A small partition appeared in the dark, circular swirls of distortion, like an open flap from a pitched tent. From his position atop a pile of moss-covered rubble cobbled together to look like a seat, the Phantom watched a Mr. Rime stroll across the field of gray, dead foliage and thorn-covered vegetation. He swung his icy cane around his thumb and whistled jauntily as he crushed black, rotted rose petals beneath his clog-like shoes. He stopped before the throne and nudged up the noctowl mask on his face.
"Speak, Cassius," the Phantom ordered, its shadows pulsating and bubbling around where a proper face should have been.
"It's just as you predicted, Necrozma." Cassius held up his free hand and several cards with strange diamond symbols materialized. "Seems we've been dealt a wild card."
Resting his cane on his right shoulder, Cassius shuffled the cards. "There are indeed fresh bouts of distortion that spawned where you said the remaining Needles are." He plucked the top card from the pile and turned it over to reveal a regal nidoking surrounded by clubs. "Just trying to get close to one of them caused a tearing pain to shoot through my whole body."
The card vanished in a flash of light. "I believe Eternatus' mystery dungeons have encased the Needles."
There was silence, then a shadowy tendril struck a rotten branch protruding from the distortion. Soggy splinters showered the area next to Shiva and Quetzal. They remained as motionless as statues.
"Wonderful." Necrozma's claws scraped its makeshift chair. "Even with the power I have... trying to warp into one of those dungeons would exhaust me enough to put me in another stasis."
"And simply approaching them out in the open is not a wise option." Cassius held up a card. It then split into three separate cards. "Since your 'performance' at Douglas' manor, the queens have decided to play their hands." The three cards split into six. "They've mobilized the Radiant Guard and stationed them around all the new dungeons. If you approach, then things will turn ugly."
Shadowy claws dug into the arms on the Phantom's chair. "I need power. More power."
It slammed a fist against the stone. The hand evaporated and returned to its pool of shadows. "I don't understand it. Why didn't this happen with any of the other Needles? I was getting closer to freeing them. To undoing my mistakes."
"Who's to say?" The Mr. Rime resumed shuffling his deck. "Perhaps there's a trick at play here? Some sleight-of-hand not even you could foresee?" He tossed the entire deck up, whereupon the cards transformed into a string of handkerchiefs that Cassius caught and stuffed into the glove over his left hand.
"Whatever the case, it seems your hand is no longer as good as you thought it was. So, what will you do? Take this as a bluff and check the Needles or fold and see if fate can deal you a better hand?"
A growl rumbled from within Necrozma's pool of shadows. It considered silencing Cassius as it did those stuffy noble birds. But it would be a waste of precious energy. The Phantom needed at least one person who could think for themselves. Someone who wouldn't just be a mindless machine to send out and keep watch over the Needles. Especially now that they were hidden within dungeons.
Sending any of them into a dungeon risked losing control of them completely. The time and power pooled into them would go to waste.
But what could Necrozma do? What should it do? Every moment it sat around doing nothing, things would only get more unstable. Eternatus would continue to claw away at the Phantom's home.
Its tendrils constricted. Images flickered through its head.
A circle with five diamonds around it.
Five moon-sized dragon heads blotting out the heavens.
A pink cyclone enveloping a starcloud and a giant moon bat.
A black, crystalline arm reaching toward a chunk of Red Chain.
How long had these played on loop? Necrozma couldn't even remember. But they wouldn't leave its head no matter what it did.
"Sir?"
"What?" The Phantom's shadows rippled. It glanced at the three birds, who were still standing motionless atop an overturned pillar.
"You seemed positively lost in thought." Cassius turned the ten of spades over in his hand. "Might I offer a suggestion?"
It doubted it would be any good, but what did it have to lose? "Go on."
"If you can't strike directly at the Needles, perhaps you can establish a little side pot." Cassius tossed the ten of spades up. It morphed into a casino chip. The chip froze the moment the Mr. Rime caught it. "Rather than risk losing the energy you always mumble about... why not damage the Kingdom of Radiance in a different way?"
"You know exactly why," Necrozma growled. Cassius was clearly full of it.
