Chapter 3:What Real Rescuers Are Made Of

As The duo rushed away from the chaos they created. The hitmonlee laughed, his plan in effect and working as his partner confirmed. She shook her head but could not dare to complain from his brutish yet effective move.

"That would never work again in a million years and you know it, Brutis!" She spat and refused to believe that such a plan worked

"Oh cry me and river then thank me afterwards! Majella's little civil manipulative tactics won't always work, get over it!" He slowly caught up," He clearly stopped to help those worms out of the cave in. Viridia village is now ours to hide out until Moltrese shows up!"

"Ugh! Next plan while we have the time now. Find the mayor, find some kind of inn or something. No going outside till nightfall!" She explained the next part of her plan.

"Sounds solid. So long as there's no psychic pokemon or…oh crap!"He suddenly stumbled over his words and pointed forward.

She cocked her head and looked forward to see a Lucario, two Riolus, a Litten, and an Aron. Her eyes locked on to the Lucario and looked back to her partner. She could see his mind going blank, struggling for ideas. She knew what his worry was and it was a good thing to be worried about. A Lucario could easily sniff them out using their power to see and feel aura. This was problematic if this one felt any sort of suspicion from them. She suddenly raised her hands and waved as if she were flagging them down.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Brutis yelled but was promptly ignored.

"Hey! Hey! We just came from the quarry! It's a mess!" Majella yelled out and kicked Brutis in the leg.

He then did the same and Lucas spotted them. He veered off after signaling the kids. They followed and slowed down to be behind Lucas at all times. He stopped before the pair while making sure the juniors were behind him.

"Yeah uh…it's a mess over there. We did what we could, but there's just not enough help." The Hitmonlee played along before noticing the strange scars on Lucas's face.

"Are you guys here to help?" Majella asked.

"We are. Me and my juniors…"Lucas tilted his head a bit, his thoughts drifting a bit about them," We saw the explosion from here and we went on to investigate."

"Oh thank Arceus. We feared that we were alone out here." The Marshadow chuckled nervously.

Luke peeked around his father and saw the two Pokemon his father spoke to. He then felt his sister holding his paw, she kept fidgeting and rubbing her arm. He recognized this weird behavior of hers from other occasions and they meant one of two things. Either she's excited about something, or she has a bad feeling about a situation. Once he looked back to see the Marshadow staring at him blankly while their father spoke to the Hitmonlee. It became clear that it was the ladder.

"Uh…dad?" Luke tapped his father's leg.

"We just hope you can help them. We need to go to the village and see if we can ask for more help." Brutis explained further.

"We will." Lucas responded and corner eyed his son.

"Excellent, thank you! Come now, my…darling husband. We need to get to the village." Majella took the Hitmonlee's hand to move on.

Suddenly, Lucas reached out a paw and held the Hitmonlee by the chest to stop their attempt to leave. Lucas's eye glowed for a moment before he smirked.

"We'll need your help as well. You're both strong if you worked at the quarry your whole life." Lucas suddenly turned and gently smiled at them," With your aid we can save everyone."

"Uh…yeah, but we need to…"

"Mayor Synthesis can wait. Chances are he's already aware and sending more people." Lucas then grabbed Brutis by the arm and pulled both of them.

The kids were confused by Lucas's sudden actions. Path could see the wide eyes of the Marshadow as if they were animals locked in a bear trap. She stammered but felt as though they had no choice. She got to Brutis's side and looked at him with a smug yet enraged look. Brutis began to sweat as Lucas went into a sprint, pulling the pair along. Luke hung back to group with his friends and sister.

"I think dad knows something's up too sis. These two don't look like the quarry workers we usually see returning to the village." Luke admitted quietly to his sister.

"What's going on? Mind explaining for the two non aura sensing pokemon in the room?"Kiba asked.

"Guys! Wait up!" Stoney called out as he began to fall behind.

"We'll explain later Kiba. For now we need to get to the quarry." Path looked to Kiba and then to the two new pokemon.

Majella looked at Brutis with panic, but then darted her eyes to Luke. Then she looked back to Brutis and nodded her head towards Lucas. The wheels were turning in their head since the fighting type's foolproof plan was backfiring. The twins remained back with their friends, not noticing the Aron that was slowing down. As they eventually made it to the quarry and saw the devastation.

