In a matter of minutes, the catacombs became encased in a sheet of ice. Felix, Victoria, and Zech stood their ground against the cold wind. Ice formed across their bodies bit by bit. Within the confined walls of the underground tunnels, the winds being generated moved with such speed that the wind chill sped up the freezing process.
In the center of the storm, Yukimura Junko swayed her body seductively, purring at her freezing opponents. "[You're no different than my victims back home. It was my job. Lure men in with my charms, serve them to their heart's content, and then seclude them somewhere to snuff their life out. I don't have any meals prepared, but allow your final visage of this world to be this attractive sight before you're whisked off into the cold's sweet embrace.]"
Victoria peeked out from her arms, squinting through the cold wind. "What is she saying?! And why is she dancing like that?!"
"I'm not complaining!" Felix exclaimed with a smirk.
Zech glared. "Put your lust aside, young Sylveon. This is a test of wills now." He twisted his arm and broke the ice away before slamming his shovel into the frozen floor. "She will be receiving that fine for trespassing."
"I think that's the least of our concerns!"
Victoria glared. "This just confirms there's something really wrong with that circus if she's out to kill us!"
Felix reached into his holsters and nodded at Victoria. "Let's put our training with Master Harlow to the test, Victoria!"
"Right behind you!"
They pulled their feet out of the ice and charged through the wind. Junko glared and retreated high up into the ceiling. "[Winter's Greed!]" Gray clouds formed across the ceiling and rained down huge chunks of ice.
Felix pulled out a playing card with each feeler. "Dealer's Edge!" A pink aura wrapped over the edges of the cards. He flailed his feelers and sliced apart the hail, cutting a path for him straight to Junko. "Double Down!" The pink aura around his cards increased in power, blazing out in the shade of actual blades.
Junko twisted her amorphous form and dodged the bladed playing cards. [I can sense the overwhelming power coming from that attack. His ability…it must be Pixilate!]
Having missed his attack, Felix's playing cards disintegrated out of his feelers. "Plenty more where that came from!" He kicked off the walls and brought out another pair. "Dealer's Edge!"
"[Pride of the Blizzard!]" Junko unleashed an omnidirectional blast of cold wind from her body.
It struck Felix and knocked him out of the air. When he crashed, he winced as ice chips formed over his fur and dug into his skin. Victoria and Zech held their ground as they took the remnants of the attack. Ice chips formed over their skin, too.
Junko giggled deviously. "[You have moxie, Sir Sylveon, but I'm far out of your league.]"
Felix rolled himself over and shook the ice off his body. "Victoria!"
"On it!" She charged through the wind and launched herself into the air. "Aqua Jet!" Water formed around her body and propelled her toward the icy temptress. "Muddy Twister!" She torqued her body and contaminated her Aqua Jet with Muddy Water, transforming herself into a spinning drill of mud.
"[Pride of the Blizzard!]" Junko sent forth the cold winds into the Azumarill's attack.
The water flash-froze and shattered around Victoria, causing her to yelp and flail through the air before smacking into a wall. "D-Did I get her…?"
Junko turned around to blast her with another storm, but felt her arm being severed by raining chunks of frozen mud. When the Muddy Twister shattered, the pieces were accidentally scattered into the air by the wind, sending them on a direct course for her misty body.
"[What the—]" Junko dodged out of the way as more of her body severed apart. She backed off and reformed herself.
"Nice, you scared her off!" Felix exclaimed.
Victoria peeled off the wall and fell on her back with grin. "Woo! Lucky me!"
Junko scoffed and fired off another cold wind at them. Victoria yelped as it rolled her across the floor, only stopped thanks to the timely assistance of Zech. The gravedigger kept hold of both Felix and Victoria as he stood his ground against the cold.
"[You must be feeling sleepy, gravedigger,]" Junko taunted. "[The cold must bother you. You feel all your strength sapping away as you resist. Just give into the cold and relish its loving kiss.]"
Zech glared. "I see. I can't understand you, but your words speak the language of death."
"Eh?!" Felix and Victoria gasped.
"However, you treat death as a tool. Death is nature, and nature brings death. I embrace death for it is nature's cycle." He dropped the duo and rushed at Junko, raising his shovel overhead. "Moros, let us introduce her to the true purpose of death!"
Junko smirked. "[You're insane. Getting this close to me…]"
Zech slashed his shovel down, but the icy phantom merely moved out of the way. His arm, within close proximity of the temptress, began to freeze over. The ice traveled up his shoulder and coated most of the right side of his body.
"[…will spell disaster for you~!]" She chortled with glee. "[A Grass-Type as slow as you doesn't stand a chance against me—]"
"Needle Arm."
Junko's eyes widened as green spikes burst out from the gravedigger's sleeve and the ice. They extended so fast that she barely dodged in time. One scraped across her face and distorted it. [A sneak attack?]
Zech turned his hollow gaze toward her, completely unfazed by the ice crawling over his body. "Nails of Requiem."
Junko gasped as the spikes extended further and curved toward her, taking on a more vibrant green. She flew deeper through the tunnels as the spikes chased her down, curving like flying snakes. She shaped her gaseous form and let the spikes pass through her without making contact.
"Dealer's Edge!" Junko glared as Felix rushed around the gravedigger, wielding his enhanced playing cards. "HA!" He lunged and slashed at the air.
Junko touched the ground and formed a wall of ice in front of herself. Felix slashed through four times and broke through. With him in close range, she blasted him back with Blizzard. Felix crossed his feelers to guard and landed back on the floor.
"Contact!" Victoria launched herself through the air again. "Muddy Twister!" She spun herself into a mud spiral and divebombed on Junko's position.
"[Structures of Envy!]" The cold air froze into giant balls of ice around the Froslass. She swiped her hands and fired the ice balls at Victoria's attack.
