X-Squad: Luigi's Mansion, a X-overs + Luigi's Mansion Crossover fanfic

AN: *Walks outside of the Last Resort* Alrighty! Now, fair warning, grab your proton packs and your slice of goddamn chocolate cake, 'cause viewer discretion just got devoured by Blade Wolf! Remember that existential dread and interdimensional travel blues? Buckle up, buttercup, 'cause I'm adding haunted hotels, revenge-fueled oompa loompas, and a cyborg ninja forced to babysit the X-Squad on a luxurious vacation they never signed up for. If you're feeling a sudden urge to check for ghosts in your hotel room or hear Metal Gear memes echoing in your head, call a priest, your therapist, and a damn good lawyer specializing in suing for emotional distress. This shit's about to get weirder than a Waluigi pin-up.

"Roland, you bastard. Seems I'm as worthless as you..." Inkerton groaned, as he unknowingly sank towards a rainbow-colored portal, his wounds were too much, the crab nicked him in the head, and now, he truly was sinking to the bottom of the drain, as the warm light enveloped him in an embrace, hopefully next time, he'd make no mistakes.

While the X-Squad were partying and laughing, they saw a man-sized squid crash onto a table in Sinner's Lane, dazed and confused.

"What, what the shuck?" The squid said, before laughing like a loon, confusing everyone. "Enjoying the pain of Ol' Inkerton, are ye, lads? Proud of what you've done?!"

"And how was life going for you before?" Kanade asked. "You probably lost everything, and the only reason you even survived was because a swing of fate allowed it. You were stuck fighting a war you couldn't win. With us, you can help build a better universe far away from the desolation and hopelessness of your old world. And need I remind you of the most important fact? No? Well, too bad! You do have nothing left to lose."

Inkerton slumped at that. All else aside, he knew the strange girl was right. What reason did he have not to simply put a popper in his mouth? Everything he worked for and built was gone. There was nothing left for him in his old life. The only thing possibly left in the universe for him was whatever these folk had to offer. Not for the first time either. The last time he was in this position, Roland helped him get on the path to becoming the right claw of his operation. Maybe now was his chance to start over again with a clean slate.

"Alright," Inkerton agreed. "What would ye have me do?"

Drakus couldn't suppress a grin at that. Together again at long last. Even though Inkerton was still consumed by despair, Drakus was confident that with time, he would come around. The squid had darkened his heart almost as much as most of the squad had. He'd find a fitting purpose with the X-Squad in time.

"I have a few ideas."

In the early hours of the morning, a specially-chartered bus eased onto the expressway, quickly settling into a consistent speed of 65 mph. The bus's occupants consisted of many half-asleep but excited passengers, plus one fully awake driver, all of them armed with luggage. Ahead of them, the eastern part of the sky lightened into a beautiful pink as the dawn broke. But if they wanted to reach their destination by sundown, then they had to leave this early.

To say the trip to the Last Resort was peaceful would be a lie, as a Toad retainer by the name of Thad sat in the driver's seat, casually guiding the bus through the early morning traffic, and accidentally committing so much property damage. For a Thursday morning, it wasn't too crowded. But the question was—how was Thad even driving? Due to his diminutive stature, his feet barely touched the pedals, and his line of vision was just above the steering wheel. Yet here he was, maneuvering the bus down the freeway like a (somewhat) professional demolition driver.

"Woah!" Sheriff yelled out as he nearly collided with Mystle, as Micha stabilized him.

"Sorry, Mystle." Sheriff sheepishly said, rubbing the back of his head.

"It's fine." Mystle laughed, hugging Weiss with all her might, as Weiss flushed a bit, before another sharp turn nearly caused her and Mystle to go flying off the seats.

"Why did ye allow the...Toad... to drive us?" Inkerton asked.

"It's cheaper this way." Neo simply explained.

The bus's other occupants didn't seem to mind Thad's reckless driving. Taeko sat in the front row, having swapped her usual gown for more travel-worthy attire. Namely, a jet black long-sleeve shirt, red jacket, and white leggings, her hair in a ponytail, and sneakers on her feet. Drakus sat next to her, clad in his usual getup, the two of them exchanging loving smiles. Two Toad retainers (comes with the bus) sat behind them, a Blue Toad and a Yellow Toad. The former's name was Bradford, and the latter's name was Chet, and both were absorbed in a game on Bradford's Nintendo Switch, hoping that the activity would help wake them up.

It wasn't long before the traffic lightened up, and the bus seemed to soar down the expressway as the passengers shook off the last of their sleepiness. About three hours in, Thad stopped at a McDonald's drive-thru, where they ordered McCafé lattes and croissant sandwiches. The breakfast break served to perk them up further, and by the time the sun reached its zenith, everyone was singing along to the music on the stereo.

Shortly after 3 PM, the bus pulled off the freeway and started down a long, winding road, approaching a mountain range. It occurred to them that they were currently the only vehicle driving on this road. That was fine by them. Leaning back in their seats, they allowed the tranquil scenery to relax them. Inkerton even dozed off several times.

Soon, the bus's gas tank was half-empty. Luckily, Thad saw a gas station up ahead, and beside it was a sleepy little diner. After refueling the bus, everyone disembarked and headed inside the diner for a bite to eat.

"Ugh, this sucks," said Hidan, who was sitting in his house, looking outside of his window.

His village, Yugakure, had simply become a tourist site after all the commotion caused by ninja feuds that had occurred.

He was upset with the situation he was currently in, and was thinking of what he was supposed to do, even studied Jashin and somehow became immortal, at the cost of looking like a freaky skeleton.

Everyday, he found himself sitting in boredom with nothing left to do except yell at the outsiders who would try to enter his house.

But this day would be different. On this day, he would finally leave this miserable village and try to find a good life for himself.

And so, he put his leather jacket on and hastily picked his scythe up before stepping outside his house.

He then slammed his door shut with full force, and this caused a few of his neighbors to scream.

"Stop overreacting!" He yelled, annoyed at this.

An old lady stepped outside of her house and approached the young man.

"What do you mean 'stop overreacting'? Young man, how about you learn some manners?" She said, scolding him.

"I don't care!" Hidan replied. "The Shinobi in this village are supposed to be fighting back, but you're not doing that! And since you guys aren't doing that crap, look at us now! We're merely a little carnival for a bunch of stupid foreign Shinobi!"

"You're a tough one, young man," the old lady said, her wrinkles showing.

"That's none of your business," Hidan said, pointing a finger at the glaring old lady. "Now I'm gonna leave, and live my life to the fullest! Without this stupid village and its stupid people! Goodbye, I won't miss you!"

"Hey — !"

And with that, Hidan stomped his way out of his village.

"Finally, I'm free from that stupid village," he muttered to himself. "Now, where am I supposed to go...?"

He growled and decided that he would just take a stop at the first place he would find.

After an hour of endless traveling, Hidan was finally able to find a small diner, and went inside.

"I still can't believe it," Taeko chuckled, as they chowed down on their food. "This brand-new hotel is having its grand opening, and the proprietor personally invited the most chaotic misfits this side of the omniverse."

"You're right," Drakus said. "it's pretty surreal."

"I could use the vacation," Lyre said. "Saving the omniverse is huge work."

"I'm with you there, Ly-Ly. It's taxing—but I love every minute of it."

"Still, a little respite from it would be nice," Vaati said. "It's a chance to just sit back and concentrate on us."

"Hey, Inky," Roman said. "How do you plan on spending this vacation?"

"Treating myself to some 'me' time," Inkerton replied. "I wonder if they have a shooting range where I can shoot to my heart's content, and also a spa...I need to figure out some stuff. But don't ye dare keep calling me 'Inky'."

"Too late, nickname's been assigned," Roman said with a smirk. "If you've got complaints, you're free to call Mr. B to request a change, but it won't do ya any good anyway. HA!"

"Ye are insufferable," Inkerton groaned.

"Don't worry, he'll grow on you, everyone's weirded out by Roman at first." Yang remarked, comforting the squid.

"Hey!" Roman whined.

"Mr. Inkerton, you had me at 'spa'!" laughed Thad.

A man, his skin covered in black and white resembling a skeleton, walked over to their table.

"How's everybody doing?" he asked.

"We're doing great," Inkerton calmly replied. "Just passing through."

"Really? Me too." The man said.

"We're on our way to a hotel that just opened its doors," Roman added. "It's called The Last Resort or something."

"The Last Resort," the waitress realized, clucking her tongue. "I've absolutely heard of that place. They say that once you set foot in that posh hotel—you'll never want to leave."

She smiled an enigmatic smile before checking on the other patrons.

"Well, that's not at all horrifying to imply." Furina remarked.

"I'm an immortal being," Hidan scoffed, rolling his eyes. "What the fuck are they going to be able to do to me?"

Soon after they got outside, they heard someone yelp.

"Oww… why did I trip…?"

The squad blinked again, staring at the almost hilariously unlucky scene before them in the form of a short, fairly young looking blonde girl in a nun outfit laying there with a bunch of spilled clothes from her open bag… with her ass in the air and her panties just… out there.