All the tunnels to the mine shafts were now covered and a landslide of rocks. Dust still littered the crater of the quarry. The kids were shocked to see so much chaos at a place they used to hang out in when they were even younger. Luke gulped and looked to his dad who then nodded to him and his group.

"You go first. All of you. Start uncovering the tunnels as best as you can." Lucas relayed the plan for the group of new rescuers, "I will be down soon to start escorting workers while you all will then go deeper in the tunnels to find others."

"But dad? I think…"Luke trailed off to the two suspicious pokemon and then to his father.

His father looked down to Luke with a sharp look, he was serious. His paws were clenched and he gestured to Luke to go down and focus on the workers. Luke finally nodded and did what he was told.

"Ok… Come on guys. Let's get down there and clear out the tunnels!" He called out and jumped down to the quarry.

Path and Kiba looked at each other and jumped down to aid Luke. Leaving Lucas alone with the two newcomers, and that's when his demeanor changed. Once he knew the kids were at a safe distance, he corner eyed the pair.

"Now then…Who are you really?" Lucas questioned with a more quiet tone.

"Whatever do you mean? We're just…workers for the quarry."Majella lied, but her eyes glowed, knowing they were exposed.

"Two Pokemon were reported being pursued from Shoreline by Furnace the Brawler. I was going out to intercept them before I saw this obvious Pokemon made mess."Lucas turned around revealing that he was seeing the aura,"Now here I find two pokemon lying about where they are from. Thinking I wouldn't know the names of every worker in those mines. I'm the Sunday preacher of my village! I know each and every pokemon in my home!"

They fell to silence, it was over. They were ratted out and before another rescuer. They peeked at each other in a cold silence, their once calcualted and average demeanor changed. They now had the aura and atmosphere of killers. This alarmed Lucas and he formed a bone rush. His timing couldn't be more perfect as he blocked a mega kick and a shadow claw both high and low. He growled at them for their deception and sinister intentions that their auras revealed.

"Could have just let us go…"Majella spoke, her voice laced with venomous and lethal intent.

"Now we gotta put the dog down…"Brutis tried a roundhouse mega kick.

It kicked off the end piece of the bone rush before Lucas pushed Majella back. He swept under and between them, cracking Brutis in the back then clashing with Majella's shadow claw again. He spun around her and used one metal claw to cut her in the back before blocking a high flying mega kick. He spun the weapon and threw the Hitmonlee to his right.

He marched in to strike Brutis in the back, but Majella was faster. Her shadow sneak move helped her catch the swift side strike. Before Brutis leaped over her and roundhouse kicked Lucas in the cheek to force him back. He dropped the bone rush and brought out the metal claws.

"Ooh, the pup has some claws too."Majella taunted as Brutis charged.

He tried using rock smash, but Lucas cross blocked with the claws and deflected it. Brutis felt his fists get cut on the blades. Though he stubbornly tried punching some more. This led Lucas to hook an arm with his claws and swing Brutis over his shoulder. Brutis was slammed on his back, stunning him and draining the air from his lungs. Lucas had no time to celebrate as he felt a shadow claw cut the side of his shoulder then another attempted to rope around his neck to cut it.

He stumbled back and tried smashing the back of his head against Majella's face. She grit her teeth and endured while Lucas struggled to grip and hold her small arm to avoid getting his neck slit. Brutis slowly began to stand up and shake his arms out, breathing a little slower. He saw his partner trying to lock the Lucario down, but getting her face pulverized. He then locked in and readied a high jump kick. He rushed at Lucas, but lost his focus as he saw a bizarre interruption.

"Sorry I'm late!" Came the voice of Stoney.

Brutis in his confusion missed his kick and was suddenly smashed in the chest with a headbutt. Stoney's attack caused himself and Brutis to fall off the ledge and towards the quarry. This left Lucas to finally force Majella off his back with a well placed head smash to her mouth. She fell back but then flipped back to her feet. Wiping the blood from her nose, she readied her claws for another round.

