While Moxxie sang Mille a little song and Krieg got lucky, a lot of important things happened back at the Happy Hotel, because all that last chapter really did was give Krieg weird Norse superpowers, hook him up with Verosika, and kill off Wilhelm.

In the lobby, Gaige saw Octavia lounging on a nearby armchair, and figured she'd try to make a friend. "Hey! I figured I'd break the ice seeing as how you haven't really talked to anyone since you got here. Name's Gaige!" Gaige held out her robotic arm, to no avail. "Name's Octavia." muttered the owlet. Gaige rubbed her chin, trying to think of a way to get Octavia to lighten up. "Say, whaddya think of my robot arm? Pretty cool, eh?" said the Mechromancer as she brandished her artificial appendage. "Not really, I see shite like that everywhere down here." responded Octavia, her expression remaining in the same, disgruntled position. Gaige then decided she'd show off Deathtrap, only to get cut off. "Don't even bother with the robot." At this point, Gaige pulled her hair in frustration. "Gah! What is the matter, my girl!? Are you ALLERGIC to smiling!?" said the Mechromancer as she pulled on the corners of Octavia's mouth, forming a faux-smile, only for it to droop back to her usual frown. "Well, wouldn't you be fucking miserable if your dad promised he'd take you to see a comet shower in literal space, only to forgo it in favor of GETTING BUTTFUCKED BY HIS LITTLE BOYFRIEND!?"

Octavia shouted in frustration as she grabbed a nearby vase and threw it, narrowly missing Vaggie. "Hey, what the fuck!?" Gaige, taken aback by Octavia's display of angst, recomposed herself. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was like that. That must really suck, I bet comet showers look awesome up close." Octavia planted herself back onto the chair. "Every year, Dad would take me to the moon of Elpis to see the comet showers that happen at this time of year. But ever since he n' Mum divorced, he's been devoting more and more time to that imp bastard..." lamented the owlet as she buried her face in her hands. Gaige rested her other, organic hand on Octavia's shoulder. "Elpis, you say? Me and my friends have been there loads of times before! If you want, we could gladly take you there!" Octavia smiled, if only slightly. "Thanks for the offer, but unless we've got something like my dad's Grimoire, we're not going anywhere." "Unlessss..." said Gaige as a sly grin spread on her face. "... we maybe 'borrowed' the Grimoire? 'Cause I mean, judging from what you've said, your dad and Blitzo'll be too busy banging to notice it's gone before we return it." Octavia perked up. "Well, I guess that couldn't hurt..."

As Gaige and Octavia slipped outside and hailed a cab to Stolas' castle, Odin decided to inquire Charlie about some aspects of her heritage. "Miss Morningstar, if I may bring it up, I was thoroughly impressed by your slaying of Surtr. Surely, if you were willing to bring that side of yourself out more, people would be much more hesitant to disregard you or your hotel." said Odin, referring to Charlie's true monstrous form. "Well, it's just that I want sinners to come here of their own will, not to scare or threaten them into doing so. And turning into that thing terrifies me. It's like losing control over yourself, but you still see what you're doing..." replied Charlie, clearly unnerved. "Oh, well, I apologize if I come across as insensitive regarding subjects like that." apologized Odin. "If you didn't already know, most of us Aesir are, ahem, violently inclined." "Why are there so many monsters trying to kill us, anyway?"asked Charlie. "You see, Charlotte, me and my fellow gods have made numerous enemies over the past several millennia, among which includes Loki, God of Trickery, and formerly my son." Charlie's eyes widened. "Wait, what do you mean, 'formerly your son'!?"

Odin sighed, clearly saddened by what had led to where Loki currently was. "It all began in Jotunheim. Me and many of my previous chosen were leading a war against the Jotunn. We had made it to the temple of Gymir, the Frost Giant king. After a long, arduous fight, we'd driven Gymir and his armies off. As we walked through the remains of his temple, I heard crying. I looked and saw an infant, bawling in the snow. Guilt filled my mind and heart, and so, I took the baby under my wing, and dubbed him Loki. As the years passed and he grew, Loki proved a useful ally, having successfully defused many conflicts with but his words, and having helped out his brother, Thor on many occasions. He also showcased an affinity for jokes and pranks, something he likely got from me." said Odin with a smile. As if on cue, Angel Dust was heard screaming in pain. He came running downstairs from his room, one of his eyes immensely red and bloodshot. "OK, WHO'S THE FUCKO WHO REPLACED MY EYESHADOW WITH CHILI POWDER!?" Odin stifled his laughter as Vaggie smirked at Angel's misfortune.