Thank fuck no perverts were around, otherwise they'd probably have to beat the shit outta someone.

"Hey, you good? Bad luck, falling like that," Starscream called out as he approached, moving slowly as to not startle the girl and holding out his hand as he neared. "C'mon, let's get you cleaned up."

Ryuko looked around, clicking her tongue a little as Starscream helped the girl up. "Aw hell, your clothes are all over the place. Probably gonna need to throw 'em in the wash after this."

"O-oh, um… thank you! I'm sorry for the mess…" the girl tapped her fingers together, giving the squad a soft smile as she shook her head and held her habit down so it wouldn't get blown away in the sudden breeze. "Um… if I could trouble you for some help…"

"Oh- yeah. No prob," Ryuko nodded, returning the girl's smile with a sort of half grin of her own and immediately bending over to help her pick up all of her loose clothes that had been strewn about. "You been traveling or something? There's a lotta stuff in here- shit, where're my manners? I'm Ryuko Matoi."

"Oh- hello miss Ryuko! My name is Asia! Asia Argento!" the now named Asia paused, then cleared her throat. "I'm so glad I met someone as nice as you… you seem so kind despite your language and looks," Asia continued after a few moments, hefting her travel bag in her hands and bowing her head towards the squad with that same soft smile still on her face. "It must be divine guidance!"

"Something like that, I guess," Starscream shrugged instead of agreeing, nodding back and rolling her shoulders. "So, got anywhere you need to go, Asia?"

"Mm- right! Um… I am a bit lost… could you help me? I've been assigned to Evershade Valley's church but I don't know where it is…" Asia poked her fingers together around the handle of her bag, looking at the squad a bit sheepishly.

Inkerton shrugged again, not seeing the harm in this. After all, they weren't doing anything important. "Sure. I don't exactly know where it is, but I'm pretty sure I've seen that the Last Resort hotel's offering a whole floor as a church."

"O-oh! Thank you!"

Soon, the hotel soon came into view, and Hidan gazed at the shiny, 15 story building in wonder. "Sweet fuck…" he breathed.

Thad guided the bus to a rather turbulent stop at the hotel's drop-off and valet area. Collective sighs of relief arose as everyone filed out of the vehicle.

"Thank the Stars!" Chet exclaimed. "I gotta take a leak!"

Drakus helped Taeko, Lute, Vaizen and Vaati disembark, and the five of them walked toward the hotel entrance, arm-in-arm. Bradford and Chet tottered after them, bearing armfuls of luggage. Thad hopped out of the driver's seat and hurried to catch up with his fellow retainers, as the X-Squad shuffled off. And Inkerton carefully disembarked with his own luggage before stretching his tentacles, and scored a better look at the colossal skyscraper he'd call home for the next few days. It was almost as tall as the Scuttleport factory, and its design was more or less actually decent to look at. And the building was painted in a splendid golden color, allowing it to catch the sun's rays.

The sight of this elegant complex took Inkerton's breath away. It was as if it was actually inviting him inside.

"Coddamn..." Inkerton muttered.

He shouldn't freak out, this was a vacation! The people here obviously didn't mean harm (or well, he hoped they didn't mean harm). They just wanted to give them a perfect hotel stay, which was nice. The masks were creepy though. But, maybe they were more used to other people like them staying! Wait, no, that made no sense either.

"Welcome, guests, to The Last Resort!" the man at the front desk greeted. "My name's Steward, and I'll be taking care of you for the duration of your stay! Are you ready to check in?"

"Of course we are," Taeko replied, surprised by the creepy masks.

"That's what I like to hear!" Steward said, brightly. "Please direct your attention to the balcony, and meet our wonderful proprietor."

The squad looked up and saw a stunningly beautiful woman standing there. Her blue hair was styled in a beehive, dark shades covered her eyes and she was clad in an elegant white gown with a blue fur stole.

[that's the owner?!]

[bro i was expecting like a normal woman or some shit, not a fucking model!]

[jesus fuck that's the hottest milf i've ever seen!]

DrakBot: [Y'all serious right now?]

"Wonderful—our first official guests!" gushed the woman. "My name is Hellen Gravely, and I own this hotel."

She smiled an enigmatic smile before checking on the other patrons.

"Please, call me Hellen. We're gonna know each other well over the next few days, after all." Hellen smiled. "I'm absolutely delighted that you've all decided to accept my invitation!"

"So are we," Starscream remarked, chuckling.

Hellen glided down the steps and approached them. "You all must be very tired," she observed.

"Ya think? We almost died 3 times." Drakus snarked.

"Trust me—this hotel will be worth the long drive," grinned Hellen. "Come—I'll show you to your rooms."

Resigned, Thad, Bradford and Chet walked toward the luggage, only for Hellen to stop them with a gesture. "No worries—our exceptional staff will take care of your luggage," she said.

The Toad retainers sighed in relief as Steward placed everyone's bags onto luggage racks and loaded them onto the elevator.

"You're our VIPs, after all," Hellen went on, leaning toward the squad and beginning to powder her face. "We've prepared a first-rate experience for you—all the trappings of luxury." She laughed. "Shall we get going?"

Neo turned her face away, sneezing into her elbow as Hellen's powder tickled her sinuses. "Yeah—let's go," she replied.

"Do you guys have a spa?" Mera asked. "And a gym?"

"We do, actually," replied Hellen. "The Last Resort has everything your heart desires." She looked over the squad as she spoke.

"As soon as I get settled in, I'm booking a facial for tomorrow," Mera said, as they all walked into the elevator, which whisked them up to the fifth floor.

"Okay," said Hellen when they stepped out of the elevator. "X-Squad—your rooms are to your right. Thad, Bradford and Chet—your rooms are to your left."

"Wait a sec," Mystle realized. "Aren't we supposed to get room keys?"

"No—I want you to visit each other, if you so desire," said Hellen. "I hope you enjoy your stay—I daresay you'll remember it for the rest of your lives!"

"We're gonna hold you to that," Neo said.

"Don't hesitate to give us a holler if you need anything," Hellen laughed.

"Will do," Luigi said. "Thank you, Hellen."

"Thank you," Hellen cryptically replied as she withdrew.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm beat," Thad said. "Let's all spend the night in our rooms, and then meet up tomorrow morning for breakfast."

"Good plan," Inkerton said, immediately slithering into his room and crashing on the bed, as the X-Squad each went to their respective rooms and flopped onto their beds.

LATER...

A loud blast of jet engines awoke the squad from their beds, and they each saw something.

Their respective rooms had changed...

Instead of being the welcoming warmth of golds, they all were now a chilling defense and territorial monster of a room.

But, now wasn't the time for that.

Inkerton hopped off his bed, and grabbed a flashlight. He didn't have time to observe his now changed room. He had to find the others and get out of here!

Once outside, the squad saw the hotel change before him. The golden insides of the hotel, slowly turned into dusky purples and pitch blacks as this strange pink magic ate away at the gold, as the squad continued on.

Gripping his flashlight tightly, Inkerton crept over to the elevator bay, where he saw Hellen glide into the room, her eyes glowing yellow.

Hellen stopped when she saw the squad, and then she smiled. It was the kind of smile a shark would give a small fish before eating it, the kind of smile the psychopath reserved for their latest victim in a slasher film. She thought they were absolutely perfect at this moment, standing there, flashlight tight in one of their fists, their breath coming fast and the color leaving their face as they started piecing everything together, as they suddenly saw a man leap in through a window, cloaked in cybernetic armor and had a bandage over one eye.

[HOLY FUCK!]

[It's our boy!]

[RAIDEN!]

[Metal Gear!]

[Raiden's as dummy thicc as Snake himself!]

[Nah, I think he be lean and sleek]

"Well, well, well," she cooed as she floated up to the squad. "If it isn't my most esteemed VIPs and the legendary White Devil himself! I was just on my way to see you!"

"Hellen," Hidan said as evenly as he could. "What the fuck is going on?"

"Oh, the guests'll be fine," replied Hellen, "but it's you I want to talk about. Is your room living up to your expectations? Doesn't it scream good taste?"

"My room is fine, thank you," Drakus responded in a clipped voice. "Now, I'm gonna ask you again, and this time, I want an answer. What the fuck. Is this?"

"Language," chided Hellen, leaning in close and trailing a finger up her guest's chest. "Your friends are waiting for you, and you'll see them really soon."

Drakus jerked away from her. "Don't lie!" he exclaimed. "You'd better tell us what's going on right now before I call the OVDF!"

"How can you do that when I've disabled all forms of communication?" asked Hellen. She got right into Mystle's personal space and inhaled her scent before licking the shell of her ear.

"Get the heck off me!" Mystle yelped, jerking free of Hellen and retreating a pace as she followed her. "What the heck have you done with the toads?! What the heck have you done with the place?!"

"Well, Mystle, I'm guessing, to trap us. And news flash, honey, already saw through it. And may I say, you really need to work on your disguises, maybe even give your staff acting classes, because woo hoo boy, they are terrible." Drakus said, giving the ghost hotel owner some snark to boot.