While down at the quarry, the kids had finally broken through a tunnel. A mix of ember and vacuum wave did the trick, and now it was time to rescue the workers. However their attempt to enter the mine was interrupted by Stoney screaming. They looked up and Luke was met with Stoney landing right on his back. While Brutis crashed into the ground behind the rest of the group.

"Stoney!? I was wondering where you went!"Kiba rushed to Stoney.

Luke grumbled and groaned as Kiba lifted Stoney back to his feet. While Path quickly got her brother up and brushed him off, his cheeks red with embarrassment. She slapped his back in hopes of lightening him up to prevent another fit.

"Where were you?! And what's the big idea with the crash landing." Luke gave a huff to brush the accident aside.

"Sorry guys, but…those two weirdos jumped your dad up there and then I…"Stoney trailed off with wide eyes.

For he saw a growling Hitmonlee slowly rising and cracking his back. He cracked his neck section as well and turned around with blood shot eyes. The rest of the group turned around and the Riolu's took to the front of the team.

"I knew something wasn't right about you guys!" Luke exclaimed and pointed at him.

"Dad knew it too! Who are you guys, really?" Path added a question to the mix.

"That is none of your business. And It won't matter much soon…"He got into a Zenkutsu dachi stance and raised his paws behind and in front of his head."Because I'm gonna cull you all off and take the lucky survivor with me… As insurance…"

Luke felt a sudden chill, his tail stiffened up and his paws grew sweaty. The atmosphere spoke between him and path, her defensive front crumbling as a sobering reality struck them. This was no mere Pokemon battle or a school fight, their lives were actually in danger.

"W-what are you talking about?" Luke tried to hide his touch of fear.

"I think I'll start with the armored little rock that winded me!" Brutis's front foot crushed the stone under him as he darted at them.

Luke shuddered with heart gripping fear, but threw a vacuum wave. Brutis jumped over it with a front flip and Luke dodged a sky to earth kick that smashed a hole into the dirt next to him. Path sprouted her metal claws and leaped at Brutis. He responded by kicking her in the claws, breaking them in two. As she skidded back in the dirt, Luke did his best to dodge the incoming barrage of kicks. Only for Brutis to swing a high kick at him, just barely cutting Luke's cheek.

His eyes grew wide and his body grew cold as Luke witnessed the smallest whip of his own blood. Things finally sunk in like a horrible revelation for those who can no longer deny reality. This Hitmonlee meant what he was saying, this was no simple battle. He had every intention of killing him and taking only one kid alive as a hostage. Suddenly it was though Luke had simply froze up, like a newborn cub facing a grown lion. Kiba saw Luke in danger and put Stoney down to rush in with a quick ember attack.

Brutis could hear the incoming attack and kicked off the ground to back flip. He then used a mega kick to strike Kiba in the back and drill him into the dirt. He then picked him up by his neck. Only for Kiba to struggle and bite at his hand. This angered Brutis before he then tossed Kiba in the air and readied a karate chop. Luke went to move, but his legs locked up, his paws dug into the dirt fearfully.

He looked at his legs that refused to move, his mind flustered and full of confusion. All he could hear was the sound of Brutis's threat, and with it came the thoughts of his own death. All the stories their father told him regarding the war, could he be living one now? He couldn't even hear Path yelling at him as he struggled in vain to move. Path shook him and tried to yell something at him, but he couldn't hear her over the growing rapid beats of his heart and breathing.

She scoffed and raced over to jump and snatch Kiba from the air. Narrowly saving him from the karate chop. Brutis growled and turned to run to to get a face full of mudslap to his eyes, making him cough and scrape at his face. Desperate to get the mud and dirt out, his eyes grew heavy and blurry. He growled and could just make out the three pokemon that ran at him.

"You little runts are NOT gonna get the best of me!" Brutis used bulk up and ran at the others.

"He said…he's gonna kill us… He'll really try to…kill us…"Luke started to sweat, his body still freezing at the revelation, "Not just…fight…but…kill…"

"Come on Luke! We need your help!" Path yelled to her brother.