The Muddy Twister absorbed most of the ice, but the added mass caused Victoria to lose stability and crash into the floor. She wasn't deterred by the crash, whipping out a plethora of Present bombs from her satchel. "Take this!" She tossed them all into the air, surrounding Junk from all sides.
Felix and Zech braced themselves as a sparkly explosion detonated through the tunnel. The blast blew Victoria back as well, sending her rolling into Felix's legs.
"Ha! Take that!" Victoria taunted.
The dust cleared, and Junko…remained completely unharmed.
Victoria's eyes widened. "Eh?!"
Felix groaned. "Okay, now you threw your bombs at a Ghost-Type."
Junko's eyes flashed purple. "[Essence of Wrath!]" A dark wave projected from her body and passed over her opponents.
Felix, Victoria, and Zech tensed up as a strange, ghastly sensation encompassed their bodies. It felt like hundreds of needles stabbing through them, freezing them in place to endure the pain for all its worth. The ice clinging to their skin grew as the cold built up, and the pain overcoming them grew with the ice.
"[You continue to resist,]" Junko taunted. "[Submit to the cold and suffer no further. You will not uncover the secrets of the Cirque du Madness—]"
BANG!
Pieces of rubble from the floor pierced Junko through the back and disrupted her form yet again. Her attack ended and freed the trio, who doubled over to catch their breaths.
[W-What was…that]
Junko looked over her shoulder and saw a smoldering crater in the floor. Was it possible one of Victoria's bombs dropped when she tossed them and detonated in that moment, thus sending rock debris flying into her while her guard was down?
[What kind of mastermind is this Azumarill?]
After catching her breath, Victoria smiled. "Oh, cool. One of the bombs I accidentally dropped saved us. Woo! Another win for the Maldonado family!"
Junko glared. "[You taunt me with your intelligence, Azumarill? Clever as you are, I will not fall for your schemes. Pride of the Blizzard!]" She released another blast of cold air forward.
Zech got in front of the Foresters and knelt down. "Spiky Shield." He crossed his arms together and summoned a barrier of green spikes in front of himself. The harsh winds slammed against his shield, and he held his ground as ice formed over the spikes.
Felix leapt off the gravedigger's shoulder and pulled out some cards. "Two Kind!" He tossed two pairs of cards.
Junko dodged both pairs, watching them effortlessly slice into the walls. "[Frost Breath!]" She let loose a gust of frigid air from her breath.
"Three Kind: Double Down!" Felix tossed a set of three, this time blazing with a radiant pink aura. They passed through the Frost Breath effortlessly and exploded on contact with Junko.
She backed off from the smoke and moved deeper into the tunnels as her opponents chased her down. [These tunnels grant them limited space to maneuver in. And thanks to the damp air, I still have the advantage.] She waved her arms sent forth another strong ice storm.
Felix and Victoria stood their ground as ice rapidly covered their bodies. Zech dropped to his knees and punched his fists into the ground. "Thorns of Salvation." Giant green needles extended out from his arms before detaching. Energy blazed from the thorns and rocketed them forward like missiles.
"[Begone!]" Junko slashed the air and disrupted the course of the giant thorns. She braced herself as they exploded against the walls and threw her back in the shockwave.
"Muddy Water!" Victoria touched the ground and conjured a muddy wave from the ground.
Junko brushed away the smoke and thrusted her hands out. "[Pride of the Blizzard!]" She blasted into the muddy wave and flash-froze it until it crumbled under its weight. She backed off before the frozen chunks crashed down over the floor. "[I can't let any more of this one's tricks get the better of me.]"
Felix leapt onto the walls and kicked off into the air. "Full House Strike!" He fired down a set of five cards, each blazing inside pink flames. They arched across the air and exploded over Junko's head.
A timely blizzard spared the ghost from the brunt of the explosion. However, when the dust cleared, a shovelhead came flying and bashed her gaseous face apart. Zech skidded past her as ice crept over his shovel. He plunged it into the floor and lunged at Junko while she reformed.
"Nails of Requiem: Snare." Green needles extended from his arms again. Right as Junko reformed herself, Zech trapped her into a tight bearhug, digging the needles through her body.
"GAH!" She phased out of his grasp and took a deep breath. "[Storm of Sloth!]" She blew a medium-ranged wind into Zech.
He raised his guard as ice formed over him at a faster rate. He grimaced, feeling his movements slowing down as he tried to advance forward. Unlike her previous freezing attacks, this one didn't hurt nearly as bad, yet it focused more on limiting his speed and agility.
"Three Kind: Double Down!" Felix chucked another set of three cards.
"Muddy Water!" Victoria sent forth a muddy wave through the tunnel.
Junko scoffed and whipped up another Blizzard, destroying the cards and freezing the mud wave. "[Structures of Envy.]" She touched the floor and sent forth a pathway of ice spikes. They smashed through the frozen mud and charged for the Forester duo.
Victoria pushed Felix back and chucked her Present bombs. "Contact!"
They exploded against the ice, but it kept charging through completely undamaged.
"Those were healing Presents!" Felix yelled.
"Yikes!"
They braced themselves as the ice crashed into them, sharpened spires slicing into their uniforms and skin. Junko directed with her hands and commanded the ice to separate, slamming the duo into the walls. She clenched her fingers, commanding the ice to freeze over the damp walls and hold them in place.
Junko sighed a chilling breath and floated toward her captured prey. "[Now, which one of you should I play with first? I could deal with the deceitful trickster first…]" She floated over to Felix and cupped his chin in her hand. "[Though, perhaps I can entice you, little Sylveon.]"
Felix's teeth chattered as he smirked. "Y-Yeesh, l-l-lady. If you wanted me so badly, you c-c-c-could've just asked." He winced as the ice started pinching into his skin. So cold.