It was Hellen's turn to narrow her eyes at the other. "You may try to act smart, but you are the one who chose to stay in a haunted hotel."

"Hey, if you're in my shoes. You would take the chance of the free hotel stay. Away from the amounts of ice yokai, literal Britain run by a butterfly demon, a Lich, a crime syndicate and even an intergalactic empire. Sure, not happy there are ghosts here, but you know, they all seemed nice. Well, that bellhop does. You, eh, not so much since you decided to try and trick and possibly kidnap us."

"They never said you had such a tongue on you"

"And furthermore...Wait, what?"

Hellen laughed. "See, I invited a professor here, and claimed I had a ghost collection, and like a fool, he came, though we didn't catch him yet, it won't be long till he's caught."

Professor..., she meant someone else was here too, didn't she?

Hellen continued, "So, I helped them escape. And it is with pleasure to introduce them, my new private security-"

The white-haired man was already paling and began to back away slowly. He already had a feeling about who it was.

"THE WINDS OF DESTRUCTION, SUNDOWNER, MISTRAL, MONSOON AND HURRICANE, AND THE SHADOW HUNTERS!"

In a quick cape reveal, there stood the Shadow Hunters, along with a blonde clad in white wizard robes, and four other people, one was a man clad in black and red with a coat, another was a woman with red hair, yet another being a man with red covering the top of his face, the last one was a fish man clad in red and black, with his arms being revealed save for his hands, covered by red and black cybernetic gauntlets resembling claws.

"So, you're this X-Squad I've heard so much about?" The blonde girl in wizard robes asked, smirking. "Gotta say, you look just like the pictures the boss gave us, be honored, you have the attention of the great Eitri. How are you enjoying your time at the VIP Suites? Or should I say, the RIP Suites?"

"RIP?" Everyone's eyes fluttered.

"Oh, did I say 'VIP' in the first place? Although it's true, that's my mistake. This floor is indeed called the RIP Suites, fitting for a certain reason," Hellen innocently put a finger on her lips.

"Well, well, if it isn't Jack! Or is it Raiden now? It's so great to see you again, anyways!" The Alabama man, Sundowner, said, laughing. "I take it you've thought about us, as well?"

"Oh, Jesus, oh, sweet Jesus, not these three again…"

"I'll take that as a 'yes'. I must say, Jack...I'm touched." Sundowner chuckled as he looked at the cyborg. "The years have been kind to you, I see. You've taken very good care of your body. I guess I should thank you for that. But the appreciation will have to wait. We've got things to talk about."

"Wh—what things?" Mystle stammered.

"Have I mentioned that you're so cute when you try to play innocent?" Mistral hissed. "I think you know exactly what I'm talking about. That fucking geezer had us locked up tight in his lab—but guess what? we got out! Miss G was just dying to meet people like us, capable of sharing her visions of chaos and anarchy, so she helped us escape. And not only does Miss G here own this hotel, she's also funding Neo-Desperado Enforcement. Lucky, isn't it?"

"Well, I got my own ghost backup. And it is with pleasure to introduce him, King-"

Luigi was already paling. He already had a feeling about who it was.

"BOO!"

In a quick reveal, there stood King Boo. The ghastly marshmallow of a ghost cackled when he saw Luigi.

"Why, it's nice to see you again, too, Luigi," King Boo said, smirking. "I've thought about you—every day—over the last few years. I take it you've thought about me, as well?"

"Oh, Jesus, oh, sweet Jesus…"

"I'll take that as a 'yes'. I must say, Luigi—I'm touched." King Boo licked his lips as he looked his nemesis over. "These last few years have been kind to you, I see. You've taken very good care of your body. I guess I should thank you for that." He closed his eyes and slowly licked Luigi's torso, eliciting a confused yelp from the plumber. "But the appreciation will have to wait. We've got things to talk about."

"Wh—what things?" Luigi managed to splutter.

"Have I mentioned that you're so cute when you try to play innocent?" King Boo asked. "I think you know exactly what I'm talking about. That geezer had me locked up tight in his lab, but guess what? I got out! AGAIN! Jacky-boy was just dying to get help on some hostage situation, pretty weird, but he helped me escape, in exchange for me not sticking the hostages in paintings, more specifically, Luigi. And not only does his mission control like me, that Doktor of his is also the president of the only King Boo fan club in existence! Pretty lucky, huh?"

"My God...you have a fan club?!" Drakus asked, surprised at this.

"Anyways...I used my smarts and their wiles to implement my master plan. It was high-risk, but now, my finest hour is here. It will always be. I am—inevitable." Hellen calmly said, trying to drag the conversation back to her.

"That's the truth of it!" Monsoon chimed in.

"Anyway," Hellen went on, circling the perplexed squad. "I didn't think you'd actually show up here. I was ready, though, just in case. In fact, my plan is nearly complete!"

Luigi's mind raced. He knew exactly where this was going.

"Oh, you probably wanna know what she meant by 'plan'," Hurricane said, a hint of an Australian accent in his voice, "and I'll gladly show you." A look of malice crossed his features as he explained, "We're gonna trap you and everyone in your little vacation party—in frames!"

"No. No, no. You don't…"

"Oh, yes, we did," Hellen retorted, "but you mustn't worry—it'll all be over soon. It's time for a little expanding."

On cue, the fish man's claw gauntlets activated, and soon six portraits floated above them, containing another Mario, the toads, Princess Peach, and another Luigi. Thad, Bradford and Chet, as well as the other Luigi, were mildly bruised up, as was the other Mario, except that the latter's face was covered in fluorescent lipstick marks. There were lipstick marks all over Peach's face and neck, as well.

Raiden and King Boo had no clue how to react. He was mixed between anger, annoyance, and horror. The horror won in the end though, when they noticed a bunch of other portraits that Hurricane had, empty. Raiden gulped, having a gut feeling that one of those was meant for him.

"Oh heck no! I'm supposed to be the one locking Luigi in a portrait! ME! Not some wannabe fish!" King Boo ranted, livid that Hellen had Luigi in a portrait before him.

"Now, if you would just kindly stand there and... Hey! HEY! GET BACK HERE!" Arya said, seeing the X-Squad were dragging Raiden along, as King Boo followed the squad.

"Don't let them get away!" Hellen yelled, as the Shadow Hunters and Winds of Destruction gave pursuit.

"Lovely offer, but not today, Smokey!' Drakus said, as the squad booked it, making a run for it. He could hear the crackle of blades behind them, he just didn't know how far behind him. The squad had to duck and dodge a numerous amount of blades, some even flying overhead.

The squad screeched to a halt when they were at a laundry chute. Panic began to rise in them. They had no clue where it went! It could easily lead to another trap, but at this point, they'd rather take that than being-

"Will you stand still, you lot?" Mistral said as the four made their way over to the squad. "Nothing personal, Hellen just wants to add you to her personal collection. She might even hang you above the fireplace."

"How about shuck no?!" Inkerton yelled, shoving Raiden and King Boo down the chute as the squad followed him, crashing down the chute.

Hellen joined the Winds of Destruction and Shadow Hunters at the end of the hallway, looking disheartened. "Aw, man...we were so close!"

"Miss Gravely, I understand your frustration that you weren't able to capture them. But then again, they will be easy to catch soon." Monsoon said.

"Miss Gravely, are you sure you want to take the responsibility of capturing the X-Squad?" Megafin was skeptical. "These guys are pretty insane to handle."

"Trust me, Dr. Finsworth. I have plenty of resources and employees who can easily handle them. I will go beyond the edge of the Mushroom Kingdom if I have to! No matter what, the X-Squad will be stuck in paintings for good."

A wicked smile on her lips, Hellen headed back toward the elevator, with the Shadow Hunters coming along, nervous about their new ally, as the Winds of Destruction looked bored.

"So, I'm okay!" Raiden said, smiling and laughing with relief as he finally got the codec working, as the X-Squad looked at Raiden's left hand.

"Ah, good! Remember the two procedures to maintain your body: One, seizing nano-repair units from your foes. And two--" A German voice said.

"Absorbing their electrolytes. I know, Doktor." Raiden said, rolling his eye.

"Erm, is there context? Please?" Weiss asked.

"Yes, enemy cyborgs should have plenty of electrolytes once you... slice them open and extract their fluids." Doktor explained.

"Yikes!" The X-Squad said, shocked that Doktor implied Raiden was literally draining people of blood.

"They're terrorists. I was planning on that anyway." Raiden remarked, facepalming that the squad took it out of context.

[wait he knows how to pause for effect?]

[i thought he'd implode from suspense]

[shhh we're gonna miss it]

King Boo was happy that Raiden was laughing and smiling that he rushed over to him, lavishing him with what could be considered doggie kisses. The two rubbed noses before Raiden hopped out of the towel cart and whipped out a flashlight, which had also survived the fall, as the X-Squad crawled out of the cart.

"Hey, is pint-size okay?" Raiden asked, seeing Sabrina comfort Arthi.

