Outside the Mount Massive Asylum…

"Gotta say, wasn't expectin' to run inta you, of all people." Sheriff Star said as the Lawmen walked alongside a young woman with short blue hair and gray eyes, dressed in the uniform of the Universal Police.

Universal Police Officer

Naoto Shirogane

"Understandable." Naoto said. "These types of investigations require secrecy. After all, this world doesn't have widespread knowledge of the Multiverse."

"Yeah, that makes sense." Scrap said. "Still, that comm jammer we shut down a few miles back…this asylum is certainly up to something."

"Well that something is about to be blown wide oooooOH MY GOD!" Jaw shrieked as his gaze was glued directly ahead of the group. The others turned, seeing a grizzly sight:

The entire front pavilion of Mount Massive was covered in blood. Multiple corpses, some soldiers, others Variants. Still alive Variants were gathering the bodies into a pile, before one of them poured gas on them and used a match to set it alight, causing the Variants to cheer.

"Yes, burn them! Burn the Jailers!" one of them yelled in delight. "At long last, we behold the sun!"

"What the actual funk?!" Scrap yelled in a mix of shock and horror.

"Okay, guns blazing it is!" Jaw declared, pulling out a minigun.

Naoto drew her gun as she fired into the air. "All of you…I'm giving you one chance to surrender yourselves."

This caused the Variants to turn and look at the group. "Another Jailer! In the name of the Walrider, we shall-!" he started before another one pushed them aside.

"No." they said. "They are not of the Murkoff. They are not our enemy. You…are you an ally of The Messenger and his followers, yes?"

"The Messenger and his…?" Scrap said before a thought struck her. "You mean…the 502nd and their client?"

"Yes!" the lead Variant said. "They remain within the walls, seeking to liberate our Lord from the cradle. Once our Lord is free…we shall wait for his instruction. If they call for us to follow you, Spirit-Carrier, then we shall follow you to the ends of the worlds."

"I think he's talking to you, Officer." Jaw whispered to Naoto.

"Fine. As of right now, this place is under the jurisdiction of the Universal Police. You will transported away from this place and to headquarters. There, your judgment will be held." Naoto said. "Whether you go free or finish your sentences is up to them."

The Variant nodded at this, then pointed inside. "The Messenger awaits." he said before he turned back and joined his fellow disciples at the bonfire.

"Onwards 'and upwards, then." Sawyer said as the group walked through the bloody pavilion and up the steps of the front door before they came upon a man slumped in the doorway, holding his wounded abdomen.

"F***, it hurts…" the man groaned until he noticed he caught sight of the group. "Y-You…the Universal Police. Oh, thank the Color Gods you showed up."

"Can you tell me what happened here?" Naoto asked.

"The patients…they rioted." the man said. "They got out somehow…tore apart everyone they could get their hands on. We tried to stop them, but they…f***, I'm the only one left." the man cursed. "I'm…Jeremy Blaire. I run this place. God, can…can I get a hand here?"

"Jeremy Blaire? Hmm…All right. I'll help you." Naoto said before slapping some handcuffs on him. "By getting you treated…then getting you to a nice cozy prison cell."

"Wh-What?!" Jeremy exclaimed. "What gives?! It was those maniacs who did this, not me! I'm innocent!"

"Yeah right." a voice called out as Waylon, Cyrus, and their group came into view. "Sorry I couldn't do your favor, Mr. Blaire." Waylon said.

"Waylon Park? A-And that informant…?" Blaire realized in horror.

"That's Cyrus to you." the immortal informant said before he nodded to Naoto. "Officer Shirogane, good to see you. This man is responsible for running inhumane experiments on the inmates of this asylum. Mr. Waylon Park here is more than happy to give testimony on it all, once he's reunited with his family."

"Oh, that explains the craziness outside…" Jaw remarked.

"Either way, as vice president…this man has a lot to answer for." Naoto said.

"Look…I can make it worth you…" Blaire said before getting met with a punch to the gut by Naoto.

"Save it for the higher ups." Naoto said.

Blaire coughed for a few moment before the sound of an elevator ding was heard. Then he started to laugh. "Well, well, well…looks like the cavalry's here."

"Cavalry?" Sawyer said as he drew his twin shooters. "What're ya babblin' 'bout, varmint?"

"The Gauntlet. He's probably already killed that reporter and his hired help." Blaire said. "Now he'll take care of all of you and those lunatics outside. No one will ever know what we're doing here."

The sound of footsteps coming towards the entrance lobby were heard as the group steeled themselves.

"Ain't no dirty foolhardy gonna keep us from leavin'!" Dennis said as he pulled out his cleaver.

"You're all dead, you hear me?! De…ad?" Blaire said as Miles and his group walked into view, FG holding an armless Gauntlet, who was whimpering in pain.

"Oh hey, the police are here." Miles remarked at the sight of Naoto. "The guy being held by the fly Beastman tried to kill us, so…we disarmed him." he saw, his arms now adorned with man's gauntlets. "Hope you don't mind."

"You don't have to sound so pleased about it, Upshur." Sword said in a deadpan tone.

"W-Wait…" Blaire said, in dawning dread. "If he didn't kill them, then…that means…" he trailed off as everyone bore witness to shadowy hands emerging from the reporter's shoulders. "No…Oh no…OUTTA THE WAY!" he yelled as he raised himself up and tried the hobble away.

"Is that the-?" Waylon started before the Walrider fully emerged from Miles and shot past the group and surrounded Blaire in a dark cloud, raising him into the air.