Junko smirked back. "[I can hear that flirting tone of yours.]" She shifted out of her gaseous form and cupped his cheeks. "[Shall I send you off with a kiss? A little something before the cold takes you from me?]"
Felix glared worriedly. Something about her tone tells me I shouldn't be making out with her.
Victoria tried to move her arms and reach for her bag. "Come on, my lucky streak isn't over yet! I just need a good bomb to get out of here!"
Felix pulled his head back as far into the wall as he could as Junko leaned into him. Her cold breath danced across his face, sapping the heat from his cheek. He tried to pull his feelers free from the ice. Even without his playing cards, he could conjure a Mystical Fire to deter her. He just needed time to set himself up.
"[Stop resisting and embrace this moment,]" Junko whispered. "[I promise, it'll all be over soon—]"
Something shot into the back of her neck, causing her to wince. She pulled away from Felix and reached around her. She scratched at the offending object, but couldn't pull it free. It's like there was a thorn digging into her skin.
"[What is this?!]" She turned and glared Zechariah, who managed to shake off the ice limiting his movement. As he finished brushing his shoulders, Junko yelled, "[What in the name of the emperor did you shoot me with?!]"
Zech tilted his head and glared. "Alright Moros, it's your turn. Give her hell."
"[Ugh, why can't everyone just speak Old Johtonian in this stupid kingdom?! Tell me what you just…did…]" She looked at herself and noticed her natural camouflage under the effects of Hail faded. The effects of Snow Cloak lifted, making her much more visible inside the tunnel. "[What in the…?]"
"Hehehehehehehe…"
A shiver shot up her spine. She spun around and squinted into the darkness. Her vision turned fuzzy, flickering back and forth. Color periodically turned grayscale between the flickering. During those brief moments of grayscale, she saw something lumbering down the tunnel.
"[What…is going on?]"
A grayed-out, monstrous Cacturne stumbled into her field of vision. Its eyes were hollowed out, and its stitched mouth ripped open with needle like teeth, shaping into a wide grin. It wore a similar tattered coat to Zech's, but this one fluttered behind the apparition like a pair of leather wings.
"[Hello, my pretty~.]"
Junko's eyes widened. "[What the hell?!]"
"[I'm so lonely. It's so cold in the dark. Won't you be my friend? I love friends. I love…playing with my friends!]" The apparition suddenly lunged and sprinted at Junko like a maniac.
"AAAAAAHHHH!" Junko turned and flew for her life as the phantom chased her down.
From Felix and Victoria's perspectives, however, they stared in disbelief as their tormentor suddenly turned tail and screamed for her life out of nowhere. Victoria recovered first and commented, "Maybe your breath smelled."
Felix shot a deadpan glare. "My breath isn't that bad…is it?"
Zech lumbered over to the frozen duo and broke them free with a couple swings of Needle Arm. He picked his shovel off the ground and held it over his shoulder. "Come on, we need to hunt her down."
Felix brushed the ice off his body and asked, "What did you do to her?"
"Mania of Moros."
"…That doesn't answer my question."
He glared over his shoulder, listening to the Froslass' distant screams. "I know my way through the catacombs. Follow me. She won't get far."
"[Stay away from me, you freak!]" Junko yelled.
The apparition, Moros, laughed maniacally as he bounced off the walls like a manic Politoed, endlessly pursuing the Froslass. Each time her vision flickered, he would disappear in and out of sight, sometimes getting closer without her realizing. She had a couple close calls, narrowly dodging a swipe near her face.
"[Structures of Envy!]" She touched the ground and sent out a wave of ice.
Moros leapt through the air, but got skewered through ice spires. Junko nearly gave herself a moment to breathe, but yelped as Moros passed through the ice like clay. She took off flying just before he freed himself and continued the chase.
[What is that thing?! How can a lowly gravedigger possibly have something like this at his disposal?!] She grimaced and faltered a bit in her flight. [Feeling…a bit winded. Why? I…I shouldn't be this tired already.]
She touched the back of her neck again, feeling for the seed attached to her, but gasped upon feeling a sudden change. The small seed had expanded to the size of a large walnut. Not only that, but she craned her neck enough to see a dark mist steaming out from it.
"[What did he do to me?!]" Junko yelled.
"[Pretty lady~.]" Her eyes widened, suddenly sensing the apparition above her. "[Found you~.]"
"[Frost Breath!]" Junko blew chilling air into his face, but it passed through him like nothing. "[W-What—]"
Moros laughed and threw his fist. She tensed up, but gasped as his arm passed through her and overlapped with the seed growing off the back of her neck. The apparition's maniacal expression instantly shifted to a familiar, stone-faced glare. "[Mania of Moros.]"
The apparition vanished, and Junko heard the seed cracking. Right as she craned her neck, the seed burst open and released a powerful blast of darkness. She screamed out in pain and slammed into a wall. She slid onto the floor and twitched from the pain. A scorch mark of darkness caked the entire back of her neck.
"[What…was that?]" she groaned.
"Three Kind!"
Her eyes snapped open as razor sharp playing cards flew at her face. "[Hail!]" A burst of cold air floated from her body, allowing her to vanish before the cards struck. Snow clouds covered the ceiling once again, and the gaseous ghost floated near the ceiling as her opponents came running after her.
Zech narrowed his eyes. "Did you enjoy Moros' company, ice witch?" He held his shovel by the end of the handle and swung.
Junko backed off before it sliced through her. She winced and touched the back of her neck, still feeling the stinging pain of the blast. "[What kind of attack was that?]"
"Don't lie to me, witch. I know you were rattled by my attack," Zech countered, completely in the dark of her actual question.
Felix and Victoria stopped by the gravedigger's side, where Victoria asked, "What did you do to her?"
"Mania of Moros. A combination of Destiny Bond, Worry Seed, and Giga Drain. A special technique I created." He pointed his shovel at Junko. "It uses fear to build up power, turning the seed I launched into a remote bomb once Moros makes contact."