Arthi hastily wiped her eyes as Raiden approached, not wanting to appear weak. "I-I'm fine!" she insisted, though her quivering lip gave her away.

As Raiden peered at her with concern, Arthi's resolve crumbled as Sabrina hugged her. "No, I'm not," she sobbed, clutching Frostmourne tighter. "All I ever wanted was to make Father proud, to protect our people. But I failed - I became the very thing I sought to destroy, and it's all gone because of me."

Memories of her past life came flooding back - standing by her father's side, training with Uther, playing with Calia and Jaina as children. "Please, if any of you can hear me...forgive your foolish daughter," Arthi wept. "I only wanted to save Lordaeron, I never meant for things to end this way. If I could, I'd try and undo my sins..."

"Before I set off, I guess we should check to see if the Poltergust is working properly," Furina said.

First, she held down the Strobulb button before releasing it, a bright flash filling the room. Second, she tested the vacuum and exhaust functions.

"Great," Raiden said when Furina was done. "The bulb, the vacuum and the exhaust are in top form. Are we done?"

Furina soon saw a strange, new button on the vacuum's apparatus.

"Wow. What does this do?" she asked.

When she pressed the button, she gasped as a burst of air propelled the squad upward. Instinctively, Raiden padded his legs, allowing him to gain a better jump height and land safely on his feet.

"That's new," he mused when he caught his breath. "Hopefully, it'll come in handy."

"Alrighty, in the words of the great philosophers Mario and Luigi..." Drakus said, determined. "Let'sa go!"

"Oh, and take their left hands, if possible!" Doktor added

"What?!" Drakus said, seeing Doktor in the X-Squad stream.

"Their combat data, stored on holographic memory, typically located in the left hand." Doktor clarified. "That data is very valuable. Ehem... I am authorized to offer you upgrades and services in exchange for it."

"Fine, we'll indulge your creepy obsession with left hands, if you get us some upgrades." Drakus calmly offered.

"Ich liebe Kapitalismus! Had the wall come down a few years earlier, I would have a Nobel Prize on my shelf." Doktor ranted.

"Okay," Inkerton said as he scanned his surroundings. "So, we're in the laundry room."

"No activity in the laundry." A female voice said. "Looks like we don't need to worry about interceptors."

"Okey dokey," Kanade said, opening the door and stepping inside. "What's happening?"

"Great, then we have time for a quick briefing!" Another male voice said.

"Hellen Gravely, a ghost, hotel magnate, and wanted arms dealer by the name of 'Phantasm', her security detail being the terrorist group known as Deadlight, and our old friends, Desperado Enforcement LLC." A Russian voice said.

"And if we don't stop them, they could destabilize the entire kingdom!" The voice, apparently Kev, said.

Raiden led Inkerton to a car that appeared to have been manufactured in the 1910s, as Raiden slashed the car, opening the trunk, and a peal of laughter erupted from Drakus.

Hidden in the car's hood was none other than a Poltergust, but it was a deep silver with cyan lightning bolts painted on the side.

When Furina slid the Poltergust onto her back, it felt like a comforting embrace. The smooth leather straps were soft against her. The metal buckle was a bit cool, but she welcomed the coolness all the same. She hefted the familiar weight of the vacuum nozzle in her hands, and then she posed as best as she could.

"Before we set off, I guess we should check to see if this works," Furina said.

First, she held down the Strobulb button before releasing it, a bright flash filling the room. Second, she tested the vacuum and exhaust functions.

"Great," Raiden said when Furina was done. "The bulb, the vacuum and the exhaust are in top form. Are we done?"

Furina soon saw a strange button on the vacuum's apparatus.

"Wow. What does this do?" she asked.

When she pressed the button, she gasped as a burst of air propelled the squad upward. Instinctively, Raiden padded his legs, allowing him to gain a better jump height and land safely on his feet.

"That's new," he mused when he caught his breath. "Hopefully, it'll come in handy."

"Alrighty, in the words of the great philosophers Mario and Luigi..." Drakus said, determined. "Let'sa go!"

"So, you trying out for the Avengers or Justice League?" Raiden snarked.

"Nah, dollface. We're way more fun! Way more screwed up, too." Drakus cheerfully remarked.

The search began in the parking garage, where there were plenty of coins and scraps of paper for Furina to vacuum up. Neo yanked a white sheet away from one of the cars and discovered a green panel on the trunk, which Furina flashed with the Strobulb. The trunk opened, and from it emerged a white, boxy-looking gem.

"Whoa," Raiden gasped as he pocketed the gem. "We'll probably find more of these."

In addition to the coins and paper scraps, there were piles of dirt and trash, along with some mice, which Furina could also stun. The squad explored the parking garage in its entirety before exiting into the hallway and walking toward the elevator, Furina vacuuming whatever she could find as they went. When they reached the elevator, they saw that they were on floor B1.

The basement.

To the elevator's left was another door, blocked by metal barriers, but Furina flashed the Strobulb at another green panel, causing the barriers to retract, and pushed through the door into a stairwell. There were gold coins, gold bars and even a treasure chest under the stairs, and even the vending machine spat out gold and dollar bills. Once they vacuumed literally everything, the squad jogged up the stairs, sucking up all of the trash obstructing their path and using that burst of air to knock aside a metal trash bin. At the top of the stairs, they pushed through the double doors and into the main lobby.

Each of the icons over the front desk now had a red "X" slashed over them, the paint dripping from the edges of the letters giving them a creepier appearance. The vibrant boxed gifts and the buffet were all gone, replaced with snarling jack-o-lanterns, balloons with grinning, glowing faces and several small piles of skulls. Raiden's gut went cold as he looked over the scene, as the X-Squad looked bored at this.

"Yeah, yeah, it's spooky, sure. But where's the pizzazz?" Preme remarked. "Look at this place. I mean, what is the theme here? Halloween? It's been done to death!"

"We're probably being hunted by ghosts and cyborgs, and you're complaining about the interior design?!" Raiden snapped, before bridging his nose. "Oy vey, you're as insane as Armstrong."

But what Raiden saw next chilled him to the core.

Two blue ghosts, as well as some cyborgs, were at the hotel's main entrance, drilling and nailing planks across the front door to prevent anyone from going in—or out. As an added precaution, they were wrapping chains around those planks. As the squad watched, Raiden had to remind himself to breathe.

'Guess Hellen means business,' he thought.

Snoozy stalked toward the ghosts, trumpeting at them, warning them to back off. The ghosts turned to look at him, amused looks on their faces, before one of them shooed him off with a gesture. Snoozy then rejoined his masters, crouching protectively in front of him.

One ghost tossed their drill to the other before flying off, and the other ghost casually chucked the drill away, as if to fly off as well—only to suddenly leap in the squad's face, shrieking, as some cyborgs appeared, as if from thin air.

"The bastards are using stealth camo to ambush you." The Russian voice, apparently Boris, said. "Nice try, but it won't do any good against a band of misfits like you, eh, X-Squad?"

"...Oh my god is that a naked lady?" Ryuko mumbled as she peered through a window, staying low and ducking out of sight so she didn't attract any attention. "...wait, does one of them have cat ears? Also, man, who built this hotel…? Argh, focus dammit!"

And then something exploded through the walls in a burst of yellow light.

Everyone yelped, ducking away for a moment despite the fact that the blast hadn't even touched her. Nui huffed, not expecting the sudden attack before looking back through the window and spotting for the first time that the naked woman in the shadows was actually the top half of a naked woman… merged with a gigantic monstrous torso that was, frankly, kinda gross to look at.

Well…to some of the squad at least. They knew damn well what people on the internet thought about giant monstrous women.

Also, the freaky demon lady was fondling herself and shooting magic lasers out of her nipples.

"...Right. Okay, I've seen enough," Ryuko sighed, shaking her head as she pushed herself up and stood before the window. She narrowed her eyes, doing a few rough calculations and planning out her mode of attack. She wasn't about to try and reshape her entire arm into a blade like Nui does (or how she does with Senketsu, sometimes), and she definitely wasn't about to try and pull a new weapon out of nowhere without practice… and trying to summon the scissor blades likely wouldn't work after Senketsu had sent them to her from space last year. Plus, they'd probably punch through the walls and/or window so…

The squad immediately got their weapons out, as Raiden got his blade out.

"Trick or treat, ghoulies!" Drakus said, as the ghosts readied for battle.

Pink, gate-like barriers slammed down around the lobby, trapping them with the ghost and cyborgs, as Raiden rushed in.

"X-Squad, whenever you engage in battle alongside Raiden, I will designate a battle area for you." Boris said. "Stay within the area to avoid collateral damage."