"True. But if you can't achieve one of your goals..." Cassius held up the two of spades. He turned it over and it became the ace of spades. "... Then you ought to get yourself an ace for some insurance."
"Enough. Get to the point."
"The Polaris Group." Cassius flicked the ace of spades toward Ifrit, who spat a fireball at it. The card dissolved away before the flames connected. "You keep saying that the use of ether has led Radiance's citizens to forget how to be true pokémon. Polaris holds a complete monopoly over the energy market thanks to their ether repositories. And many of the nobles have stakes in its operations. If you strike at the conglomerate, you can harm Radiance's nobility. And perhaps that will weaken the connection to Eternatus."
A long silence followed. Cassius leaned against his cane. "Well, what do you think?"
Necrozma had to admit that it was a decent idea. If it was in his prime, perhaps it would've thought of that. But this was why it had wanted allies in the first place. Maybe it shouldn't have stripped the birds of their thoughts after all. Oh well, it couldn't change that now. The only way to go was forward.
"I'm afraid I don't know that much about it." Several shadowy tendrils extended out from Necrozma, each spawning a hand. "But I do know that it's tied to a place that brainwashes the future nobility. So, if we're going to start anywhere, it's there."
It pointed three hands toward the distortion behind Cassius. "Go. Let the so-called hope of Radiance's future know of our presence."
Cassius bowed. "As you wish."
The bright flash and distorted twang threw Yuna off. But she realized what Nikki had done the moment soundwaves pushed against her ectoplasm, making them quiver like a goodra's gelatinous belly when it walked.
It was Boomburst, a move she'd seen used by high-ranking kommo-o and flygon soldiers serving the Aeon Kingdom.
Still, for someone as scrawny as Nikki to pull that move off — and she didn't look much older than Yuna — the dreepy couldn't help but wonder just how much more to the toxtricity there was than her scruffy appearance let on. Chiaki had said she was strong, but Yuna hadn't expected this.
Indeed, when the light faded, Nikki stood tall, adjusting the lapels of her leather jacket. All around her, the other teams lay strewn in the grass. Tangled knots of limbs and bodies. Groans and moans made Yuna's gills curl up. Chiaki's jaw slackened and his toothpick dropped onto the grass.
"What the— what the hell did you just do?"
"My word! Nikki the Nuisance just pulled some secret technique out of nowhere!" Reno's voice crackled through speakers that Yuna couldn't see.
"I've never seen a move pack that kind of punch." Rufus gawked. "Is that even legal?!"
"One thing's for sure, it's knocked nearly all of her opponents out cold," Vincent exclaimed.
"Heh. Told you I had a plan, Twiggy." Nikki thumped her chest. "Now we're free to take all the time we need." She lazily rested her hands behind her head and casually strolled toward the labyrinth entrance. Blinking slowly, Yuna turned to follow Nikki when she noticed a bright blue flash in the corner of her right eye.
"Nikki, behind you!" Yuna cried, before Ice Shards whizzed right past her.
"Eh?" Nikki spun around, then dropped to her knees with a loud, "Whoa!"
She sprang back up, lips curled into a frown. "What's with the sneak attack, Perci? Your mates are already KO'd."
Yuna looked right to find a weavile staggering out from behind a fainted mudsdale. "Well, I sure ain't letting you waltz through that maze unscathed." Ice swirled around her claws as she prepared for another attack. However, Perci only succeeded in half-forming another Ice Shard when a glowing green blade clubbed her in the back of the head. Perci gasped and her eyes rolled back in her head.
Chiaki sprang out from behind Perci the moment her body hit the ground. Holding his hat down with his right hand, the grovyle pointed toward the maze. "Let's go before someone else tries to do one of us in."
"Pfbt, sure. But what's the rush?" Nikki walked after Chiaki, shrugging. "It's impossible for us to come in last now."
Yuna hovered after her teammates, gills still tensed from the crowd's boos. Clearly, they weren't pleased with Nikki singlehandedly wrecking the brand-new preliminary round. "Do you really think that was such a good idea?" she asked the toxtricity. "Won't this make our team a huge target in the Cup Chase?"
"Ha! It ain't gonna matter." Nikki strummed her chest gills. "I'll just keep blowing 'em all away!" She paused next to a crystal wall, turned to the crowd, and pulled down her left lower eyelid.
