Wardens Eternal
Chapter Twenty-Three: Battle for the Gulf
At dawn, Martian awoke as the sunlight began to slowly drive the night out of the village, briefly pausing to stretch and again going through all his items. Satisfied, the lone Warden emerged from the edges of the swamp and took the main road into town. The lone rattata guard at the gate tried to collect the visitor's tax, but quickly let the lion through after a display of bared teeth. The punk immediately knew that it couldn't even hope to match the intruding warrior one on one.
That said, the punks did have numbers, as four yungoos carelessly ran towards the luxio with the intent of turning back the intruder with a rapid show of force. The four normal types all lunged into the air at once, combining their four Tackle attacks into one. The moment before impact, the electric type raised his shield and braced against it blocking all four hostiles and bringing their momentum to a complete stop. A lot of the witnesses were puzzled by the foreigner's unusual adaptation of the move Protect. Most pokemon used Protect to create a protective bubble around themselves to defend from all angles, this warrior's variation seemed to more closely resemble the shields that ancient humans fought with. Not just for defense, but also a tool for offense.
Having thwarted the hostiles' foolish charge, Martian pushed the four rodents back with his shield to get enough room to twist and bring his Iron Tail to bear, smashing three out of the way in a single swing. The last of the four tried to retaliate with a Bite attack, only to be swatted aside midair by the lion's metallic clad claws.
"Looky here, seems we got ourselves a hero!" One of the visiting Scrafty announced as it and a few of it's Scraggy buddies emerged from one of the huts, a few stumbling under the effects of a hangover. It seemed like the visiting dark/fighting types had quite a party last night at the villagers' expense, it was about to cost them.
"Your mine hero!" The Scrafty slurred his challenge as he stormed over, "Here kitty kitty! I got a little birdy to feed you!"
Martian remained still as the drunk made it's way over, almost ignoring it until it was close enough to try and throw a punch. That was the last mistake the thug would make: The Scrafty's punch bounced off the Warden's shield before the lion twisted again and landed a direct Iron Tail onto the side of the drunk's head, stopping him with a loud snap.
The remaining scraggy quickly overcame their hangovers, but not quick enough to fair any better in combat.
It was about then that the rest of the hired thugs showed up. Mostly Yungoos, Rattata, and their evolved forms, though there were some more Scraggy mixed in and a couple unique ones. All in all, Martian was up against about seventy hostiles. No room for error.
That said, the dozen defeated pokemon laying about the ground at the lion's feet did raise some amount of concern in the mob, the rumors whispering in the back of their minds growing noticeably louder. He'd made it here from the West Coast, a trek that would leave most pokemon sore and exhausted, but he didn't show any signs of weakness or strain. Granted, he looked like a mess, his fur all dirty and matted, but he didn't look like he was about to collapse. In fact, he looked willing to take them all on by himself. Not in foolish ignorance either, there was a presence about him, an aura of competence, of someone who knew what he was doing.
Something the next challenger lacked.
"I got this!" One of the brigands boasted as he stepped forward. Another of Lady Winter's Machoke guards, armored vest and shortsword included. The fighting type was supposed to be on duty in the manor, but he chose to slack off. With so many Machoke there already how could the boss realize she was missing one?
"Give it up Kitty!" The Machoke taunted, "You can't beat me! Look at this!" The fighting type tugged on his vest, "Human armor! You know, the stuff that made humans strong enough to battle Legendaries? And look at this sword! I'm going to use it to gut you like a fish!"
"No, you won't," Martian growled. This brute dared to disgrace truly valiant warriors with his perversion of their image? Take a legacy of honor, valor, and duty lasting for centuries and mock it? The offense to his kind caused the former human's blood to boil with rage. True, he wasn't actually a human anymore in the flesh, but that didn't mean Martian wasn't proud to have come from such a mighty and remarkable race.
The Machoke was dead before he could realize his mistake in angering the warrior. Almost in the blink of an eye, the Warden crossed the distance between them, pulled the fighting-type over the shoulder onto the ground and impaled its chest with Metal Claw.
Everyone who watched the sudden takedown recoiled in both fear and shock. They were amazed at how powerful the Warden was and terrified of how brutal and violent he was. For a moment, some of the villagers questioned if the intruder was going to actually save them, or kill them alongside Lady Winter's forces.