As the ghost lazily floated around them, Furina charged the Strobulb and lined up her shot. Once the ghost closed back in on her, as some of the cyborgs not killed by Raiden ripping out their spines rushed towards her, she let out a breath and released the charge with a satisfying ZZZAPP! The ghost and cyborgs were frozen in their tracks, and Furina quickly pounced, starting to vacuum them up and keeping an eye on the power gauge as it built. As the cyborgs and the ghost tried to tear themselves away, Furina dug in her heels and pulled back with all her might, as finally, the ghost and cyborgs were sucked in, as the squad sighed, only to tense back up again as they heard laughter echoing from all around. Glancing up, they spotted the other ghost watching them from the mezzanine balcony. This ghost put two fingers to their lips and gave a sharp whistle, summoning two more ghosts, one being golden and the other was green, and some more cyborgs. Together, the three ghosts and cyborgs rushed at the squad as they stood their ground, weapons and Poltergust poised.

Neo dodged the initial charge, pivoted and then Furina stunned the first ghost and cyborg she saw, bringing that power gauge up so she could slam them into anything in sight. The floor, the wall, the tables, the statues. The other two ghosts and other five cyborgs attacked with powerful punches and slashes, and while they managed to dodge the worst of them, they still wound up battered sufficiently. The chill they felt was all but forgotten as their blood began pumping. Something that the attacking ghosts did not fail to notice.

The blonde guy rushing forward with his cosplay sword (or, she supposed, a real sword) became nothing more than a normal guy running instead of a near blur.

As the battle heated up, Furina felt something tug at the waistband of her pants, and she turned around to see Neo, aiding her in the tug-of-war against the ghosts and cyborgs, along with a figure that appeared to be a black cloak fluttering on its own with only pure darkness beneath its folds. She flashed her girlfriend and the cloak a grateful smile before focusing back on his opponents, slamming them into hard surfaces and even each other. Thanks to Neo, she now had better control over the suction, and she was dragged around less. Every moment she spent fighting the ghosts allowed her to get the feel of the Poltergust in ways that she couldn't when she'd only been practicing, and then saw an old man sucking up the ghosts and cyborgs, as well as making the giant demon lady get dragged into the vacuum as well.

But some of the ghosts persisted and flew off as the cyborgs started fighting the old man, who was somehow fighting well, even dropkicking some of them… until another vacuum started to suck it up, this time it came from a girl.

She had bright lilac eyes with long lilac hair with it going down to her waist. She wears a black and white hoodie with a Boo being sucked into the vacuum and on the back was a picture of two ghosts shaking hands, and also wore a black shirt and ripped up jeans, leaving her knees exposed and showing what appeared to be a visible dark red scar on her right knee. On the jeans, there is a belt that seems to be holding the vacuum in place, and she's also wearing black boots. And with her was a dragon-like beast with white armor on its purplish black body and has a set of crystalline wings.

"Oh no, you don't!" She said, holding her ground as the ghost tried to fight back… but to its dismay, the girl won and sucked the ghosts and cyborgs inside.

"Whoa…" Furina whispered.

Finally, the last ghost and the last cyborg was defeated, and the demon lady was shoved into the vacuum through the sheer force of adrenaline, and Furina stood on her tiptoes to give Neo a celebratory kiss. "Good going!" Drakus exclaimed.

The girl walked over to the old man. "You alright, grandpa?"

The old man chuckled. "I'm getting too old for this… but yeah, I'm alright." He said as he got up, then turned to the squad. "What's a couple of whippersnappers like you doing here? Oh! And you have King Boo and Lord Ombra with you!" He said, ready to suck up King Boo with the girl.

"Wait! They're with us!" Weiss yelled as she got in the way. "King Boo's friendly now, Raiden can vouch for him!"

Ombra, meanwhile, was possibly glaring at King Boo. "You were not a part of our bargain," Ombra said in a tone of voice that no human throat seemed capable of creating. "As such, you should not have come."

"You were always a strange one, Ombra," King Boo remarked, grinning. "You couldn't find me, so you tried to grab a young woman thinking it was me! Have you no shame?"

"Shame?" Ombra wheezed. "What is it worth? A human constraint unworthy of one of my stature."

"Come now, Ombra, you must see reason," Drakus urged. "Whatever Hellen's planning could cause a return to the Age of Chaos! She's a crazy fangirl looking for a return to what was rather than having an interest in creating what can be! We seek to use the darkness to save rather than to simply destroy, and I think, deep down, you're far more interested in what you can build with us than to simply revert to a bygone era. Now, this is your final chance: you may either side with us as our friend or be forced to join. Choose wisely."

Ombra considered another moment before speaking again. "Very persuasive, dragon child. I suppose there is little reason not to see what your organization is capable of. I will submit to your leadership... for now."

"Oh! Why didn't you say so?" The old man chuckled. "I am Professor E. Gadd and this is my granddaughter, Jade Gadd, and her pet dragon, Xegard."

"Heya." She waved as Xegard nibbled on the table.

"PROFESSOR, WHAT IN BLAZES HAPPENED?!" a voice bellowed, as a Bandit ran towards him. "Y'all went to some fancy hotel, and now, y'all are fightin' ghosts! You tellin' me something busted out?!"

"Sure looks like it, doesn't it?" Mystle said sarcastically, narrowly dodging a bop on the head from Weiss.

Nio, on the other hand, was taking this opportunity to get a good look at the Bandit girl. She hadn't seen Bandits before, and this one was a deep silver, which she was pretty sure was a first. She had on a brown cowboy hat and a deep blue vest, on which was pinned an immaculately polished sheriff's badge. A coiled length of rope was hanging at her side.

"Uh… all right, listen," Nio, said, flustered, starting to sweat and backing away. "We're sorry about coming in here. We didn't mean to bother you. It's just… we really had to get out of here. There's been a big misunderstanding."

"Oh, I reckon there's been a misunderstandin' – on your end!" the bandit growled, marching forward and prodding Nio in the chest. "D'you fellers even realize what happened? Ain't no ghost has ever busted outta their paintings under the watch of E. Gadd before!"

"Who are you?" Mystle asked before it dawned on her. "Oh wait…is Snatchee your name?"

"Yer darn right it is! Not that that's any business of yours, you hooligans!"

"Hooligans? You're a Bandit!" Luigi said to her.

Drakus smacked himself in the forehead. That was very clearly the wrong thing to say, as Snatchee immediately narrowed her eyes dangerously at the plumber.

"That's not what he meant," Kanade cut in. "What he meant was – I mean, we just thought it was interesting that you're a cowboy, er, cowgirl… you know, since you are a Bandit and everything."

That didn't seem to make things much better. "Don't ya think I get enough flak for that already?" Snatchee said impatiently. "So I'd rather enforce the law than break it! That ain't a crime! As a matter a' fact, it's by definition the OPPOSITE of a crime!"

"What… are you all?"

Ryuko grimaced, clenching her fist lightly and trying not to look at the damage she'd caused to the old abandoned house that was, as of thirty seconds ago, collapsing into nothing more than a pile of rubble. Apparently Furina put so much force into that vacuum that she'd not only turned the so-called Devil into a mist that got dragged into the vacuum, but the force transfer had also rocked the foundations, along with creating a wind cannon shaped trail of destruction to the north.

How the fuck were they supposed to know supernatural creatures were so fucking fragile? It wasn't like some of them were used to being strong enough to topple buildings with their bare hands! With her scissor blade, sure, Ryuko knew how to pull off a wicked cool flying slash, but with her bare hands???

Ugh. The last time she'd even really punched someone was when she was dealing with Ragyo, and that bitch just wouldn't go down.

Ahem.

"... That's a complicated question, not gonna lie," Ryuko answered after a moment's indecision, looking back and forth at the group that she'd found herself in front of. Satsuki knew them by reputation. Apparently the club leader went by Gremory Rias, and the pervert was named Hyodou Issei. Aaaand maybe the tiny one was named… Toujou…? Or something? She'd heard a few girls squealing about how cute one of the first years was so…yeah. "I mean…some of us aren't human, myself included. And I guess we saved some universes, and I saved the world? I dunno, I guess that hasn't really gotten into the news much."

"Wait- you saved the universe? When? How? From what?" the blond guy spoke up, stepping forward with his hand held firmly on the hilt of his sword and wearing a strangely… not really hostile, but more mistrusting… expression on his face. Ryuko didn't really mind, she'd seen that face more than a few times even during the rebellion against Ragyo.

"An ice dragon that apparently had issues, Britain but led by a butterfly, Arthi over here, another Carmen Sandiego, and an intergalactic empire." Drakus said.

"...From… Kiryuuin Ragyo…? And the Life Fibers…?" Ryuko responded awkwardly, scratching her head and trying to puzzle out why it seemed like the entire group of them except for Issei seemed so confused. "... I dunno what to tell you guys, there was a whole shitload of stuff that happened. I was in a coma for two months, a good chunk of Japan got abducted by aliens, the entire world almost got consumed by clothes… I had to go fight Ragyo in space…"

She shrugged, cracking her knuckles on her right hand using her thumb and leaning against a nearby tree. "Really. Not sure what else to say here. I mean, it was all over Twitter and LINE… pretty sure there's some videos about it on Youtube and NicoNico?"

"...Wait…that was you!?" Issei spoke up, for lack of recognition by anyone else in the group. "I thought I was going crazy- nothing like that happened here, but I was out on a trip with my family and, and…."

He shuddered a little, grimacing. "... That was a weird half hour."

