Hello all.
Due to time constraints I was not able to complete this at my usual timing, but here it is, and I hope that you will enjoy it nonetheless.
Many thanks to Shadow Blues, NinjaSheik, lupyne and Espolchu for their kind reviews and support. I do hope you will continue to enjoy this fic, and thank you all once again for reading. Reviews are definitely welcome.
hawk
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Remembrance – Chapter Three
Falco suddenly spun around, purple wingtips cutting small grooves into Lucario's fur. Lucario immediately recovered from his surprised stupor and dodged the next blows, holding up his black-furred paws to counter Falco's furious slashes – yet not willing to strike.
The purple liquid flexed, mechanically moving Falco's wing in a determined strike, the blow landing heavily against Lucario's muzzle. Lucario flinched, but struck once with his paw. But right before his paw made contact with the purple Falco, the purple colour drained away from his right shoulder, and Lucario's paw struck at Falco's blue-feathered shoulder, the pilot's vest torn away in ribbons.
Lucario staggered backwards, shocked by the formidable enemy he faced. No matter where he struck, the purple covering dissipated before impact, forcing Lucario to miss for fear of hitting Falco. Flaring with blue Aura, his paws repeatedly missed their target as the violet covering repeatedly retreated from Falco's body, only to re-conquer it once Lucario dared not strike. The only consolation was the spare Blaster Falco once wielded – batted aside as Lucario dealt a swift strike to it, sending it spinning harmlessly across the ground.
Quickly changing his strategy, Lucario slammed Falco to the ground, firmly holding down his neck and wingtips. True to form, the purple melted away from Falco's upper body, revealing a destroyed pilot's vest and a terrified Falco staring up at Lucario's face. What Lucario didn't count on was the purple liquid running up Lucario's forepaws, momentarily gluing them to Falco's torso.
Hold on - Lucario started, but Falco's legs were sent wheeling up, striking Lucario cleanly across his snout, sending him skidding across the floor. Lucario got up again, more slowly this time, shaking his head slightly, and then tensed as he faced Falco, once again fully consumed by the purple horror, purple snowflakes dancing menacingly on the floor.
Suddenly, Falco made a gawking sound, and abruptly crumpled. Snake stood behind him, his arm held in a vicelike grip on Falco's neck but his other laid Falco gently to the ground. Immediately, Link and Pit rushed up and placed their sword and bow respectively against each of Falco's wings, while Snake pinned Falco's legs with the length of his Grenade Launcher, so preventing him from striking again, while each of Falco's limbs struggled mightily to get up, but failed.
There was an awkward silence of about a second or two, enough for someone to comment "Uh, well – "
Then there was a small flash of gold, and then Falco's body convulsed violently, the purple liquid shimmering and boiling. His beak opened in a silent scream, but no sound came out. In a second, the purple tinge melted away from his body, becoming a small, harmless pool of Shadow Bugs diffusing from his body.
What was left was a destroyed Lounge, its door beaten off its hinges; a trail of blood, splattered scarlet in the corridor; and a dead falcon, with a small golden arrow embedded in his neck.
---
Lucario awkwardly made his way forward, hesitantly approaching Fox's limp body which still lay face-down on the Smash Lounge flooring. Passing his paw over the body, Lucario was surprised to detect faint Aura emanating from it – a sign that Fox was still alive, but that his Aura was greatly weakened. A blackened scorch on the flooring right next to the tip of Fox's ears indicated how close the Star Fox pilot had come to death by his own teammate's Blaster.
He concentrated harder, dropping to his knees at Fox's side, holding both paws over Fox's bloodied back. The pilot's Aura washed Lucario's paws in a slight blue shimmer, and in it Lucario read hurt, surprise, and an agonizing sense of loss.
---
The middle-aged man in the cloak turned suddenly from his training, attention suddenly diverted. Lucario immediately paused in mid-step, still balancing on only one hindpaw, but his eyes following his master's every move.
Sir Aaron cradled a young ball of feathers in his cupped hand, and then turned to Lucario. The Aura Pokémon immediately padded over to his master, and peered at what he held in his hands. The ball of feathers in question was a trembling young bird – so young, but yet it bore the scars of a vicious battle of the sky. Lucario recognized with a jolt that the bird's Aura was uncharacteristically weak: so weak, that any time it might diffuse from the frail body – permanently.