The lion struggled for a moment trying to dislodge his paw from inside the deceased machoke's chest before managing to finally pull it out, dripping in dark crimson blood. The realization hit everyone that this was not to be the only blood spilled today. This wasn't going to be some small-time brawl or beatdown like the thugs were used to. Today was going to be an actual fight, an actual war.
Martian turned around to face the opposing force, staring them down as he assessed their warriors with an emotionless expression. For a brief moment, he did glance at some of the villagers gathered on the sidelines from the corner of his eye. With a slow inhale the Warden closed his eyes. . .
His roar was deafening. It dominated the sky with such power and ferocity that it felt like the earth and the sea were yielding to the sound. The battle-cry inflicted absolute panic among Lady Winter's forces, confirming the rumors that had been tormenting them for days. To the villagers however, it had a different effect.
That roar awakened a new side of the villagers, a side long subdued by years of oppression. It flooded each of them with a new desire to take action, to stand and fight for their homes and families. As a bonus, his rallying cry gave them the energy and vigor to make it happen. Gone were the bystanders that accepted their fate, in its place stood an army equal if not greater in size then Lady Winter's men. Their own cheers and cries soon flooded the air.
As the realization dawned on the bandits that the entire community was banding together to fight, they found themselves outnumbered and outflanked. One of the Gumshoos tried to get in a preemptive hit by hurling a pot at the luxio, only to have one of the lion's allies send it right back with Hydro Pump causing the normal type to inhale the poisonous spores meant for the Warden himself. Martian glanced over at said ally and nodded in appreciation.
The following battle would be a turning point in the Southern Gulf's history for generations. . .
Wardens Eternal
As Martians battle cry made its way throughout the manor, Scarlett could see it's effect on everyone in the room. Said effect was to be as expected for the most part, the visiting swine nobles and the remaining guards began looking around in growing fear. The few Steenee that were required to be present and Quillian quickly looked to the red vupix with wide eyes for confirmation.
The young vixen confirmed with a nod as a grin quickly formed on her muzzle, pausing for a moment to reach up and pull a paw full of beads off her head before getting ready to teach her "Beloved" the errors he had made. The only thing that stopped her was her mother.
"It has to be that partner of her's from Treasure Town." The white Ninetails growled as she stood up, "Salamance! Get your tail out there and kill that luxio! I want that cub's head on a wall!"
"Yes M'lady," The Dragon-Type bowed his head before running out the door, leaving them open as he took off. The dragon announced his presence with a roar of his own as he made a few orbits looking for his prey. Scarlett and the others watched from the open doorway as the dragon made a pass with a Hyper Beam, a truly devastating attack. Salamence was the strongest pokemon in the area for a reason.
It was a good thing he missed then, as Scarlett could hear Martian roar again in response to the dragon's challenge. Said dragon came around again for another pass, only for a tiny arc of electricity to shoot up in front of him as it hit the clouds.
"Ha! The bastard missed!" The pignite laughed as he turned away from the doorway, missing the sight of a rapidly forming black stormcloud, "Not that that pathetic little zap would actually do any-"
The colossal sound of thunder accompanying an equally massive and angry bolt of lightning shut the hog up real quick. The lightning bolt launched from the underside of the black stormcloud, slamming into the flying dragon with unmatched fury as it continued for the surface of the earth before hitting a palm tree. Said tree instantly exploded into a shower of splinters and steam. The Dragon-Type didn't fare any better as he fell from the sky in a trail of smoke before crashing into several of the huts that made up the town.
A new wave of cheers and battle cries erupted after the villagers watched the most dangerous of the criminals drop from the sky. With Salamance out of the picture, there was little doubt in their minds that victory was inevitable. The Warden's show of force didn't hurt morale either.
With that out of the way, Scarlett promptly turned around and headbutted the pignite from behind. Martian was going to be in the manor soon enough, the vulpix wanted to make sure it at least seemed like she was trying to keep up. That said, there was no way she could top his Thunder attack, but she could at least try. Besides, she really wanted to give this snot head a piece of her mind before her partner showed up and stole the chance.