"Kiss my ass, nerds! Nobody cares if you don't get to see a— yipe!"
Chiaki dragged Nikki into the maze by the collar of her jacket. "Jeez, what's the big idea, Twiggy?" she growled as she pulled herself free.
Walking ahead of the group, Chiaki kept swiveling his head back and forth. "You never answered my question. What was that attack?"
Nikki raised a brow. "Hang on… you don't actually know?"
"Does it sound like I know?"
In no mood to listen to another argument, Yuna butted in. "It's Boomburst. An attack that unleashes really vicious sound waves." She poked her nubs together. "I used to think that only elite dragons could learn it, but I guess I was wrong."
"I see." Chiaki tapped his chin in thought. "Then all toxtricity can learn it?"
Nikki shrugged. "Beats me, Twiggy. Never met another tox that knows it."
How many toxtricity could she have possibly met? Yuna wondered. Nikki didn't look like the well-traveled type.
"Then how do you know it?"
"Heh. Trade secret." Nikki rubbed her upper lip. "What does it matter, anyway? I—"
Chiaki held up his right arm. Yuna stopped moving. "What's the matter?"
"I heard a caw."
Nikki rolled her eyes. "Seriously? That's nothing to be concerned about."
"It might be a trap," Yuna said. Though the dreepy couldn't imagine a trap involving birds.
"Nah. Traps are things, not people." Nikki stepped toward Chiaki and pushed the grovyle to her right. "Stand aside, Twiggy. I can—"
The temperature in the area suddenly spiked and the purple walls on either side of the team turned a bright, dazzling orange. Yuna's eyes widened and she hastily floated back seconds before flames rained down from above the team.
"Guys? Guys, are you okay?" she called. Yuna looked up to try and find the source of the fire, but smoke obscured her view.
Seconds later, Chiaki grabbed her and took off sprinting through the maze.
"What's going on? Did we trigger a trap?" Yuna asked.
"You can't suspend a trap in midair," Chiaki growled. "Someone attacked us directly."
"But how?" Yuna was flailing behind Chiaki as he rounded a corner. She couldn't struggle out of his grip. "Those announcer guys said it'd be impossible for teams to go up and over the maze."
"I know that." Chiaki glanced up briefly, then pressed his cap firmly against his head with his free hand. "Hang on!"
"But you're the one holding meeeeeeeeeee!" Yuna squealed and her last words were stretched out as Chiaki lunged forward. He kicked off the wall to his left and launched himself to the opposite wall. The grovyle leaped from wall to wall, all while keeping his grip on Yuna. Her flailing and flopping about let her see the problem: Air Slash crescents raining down from the cloud of smoke.
"What the hell? Are we under attack?!" Nikki stumbled along behind Yuna, clumsily sidestepping a wind blade. She spun around and hurled a lightning bolt like a javelin toward the cloud. It pierced right through, revealing nothing inside. "Why aren't they stopping the event? This clearly ain't supposed to be part of it!"
"Oh, look at that spectacular strike from Sirfetch'd Robin!" Reno said. "Such crowning mastery of his leek-wielding prowess!"
"Indeed. But let's give Prince Shimmer credit for that well-timed shield against the blast trap," Vincent added.
Yuna gasped. "Wait, Shimmer's team is still up?"
Nikki frowned. "Well, they were the furthest ones away from us. Guess they avoided the brunt of my Boomburst." The toxtricity caught up to her teammates. "Still, why aren't those bozos saying anything about us? We're in trouble here, aren't we?"
Still in Chiaki's grasp, Yuna pointed her right arm up. "I see something up there. It looks like... some sort of bird?" She blinked in confusion. That early thought about birds was meant to be a joke. Why was a bird actually attacking them? And why did no one in the crowd seem to care?
"If it's a bird, then I'll fry it!" Nikki thumped her chest. Sparks gathered around her gills. But when she stepped forward to launch her attack, the ground rumbled. Nikki stumbled forward and thrust her arms apart to steady herself. "Damn it! Are the walls really shifting now?"