His hands still cupped around the bird, they glowed a soft blue. A small sphere of blue light appared in Sir Aaron's hands, expanding slightly to engulf the young bird. Master! Lucario started, but Sir Aaron only smiled back. "Watch".
And Lucario watched as Sir Aaron's Aura flickered a little, and seemed to deplete, if only a little. The Aura of the bird was suddenly ignited, flared up for a moment, and then slowly resettled in a more natural pattern, the bird weakly opening an eye to examine Lucario's startled red ones.
"Restoration of Aura", Sir Aaron concluded, "helps those who have their Aura weakened through extensive mental and physical stress... at a cost of some of your own. It'll regenerate over time," smiling kindly at Lucario's sudden horrified expression, which betrayed his deep concern for Aaron's well-being.
"Just remember though – they still aren't invincible, and neither are you. Loss of too much of anyone's Aura – theirs or yours – is fatal."
---
Lucario sighed inwardly, then closed his eyes again as he concentrated, holding his paws mere inches from Fox's body. As blue flames of his Aura licked his forepaws, he willed it to be directed to the unconscious Fox. He felt a small sphere of Aura flicker in and out of existence between his paws, and opened his eyes a crack.
The Aura sphere was not like his offensive attack – rather, it was a paler shade of blue, but within the pale orb was a certain richness of tone. Lucario, momentarily distracted, reminded himself of the task at hand. The sphere obligingly grew bigger, until it touched the back of the unconscious fox.
Suddenly, Lucario winced as he felt his Aura drawn away from him as it was channelled into Fox – it was not exactly physical pain, but it certainly left a scar. His Aura vision faltered slightly as a blue miasma crept into view, but it was quickly dispelled upon seeing Fox's Aura suddenly growing and becoming stronger.
Lucario terminated the contact, stumbled backwards into a sitting position, grasping his head in his paws. Beside him Fox stirred slightly, drawing relieved sighs from the onlooking Smashers. The Smashers, not knowing exactly what had happened, decided not to question, but instead agreed to transport Fox and the other injured kid Smashers to the ward before he started asking about Falco.
---
"Rukario."
Lucario saw Snake walking towards him in the corridor, and nodded in response. Both of them walked in silence towards the exit leading to the Smash Mansion's Garden.
"It's time."
---
Master Hand turned towards the group of gathered Smashers in the great Hall of the Mansion. The news travelled fast, and soon the entire Mansion's population had known of the unfortunate incident in the Lounge. But what was more surprising was Master Hand's announcement.
Lucario has detected possibly malevolent Aura approaching. The glove's calm telepathic voice resounded in everyone's minds. The approach has been confirmed.
Everyone sat upright, intent on hearing what Master Hand had to say. Lucario pricked his ears up, fearing the worst.
A previously unidentified object is headed in an imminent collision course for Smash Mansion. Direction change of the Mansion has failed to stop its approach, and although we have but only just detected it, it has already moved into close proximity of the Mansion itself.
Murmurs started – anything which could evade the Mansion's comprehensive security was indeed trouble. Cannons, lasers and a lot of weaponry whatnot was constantly aimed at the sky, deterring would-be intruders or invaders. In this case, all attacks had connected, but had simply failed to deal any damage whatsoever.
The murmurs turned into shocked silence as a single holographic image was displayed of the object. It was a large violet sphere, unmistakably a Subspace portal – but Subspace portals were thought to be immobile... Until they discovered craggy rock protruding from the bottom hemisphere of the Subspace portal, disturbingly familiar yet so strange...
Battlefield approaches.
---
Rain fell in a drizzle on the Mansion. The sky was an ashen gray, in contrast to its usual bright blue or rich navy hue. The Garden grounds of the Mansion saw the Smashers gathered in a tight circle.
Lucario bowed his head solemnly, his chin nearly touching his yellow torso-fur, now matted and slicked down with rain, the tip of his blue tail brushing the wet grass. Opposite from him, on the other side of the circle, even Princess Peach had traded her usual pink outfit for a sombre gray one.
Fox McCloud broke the circle, his arm bound in a sling, his shoulders heavily bandaged, and his usually neat ginger and white fur soaked and dripping. Limping slowly forward to the center of the circle. Wolf O'Donnel stood directly behind him, his usual eyepiece removed, his fur too matted with rain.
The Star Fox pilot suddenly staggered forward, falling to his knees before the freshly turned earth.
No one moved from their circle around the grave as a long howl broke the constant rhythm of the rain.