"WAIT, NO, NO, NO! PLEASE, I BEG YOU!" Jeremy cried out in distress. "DON'T KILL ME, PLEASE! I'LL DO ANYTHING, JUST LET ME LIVE!"

"Tear him apart, oh great Walrider!" a Variant said as the inmates gathered around the dark cloud, some of them bowing to it.

"Drop him now. He needs to face justice for everything he's done." Naoto said, aiming her gun at it.

"Put the gun down, officer, it wouldn't work anyway." Miles said calmly, walking past her. "Will, drop him. He'll pay for what he's done either way."

"WHY NOT KILL HIM? HE'S CAUSED SO MUCH SUFFERING…" a voice from the cloud boomed.

"And he'll answer for it. I promise." Miles said. "Just let him go."

"...Okay." the voice said, softer this time as the cloud reformed into a humanoid and returned to Miles, causing Jeremy Blaire to fall on the ground, shivering, whimpering, and with a dark stain on his pants.

"The Walrider! He is free! And The Messenger controls them!" a Variant said as they exploded into cheers.

"No." Miles spoke up. "I don't control him. He's not a god, not a monster. He's a child…one who wants to see what the Multiverse is like. One who wants to do good. And…he wants you to do good too. No matter where you go, no matter what you do…keep these words in mind: 'Be kind, be brave…and treat those you meet as friends.' And…that's about it." the reporter finished.

"We will follow the words of the Walrider." they said, bowing to Miles.

"...What the hell happened in there?" Scrap asked Aster.

"It's…a very long story." Aster said. "We'll save it for the police interview we're likely going to have. Just know that Will's okay."

"Hmm…All right." Naoto said, putting her gun away.

Waylon Park walked up to Miles. "You…got my message, I see." he remarked.

"Yeah, I did. And I got tons of evidence." he said, pulling out a few dozen folders and papers. "You guys might need these."

"Right." Waylon said, taking them. "So…bonded to the Walrider. How's it feel?"

"...Like I'm a dad now." Miles said.

"Oh…well, pro-tip: there's no one right way."

"Noted." the reporter said, shaking hands with the whistleblower.

"Man, I'm zo glad we're out." FG said, as he dropped the Gauntlet next to Blaire. "It felt like we were in there for almozt three yearz."

"In some way…we were." Storm said, stretching before he turned to Naoto. "Hey, officer. Don't get me wrong, glad you're here, but…why are you here exactly?"

"I was already doing intense investigation on this location for a forgotten case. Then we started receiving a distress call from this place, so they sent me to investigate and arrest if necessary." Naoto said.

"That was probably my communicator…before Blaire smashed it." Cyrus spoke up. "Oh, by the way, it turns out I'm immortal."

"He's quite meek, but he has courage when it counts." Kotoko spoke up. "Ah, I don't suppose any of you could help a young lady return home? Kuro-san must be worried sick about me."

"...Sure." Scrap said, deciding to just go with it.

"Anyway, we should see about getting all of you proper treatment." Naoto said.

"I would appreciate it." Miles said. "There is a bullet in my lung at the moment, and Will is pretty much keeping me alive. Oh, and I'll have to tell Morgans…I've decided to have a change in career."

"Wait, are you saying…?" Aster asked.

"Well, not exactly normal anymore, so why not?" Miles shrugged. "Your Association have room for two more?"

"Make that three more!" Hat Kid said. "Until I get my ship back, you guys are stuck with me!" she declared.

"Hehe…glad to have you." Sword nodded. "Okay officer, take us away…figuratively, not literally."

And so, at long last, the adventure at Mount Massive Asylum came to a close. This adventure, though small, would have grand impact in the future: the fall of the Murkoff Corporation and its leader, indirectly contributing to the fall of Horde Prime…and leading to a new team being formed in the Mercenary Association: Dark Side.

Two years later…

"And here's to the second year anniversary of our single dad and his kids joining the team, as well as our success at Onigashima!" Storm said as the mercenaries of the association were gathered around the bar.

"Cheers!" they declared as they toasted and downed their drinks.

"Wow…hard to believe it's been two years since we joined this place." Miles said. "And we just witnessed motherf***ing Kaido get beaten. What a time to be alive."

"Which is more than can be said for Orochi." Jaw said, earning a few laughs from the partiers. "Hey, speaking of that place from back then…how're your 'friends' from there doing?"

"Last we heard, they're all still in proper mental care." Aster answered. "But they're making progress. None of them have tried to commit murder for almost a month."

"That's…nice?" Zett said waringly.

"Kinda glad we didn't involve them in the raid." Storm said.

"Oh yeah. They would've made Onigazhima an actual bloodbath." FG said.

"From…killing or dying?" Thinker asked.

"Yez."

"Anyway," Thinker said, shifting the conversation, "what do you all think of that mysterious invitation sent to us?"

"A celebration between dimensions in The End?" Hat Kid asked, holding a bottle of soda. "For unity or something? Sounds like fun to me!"

"And apparently, people from other realities will be there too." Miles said. "Which begs the question…why invite us?"

"Maybe it has something to do with Wally?" Aster suggested. "I mean, he was created by combining artifacts from multiple universes."

"Hmm…maybe." Miles agreed as a shadowy head peeked over Miles shoulder. "Whaddya say, Wally? Wanna go?"

"Uh-huh!" Wally nodded his head. "I want to meet new people!"

"Alright, then I guess we'll go." Miles said. "Too bad it won't be until at least next year, if that." he said.

"Ah, it'll be here before you know it." Jaw said. "Until then…let's enjoy ourselves! We're living the mercenary life!"

"Yeah…I guess we are." Miles said, getting another drink.

To be continued…