She then ducked as Stoney's attempt to headbutt Brutis resulted in taking a karate chop that sent him smashing into the brick wall. Kiba used bite again and locked onto Brutis's arm. He yelped a bit and then began punching Kiba in the head. He then grabbed Kiba by the neck and began to choke him while staring into his eyes. Path gasped and panicked, seeing her friend about to die.

"NO! LET HIM GO!" Path yelled and rushed in with her paws together.

She desperately focused and conjured an aura sphere in her paws. She threw it with her shoulders put into the throw and watched it explode on impact. Brutis yelled and let Kiba go as the attack made his gut scorching hot. He stumbled back and clutched his stomach. Luke was snapped out from his trance and saw the Hitmonlee fall to one knee. His eyes were more bloodshot now and his breathing grew heavy. A cold comfort washed over Luke as he tried to shake the fear of death.

Brutis growled and wiped a bit of blood from his face before standing.

"Impressive… Not many Riolus can just use aura sphere right off the bat." Brutis chuckled as he kicked Kiba aside, "Someone has some special talent it seems. Talent that we would prefer to have or destroy…!"

Path backed away as Brutis walked to her with another chuckle. Luke grew more fearful, but it seemed his own death was no longer on his mind. He looked at himself and grew a sense of loathing for this cowardice he was displaying. Loathing soon gave away to anger seeing his sister being attacked and here he stood doing nothing. He had to think of something to make himself move and an idea finally hit him as he bit his finger. Once he felt a wave of pain shock his body and overwhelm his sense of fear, his legs suddenly felt the urge to move once more.

"So which one will you be…?"Brutis grabbed Path by the arm and she began to struggle.

"Let me go you grizzled lanky brute!" She yelled and pounded on his leg and chest.

"Hmm…so that explains it. Talented…but not in all the right places… Oh well."He suddenly back handed her across the head and knocked her out cold."Guess you're just another memory to add to my collection."

He then began to put his foot on her head and began to drag and twist it between her ears.

"Let's see how much force it takes before a Riolu skull goes pop!"Brutis announced and began to press down.

"Path!"Kiba feared and tried to move towards the fighting type.

Brutis only laughed at his seemingly pointless struggle as he readied to stomp down on her. Only to feel his back get blasted in the back with a strong vacuum wave. He breathed in and softly growled, knowing who likely did the deed. Turning around however did nothing to prepare him for the incoming fist across the side of the head. He was taken back by Luke leaping at him and striking him full force.

"Keep your hands off my sister you creep!" Luke yelled.

He landed and sprouted his own metal claws to rush at Brutis and slash his legs. Brutis roared with pain and tried to backhand him away. Luke responded by rolling right over the incoming arm and slashing him in the left eye. Brutis screamed and clasped at his eye. He struggled to back away as he began to bleed a lot more now. He struggled to stand as he barely saw Luke charging him with his claws out again. Brutis grew angry, his humiliation growing clear as he struggled with significant wounds against children.

"Don't…get…COCKY!"Brutis roared to the sky.

He then managed to do what was a stroke of pure luck. He performed a high jump kick and struck Luke right on the chin. The strike was loud, like a black powdered barrel explosion. Luke felt the hot pain and mind shaking blow for a moment. When he flew back and slammed on his back, the Riolu was out cold. Brutis landed and grunted in pain as blood spurted from his legs. He sighed and breathed heavier, chuckling at his close call of a victory.

"This one is bold but reckless… He's everything his sister is not…"He panted and slowly walked to Luke, "This one is more of a trouble maker… Those kinds of Pokemon tend to make our boss nervous."

He stood over Luke and readied up a mega kick.

"I guess you'll be the first one to go… Nothing…well…maybe a little personal now."He lifted up his foot to the sky ready to bring it down like a hammer.

"HEY! I'm still here! I'm still standing!" Came the calls of Stoney.

Brutis peeked into the corner of his eye and saw the small Aron standing there. Panting and bruised from the highly effective fighting type blows. He stood his ground regardless as Brutis grumbled.

"I'll get to you in a minute. But I simply can't keep switching victims like this."Brutis groaned with bits of exhaustion creeping in for him.

"Sounds like someone is scared… Don't forget… I'm the one who challenged you first by attacking." Stoney panted but desperately tried to get the enemy's attention, "I thought you Hitmonlee's were all about taking down your challengers. Not much of a REAL Hitmonlee if you can't beat the Aron that knocked you on your butt."

