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Deception

_ _

Written by Arian Mabe (Amethyst Mare)

Commissioned by Js1161997

Lucario could not hold back, not when he knew that Audian troops were in Kefaladia, the capital city of Audia. Something had gone wrong there, something terribly wrong, but he would need time to sift through the information, the frenzied words of terrified civilians, even the seeming soldiers who had lost their tongues and their wits too in the fury that had taken place.

Tales of gunfire, a rain of bullets. That they had opened on civilians - yet what did that mean? Oh, Lucario was sure that he already knew, brushing his hands over his blue fur, the darker shades lying flat more easily on him, dressed in uniform. But he was going to find out just what darkness was lurking.

He would have to see what was going on at the Keidolifyan embassy to uncover more, refusing to conclude before he had all the facts before him, laid out like a mystery to unfold. Of course, Lucario was quite sure that he already knew what had happened, as adept at the process of deduction as he was, though sometimes it was that very answer that he could arrive at in a snap of his fingers that needed to be backed up to explain to others.

A meeting was to take place at the Keidolifyan embassy, of course, between the president of Audia, Owen to be informal, and Zi Rui, the Keidolifyan ambassador. They would be dressed for the occasion, smartly put, though the smart suit and tie worn by Zi Rui would all be a front, politeness in the face of political instability. The capital, Kefaladia, had been fraught for many years, though Lucario knew he was one who could put it to rights, if he so chose.

It was what Lucario chose, the meeting the ideal set-up for his plan, which he would execute as perfectly as he always did. It was looking ahead and following the tracks of his enemies, of taking the smallest cues and hints as to what nefarious things were really going on, that set him on the right path, time after time again. Even when his own agents perhaps wondered when he had gotten to such a conclusion. They trusted him, but sometimes he had to show them the steps he had taken to get there. He did not want to be like some, others... His expression soured, preparing for the mission. Not like Toshineko.

What Lucario had not fully confirmed, not yet,was that the supposed Audian troops, who had attacked, were disguised Toshineko army soldiers, insidious beasts who sought to conquer, all for Toshineko's cause. Of course, with the world still believing that Toshineko was dead, it would not have been anyone's first conclusion.

Lucario's team, Team Lustitia, worked for the power of good, using his supreme intellect to place them in the way of harm, to disrupt it, to be a hero in a sense, though Lucario did not seek accolades, oh no. He was at the forefront of any action, but did not step into the limelight to receive a hero's honour, preferring to know that he was doing great in the world purely by using his mind, his sharply honed power of deduction.

For he had already placed his agents within the Audian and Keidolifyanmilitary, both required, to make peace between the two superpowers. It was the only way that he saw out of their tangled mess, the twisted snarls of dictatorship, though it had to be set into motion.

In the capital city, close to where the meeting was to be held, Lucario nodded to his agent, the man dressed in the suit and tie, red, of course, of the Keidolifyan ambassador, a convoy of cars set up, though they were a decoy for the real ambassador, who was waiting at the embassy. He did not have to know what Team Lustitia was doing in his absence, though it would all be for the good of the world.

Lucario would see to it that it was. And all he had to do was to use the decoy, the raccoon anthro who was dressed as the Keidolifyan ambassador in the car, to get the Audian troops to a side street.

They had no reason to attack, but his information channels had fed him everything that he needed to know, Lucario following the convey of cars on foot as the troops in the area took note, following. They were soldiers, trained with the best of the best, and closed in rapidly, though his agents were trained for such work. He did not make himself known, hidden until the optimal moment, yet there had to be someone to direct his agents, for he was not the sort of leader who commanded from the shadows.

Like flies to honey, the Audian troops followed, storming the sidewalk, filling the street. Not so many of them that they could not be counted, but their boots drumming the hard ground all the same, a sickening beat. The beat of any army in such a fashion promised trouble.

Yes... Lucario thought, watching the segments of his plan fall into place. Follow.

_ _

The Audian troops, composed of people and anthros, closed in, though the cars skidded to a halt at the mouth of an alleyway that was a thoroughfare to an escape zone. He followed, a shadowy ninja flitting through the shade of the buildings, leaping from one to the other, from wall to wall and skirting around vehicles at the side of the road. Though with so much going on, the world in turmoil, some had even been abandoned there while their inhabitants, the civilians, fled.