"Yeeeaaaahhh… sorry about that," Nui winced, looking away and running her hand through her hair. "Sis did her level best to stop Ragyo but… well. It was kinda chaotic. Lotta shit happened. Anyway. That's my sis. Ryuko Matoi, don't wear the name out."

"Don't apologize, when I woke up there were a bunch of naked girls around me! It was like a dream come true!" Issei paused, then cleared his throat at the awkward looks everyone else was giving him (except for Rias, who was smiling as if she expected that kind of thing). "... Well. I was naked too. It wasn't fun when they started screaming and trying to beat me up."

"Yeeaaaahhhh… lotta clothes just kinda exploded. Couldn't really stop that part," Ryuko shrugged, then shook her head. "Whatever."

The nearby phone rang, and Raiden answered with a curt "Yes?"

"There appears to have been a flaw in our plan," said Hellen's voice, "but it means nothing."

The hotel owner currently sat in her own personal suite, sharing a large, stuffed crust pizza with the Shadow Hunters. Many plastic cups and many large bottles of root beer sat on a table nearby.

"So we're in Stray Devil territory, that's a shame… we could have a good minion on our side." Arya said and turned to Silver Banshee. "That devil would make a nice appetizer. Or better yet, she could've made a nice dessert for Yaiyai if they didn't suck her up!"

"I would say the same to you, but you'd just be a mere chocolate chip. Not as appetizing for a princess."

"Who are you calling a chocolate chip, you mangy brat?!"

"What you gonna do about it?" Silver Banshee taunted as the two engaged in another fighting dust cloud, with Silver Banshee once again carrying Arya, who was now blushing and squirming.

"You numbskull!"

"Dorky princess."

"Banshee ripoff!"

"Little miss moron."

"Those two act like a couple." Mistral mumbled.

"Yeah, just get on a bed and make out already. Fuck while you're at it!" Sundowner said.

"They actually are a couple." Megafin said.

"WE WOULD IF THERE WAS ANY PRIVACY!" Arya snapped, as Silver Banshee was getting seriously close to fondling her boobs.

"Hold it. We have someone else coming in right about-" The doors opened in as Megafin turned around. "-Now."

A Faunus walked in through the doors. He's got a pale skin tone that is similar to that of an actual snow leopard, has the usual traits of a leopard and has sharp teeth similar to that of a leopard. He wears light gray pants, with green boots and a white shirt covered with a light gray jacket. He has dark green eyes, and messy dyed white hair.

"Sup, losers?" He greeted and then spotted Arya. "Huh…a human."

"Ew, a skin walker… and a leopard at that! Don't you have a okapi faunus to hunt down before miserably failing?"

"Oh please, like I would let that happen. Name's Mngwa. Nice to meet you…even the prissy human."

"Oh, you're a REAL charmer." Arya rolled her eyes.

"I'm fifteen, and I basically like to watch the world burn in front of my eyes. Why? Because it's basically a party, and everyone's invited to join!"

"What is it with children these days and mindless violence?" Sundowner wondered before laughing. "I love these two morons!"

"Yeah, basically all ya need to know is that I felt like I was born different from the get go."

"HA! Please, no one is psychotic the moment they're born." Arya scoffed.

"I literally ripped the doctor a new one when he made eye contact with me. Let's just say he lost his manhood after I let go."

Arya sweatdropped. "Is it too late to euthanize him?"

"I hunted weaker folk as I grew up… went too far but no one ever bothered to try and discipline me. They tried, but I would just tear their shoulders out of their sockets! One such example was that I tried to kill this armadillo kid when he was a baby. Unfortunately, his mother stopped me. She was the only one brave enough to stand against me. Tch, well… it's not all that bad, one day a giant golem thing showed up at our village. I just took the opportunity to kill as many people as possible while that golem wrecked everything up and left after it all burned!" Mngwa laughed.

"You must have had an encounter with the Karkas Army." Kronos said. "Salem made that thing too intelligent to where it left her to pursue its own agenda. However, she did say she discovered that it sleeps for years after having its fill, only to wake up when the big guy's hungry. She made a few attempts to try and get him to obey, however, it just absorbs any Seer that gets close to him and resumes his slumber."

"Okay, I'm not one to curse but holy SHIT, can we PLEASE euthanize this asshole? Seriously, I may be rotten on the inside but even I think he's too much!" Arya said. "I can euthanize him myself… with my shovel!"

"No one is euthanizing anyone." Megafin said.

Mngwa then looked at the screen and saw Raiden. "Want me to kill him?" he asked.

"Want me to shut the furball up?" Arya offered.

"What's his power anyway? You can't just tease us like that, boss." Birch said.

"Mngwa's semblance creates a sort of fog, which drains the life force of any person it touches. It allows him to heal his wounds too." Megafin informed.

"Indeed. The only drawback is that it leaves me in the open. My semblance is called Smokeout, by the way."

Aria rolled her eyes. "Woooow, really got creative with that name, huh? Five out of five stars." She snarked.

Mngwa's smirk never faded. "You know, I could just drain you of all your life force. Who knows, with that semblance of yours, you could return as a zombie. You would look a lot better too."

Arya's eye twitched. "GET OVER HERE, YA FURBALL!" She yelled as she tackled him to the ground as it resulted in a fighting dust cloud between the two.

"Fight fight fight fight!" Silver Banshee chanted.

"Those two are quite rambunctious, wouldn't you say?" Kronos asked.

Mistral chuckled. "I believe there will never be a dull moment around here." She said.

"Grave robber!"

"Psycho cat!"

"Prissy princess!"

"Flea ridden parasite!"

"You have to do better than that!"

"OH, BITE ME, SKIN WALKER! OW! I DIDN'T MEAN LITERALLY!"

"And also… just the one I've been looking for." Megafin said as he approached the two, and pushed the two apart. "I've made this for you."

Donovan raised an eyebrow. "A necklace?"

"Amulet, actually." He said, as Mngwa took it and examined it. He would see that the amulet in question was a broken moon and had a snake engraved in it. He sniffed it, as it smelled like death… he let out a toothy grin and put it on him.

"Now why would you give him something so girly?" Arya asked. "…Actually, you know what? It kinda looks better on him."

"It's a synthesizer that I've made." Megafin explained. "It grants the wearer to make any Grimm they desire." he added.

"Oh great, so he's probably going to create a hyena army along with a lion and probably do a whole song and dance number while he's at it."

"Oh, thank you for that idea, blondie. Be prepared for that!"

"Uuuuugh, I GOT to stop giving you ideas!"

Back in the lobby, Raiden's still-pumping blood was now simmering. He had no time for Hellen's shit.

"Now you listen to me," he said evenly. "If you think that I'm gonna go easy on you because you're a woman, then you'd better think again."

"Oooh—so feisty," cooed Hellen. "I'm just doing business, you can't fret over every egg when you're trying to rebuild the Mushroom Kingdom into a place where the strong survive."

"Not when "purging the weak", right?" Raiden asked. "I know how this goes, and you don't know what it's like to be poor or hungry, you don't know what it's like to fight, steal and kill just to survive!"

"But you did survive, Jack! Through willpower, following your own rules." Hellen countered. "With your own hands, you took your life out of the hands of those that puppeteered you!"

"And now I'll take your afterlife..." Raiden growled

"Good luck making your way up the hotel's many floors—you're gonna need it." Hellen said, as Raiden hung up the phone. His hands curled into fists, and his chest heaved. Composing himself, Raiden glanced at the squad.

"I'm fine," he said. "I'm fine."

Turning their gaze toward the front desk, the squad noticed a key hanging beside the mail slots. On the other side of the mail slots was a green panel, which Furina flashed. The slots slid up to reveal another gem, which Raiden palmed. There was also a huge stack of dollar bills and some gold coins and gold bars. Furina vacuumed up all of the treasure, and then she stood on her tiptoes and plucked the key from its hook.

The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open. Gadd, Jade and the squad walked inside—and then gawked at the panel.

"My word!" exclaimed Gadd. "Someone has pulled out all of the elevator buttons, save for B1! What's going on here?"

"Hellen wants to keep us trapped inside," Raiden told him. "I saw a few of Hellen's lackeys barricading the main entrance. And even if they didn't barricade the main entrance, I'm not setting a foot out of this godforsaken hotel until the hostages are out of danger."

"All right, I get the point," said Gadd.

Mystle pressed the button for B1, the doors clanged shut, and the elevator descended.

"None of the hostages were trapped on the mezzanine when we first got here," Gadd said softly. "They must've been taken to one of the higher floors."

"And they might've stashed each one in a different floor," Jade joined in. "We'll need to keep my eyes peeled for those missing elevator buttons."

"I was just about to say that," said Gadd.

Later...

"Ah, so those are your names." E. Gadd said as they were in the elevator. "Hmm, we don't see people very often in Evershade Valley."

Jade leaned on a wall. "So you guys came here because you got invited?"

"Basically," Drakus said.

"But of course." Inkerton said.