Brutis grumbled and a vein pulsed and appeared on the top of his head.

"Then again, I guess there's a reason you're hanging with a Marshadow that always looks at you like you're beneath her." Stoney taunted and could see the veins growing on Brutis,"Can you imagine what she'll say when she asks about the Aron that made you sore tonight?"

"Grrr…ok you little ant! You wanna start something?! Fine!"Brutis bursted out in anger and turned around to march at Stoney, "You wanna die so bad! That's fine! I'll paint you across the stone and mail what's left to your loving parents!"

Stoney winced and realized he was now the target, yet he merely braced for impact. He closed his eyes and waited for Brutis to attack. A karate chop was charging up and Brutis was ready to use it to silence the young pokemon. He readied to swing, but was stopped once he felt a tremor. He almost lost balance while Stoney looked around with confusion. Once another tremor hit, an explosion went off behind Stoney.

They looked to the source of the blast in silence and saw quarry workers rushing out of the tunnel that was made. As they did so, someone else stepped forth with almost ten workers on his back. He allowed those who were running on their own legs to collect the ones on his back. Till he was revealed to be the mentor himself from the great war. Furnace the Brawler after ten years was before them as he stretched out his back.

"Well…there you all are. Now get back to that village! And warn the mayor that-"Furnace froze at the sight he was met with. "Oh! Well now… What an interesting sight this is!"

"You gotta be kidding me!"Brutis began to back away while Stoney was now the one frozen with shock.

"Hey kid. Are these your friends?" Furnace spotted Kiba and the two out cold Riolu's.

"Y-yes sir…"Stoney could feel the shift in the atmosphere.

"Gather them up. I'll get you home once I…have a chat with this asshole…"Furnace informed while cracking his paw knuckles.

"Yes sir!" Stoney did not dare to disobey, the Typhlosion oozed with a sense of dominant and intimidating energy.

He gathered his friends while Furnace began walking to Brutis with a growing half smile.

"Damn it must suck to be you, pal. I take it this quarry collapsing was your doing?" Furnace questioned while Brutis assessed his ways out, "Don't even think about leaving now. You made this big mess and you still got caught at this point. Get on your knees and submit or attack and let's get this over with. Either way it's your call."

Seeing no way out, Brutis growled and suddenly lunged with a high jump kick. He aimed for Furnace's head, but felt his whole body freeze in place. A loud slap of flesh followed before he realized Furnace had grabbed his foot mid way through his attack. He tried to pull away, but the grip Furnace had was like a vice that only tightened. He then felt Furnace bending his leg upwards, he was more frantic when attempting to flee.

Stoney gathered his friends and laid them against a rock before seeing the impossible sight. This powerful brute force Hitmonlee being toyed with by this mysterious typhlosion. Suddenly he jumped as he heard a loud snap. Brutis screamed as he witnessed his leg being broken in two, bending at nearly a right angle in the wrong direction. He attempted a mega kick with his free foot to the chin, but Furnace only snickered.

He raised his paw and revealed the bizarre disfigurement on his paws. The skin rugged and the fur almost nonexistent, the knuckles boney and almost white. Furnace conjured a brick break and slammed it against the incoming mega kick. Brutis screamed again before the tall fire pokemon finally released him. He fell on his back with a slam and did his best to sit up and see that both his legs were broken.

"Nowhere to go now… give up or I'll just end this and take your partner in for questioning." Furnace warned and stared at him.

Stoney was trembling at the spectacle, this was clearly no longer a routine mission. What he witnessed was beyond what the rescuers of today's era spoke of. Brutis shook as well, but out of sheer anger and pain. He shook at the Typhlosion that looked down upon him with pity. He felt trapped like a rat, nowhere to run and almost nothing to fight with. He growled but Furnace remained stern and cold as he patiently awaited his next move.

He then began to chuckle and this got Furnace to lift an eyebrow. He then laughed even louder to the sky this time and clenched the dirt he sat sighed and shook his head, his instincts well aware of what insanity or mania was.