Lucario grunted, heaving himself along the wall, though it was easy to wall-run sideways along it once he got going, his red eyes soft in the darkness, not revealing his location. His agents leapt from the cars, streaking for the alleyway, though the Audian soldiers were hot on their heels. The Audian soldiers were not to know that the other end of the alleyway, what could have given them an edge, but he'd needed to trap them, needed to see with his own eyes to prove his deduction correct. Yet he was there, ready at a moment's notice to step in as and when needed, even though he thought that that would not be necessary. His agents were well-trained, skilled, even if their weapons, at that time, were hidden. Weapons, however, would not be used unless required.

The agents, after all, were not like others of their kind, not keen to cause death, pain and suffering. That was why Lucario had chosen them.

He had no fear for his agents, extractors in place so that they could be pulled up the walls of the alleyway to the rooftops if needed, though Lucario did not expect things to take that turn. All he needed was to see the troops, to see them closely. But that was why he had to be hidden, to take his time as they all filed in, Lucario cloaked in darkness, hiding in the shadows. It might not have been his style, though he held his powers at his fingertips as and when they were needed. For a Pokemon could do more than a normal anthro, or even a human.

One of the Audian soldiers, dressed like a regular soldier but with a smile that promised trouble, stepped forward, his firearm levelled, moving as if he was of a higher rank than what he was dressed as. Lucario took note, though the light glinting off the firearm rendered it genuine. All as expected.

"There's no use running," he said, though even that anthro answered to another commander. "We have you cornered, ambassador. You're coming with us..."

The raccoon, although he was dressed as the ambassador, cocked his head and smirked. That wasn't a very ambassador-like move, but the game was up, as far as them pretending to be something they were not. But they had not expected that to last forever, the dead, stale air hanging around them, dragging out the moment.

The raccoon tilted his chin up, waiting.

Time for the signal.

"Oh, really?"

Their leader, Lucario, leapt down before them, showing himself to the Audian troops, yet there was still something in their demeanour that Lucario was not convinced by. But that was why he was at the forefront of his field, why he could set the world, in a way, to rights once more.

Halt!_Lucario straightened, one fist clenched, heart pounding as he communicated with his troops via telepathy. _Something is not right.

Ah, but he already knew what was not right, why the Audian troops did not look as he'd expected them to, though they were the usual mix of species that he had come to expect, no one dominating that could have set the troops apart.

He needed to know, even if it would only put such things to those in power, those that could change things for the better. He could work with his agents, but he was not someone who at all desired a rise of power, as much as his heart pounded for the heat of justice.

But it was the blood on their clothes that gave them away, what they had not been able to clean in their advancement, tracking across a country that was not theirs.

His blood ran cold, though it was as expected, why there had been something wrong with everything that had taken place so far. For he could finally absolutely confirm that they were disguised, that the soldiers before him were not truly Audian soldiers, but fighters who had no right being in the uniform. Fighters... Fighters of another army, another war, though there could only truly be one that controlled them, even though he had not confirmed it, not yet. But one with his powers of intellect and finding out the truth could not be waylaid for long.

Lucario's eyes hardened, snapping into action. His agents had to be extracted - the original plan was moot.

Execute plan two!

Lucario snapped the command via telepath, retreating, giving them space, though he would not give the disguised troops the forewarning of what they were doing, using a code phrase to direct them. He could have restricted it solely to their minds, but it was difficult to direct such a blast of communication to only them when it was so dire. They, however, were trained, dodging the bullets as the troops fired, though their main goal was to take down Lucario, eyes fixed on him. They knew who he was, that he was the true target, and Lucario flipped through the air, using his agility to twist and spin, to avoid the bullets in a way that did not quite seem possible to the unknowing eye.

He locked into the moment, time slowing down around him, watching every soldier, every position, deducing how they would move, what they were going to do next, dodging, ducking, the flash of gunfire around him framing Lucario's body. His agents leapt into action, for he was not alone there, fighting at his side, fighting for him, with him, his beliefs and all that he pressed on for.

Bullets flew by him, sparking through the air, explosions rampant, yet they were heard as if from a great distance away, Lucario turning, seeing everything. From the gleam in their eyes, how their attention was rapt on him, the scuff of their boots on the ground and the call of a crow, startled away, up and out of the alleyway. Yet not a single bullet struck home to him or his agents, taking the lid of a general outdoor bin in his hand to deflect a storm of bullets that would have driven right into the centre of his group of agents if he had not stepped in.

Lucario protected his own. As he protected all the good in the world. Yet those dressed as Audian troops were fierce, baring their teeth, fighting as if their very lives depended on it. What was their goal? It was yet another question that he would uncover the answer to, though the heat of battle was not quite the place.

Everything happened quickly, Lucario not down on the ground with them for very long, but it was long enough to do what was needed, to make a difference against those that sought to bring disharmony to the world.