Odin turned back to Charlie. "As I was saying, Loki's trickery began innocently enough, be it using his shapeshifting to spook people or leave owl pellets in their food, but then it started to get out of hand. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't consider things like detonating Mount Vesuvius or causing the Stock Market Crash of 1929 to be 'just a prank'. Then one day, Loki thought it'd be real funny if he convinced a certain Adolf Hitler to go through with the Holocaust. After a thorough spanking, I banished and bound him to an uncharted island, one so remote that even I forgot where it is." Charlie sat there, appalled. "HE did all that!?" yelled the Princess of Hell. "That's not even getting into all the zoophilia he displayed. You ever seen a person give birth to a horse? Or a snake? Or a wolf? Or a Goddess of Death? That sort of stuff scars a person." said Odin, shuddering.

MEANWHILE, WITH GAIGE AND OCTAVIA:

The two (and Deathtrap) had managed to make their way inside the castle through the air vents, and were now above Stolas' room. "Alright, Dad usually bottoms to Blitzo from what I've heard, so we should have an easy time sneaking in." said Octavia. Deathtrap silently lowered the duo into the room, where they were shocked to find Stolas and Blitzo tied up together on the bed. "Dad!? What happened to you!?" yelled Octavia as she rushed towards her father and attempted to undo his and Blitzo's bindings. "Via, what are you doing here!? It's not safe, you need to leave before-" before Stolas could finish his warning, Jack barged into the room holding the Grimoire, flanked by Killbane. "Well, what've we here? Stolas' brat and the Mechro-bandit! Killbane! Mind dealing with our uninvited guests?" Killbane grinned as he lunged towards Octavia, only for Gaige to knock him backwards with a shot from her Jakobs Flayer. Killbane went flying back into Jack, causing him to drop the Grimoire. Octavia took this opportunity to grab the book.

As he and Killbane picked themselves up, Jack saw Octavia attempting to make off with the Grimoire. "Stop her, dammit!" Killbane and Octavia engaged in a tug-o-war over the demonic tome, during which, the book slipped open, summoning a portal to who knows where. The Goetian owlet found herself flying through said portal along with the Grimoire. Jack and Killbane attempted to follow her through, but were stopped by a magical blade from Stolas. Jack suddenly felt Blitzo biting his neck. "GAAAAGH!!" Jack screamed in pain as he attempted to get the imp off him. Stolas, Gaige, and Deathtrap were too busy dealing with Loader Bots to attend to the portal, which promptly closed. Jack threw Blitzo off his body, and he and Killbane began running for it. "WILHELM, NISHA!! Rrrrgh, where the fuck are those two!?" yelled Jack as he repeatedly pressed buttons on his ECHO communicator. The remaining heroes rushed to the balcony to see Jack and the demonic luchador throwing an immensely confused Loona out of the limousine from earlier and driving off. "Wha- How did we not realize Handsome Jack was down here!?" asked Gaige, shocked at seeing the Vault Hunters' archenemy once again. "Never mind him! We need to figure out where my Grimoire went!" shouted Stolas, panicking. "And Octavia." said Gaige, miffed. "Her too!"

The four ran out front, where Blitzo hailed a cab. The owl, imp, hellhound, Vault Hunter, and robot all piled in next to a demon wearing a purple bandana around his head. "You, take us to the Hazbin Hotel or whatever the fuck that place is called!" demanded Blitzo. "You guys are headed there too?" asked the bandana demon. "Handsome Jack's on the loose and Stolas' kid teleported herself to Odin-knows-where!!" said Gaige as the taxi roared down the highway. A look of immense fear spread across the bandana demon's face. "Shit! We'd better hurry then!" suddenly, he pulled out a handgun. "You, Driver! Step on it or I'll do it myself after hauling your carcass outta that seat!!" The driver promptly obeyed and put the pedal to the metal. "Name's Carlos, by the way." said the bandana demon as he held out his other hand.