"I see flames." Yuna pried herself free of Chiaki's grip and grabbed one of the orbs in her satchel. The dreepy smashed it to pieces on the ground. Blue, sparkling barriers surrounded the trio. The flames splashed against Nikki harmlessly. She glanced at Yuna, then fired a burst of lightning upward. Unfortunately, it sailed into empty air.
"Did you see where it went?" Chiaki scanned the sky. A scowl spread across his face.
"N-No, sorry. I was too focused on activating my protect orb." Yuna slouched over slightly.
"... Tch. Well, we've still got some power left in these shields." Chiaki turned to his right, where a new path forward had been revealed by the shifting walls. "Let's make whatever progress we can."
Nodding, Yuna hovered behind Chiaki while he dashed across the grass. She kept her eyes on the sky, looking for any sign of the shadowy bird. The team rounded two more bends before the walls shifted on them a second time. No more attacks struck them from above, but Yuna knew better than to open her mouth. Too many of her favorite bedtime stories had the heroes fall into that trap.
"Any sign of the end yet?" The grovyle stood on his tiptoes.
"Pfbt. Like that's really gonna do anything when there's a wall ten meters ahead." Nikki flicked her right arm in the direction Chiaki was looking. Yuna couldn't explain why, but there was an uneasy feeling stewing inside her. A sense that she was being watched. One that the strange rotom above the labyrinth couldn't explain.
"Well, I'm not gonna scale the wall if there's something hitting us from above." Chiaki tipped his hat down and resumed running.
"Wait, stop!" Yuna called, reaching an arm out toward him.
"What for? I—"
Black and red blobs materialized on each wall. Spectral fists immediately shot out from the walls and slammed into Chiaki from each side. "Agh!" Despite his shield taking the blow, the pressure still sent some wind rushing out of him and he stumbled to a stop.
"Stay back." Nikki stepped in front of Yuna and slammed her hands against her gills. A fresh, off-key Boomburst rang out. To Nikki's horror, however, it failed to do a thing to the disembodied hands.
Instead, they turned their attention on the toxtricity. She slouched over. "Aw, shit."
Nikki tried to jump out of the way, but one of the hands swatted her against the wall. She struck it with an audible "Oomph!" and her shield's glow faded away. Yuna tried to float over and help Nikki up, but the other hand shot in front of her. Squealing, Yuna sucked in her body and halted herself centimeters away from the hand. She threw her satchel open, fearing some sort of attack.
But nothing happened. The dreepy simply stared into the hand's ectoplasmic palm. She could even see Nikki on the other side of it. Were these the work of a ghost-type? Yuna wracked her brain to think of ghost-type birds.
Oh, there were decidueye! But last she checked, they didn't spit fire.
"Ngaaagrgh!"
Nikki's screams snapped Yuna out of her thoughts. Thinking quickly, the dreepy stuck a nubby arm into her satchel and pulled out a bright orange luminous orb. Yuna slapped the top of the orb and it lit up like the chandeliers in the dining hall. The spectral hand in front of her quickly disappeared, revealing Nikki floating in the air, legs flailing. She held her goggles, which were squeezing themselves tighter and tighter against the toxtricity's face while a sickly purple aura surrounded them.
"D… on't… just… float there," Nikki wheezed. "Help me!"
Yuna blinked a few times, then smacked her cheeks. She'd seen this before. Her parents had taught her about this. A special move certain ghosts could use. They'd take control of items to harm opponents.
"Nikki, we have to get those goggles off!"
"What?!" Judging by her anger, that bothered Nikki even more than the attack. "No way! They're... they're my good luck char— rrrgh!"
The goggles squeezed even tighter against her. Yuna was about to say something when Chiaki dashed in, Leaf Blades at the ready. He whipped his right arm around, effortlessly slicing through the strap on Nikki's goggles. They fell to the ground along with Nikki. Yuna sighed in relief when the purple aura vanished.
"You idiot! Those were one of a kind!" Nikki fumed.
"Forget them. Someone used Poltergeist on them." Chiaki kicked the goggles further back in the maze. "We're not safe here. Let's move." The grovyle yanked Nikki forward by her right arm. Frowning, Yuna followed.
Now she was sure there was a ghost-type after the team. But why? And did they have some sort of bird colleague? Surely the rotom were capturing footage of this. So, why wasn't anyone saying anything? The more she thought it over, the more it didn't sit right with her.