"Ah…! I'll put my faith in my partner…and MOLTRESE!" He suddenly screamed and lunged.

Furnace knew it, a last ditch effort to fight. He dodged the slashing karate chop Brutis threw and reared his paw back. He weaved under Brutis and threw a hard straight punch empowered by brick break. This resulted in an all too familiar end he grew accustomed to. His fist penetrated and smashed clean through Brutis's chest and forced its way out the back of him. Blood gushed from Brutis's eyes as he gagged and choked before the stone cold stare of Furnace.

Stoney looked away in shock as Brutis groaned and wriggled a bit. Only to slowly go limp in Furnace's grasp, slumping over his arm dead. Furnace sighed again and pushed the fallen foe till he could slide his fist out of the Hitmonlee. He hit the ground on his back and that is where his body rested.

"Dumb bastard… Guess I gotta find that marshadow now…"Furnace decided, but first he turned to the group of younglings,"Hey! It's over. Time to go home kid."

Furnace wisely used his own body to block any view of Brutis's body. Allowing Stoney to look again and see only the typhlosion standing tall as the obvious victor. He then walked over and checked on the group.

"Now where's your village? Your friends will need some…minor medical help."Furnace informed and noticed some resemblance with the two Riolu's.

"Uh…It's just east of here sir. But…Lucas Lucario was with us too. He's their dad."Stoney responded and was quick to fill some things in,"He's up there fighting with a Marshadow right now!"

"Speak of the devil… Don't worry. I'm sure he's wrapping up with her."He ensured while gathering the kids.

Meanwhile, Lucas was still in one piece and much more focused with his bone rush. While Majella was out of breath and struggling to stay standing. The tide seemed to turn fast without Brutis at her side, and now the tone was shifting. She was no longer able to get close to this lucario now. She grit her teeth and attempted to shadow sneak him in the side. But with a simple use of aura sense, Lucas quickly turned and stabbed her in the side and shoulder with his metal claws. She screamed in torment as he lifted her and slammed her against a tree.

"This is over now! You are nothing without that walking musclehead. Just give up!"Lucas commanded while dragging her face down the tree.

"How…are you…suddenly…"She groaned as she face planted into the dirt.

"You kept me on my toes as a team… But one enemy is easy for me to study and learn from as the fight goes." Lucas explained before slamming her back first in the dirt, "If you wanted to beat me, you should have killed me quickly rather than drag out the battle because you got cocky."

"I'll kill you… You can count on that you mutt!" She threatened to get back up.

Lucas aimed his claws at her head and widened his eyes. His paw shaking, as he pressed his claws to her neck and cheek. He panted a bit, he felt it. The horrifying urge the war left with him. The need to kill to protect was tempting him to end her, a demon that only displayed wrath and disdain. An irredeemable soul who was only thinking about how she could hurt him. However he gripped his paw to stop the shakes and shook his head, this was not the war any longer.

"You're coming back to the village with me. And you're going to explain yourself." Lucas spoke softly and back handed her in the neck to knock her out cold,"Forgive me Arceus… I was tempted to stray from what you teached me…"

"Clearly…you haven't changed much kid." The familiar voice made Lucas lift his ears up.

He shuddered and gasped, he had not heard this voice in years. He resisted using his ability to sense aura, for he felt even that could deceive him. He turned around and lowered his claws to witness the return of Furnace. Standing nice and tall as he always did through the war they fought. He was currently holding the unconscious Luke and Path in his arms while Kiba and Stoney held onto his shoulders. Lucas felt his eyes soften as he stood there in silence.

"Good to see ya Lucas. Congratulations on the kids by the way…"Furnace managed to offer a small smile.

Lucas could only approach him as he felt a clash of emotions. His chest fluttering and jumping, his mind warm with many thoughts and memories of the two of them. Flashbacks of the war raced through his head and Furnace was always standing in front of those horrid memories. Just has he now stood before him once more with a look of calm. He stopped before his old mentor and tried to find the right words to say to him.

"So how's Annie? Keeping busy with these two I bet." Furnace attempted to joke before a paw was placed on his shoulder.

"Furnace… I… It's…'Lucas struggled to find the right words to express what he was feeling,"It's been far too long, my friend…"