Felix glared. "Annnnnd…who is Moros?"
"Moros is the spirit that lives in my shovel. He takes form in my imagination."
Victoria nodded. "Ah, that makes sense."
"It does?!" Felix gasped.
Junko couldn't understand a thing they were saying, but it angered her nonetheless. "[You've tested my patience long enough. Allow me to demonstrate my mastery over ice to its fullest extent! Structures of Envy!]" She touched the walls, coating them in a layer of frost, and summoned giant ice pillars.
Felix darted forward and pulled out a few cards. "Dealer's Edge!" He sliced through the first two pillars, but one formed under his feet and slammed him into the ceiling.
"I got this!" Victoria pulled out her boomerang and tossed it. An ice pillar immediately grew out of the wall and pinned the weapon to the other side. "I don't got this!"
"Needle Arm." Zech ran through the ice pillars, cutting a path through and jumping over any going for his legs. He leapt off an ice pillar extending from the floor and used it to catapult himself into Junko.
"[Storm of Sloth!]" She blew cold air, slowing Zech's descent and making him miss his mark by an inch.
He grunted as the frost rapidly encased his body. "Spiky Shield." He crossed his arms together and hunched over, projecting a barrier of green spikes from his body to stave off the cold.
Felix cut himself loose from the ceiling and dove through the cyclone of ice. "Mystical Fire!" He lit up a large flame between his feelers and fired it.
Junko waved her hand and commanded the winds to snuff out his flame. "[Pride of the Blizzard!]" An explosive burst of cold air slammed into Felix and knocked him across the tunnel.
"Got you!" Victoria jumped and caught Felix's paw. She helped him to the floor and held onto the wall as the winds blew harder into them. She winced as ice encased the left side of her body. "We can barely get within a meter of her!"
Felix grunted. "Come on, we're smarter than this. Master Harlow put her faith in us, and we want to show her how proud we are to have her as our teacher. What would the master do in our situation?"
Victoria narrowed her eyes and thought it over. "Um…when all else fails, do something completely insane, right? So, in other words—"
"Just do what we do best!" Felix grinned. "These winds are strong because they're traveling through a narrow pathway. If we can get her to the surface—"
"But won't that put people in danger?" Victoria asked.
"That's a risk I'm willing to take. Besides, if something happens to us, Master Harlow and the others won't know about what they're planning!"
Victoria glared. "Good point. Alright, I'm in!"
"See if you can blow the ceiling up!" Felix dug out a pouch from his uniform and marched into the windstorm.
Junko glared at the defiant Sylveon. "[You're persistent, but you're still no match for me. Pride of the Blizzard!]" She amped up the ice storm, causing Zech to shiver and bunker down deeper into his Spiky Shield.
Felix held his ground as the cold air slammed into his face. He wrestled out a cluster of coins from his pouch, empowering them with Fairy-Type energy. "Try this! Bankroll!" He twisted his feelers around the coins and sprayed them out like bullets.
"[Structure of Envy!]" Junko formed a wall of ice in front of herself, but gasped as the coins whittled through the front and pierced out the other side. She guarded her face as the coins ripped through her gaseous body, wincing from the Fairy-Type energy imbued into them.
The coins exploded across the walls after passing through her, leaving miniature holes in their place. After each explosion, the coins fell to the floor, unharmed with only smoke lingering off them.
"Incoming!" Her eyes darted to the right of the ice wall, where Victoria slid into view with a cluster of Present bombs in her arms. "Super Surprise Boom Party!" She spun on one foot and tossed the entire cluster.
Junko didn't even raise her guard as the bombs went off, taking out her ice wall and destroying a portion of the tunnel around her. She floated in the center of the explosion and glared unamusingly at the Azumarill.
"[Was that supposed to do something—]" Her eyes wandered up, and she gasped at the remaining Present blown toward the ceiling. It not only didn't immediately explode, but it was glowing abnormally bright.
Zech glared as his Spiky Shield faded. "Oh dear."
Victoria grinned. "Woo, lucky me!"
Meanwhile…
Monica finished off the last of her pancakes and licked her lips to savor the taste. "So gooooood…"
Melissa grinned. "Glad you enjoyed them."
"Oh, I did." Monica patted her stomach and laughed. "Oh yeah, we totally need to go shopping later. Most of the shops are here are closed, but I know a few that should still be open. A birthday girl should always dress up in style, I always say!"
Asterio glared. "When did you say that?"
"Just now!"
"Of course."
Melissa laughed. "Well, I am still working at the moment, so—" Wyatt and Avel snuck up behind the Buneary, the former hooking his arm around her.
"Hey, don't let us stop you. We'll run the shop in your place while you chill out. It's your birthday, after all."
Melissa blushed appreciatively. "Aww, are you sure?"
Avel nodded. "You've been working hard as is, so a break is warranted."
Melissa turned her glance toward Jason, who shrugged and smiled. "I've got no objections."
She grinned and nodded at Monica. "Well, I guess I'll be taking a breaking for the rest of the afternoon." She hopped over the counter.
"Fantastic!" Monica grabbed her hands and pulled her along. "Come on, Star Prince, we've got a birthday girl to spoil!"
He rolled his eyes and followed behind. "Sure, whatev—"
BOOM!
Everyone in the street staggered and gasped as a massive smoke cloud erupted into the sky several streets away. Jason and the Good Brothers poked their heads out from under the stall's awning and gawked at the large smokestack.
"What in the world?!" Jason gasped.
"Did a firework show go awry?" Wyatt asked.
"At this time of the day?!" Aval exclaimed.
Melissa narrowed her eyes. "I have a bad feeling about this." She looked to Jason, who exchanged a look of understanding. She nodded back and pushed Monica into Asterio's arms. "Uh, you two should get to somewhere safe. We'll check it out."