"I'm a victim of shit circumstances, thanks," Hidan scoffed. "But I could make it out on my own if I had to. It would fucking suck, a pain in the ass, but I'd be okay. But since the doors are jammed, I guess I'll stay and help out."

"So, I gotta ask. What's up with ya? Wizards or something? Exorcists? Magical girls… and boys…?" Pete asked, confused.

"We're Devils," Rias answered without an ounce of shame or hesitation, stepping forward and bowing slightly. "I am Rias of House Gremory, and this is my peerage, Akeno Himejima, Yuuto Kiba, Koneko Toujou, and most recently, Issei Hyodou. Thank you for your assistance. None of us have heard of this so-called apocalypse, but given that Issei-kun seems to corroborate the events, I suppose we'll take you at your word. Though…"

She paused, tilting her head and narrowing her eyes at the squad. "Some of you clearly aren't human. You do not register as one, nor are you a Devil, an Angel, nor anything in between. I've never sensed anything like you before."

"...Would you believe I'm half alien and most of us come from different universes?" Ryuko deadpanned flatly, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms.

"Speaking of not human, the hell do you mean devils are real? I mean, really? I can understand the alien part, I've seen weirder, but what do you mean that all this Christian nonsense is real!?" Raiden yelled.

"Of course it's real! We're devils of the Gremory clan, after all!" Rias sort of preened, forming a magic circle in one hand and letting it just sit there in the air as it glowed and hummed, all four of the senior members of the Occult Research club letting their wings out with a flutter that almost sounded like canvas whipping through the air. "But I digress. This seems to be quite the complicated topic- I have no knowledge of Life Fibers, or anything that you've stated so far, and you seem to have no knowledge of Devils either. I propose that we work together. Clear things up, explain some things further?"

"That's fishy… veeeeery fishy." E. Gadd mused. "Hmm, the hotel appeared a few days ago, and Jade and I were looking around the hotel when those ghosts showed up, mostly because the owner said she also had a ghost collection. I'm telling you, age is catching up to me. I've been hunting ghosts since I was just a lad, but now… I've not been so efficient at it."

"Good thing you have me." Jade said.

E. Gadd chuckled. "That's true, I do! Hmm… now that I think about it, we saw Mario, Luigi and the princess here too. They didn't even stop to say hi or anything."

"Wait what?!" Drakus said.

"So, that sums up the hostages, and I assure you, the two beside me are not them, one's dumb, and the other's interested in any gender." Raiden remarked, as Mario and Luigi nodded.

"Oh… that's bad. Well, I suppose the Poltergust Z-00 needs some practice on the field, and Jade can do just fine with the Poltergust 5K..."

When they reached their destination, the squad stepped out of the elevator and headed for the parking garage, and pushed through the door to the parking garage—only to stop in their tracks.

Gadd nudged Drakus. "That's the kind fellow who showed me to my room!" he hissed.

"He helped us with our luggage," Inkerton added, "and he was waiting for us at the front desk when we checked in!"

There was Steward, sans his mask, heaving the luggage laying around onto a luggage rack.

"Ugh, fooling those imbeciles was tiring enough. But it's even worse since I had to wear that mask. I feel like I was going to suffocate from breathing through that atrocity!" Steward muttered. "Well, I've already kept my end of the bargain. I agreed to help Hellen make this hotel look decent, I introduced the party to her, and all the pieces fell into place. Those silly Mushroom Kingdom folks didn't see what hit them, and now they're all stuck in paintings."

Little did the ghost know that the squad managed to escape, and they're now in the garage.

"Oh, shoot," Drakus nearly choked on his saliva, as the squad stood behind him.

"Also, they're extremely oblivious to realize that we were in costumes! It's so funny I could laugh!" Steward then laughed like a maniac.

Preme growled at Steward's words. "If he wasn't transparent, I would deck this ghost in the face."

"Cousin, not now..." Drakus whispered.

"Ugh! Man, these bags are heavy," Steward rubbed his forehead after carrying an orange suitcase. "As much as I love manning the front desk, carrying luggage is a nightmare. That pink princess and the orange one had so many! And that traveling freakshow brought just as much as them! What did they pack, rocks and a hundred pounds of makeup?!"

He paused to rest, wiping his brow, only to recoil in shock when he saw the squad and the Gadds standing there.

"For your information, I packed the essentials of a vacation – clothes, swimsuit, sunscreen, makeup, you name it! Not only that, you were bad at disguising yourselves as humans!" Drakus said, referring to the mask on the luggage cart beside him.

"Hey!" Steward exclaimed. "You're not supposed to be here!"

Quickly, however, he pulled himself together, scrutinizing the pair. "Wait a second," he gasped, spotting the Poltergust on Furina and Jade's backs. "Holy ectoplasm!" He pointed a shaky finger at the squad and Jade in particular. "Y—you're the X-Squad and...and...Bloody Jade!"

"That's right," Jade responded, leveling the Poltergust at Steward as the squad readied their weapons, "and right now—your days of haunting are done."

Steward then tipped his hat and chuckled. "Oh well, since you managed to evade Hellen's trap, I better take you up to them so I could be praised. I didn't simply become a bellhop for the joy of it. I just wanted to help out my big sister!"

"Sister?" Raiden sputtered.

"Yeah, we may not look alike, but she treats me like family – because that's what we are! It's too bad you had to be separated from your own, Jackie boy, but then again, did you ever have family before Rosie and Johnny, or was that just what the US told you?"

Raiden started fuming, livid at Steward for bringing up the past.

Steward dumped the suitcases from the luggage rack before shoving the rack away. "I hoped things wouldn't have to come to this, but oh well, that's life for ya!" he said, grabbing a suitcase and brandishing it at the squad. "Come along, then!" he cried.

BGM: Come On (Digital Summer)

The paranormal gates blocked the door and the right side of the Garage. As the Steward carried another suitcase, he waited to hurl it at the squad.

"You got this!" Doktor cheered them on.

"Don't worry! I'm supporting you from over here!" E. Gadd yelled from the other side of the gates.

The ensuing battle between Steward and the X-Squad was fairly straightforward. The former's sole attack consisted of chucking suitcases at the latter, and once the squad dodged them, Furina moved in, stunning the opponent and slamming him against the pavement, nearby cars or other suitcases. If the squad was lucky enough, then they could use that burst of air to knock the suitcases out of Steward's hands and go on the offensive. Despite the simple premise, the squad took several glancing blows from the heavy suitcases, knocking some wind from them. Not that they let that stop them, of course. Whenever a suitcase knocked any of them down, they pushed themselves back up and charged right back into the fray, and continued heaving and slamming Steward about, settling into a rhythm and timing the slams with his breaths.

However, they weren't able to whack him forever as Steward escaped after four slams. The boss disappeared for a few seconds before a suitcase hovered in midair.

"Take this!"

"D'oh!" Inkerton dove away to the side. When he recovered, he was a second too late to stun him, as Steward grabbed another suitcase and flung it at them. This time, Inkerton got his chance.

"Oh no!" the Steward panicked.

Furina got a full meter of power as she slammed Steward again. She managed to get five in a row, but still didn't capture him. However, she could tell the ghost was getting fatigued.

"I'm not... going to... give up," the receptionist wheezed. "Hellen will kill me... if she finds you... alive."

One suitcase knocked Raiden sprawling, and Gadd saw Luigi's pet Polterpup, Biscuit, dash into the fray, barking fiercely at Steward and encouraging the squid to get back up. When Inkerton did so, the ghost puppy grabbed another suitcase Steward was picking up in his jaws, yanking it out of the ghostly bellhop's hand. Taking initiative, Furina stunned Steward, and the relentless slamming began again, Biscuit latching onto the waistband of Furina's leggings to give some extra horsepower. Ghost dog and newly minted ghost hunter became an effective team against their opponent as the battle grew more intense, with the former committed to protecting the latter.

Finally, Steward was down to his last suitcase. As he clutched it in both hands, the ghost cast a lingering look at the squad and Jade, breathless, bruised, their eyes gleaming with fire or sleep deprivation.

"Look," Steward said. "I just want you to know—this isn't personal, I just wanted to keep my sister safe."

"Know that you got defeated with honor, which is more than can be said for most." Drakus said, smirking.

Furina flashed the Strobulb once more and Ombra sucked Steward's tail in his body. By then, the blue ghost was helpless. The strength of the outer god was too much as his entire body was trapped inside. His hat fell off his head, but he managed to pull it in before accepting his fate. In return, two shining objects flew out of Ombra's...mouth. All the lights came on and the gates disappeared, too.

END BGM

"Excellent work! You amazed me!" E. Gadd clapped his hands. Biscuit agreed with a loud yap.

"Thanks, Mr. Gadd." Drakus said, as he then went over to pick up the glowing items.

"Ho ho! From what I see, those are definitely elevator buttons!" E. Gadd exclaimed. "I never would've guessed a ghost had taken them!"

They all examined the buttons; one was marked with a '5', the other was marked with an '11' on it.

"But... there's only two here," Daisy pointed out. "What about the rest?"

