, yeah. Walk faster!" called Pharynx while glancing back.
---

The new weapons being used by the promoted changelings soldiers were nicknamed the 'Wurf Maces'. Despite Pharynx's warning, they did not actually break Xavier's staff. That wasn't for lack of trying. After the Lucario held his own against ten armed guard-lings and shoved them away, Pharynx commanded that the next round would be against himself.

Xavier and the commander in chief circled around each other. Pharynx shifted into his favorite, giant bug form and whipped out four Wurf Maces at his opponent. Xavier deflected two of the maces with his staff before sliding under the challenger. The staff glowed and grew into his Bone Rush move, quickly whacking the large creature's remaining four legs. Off-balance, Pharynx landed on top of his own weapons, instinctively jolting him back to his default form.

After willing his staff to cool off, Xavier offered an open paw to his -- for lack of a better word -- trainer. Pharynx sighed and placed his hoof onto the paw in acceptance. The other changelings in the practice chamber applauded at the brief showdown. Pharynx ordered them all to hit the showers, or the bathhouses if the showers were full. As they left, Pharynx levitated the stray weapons to prop up against the walls.

Right after Xavier stepped out of the room, he heard an unfamiliar voice. So you're a Pokemon, huh? Well, answer this call through your key when you get the chance. I want to see your capabilities firsthand.

Xavier slowly nodded and held a paw up to his chest spike. I accept your invitation. When he looked back up, the hive was gone.
---

Author's Note:

Side Objective: Obligatory connection to my other fic The One Who Leads the Way. - Complete

Comments

[Viper Pit]

Their is a Pokemon tag I recommend adding it

[DisplacedWriter]

I'm always searching for Displaced stories, and yet this one managed to slip past me. XD