Monica's eyes widened. "Wait, wha—"
Melissa threw her apron off and ran ahead. "Don't worry, we'll be fine!" Jason leapt over the counter and followed after her on all fours. "And Wyatt and Avel! You two are in charge until I get back!"
Wyatt and Avel saluted. "Aye, ma'am!"
Monica blinked in surprise. "What was that about?"
Asterio narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but saw that the street started to get crowded with panicking bystanders. Seeing he couldn't prioritize investigating the blast himself, he grabbed Monica's hand and pulled her along. "Let's find some cover." He glanced back just as Melissa and Jason vanished around a corner.
For two pancake salesmen, they're awfully quick to respond to an explosion like that. Strange.
Carnival goers fled the scene as a hole ripped open through the street. A geyser of sparkles blasted into the air followed by a column of smoke and dust shooting above the buildings. From the dust, Junko came flying out into the open, arms shielding her from bits of debris hitting toward her face. Some smoke still lingered around her body.
[What frightening power! If that had any effect on me, it could've done serious damage.]
Felix, Victoria, and Zech pulled themselves out of the hole and onto the street. Zech noticed bystanders still lingering around and shouted, "(Escape! Escape as still could!)"
Even through his butchered attempt at the language, the bystanders got the message and fled the area.
Junko gritted her teeth. "[This smoke is making it impossible for them to see me. Ringmaster Abasolo's plans will be ruined if the knights investigate.]" She glared. "[I'll have to kill these pests first and go into hiding for a while.]"
Felix pulled out some cards and pointed at the sky. "End of the road, Ice Queen! Let's see how strong you are on surface level."
Recognizing the taunt, Junko raised her hands up. "[Don't act like you've won yet. All you did was give me a bigger stage to perform on!]" She raised her head and let out a haunting cry.
Gray clouds rolled in and blotted out the sky, raining down snow and hail. The Foresters and Zech covered their heads as chunks of ice pelted down on them. Junko let out another enchanting wail, channeling a massive blizzard through the streets. The street and nearby stalls slowly froze over, as did the buildings. People seeking refuge inside watched in horror as the windows and doors sealed shut behind thick sheets of ice.
"[Feel the full might of the cold. Winter's Greed!]" Her song pierced up to the darkened clouds, where giant meteors of ice sailed down. As they passed through the harsh blizzard, ice collected over their surfaces and expanded their size by the second.
Felix and Victoria gasped. "Oh no!"
Zech pushed them to the ground and lay over them. "Spiky Shield." The green-spiked barrier sprung from his back and shielded them from the raining ice. They shattered on impact with the ground and Zech's barrier, filling the street with chunks the size of croquet balls.
"[Pride of the Blizzard!]" Her song conjured a whirlwind of snow, blanketing the atmosphere in an opaque curtain of white.
Zech and the Foresters held their ground as the storm slammed into them. Felix grunted. "Okay, maybe it was a bad call to bring her up here!"
Zech glared. "Incredible. The range of her voice. The way she can change the pitch on a dime. It's like she can command the atmosphere through sound. She possesses incredible mastery of the cold weather."
Victoria grinned. "I got it! Let's punch her in the throat!"
Felix opened his mouth to protest, but shut his lips for a moment to think it over. "…If we get the chance, we'll try that." He grunted as a second blast of cold air struck them. "Still, we can't fight in these conditions! It's getting colder by the minute!" He glanced at Zech. "How are you still standing from all this?!"
He glared. "I find the cold embrace of death quite comforting."
"That's not an answer!"
Victoria pouted. "If she weren't a Ghost-Type, I'd have an easier time hitting her—" Her eyes widened. "Oh wait, I nearly forgot!"
"Eh?" Felix gasped.
"There might be a way to turn this around, but I need to get close."
He glared. "That sounds incredibly dangerous and risky." He flashed an excited grin. "Count me in!"
"AAAHHH!" Melissa gripped onto her cap as a harsh, cold wind blew through the street. "C-C-C-Cold!"
Melissa and Jason kept their backs against a building as the street around the corner became engulfed in a sudden snowstorm. Jason winced as icicles formed sideways off the corner of their hiding spot. Even without being directly inside the storm, the air temperature around them dropped significantly.
"Well, I think we can safely discount this being a firework accident," Jason commented.
"D-Did you see anything?" Melissa asked.
"Kind of. I barely caught a glimpse when everyone fled. I couldn't get a good visual of the assailant, but I'm fairly certain I saw Felix and Victoria."
"Them?!" she gasped. "I just asked them to map out the catacombs! How can they get into this much trouble on their own?!"
"Someone else is with them, too." He glared. "I could be seeing things, but I think that was Zechariah."
"Who?!"
"Zephora's older brother."
"Her older brother?!"
"Yeah. I believe he's a gravedigger here."
"Her brother's a gravedigger?!" She paused for a moment, then deadpanned. "No, wait, that one actually makes sense." She shook her head and gasped. "Wait, why is her brother here in the first place?"
"Must've gotten mixed up with Felix and Victoria when they went underground." He pulled a dagger out from under his clothes and charged the blade. "Once I see an opening, I'm taking out the threat."
Melissa looked down at her feet for a moment, glared, and grabbed Jason's shoulder. "Hold on."
"Huh?"
"Let's give them a chance to figure this out themselves."
"You do realize this isn't a training exercise, right?"
She shook her head. "Victoria and Felix gave me a second chance to be their teacher, and I promised to put my full faith in them. If things look bad, we'll interfere. I want to see how they can hold their own. After all, true experience comes from real danger." She laughed awkwardly. "That's how I've grown, right?"
"…" He sighed and put the dagger away. "It's your call. You better be right."
She nodded. "I know they can win. Just watch."