Well, every fighter there except for one, a notable exception. There was one, however, that he noted did not do anything, a white anthro wolf soldier who quailed back from it, his lower jaw slack as he gaped. He called on his aura power, hands glowing, flitting between shades of purple and off-white, wrapping it around them, each soldier aglow. Yet he did not kill them, merely knocking them out cold, dropping them to the ground, one after the other, though even the sickening thumps that their bodies made his stomach twist.

It was not for him to end lives, not like those that he sought to stop. The anthro wolf soldier gaped at the fallen bodies of his comrades, though Lucario knew that he had not fired a single bullet, not as his firearm dropped from shaking hands to the ground.

"I...I..." He worked his jaw, struggling to get words out as he fell to his knees, looking up at Lucario who suddenly towered. "Are you... You're going to kill me, aren't you? Torture me... Hellfire... No... I don't have any information! I don't know anything! Just make it... Make it quick!"

Lucario shook his head and smiled, even as the wolf anthro quivered, quailing. He looked young, too young to be in any kind of war, though he was fortunate that it was Lucario that he had come up against and not someone else.

No... I will do none of those things. Sleep now. Rest now.

Lucario did not use his aura powers on him, his hand flashing out, swiftly chopping the wolf to the back of his head. Regardless of the path that he took in life, the wolf would be knocked out with the rest of them so that they thought that he had been defeated, just like them. He would not put even the wolf at risk.

The wolf crumpled as Lucario activated slumber in his brain, eyes closing, slipping down, unconsciousness claiming him. There, it was safer, his agents safe.

Lucario straightened, steel in his gut, stomach churning, though it was not from anxiety, not from worry, but from anger. It was not right what had happened there, that innocents like the wolf had been forced to fight. And yet it was Lucario who protected even him, one who had been forced into war and the army on the part of another, a dictator who cared only about the spoils that he would glean from power.

That was what set them apart.

Nodding to his head agent, his second-in-command, the raccoon, they ran as one, everyone fleeing together, booted feet pounding the hard ground, manufactured with concrete and tarmac. He could run through the city if he liked, though there would be more troops, surely, thinking that they could snatch up the ambassador, if he did not exercise a certain level of care.

For those in public knew him as a chess grandmaster and a highly skilled Pokemon fighter, his species not doing much at all to conceal him, which was fair enough. They did not deduce more than that, unlike him with his strong sense of justice burning in his heart, but he was truly the one that worked for his master, Sir Aaron.

Maybe it was counterproductive for him to work for someone, considering his sense of heroism, why he did what he did, the sense of "right" he wanted to bring into the world, but it was not so. For it was the destiny of his master that he fought for, one revered and one lost, killed by the fiend, Toshineko Hirozaki.

And that was why he had to flee, taking the knowledge that he had gleaned that day with him, choosing the right path ahead. For he could have all the powers of deduction in the world at his fingertips and still choose the wrong path for being too hasty and not following his heart. That was where he also differed from Toshineko.

He swallowed hard, his expression set, resolute, his lips in a thin, hard line that revealed nothing. With Sir Aaron in mind, he would serve justice to every country, all around the world, that was oppressed, that had been or was being forced to its knees. Not because he had to, but because he wanted to. It was what his late master had worked for, so hard, so diligently, and all that Lucario could take spending the remainder of his life on.

He glanced from side to side, ducking into an alleyway with his agents, for the abandoned cars that they had used as decoys would not get them to a safe place, not after what they had pulled. No, he had to get his agents to the safe house, where other agents of his had set up, though he had others all around the world disguised as police officers, lawyers, politicians, journalists, soldiers, officers, majors, generals... All many within the Audian and Keidolifyan armies, especially, where they were best placed.

But there was only so much they could feed back to him, deducing his reasoning through their coded letters. Every last one of them was trained in their field, highly skilled, deadly also. It was a requirement of the role of being an agent, of course, but not everything in working against Toshineko Hirozaki, of course, was about fighting. Success required far more subtlety and diplomacy, though not directly with Toshineko, than that. The cruel feline was hardly the sort to accept any kind of negotiation and, frankly, after all that he had done, Lucario was not inclined to allow it.

Six elite agents, the ones there with him that day, for they were his most trusted to carry out the most delicate of missions, performed various tasks for him, amongst all the agents who were scattered around the world. Yet there would soon be information fed back to him, details that filled in the missing links that were so very sorely needed, for he could not know everything. But he had to find out, had to make that jump, make the leap, had to cross the boundaries to bring peace wherever he found strife.

The world was struggling, but one could come through.

For him, there would be no more deception.