LATER, AT THE HAPPY HOTEL:

Carlos, flanked by Gaige and company, kicked open the front doors. "YO! Is there a Krieg here!?" He was promptly met with the tip of Vaggie's spear and the barrel of Hammerlock's rifle. "Woah! Hey, he's with us!" yelled Gaige as she promptly threw herself in front of Carlos. "Well, as I was saying, any of you people know where I can find a guy called Krieg?" reiterated Carlos, wiping sweat from his brow. Millie, who'd came back from Ozzie's with Moxxie, stepped forward. "Last I saw him, he went with Verosika Mayday to her place." Carlos cursed under his breath. "Damn! Well, any of you have a way to contact the mortal world above? The 3rd Street Saints in particular?" "Yeah, we know some people who call themselves the Saints, what for?" "Some real bad shit's about to go down, and I gotta warn my friends." Millie promptly began dialing.

SAINTS HQ, STEELPORT:

After letting the Hotel Staff and company through via portal, the Third Street Saints reunited with their old friend. "Carlos! Great to see ya! Hey, is Maero down there too?" asked Pierce as he hugged Carlos. "Hah! Bastard got killed by an Exterminator the minute he arrived!" replied the undead Saint. "Ahem! Carlos, you mind sharing what it is that's got you so worried about Jack so we can start figuring out where Octavia went?" said Gaige, clearly in a hurry. "Shit, right. So, I was snoopin' in on one of the Overlords' meetings, and not only has that Handsome Jackass apparently joined them, but also the Radio Demon, and some guy who claims to have been killed by you guys, calls himself Killbane." At that moment, Kenny, who was holding the Murderbrawl championship belt, spat out his drink. "Wait, Killbane's an Overlord now!?" "Trust me, at this point they're just throwing that title around like candy at a parade." remarked Carlos.

"Well, what are we waiting for!? I say we take the fight to 'em NOW!!" shouted Brick, flipping the table in front of him. "Easy, man. We can't just rush in guns blazing. We gotta have something resembling a plan first." said Johnny Gat as he uprighted the aforementioned table. "Y'know, if we're gonna be fightin' Jack and all those other Overlords, we should definitely have Krieg with us. Those weird Norse superpowers he showed off back at Ozzie's'll definitely come in handy." said Millie. "Good call, lady. Alright people, gather 'round, here's the rough draft of the plan: Step 1: Find Krieg. Step 2: Gaige and Kinzie disable any cameras and electric fences that may be around the Overlords' mansion. Step 3: Burst in and pop caps between their eyes n' legs. Step 4: Fashion mugs outta their skulls. Sound good?" said Johnny as he moved various figures and objects around the table, representing the different people involved. "And then we find Stolas' kid and the fancy book and form a satisfying conclusion to this otherwise mediocre crossover!" exclaimed Claptrap, drawing confused looks from around the room.

VEROSIKA'S MANSION, LUST RING:

Zane, Claptrap, Moxxie, and Millie had been sent to retrieve Krieg from Verosika's love den, and were currently arguing with the security guard at the front gate. "For fuck's sake! We're just here to pick up a friend of ours!" yelled Moxxie. "No can do. I'm only allowed to let in Miss Mayday's business contacts, and none of you assholes look like her agent." The guard then walked off, leaving the 4 to silently curse. "Ah crap. Now what?" lamented Claptrap. The quartet then saw a mail truck driving towards the gate, which gave them an idea. 4 instances of identity theft later, our heroes had taken the truck for themselves, and were disguised as the delivery men. They pulled up to the guard's booth, hoping this would work. "Aye, we've got a delivery for one Verosika Mayday right here!" said Zane to the guard. "What is it? I need to make sure it's not a pipe bomb or something like that." replied the guard, looking up from his magazine.

Zane looked inside the crate in the back of the truck. "Jesus Christ..." "Is there a problem?" asked the guard, raising an eyebrow. "No! No, totally fine." answered Zane as he returned to the driver's seat. "Well, what's inside? Don't got all day here." said the guard, growing irritated. "Well, a Men's XXXL leather collar with titanium spikes, a Men's XXXL leather harness, and a strap-on, Extra Girthy, all from Leather & Lace." recited Zane, a look of unease on his face. "Ah, so the kind of stiff Mayday usually orders. Gimme a sec and I'll let you in." The guard reached down and pressed a button which opened the gate. "Shit, I probably should've check the truck myself, but eh, I'm not paid to do that." remarked the guard as our disguised heroes drove through the gate.