"[Structures of Envy!]" Junko clicked her fingers and fired pillars of ice from the frozen buildings.
Felix raced toward the pillars and jumped once they smashed into the street. He landed, dug his claws into the pillars, and raced up them. Pillars formed off their surface and fired at him, but he skated around in the nick of time. He pulled out a card and dragged it across the ice behind him.
"Four Kind!" He tossed four razor sharp cards at Junko.
She waved her hand and knocked them away with a breeze. "[Storm of Sloth!]" She exhaled and blanketed the area in front of her in an icy mist.
"Mystical Fire!" He formed a ring of fireballs and punched a hole through the mist. He reached the end of the pillar and kicked off the building, leaping over the Froslass' head. "Dealer's Edge: Double Down!" He raised two empowered playing cards and dove onto Junko.
"[Embrace of Lust.]" Junko's entire form turned transparent and blue with icy mist flowing off.
Felix's attack passed through the temptress without resistance, and he crashed back onto the street with a hard landing. He staggered and gasped as the playing cards shattered out of his feelers. He lifted both, seeing them frozen solid. His nerves stung from the cold touch, as if the ice had reached below the skin.
Junko laughed behind her hand. "[How do you like my cold touch, Westerner? How I envy the other half of my evolutionary line for having access to Freeze-Dry. It took much training to replicate similar results. The water composition in your body will be your undoing. If I had my way, this technique could shatter flesh.]"
Felix flinched. Sh-Shit. I can't feel my feelers. Did she freeze the water in my body?
She snapped her fingers. "[Winter's Greed.]" Meteors of ice rained down from the sky once more.
"Hang on, Felix!" Right before the ice crashed down, Victoria flew by with Aqua Jet and scooped the Sylveon up. She arched into the sky and circled back around. "Ooh, that doesn't look good!"
He tucked his feelers inside his uniform. "I-I'll be fine…I hope. Get me closer so I can make an opening!" She nodded and darted back at Junko.
Junko scoffed. "[Structures of Envy!]" She hummed a mesmerizing tune, commanding ice to shoot out from the frozen buildings.
Victoria weaved through the ice spikes, shrinking back inside her Aqua Jet for extra protection. The ice scraped along the water's surface and partially froze it. The closer they got into the center of Junko's storm, the colder the water became. She pushed on through and kept navigating through the jungle of ice.
Felix unclipped his card holsters and reached inside with his two non-frozen feelers. "Royal Flash!" His feelers moved swiftly, throwing out a barrage of empowered playing cards. They sliced up the ice in front of them, cutting open a path for Victoria to fly through. The rest of the cards exploded within Junko's storm, steadily cutting their way through before detonating in range of her.
"GAH!" She backed off, shielding her face from the blast. She growled and yelled, "[Pride of the Blizzard!]" The ferocity of her shout matched the monstrous blizzard that collided into the airborne Foresters.
Victoria gasped as she lost aerial stability. "C-Can't stay afloat!"
Felix wrapped his feelers around and yelled, "Spin yourself vertically, now!"
She nodded and used the remainder of her momentum to spin through the air. Felix adjusted his position until his hindlegs pressed against her stomach. After lining up their position, he kicked Victoria toward Junko while he plummeted back to the ground.
Zech dove and caught Felix before he hit the street. "Got you."
"Incoming!" Victoria crashed into Junko and grappled around her neck to stay in the air.
"AGH!" Junko gasped. She clawed at Victoria's arms to pry them off her neck. "[Let go of me, you little—]"
"Soak!"
Junko became drenched in tons of water, most of it freezing in the air and hitting the streets as bits of ice. When the attack ended, Junko spread her arms out, finding her body and dress dripping wet. Worst of all, she shivered from the harsh temperatures roaring around her.
"[What did you do to me?!]" Junko yelled. She covered herself as her teeth clattered. "[Y-You d-d-dare turn the ice against me?!]"
Victoria grinned. "And now…Tickle!" She wiggled her hands around the Froslass like feathers.
"[W-W-Wha! H-H-Hey—pfft—stop it!]" She gritted her teeth and squirmed in vain to keep her composure. The storm started to settle as she lost her concentration. "[G-Get off of—hahaha—me!]"
Against her better judgment, Junko opted to use brute force. She flew into the buildings and slammed Victoria against a window, cracking it. She darted to the building across and crashed into it, too. She darted back and forth over the street, bashing her assailant repeatedly into the walls, but the tickle torturer put up a fight.
Zech narrowed his eyes at the airborne duo before crouching down and resting his fists on both sides of himself. "Nails of Requiem." Green, spiked tendrils erupted from his arms and shot into the air.
Just as Junko reared up for another tackle, the flying spikes locked on and pierced through both her and Victoria. The Froslass froze in place, paralyzed by the pain stabbing through her, while Victoria remained perfectly fine. In fact, the portion stabbing into her absorbed into her body.
Felix picked himself up and gasped. "That's genius! With the witch now a Water-Type, your attack will do serious damage to her. And you even knew Victoria's ability was Sap Sipper."
Zech glared. "Her ability's Sap Sipper?" Felix faltered over in disbelief.
Junko gasped for air as her stamina withered away by the second. She had precious little time to free herself before everything went dark. She took a deep breath and focused on Zech. Her eyes glowed a dark purple. "[Disable!]"
Zech's eyes widened as a dark presence shot through him. His body shivered, and his attack fizzled out. "Hmm." He activated Needle Arm, but couldn't activate Nails of Requiem. "She disabled my Giga Drain."
The brief shock allowed Junko to grab Victoria's ears, flip herself forward, and tossed the water rabbit off. "[Pride of the Blizzard!]" She swung her hands down and blasted Victoria the rest of the way.
Victoria activated Aqua Jet just before hitting the street, absorbing most of the impact. The added Sap Sipper energy nearly negated the crash to zero, though she caressed her aching head. "Ow, ow, ow."