The visiting young Nobel quickly picked his face up off the floor and quickly spun around to fight back, but flinched for a moment as Scarlett spun around using her tails to lightly smack him again in the face. With his guard down briefly, the vulpix took the opportunity to get behind him and shove him back toward the door.
The pignite stumbled forward until he tripped over himself and fell down, dazed and confused. None of this made sense! He bought that girl, he owned her! He was her master, his superior in every way. She was his birthday present. This was supposed to be a quick and easy trip overseas to make the deal and be back home by winter. None of this was supposed to happen!
While the son lay on the floor struggling to understand reality, the father quickly became enraged as his chin erupted into flames. Scarlett quickly changed her focus to the much larger hog, diving underneath one of his swinging fists before again pushing her opponent away. Unlike his offspring, the Emboar managed to stay standing as he recovered from the shove roaring in fury as his fiery beard again erupted in a display of rage and power.
At least it did before Scarlett froze his chin with Ice Beam, putting out the beard in less than a second. With the Emboar caught off guard by the fact the ice-type move came from a fire type, the vulpix had plenty of opportunity to run up and smack her head directly against his face.
Again, the elder of the two pigs managed to keep standing as he stumbled. Glaring daggers at the kitsune, the fire-fighting type started to pound the ice on his chin with his fists before the ice finally shattered, allowing his beard to burn yet again. All thoughts of restraint abandoned, the Emboar roared in fury as his whole body became surrounded in a shpere of fire before jumping up into the air.
Heat Crash, his kind's signiture move. Even with her Flash Fire ability negating the fire's effects, Scarlett knew that the much heavier pig could still crush her if he landed the hit. Best to make sure he doesn't land the hit then, a quick Smokescreen was just what Scarlett needed to evade safely. The black smoke stopped the hog from seeing where the vulpix was, but it didn't stop him from hearing where she was.
"You missed me you greasy slab of bacon!" The vulpix taunted. With a quick scoff, the Emboar charged in the voice's direction with Flame Charge. As soon as he emerged from the smoke he realized his mistake: The vulpix wasn't there, but the door outside leading down the stairs was. Scarlett stood just off to the side of the doorway with a mischevious grin as the fire-fighting type sailed past her, out the door, and falling down the stairs. The hog couldn't stop until he reached the foot of the stairs, and the foot of a certain electric type.
The Emboar managed to get on his knees before he threw a punch at the luxio, but the Warden simply caught the fist and held it in place with a bloody paw, before doing the same with the other. Martian let go of the pig's fists before twisting on the spot and smashing the fire-fighting type out of the way with Iron Tail, clearing the way up the stairs to the manor.
Back in the manor, all that remained was the Pignite and the last two Machoke equipped with swords and armor to enforce Lady Winter's rule. The Pignite finally managed to attempt to stand up again, but one of the Steenee maids promptly walked up to him and bashed him on the head with a platter to knock him out.
Second to last Machoke didn't need a platter to the head to conk out, he just fainted on the spot as Martian made his way through the doorway, leaving bloody paw prints on the steps behind him. The last Machoke did try to do its job as it ran at the luxio with his sword. That said, his fate was no different as Martian knocked said sword out of the fighting-type's hand, loosely grabbed said sword with a paw, and swing said sword to cut open the machoke's side before it slipped from his poor grip.
Martian landed on his back before rolling up onto his feet again and quickly glanced at his partner. The vulpix only grinned and nodded before the two focused their attention on the now defenseless ice queen.
Lady Winter herself.
The White Ninetails seemed torn between sobbing and anger as she stepped off her throne, a few tears forming in her eyes.
"You. . ." The Ice-type softly began before her tone changed, "you. . . why you ungrateful little! I tried so hard to raise you correctly! I made sure you were fed and cared for and you abandon your own mother! You're just like your traitorous father of yours! Is everything I do for you not good enough that you run off chasing fantasies!"
"Winter, stop." A new voice interrupted. Scarlett turned around to watch as a Swampert entered the manor, taking care to step over the body of one of the Machokes. "You need to stop this Winter, think about what Igneo would have wanted. Please."
"Don't you dare speak his name," The Ice Type sneered with even more malice, "Murderer. . ."