"I see light. Just a bit further," Chiaki said, practically dragging Nikki behind him.
"L-Let go of me! My goggles! We need—"
"And we have our first — and most likely the only — team to cross the finish line! It's Prince Shimmer and Team Excel!" Reno declared as the sounds of thunderous applause reached Yuna's ear-frills moments before she emerged from the maze.
The dreepy managed to catch a brief glimpse of Shimmer and his sylveon and sirfetch'd teammates jumping around victoriously before a black shadow loomed over her.
"Gah!" Chiaki fell back, bumping Yuna. She turned around and her face paled at the sight of a dusknoir's single red eye glaring down at her and her teammates. After Dusknoir adjusted the crimson, skull-shaped bangles on his shoulders, a black cape unfurled behind him.
"Wh... who..." Yuna struggled to find her voice.
"Oh, what's this?" Rufus' voice crackled through the speakers "It looks like Team Bastion is out of the maze, but Professor Vegna has stopped them right in front of the finish line!"
Yuna swallowed hard while a dark fog surrounded Vegna. An all-encompassing sense of dread washed over her. True to the title her teammates had given him, Vegna gave off a menacing aura the likes of which Yuna had never seen before.
"What's the big idea, you clod?" Nikki growled, dusting herself off.
Vegna's torso split apart at the yellow, zigzagging stripe. The haze thickened around him, drawing angry growls from Chiaki and Nikki. Yuna saw through the ghostly apparition, however, and watched Vegna produce... a book?
With a flick of his left index finger, the book opened and the pages turned themselves. Vegna kept his eye fixed on Team Bastion.
"In his hills of stored snows, in his mountains of hail and ice..." An eerie blue sheen enveloped Vegna's eye. Was there... lightning crackling within it? "Voices of terror are heard, like thunders of autumn, when the cloud blazes over the harvests."
The dreepy tilted her head. What was Vegna talking about? If this guy was supposed to be a professor here, why was he spouting off some nightmarish statement that sounded plucked out of a book about daemonic rituals?
Vegna snapped his fingers and a loud, shrieking caw sounded from above. Gills quivering, Yuna looked up in time to see a talonflame descend toward the group, wings flapping frantically.
"The hell?" Nikki ducked and swatted at the air, but Talonflame landed on Vegna's right gauntlet. He stuck out a foot to reveal Nikki's broken goggles. Vegna took it in his free hand and looked at it for all of a second before slamming his book shut. It disappeared in a plume of shadowfire.
"... Disqualified."
"I beg your pardon?" Yuna looked at the dusknoir in confusion, only to get doused in spittle as Talonflame angrily squawked at her. "Meep!" She drifted back, throwing her arms over her face.
Vegna raised his left hand and scratched at the side of Talonflame's face. He settled down and leaned into Vegna's hand.
"Pray forgive the discourtesy of my feral compatriot's outburst." He pulled his hand back and bowed to Yuna. Talonflame mimicked Vegna as best he could while staying perched on the dusknoir's shoulder bangle.
Yuna frowned. What kind of apology was that supposed to be? There wasn't an ounce of remorse in his tone and he spoke like he read the thesaurus for fun. And what was he thinking keeping a feral talonflame around?
"Oi! What was that you were saying before?" Nikki crossed her arms. The toxtricity looked to sidestep Vegna, but Talonflame hopped off his shoulder and shrieked at her. Nikki glared back at Talonflame.
"Wait a sec... this mangy bird was attacking us in the maze!" She pointed accusingly at Talonflame. "I smell a rattata! Explain yourself."
Vegna snapped his fingers. Talonflame dutifully flew back to his shoulder. Vegna again summoned a book from the shadows. Holding up Nikki's goggles, he said, "Section five of the Crowne Cup rules states as follows: 'The use of specific performance-enhancing equipment is prohibited. Should a competitor be found to be using such equipment, their team can be immediately removed from the current challenge by an authorized faculty member."
Yuna was about to ask a question when she noticed Nikki's defiant expression melt away like a glass of ice left out in the open.