Junko shook her head and growled. "[I've had enough!]" She raised her hands, reactivating the Hail and sending down a Blizzard attack.
Felix and Victoria faltered as the wind slammed down on their backs. Zech grunted, but kept himself standing with his shovel. "Shield of Bramble." He charged through the storm as a cluster of green spikes burst from his arms and folded out into the shape of twin shields. He held them in front of himself as he braced the cold.
"[Essence of Wrath!]" Junko wailed, releasing a dark wave through the air.
Zech ducked behind his shields as the wave passed over him. The dark energy cascaded off the shields' surfaces, pushing through like an ocean of smog. "Thorns of Salvation." Once the dark wave faded, he aimed his shields up and deployed the needle cluster, firing them into the air like missiles.
"[Storm of Sloth!]" Junko blew cold air and froze the projectile spikes until they shattered. "[Structure of Envy!]" Ice spikes started to form under Zech's feet.
"Shield of Bramble." He reformed his spike barriers and aimed them down before the ice rose up and skewered him. The ice knocked him into the air as it shattered against his defense. One icicle grazed the edge of the shield and cut Zech's cheek, spraying green blood into the air. He paid it no mind, his stoic expression remaining unchanged.
Junko raised her hand. "[Winter's—]"
"Jackpot!"
Her eyes widened as a flurry of coins fired from the street in her direction. They were laced with Fairy-Type energy, but left a green trail behind them as they flew. Junko directed the storm and sent the coins scattering away from her. However, she didn't expect for them to ricochet off the buildings in return. She put up her guard as the coins bounced off the buildings between the street. They bounced back and forth all around her, trapping her like she was in the center of a massive spider web.
A coin exploded across her back, knocking her forward. She fell into the path of another shot, this time detonating across her face. One by one, the coins converged on her position and exploded on impact.
Victoria ran under the Froslass' position, carrying an armful of Present bombs. "Super Surprise Boom Party!" She spun on one foot and chucked her supply of bombs into the air.
Junko waved the smoke out of her face just as the bombs reached her level. She nearly let them go off without interacting, only to remember she was still soaking wet. Her eyes widened, then she immediately touched herself. "[Structure of—]"
The bombs detonated in a mass of sparkles and smoke. Victoria backed off and rejoined Felix's side as Junko fell out of the air wrapped in smoke. She crashed into a pile of ice that crumbled apart upon contact. The storm let up once again, and the raining hail calmed down. Ice cracked and split off from the buildings as the temperature gradually returned to normal.
Zech picked himself up and glared. "Not bad."
Victoria grinned. "Haha! In your face, spooky witch lady!"
Felix raised his feeler and laughed. "Up top!" They clapped hands and grabbed each other in a side hug as they laughed.
Melissa sighed in relief and pulled herself back around the corner. "Phew. See? I told you they would be fine."
Jason smirked. "Right, and that's why you were sweating so much."
"N-No! I wasn't worried! It was just really hot!"
"It's the tail end of winter, and we just experienced a freak snowstorm not even a minute ago."
"Stop mocking me!"
He shook his head and peeked around the corner. "Got to admit, they handled themselves remarkably well. Seems your training did them some favors."
Melissa crossed her arms and exhaled proudly through her nose. "Yeah, I am pretty great."
"Don't get a big head over it."
"Let me savor the moment for once!" She sighed and rolled her shoulders. "Alright, better go see what the fuss was about—"
Jason suddenly stuck his arm out. "Wait."
"W-What?"
He glared at the ice in the middle of the street, sensing something shuffling underneath it. An icy mist poured out from under the debris. "I don't think they've won yet."
Zech sensed something through his peripherals. As Felix and Victoria celebrated their victory, he glanced over his shoulder to see frost hissing out from the icy roads. A pathway of frost traveled across the street, heading straight toward the two Foresters.
"Look out!"
Felix and Victoria gasped. "Huh?!"
Junko lunged out from the street, but Zech jumped in front of the pair. Her arm passed through his torso, freezing his midsection in an instant. Zech staggered as the cold crept up his body and froze the skin. Meanwhile, ice cracked around Junko's body and shattered off. The remnants of Soak had frozen off.
"[Embrace of Lust,]" she hissed.
"Mr. Gravedigger!" Felix and Victoria cried.
Zech grunted as the ice formed around his neck. "I…was waiting for this…" The ice sealed around his head.
Junko pulled her arm out and smirked at the frozen cactus. She tapped his chest, knocking him onto his back with a hard thud. "[No more of you.]"
Felix growled. "Lady, you're asking for it now!" He formed Mystical Fires around himself.
Victoria pulled her boomerang out. "Come get some, you—"
"[Embrace of Lust.]"
The duo had no time to react as Junko darted through their bodies. The icy cold took over instantly, partially freezing their limbs in place and snuffing out Felix's flames. Worst of all, Junko's arm passed over their faces, causing their saliva and tear ducts to freeze as well. They blinked without thinking, and now they couldn't open them again as the tears froze over their eyelids.
Gah! So…cold! Felix gasped.
Can't…breathe! Victoria panicked.
Junko huffed a sigh of relief and straightened up. "[I've about had it with you ingrates. You've proved yourselves more troublesome than I care to admit, but I've taken on far more dangerous prey. You westerners are too soft for you own good. The east is a place of war for only the strong to survive. Mercy is a weakness, and you wasted your opportunity to strike me down with frivolous displays of celebration.]"
She raised her hand and formed a floating spear of ice. It pointed between Felix and Victoria as if deciding who to skewer first.
"[I grow bored of this nonsense. Now, join the rest of my prey in the icy depths of—]"
CRACK!
Junko spun around with a start. She looked around at the street before settling her gaze on Zech's frozen body. She didn't see anything at first, writing it off as just her imagination, but then she noticed his face. The ice around it started to crack. Not enough to tell her he was breaking loose, but something…felt off.