After dropping off the crate of BDSM gear, the 4 now wondered where to look for their mentally deranged companion. Zane suddenly put his ear to the wall. "What are you doing?" asked Moxxie. "Old bounty huntin' trick, boyo. If all that leather gear was for who I think it was for, Miss Mayday's probably gettin' it on with our friend." Zane then heard two voices emitting moans and grunts of pleasure through the wall. "Bingo! They're on the top floor, inside a big master bedroom filled with various devices designed for depraved pleasure." Millie stood in awe. "You got all that from puttin' your ear to the wall!?" Zane shrugged. "I've been doing this sorta stuff long before I joined the Crimson Raiders."

The 4 then traversed the mansion, before finally finding the door to Verosika's room. "Now, before we barge in, we'll have to do some reconnaissance." said Zane as he plucked Claptrap's eye out of its socket. "Why do we need to perform reconnaissance, and why does it require Claptrap's eye?" asked Moxxie as the Operative attached Claptrap's eye to a nearby piece of piping. "If I know my demons, and I like to think I do, Verosika's a succubus, which are known for stealin' peoples' souls by shaggin' 'em. Just wanna make sure her dating Krieg wasn't just a ploy to get his soul, is all." Zane stuck his improvised reconnaissance device through an air vent and into the room. "Claptrap! Whaddya see, lad?" Claptrap, via Zane's surveillance stick, was able to see inside, and he definitely saw something. "Uhhh, I see Krieg laying on a bed, being strangled by Verosika, via collar and leash. And she is, for a lack of better phrasing, absolutely pegging his brains out. Like, holy shit, Krieg must be experiencing sexual Nirvana right now!"

As the other 3 began looking at each other silently, Claptrap began panicking. "Crap, they saw my eye! Quickly, get it outta there!" As Zane pulled his CL4P-TP-eye-on-a-stick out, the door to Verosika's room swung open, the succubus herself standing there holding the Devastator. "Alright, you people have 5 seconds to explain yourselves before I see how much of a mess this thing can make." The four quickly threw their mail uniform hats off, revealing their identities. "Don't pull that trigger just yet! We're just friends of Krieg. We came here to pick him up, 'cause he wasn't answering anyone's calls. Zane Flynt, by the way, lovely to meet ya." said Zane as he bent down and kissed Verosika on the hand.

Verosika chuckled. "A real gentleman, huh?" She then turned to see Moxxie and Millie putting Claptrap's eye back in his face. "Oh hey, it's you two! That was a beautiful song. Y'know, the one you sang at Ozzie's." "Thank you, Miss Mayday-OW!" yelled Moxxie as his hand got caught where Claptrap's eye was supposed to go. "I told you NOT to touch that specific area! Are you deaf on top of that anosmia!?" "Well, as Zane was sayin', we n' our friends have found out that the Pride Ring Overlords have teamed up with a guy called Handsome Jack, and we were gearing up for an assault on their turbo-mansion so as to keep 'em from doing something monumentally stupid. I figured Krieg would be useful, I what with those Norse superpowers of his and all." explained Millie.

Krieg promptly arrived next to Verosika at the doorway, thankfully wearing his suit pants. "I AM READY! TO FLAY SOME SCALPS!!" screamed the Psycho, axe sharpened and ready. Verosika suddenly slammed the door shut behind Krieg, much to everyone's confusion. "Did you guys have plans today or-" asked Zane, who was answered by the door swinging back open, presenting a now fully dressed Verosika, who was now also holding a Vladof Bezoomy, its dual chaingun barrels rotating. "HAHAHA! She lusts for blood AND mating-sticks!" laughed Krieg. Zane phoned Charlie back at Saints HQ to let her know that they were on their way with Krieg.

"Oi, Charlie! We've got Krieg and are on our way back to the hotel. You won't mind if Verosika Mayday tags along, right?" "I mean, that's alright with me. Seeing as how Gaige just called the other Crimson Raiders to help us, it seems like we'll take all the help we can get. Though, doesn't mounting a large-scale assault seem a bit overtly violent?" answered Charlie, unsure about her comrades' plan of action. "Charlie, have you never heard of Handsome Jack!?" asked Gaige, hearing Charlie on the phone with Zane. "Guy would burn down a schoolhouse full of paraplegic orphans for his own sick amusement!" Charlie, taken aback by Gaige's description of Jack, cleared her throat. "Well, I was just thinking, if we could redeem even him, then I bet the Happy Hotel would become a much more popular alternative to sinners than say, giving into carnal desires and indulgences." "Well, you do you, girl. I'm gonna check in with Stolas, see if he's made any progress in figuring out where the fuck Octavia went." replied Gaige, walking away, leaving Charlie still worried that the group's plan would lead to more harm than good.