Chiaki was quick to point out the change. "Nikki... what's he saying? Did you—"
"Boomburst is a damaging attack, yes. But to knock out dozens of students with a single shot?" Vegna shook his head. "Well, the only way one could do something like that is by bolstering the move's power... say, with a pair of Polaris wise glasses."
Black energy crackled around Nikki's goggles. The coloration dissolved away, revealing a yellow band with a compass emblem stitched into it.
Chiaki's eyes widened and he whirled on Nikki. "You blithering idiot! Why the hell would you bring a pair of wise glasses?"
The toxtricity staggered backward, eyes darting around in a panic. "I... I..."
Yuna's jaw slackened in disbelief. That plan Nikki was so confident in… was to cheat? And she really thought she was going to get away with it?
Whinnying laughter echoed across the field. Though Vegna's large frame blocked Yuna's view, she was sure that voice belonged to Shimmer.
"Unbelievable! To think the meek little dragon was so afraid of her lack of skill, she got Nikki the Nuisance to cheat for her! I haven't had a laugh like this since the latest premier of Radiance's Got Talent!"
"What?" Yuna's cheeks burned. "I had nothing to do with any of this!"
"Be silent, boy," Vegna hissed, red eye smoldering. Talonflame looked behind Vegna and puffed out his feathers in annoyance. "As a former teacher in the gaol once told me during his last meal, 'Those who speak out of turn do so because they have nothing of value to contribute.'"
Yuna fixed her bewildered look on Vegna, but he seemed done with the ponyta's outburst. He closed his hand around the broken choice specs. Purple flames enveloped the goggles.
"Now then... given your background, Miss Nicolette, I'm not the slightest bit surprised you would attempt such a stunt." Vegna opened his hand and flicked the destroyed specs' ashes onto Nikki. She fell onto her butt, eyes squeezed shut and coughing profusely.
"Nikki... why?" was all Yuna could manage. They just needed to avoid coming in last. It wasn't that hard a proposition. Nikki couldn't have been that afraid of coming in last. Which meant there was another reason. One the toxtricity had no intention of saying, from the look of things.
Vegna pointed a sparking finger at Nikki. "However, given your compatriots' reactions, it seems you not only cheated, but also callously lied about it." He brought his right hand back by his side. Crimson energy raced from his shoulder down to his hand. Squawking in fright, Talonflame took the air.
"I should cast you into the depths of hell for such distasteful sins."
"W-What? Hang on... this is just a sporting event!" The dreepy threw her arms up in disbelief. Everything Vegna was doing certainly befitted his title as the Grim Reaper... but that was hardly how a professor should carry themselves. What was Vortex thinking hiring someone like this?
To her surprise, Vegna straightened himself back up. Talonflame didn't return to his shoulder, however. "Of course, I jest. But your soul and those of your teammates can still languish on this mortal coil... in the hellish pits of detention."
The way his voice deepened with the final word sent a fresh chill down Yuna's backside. If this was his idea of a joke, his material needed work. Decades of work.
"Like hell are you holding me responsible." Chiaki stepped in front of Nikki, nudging up his cap to look Vegna in the eye. "You said it yourself. This was all Nikki."
"That's enough, Sir Vegna."
In a blue flash, Arianna appeared between the grovyle and dusknoir. She pivoted to Chiaki, nudging her glasses. "This conversation will have to wait until later."
"Huh?" Yuna blinked. She didn't like the look on the gardevoir's face. "What's the matter?"
Arianna didn't answer her. She turned to Vegna, leaned over, and whispered to him. Vegna's red eye darkened. "You're sure of this?" he said.
"I'm afraid so."
Vegna crossed his arms and bowed his head. "Very well, Vice Chancellor." He pointed to Nikki once more. "But know this... my ruling still stands. Your team is disqualified. Therefore, in addition to detention, you will incur the penalty for the first Cup Chase leg... and attend mandatory remedial lessons."
Chiaki opened his mouth to yell at Nikki, but a pink glow surrounded his head. His lips smacked shut.
Arianna stepped to his side and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Now is not the time."
"Are you going to tell us what's wrong or not?" Yuna asked.
Pressing her glasses against her face, Arianna took a deep breath. "There's been a situation, Princess. Your attendants and Mister Chiaki's servant were attacked by a Phantom."