She growled. "[He's passed out. There's no way he has the energy left to fight.]" She shook her head and turned back to the duo. "[Where was I—]"
Hiiiiiisssssss
Her eyes widened to the peculiar sound. Craning her neck, she glanced over her shoulder and saw a thick darkness seeping out from the cracks in the ice. A black, amorphous blob highlighted in a green outline. It almost resembled toxic sludge.
The blob took shape, forming arms and legs before touching the ground. A head formed next, then defined patterns formed over the body. It took only a few seconds for Junko to recognize the shape once the diamond-like patterns appeared over the arms and the tricorn-esque hat.
"[Not this thing again!]"
Tethered to the strand of darkness coming out of the ice, the shadowy Cacturne set its solemn stare on the ice witch and lumbered forward. Its green eyes and sharpened teeth highlighted in green showed the empty void within, beckoning her toward it.
Junko relaxed her beating heart and scoffed. "[Another of your illusions, Gravedigger? I will not be startled by this one—]"
CRACK!
Her eyes shot down to the creature's foot, where the ice shattered under its weight. Her eyes perpetually widened as the creature lumbered closer to her.
It had mass.
It cracked the ice.
…It wasn't an illusion.
"[SHIT!]" She shot up into the air, dodging an attempted grab for her. She bared her teeth and formed several ice spears around herself. "[Whatever this is, I won't be—]"
"Prison…"
Her eyes widened, feeling the creature's unsettling aura directly behind her. She merely blinked, and it had vanished from her line of sight. She tensely looked over her shoulder to find the shadow Cacturne hovering over her with its vacant eyes beating down on her soul.
"Prison of Moros." It reared its arms back and caught her in a tight bearhug.
"AGH!" Junko turned into a gaseous state to free herself, but recoiled back against the creature's chest and returned to normal. "[W-What is this? Why can't I phase out?!]"
As she pushed on its body, her hand sank below the darkness. She gasped as her body sunk into the shadow scarecrow like quicksand. The more she struggled, the harder it pulled her in. The creature tightened its hug, pushing Junko deeper into its abyssal body.
"[W-What are you doing to me?! Release me at once, you filthy westerner! I said…let me—]" Her shrieks drowned within the darkness along with her head, the last of her being absorbed inside.
The creature, Moros, floated back onto the ground and landed with feathery steps. With her connection severed, Junko's ice started cracking and evaporating on its own. The timely intervention freed Felix and Victoria from the frost coating their mouths and eyes, where they immediately caught their breaths.
"Oh Arceus!" Felix gasped.
"T-Too close!" Victoria wheezed.
They blinked the ice from their eyes and looked up, still partially frozen in place. They gasped at the shadowy scarecrow standing in front of them motionlessly. They followed the tethered to Zech's frozen body, seeing the darkness spill out from his mouth.
The duo shared concerned looks with each other before looking up at the shadow. Victoria gulped and asked, "Uh, Mr. Grave—"
Moros suddenly arched its back and let out a deafening shrieked as dozens of spikes erupted from its body in rapid succession. Felix and Victoria gasped as the spikes jutted out repeatedly like pistons working overtime, or like something was trying to stab its way free from the inside. Either way, it was a visceral sight they couldn't turn their eyes from. Pieces of shadow ripped from its body, tearing itself apart. Spikes even jutted out from the face and eyes.
The process lasted a few more seconds before stopping. Silence filled the air as the Foresters watch in anticipation for something to happen. Next thing they knew, the creature collapsed onto its knees as its form withered away.
In place of it, Junko peeled out from her internal prison as if coming unstuck from a cocoon and fell face first onto the ground. The last of the darkness faded, yet thinner tethers attached themselves to her arms and back. Green, phantasmic spikes pulse in and out of existence, impaling through her body.
Felix's eyes widened. "Uh, what just happened?"
"Thunder Fairy Step."
The duo felt a bolt of lightning whip past them, then the ice shattered from their bodies instantly. They staggered back and checked themselves just as Jason appeared in front of them.
He sighed, twirling his dagger in hand. "You two have some explaining to do."
Melissa ran over to her apprentices and lunged into them before they could speak. They gasped as she wrung their neck in a tight hug. "Oh, thank goodness! I was this close to charging in and rescuing you two!"
"Dying…again!" Victoria gasped. Melissa freed them so they could catch their breaths. Victoria rubbed her throat and wheezed, "You were watching?"
Jason glared. "Kind of hard to miss." He briefly electrified his dagger and sliced open Zech's ice prison. He sheathed his weapon and knelt down to check the gravedigger's pulse. "Looks like he's out cold, but he'll be fine after some rest."
Melissa glared at her apprentices. "More importantly, what happened to you two? You were just supposed to investigate the tunnels. Also, who is this you were fighting and why…why is she being impaled with glowing green spikes—Jason, what is that?"
Jason quickly surveyed the area, noticing the ice falling apart from the buildings. His ears twitched, detecting the faintest sound of metal clanking in rhythm. "Knights are coming. Felix, use Telekinesis to lift Zechariah. Victoria, carry the Froslass. Harlow, you go find Lucient and inform him and the brothers to meet back at the inn for an emergency meeting." He glared at the apprentices. "Did something happen underground?"
Felix winced. "Yeah, we…may have stumbled upon something we shouldn't have."
Victoria nodded. "Really bad stuff, actually."
Melissa narrowed her eyes. "That so? Alright, you two escape with Jason while I get the others."
With their plan figured out, Felix levitated the unconscious gravedigger and pulled him along with Victoria carried Junko on her back. Jason led them into a partially frozen alleyway. Melissa glanced down the street, catching a small group of knights heading her way, and bounced her way up to the rooftops.
What could've been so bad to warrant a response like this?