"Hmm... Maybe there are other ghosts out there that are keeping them?" E. Gadd predicted.

"Like I said, I knew this was going to be one of those days," Drakus sighed.

"Don't let your chin down, Drakus. We'll find a way to get the other buttons and save everyone in no time! As for now, let's go to my car. I've got something very interesting that I want to show you all. I was checking on it while you were facing Steward, and it's still there. Come on!"

The X-Squad glanced at each other before shrugging. Roman stuffed the buttons in his pocket, and they followed the professor to his vintage vehicle. Biscuit was already there, waiting in the driver's seat. They watched the professor take out something from the trunk. He held a gray, metallic hemisphere with a red border.

"Ooh, shiny," Mario leaned forward to touch it.

"Ah ah ah!" E. Gadd stopped. "Don't touch it!" he made Mario lean back. "Just wait for a moment."

"What is he doing?" Drakus questioned.

"You think I or Jade would know? He literally told us not to touch that thing until the circumstances demand it!" Snatchee remarked.

They went over to an empty parking space where the professor stood.

"Stand back, fellers! Behold one of my latest inventions!"

E. Gadd placed the hemisphere on the ground and pressed a button on top. He went over to the group as they waited for a few seconds. Nothing happened.

"Uh, Professor, what exactly is this darn thing supposed to be?" Snatchee raised an eyebrow.

"It takes patience, young Snatchee. Just wait!"

Then, the lines began to glow in a lime-green color, causing the gizmo to shake violently. Drakus leaned forward a little, but the professor held a hand over his torso, pushing him back. Although Drakus was confused, the squad, Jade, Snatchee and Xegard recoiled when a green light flashed in front of them. E. Gadd was the only one who was excited as they watched the gadget enlarge into a dome-like structure. From there, a brand-new, technological lab stood in the Garage. A large antenna popped out from the top despite making a hole in the ceiling.

"Now then, shall we head inside?" E. Gadd entered through the automatic door.

"Dang, that's one heck of a surprise. I sure didn't expect that." Jade turned to Drakus, still in awe. "Come on. Let's follow him."

"Arf!"

Drakus shook his head and blinked his eyes to regain his focus. He let the squad, Snatchee, Xegard and Jade walk in first before heading inside. The lab was slightly dim, but it was far more advanced. Everyone made themselves comfortable in the limited space.

"Heh heh heh! Welcome to my special, portable laboratory! How do you like it?" E. Gadd asked while sitting in his highchair.

"It's really neat," Drakus said. "There are better words to describe this place, but I'm having trouble saying them."

"Why, thank you! This portable lab is another of my brilliant inventions! It's sturdy, safe, and air-conditioned! Whenever it gets cold, I have a built-in radiator as well. Thankfully, it won't overheat my computer system. I brought this along with me in my car because I always knew I'd need it one day. And what a convenient time to set it up!"

"I'll say. But anyway, can you tell us why you're here, Professor?" Mystle asked.

"Ah, yes. We are secure and situated in this bunker, so I might as well answer your question. It's a bit of a long story, but to put it bluntly, I was tricked," E. Gadd shook his head in disappointment. "I got an invitation from someone named Hellen Gravely who claimed that she owned this hotel. The letter said they had a precious collection of ghosts, gathered from all over the world! No self-respecting ghost researcher would pass up on such an appealing offer, obviously! Thus, I accepted their invitation! But when I arrived, I found out too late that it was only a ruse!"

"You're in the same boat as us," Inkerton muttered.

"They almost captured me in the process, but the worst part is that they took my precious ghost collection! And that includes all the ghosts Luigi worked so hard to catch for me before – from the illusory mansion and Evershade Valley!"

"So that's why I saw a Gold Ghost and a few Greenies in the hotel," Jade apprehended.

"Ne, Satsūki?"

"Yes, Ryuko?"

"What do you know about Devils?" Ryuko asked idly as she floated above Ridley, idly spinning her combined miniaturized scissor blades around her finger to just have something to do with her other hand.

"Devils? Ragyo had a few business dealings with some of them, but they bowed out of the conglomerate entirely when she died. Why do you ask?"

"Huh. You knew the whole time?" Ryuko mumbled, narrowing her eyes and almost glaring off into space at Satsūki's casual tone. "Why didn't you tell me that Devils and Angels exist? Feels like it'd be important to know that apparently Christianity is real."

"All pantheons are real, they just don't tend to deal with normal humans," Satsūki answered idly, sounding almost amused as she audibly sipped her tea. "I didn't tell you because I thought you'd never end up dealing with any."

"... Well, I met a few, and they asked me to join their school club so…" Ryuko shrugged, thinking about what had happened after the squad met the Occult Research Club. There'd been some explanations both ways- Ryuko had explained life fibers and her alien nature and the way that she'd stopped the end of the world, Drakus explained how the omniverse worked and what the OVDF was, Rias and her Peerage had explained a whole bunch of stuff about Devils and Angels and all that shit. And, apparently, they'd left out that other pantheons existed too. So… that sure was something. "I dunno. They seemed kinda scared of me, honestly?"

"Imouto. I do not say this lightly. You are, theoretically, one of the strongest beings ever. Including among the ranks of Devils, Angels, Fallen Angels, Gods, Heroes, and anything else in between. There's no confusion about why any one group would be afraid of a wildcard like you wandering around. That they extended a hand of friendship rather than tried to kill you is something to celebrate."

"..." Ryuko huffed, blinking a few times before reclining in midair with a little grin. "How do you always know what to say, nee-chan?"

"I'm guessing she's very, very used to giving speeches." Drakus said.

"Your...friend...is correct, as you seem so inclined to never let me live down." Satsūki added.

"Look, your speeches were chuuni as hell! How am I not supposed to make fun of 'em now that we've got time to laugh at our past? Hell, I made a bunch of chuuni speeches too while we were fighting!" Ryuko snickered, almost rolling over and sort of just hanging there with a little cackle. "C'mon, loosen up, will ya? Anyway. If you know about Devils already, can you answer a question I've been having ever since I met the ones here?"

"Of course, imouto. Though, my knowledge is limited, as I wasn't particularly privy to most of Ragyo's dealings with those business partners."

"Right…" Mystle said, as Ryuko paused for a moment, twirling her scissors around for a moment before shaking her head as Drakus yoinked the phone out of Ryuko's hand.

"Hey, Ryu's big sis, do Peerages look like polycules or is it usually more platonic? Cuz Rias kinda treats everyone in her polycule like they're her subs even though Akeno gave off real heavy Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS kinda vibes, y'know?"

"I'm going to pretend like I understand whatever media reference you just made. But… perhaps. The vast majority of Peerages seem to have at least one member romantically involved with the leader. Whether or not they take the form of polycules or harems seems to be entirely up to the leader of said Peerage. Has Ryuko joined one? Do I get to call her a Devil Fiber now?"

"... Uh… does Akira count as a demon anywhere other than the bedroom?" Ryuko shook her head as she grabbed her phone out of Drakus' hand, grimacing as she began drifting onto the floor. She'd been sitting still for too long anyway. She'd only been halfway paying attention earlier because she wanted to hit up a 24 hour konbini for a microwave dinner. Or sneak into a morgue for a blood bag. Whatever worked. "Whatever. Besides, if I gotta follow anyone's orders, I'd rather listen to you."

"Oh? I seem to recall that you have trouble doing anything I tell you to, imouto." Satsūki snorted, the rush of wind filling the line with static as she expressed her amusement. "Didn't you once tell me that you'd crush all of my lofty ambitions and motivations?"

"I'd like to point out that I did technically do that," Ryuko rolled her eyes and grinned, spinning around and floating on her back so she could stare up at the stars. "I beat the Elite Four, I beat Nui, I beat Ragyo, I beat you a couple times…"

"And yet here you are, saying you'd rather follow my orders over anyone else."

"Well yeah. You're my sister, Satsūki. Just cuz I don't wanna do the little stuff doesn't mean I'm not gonna follow you to the end of the earth," Ryuko grinned, hoping to convey her tone through the phone. "I trust you more than I trust anyone else… except Mako or Akira's harem. Sorry, you know how it is."

"Mankanshoku is oftentimes the wisest of us all. Regardless- is that all you wished to call about? It's getting late. You should be in bed soon."

"You know I don't really need to sleep anymore, nee-chan… but yeah. That's pretty much it. Just learned Devils are real, gonna keep an eye on the shit happening around here, see if I actually have to start getting involved with stuff. I mean… more than I already have," Ryuko shrugged and slowed her progress, looking around at the houses below and trying to see which one had Issei's bike parked in front of it. Oh- there. Huh. Seemed kinda quiet… Odd. "I'll call you again later. Oh, and I'm gonna need help, if that's okay? A hostage situation is going on, and apparently the hotel owner's a darwinistic piece of shit. And I feel like we should hang out, y'know? Mako gets antsy when I'm not around… honestly? I get a little antsy without her too."

"I'm sure she'll enjoy your presence. Have fun."

"Oi oi, you're coming too. You ain't workin' on weekends while I'm around, missy!"

"Ah- if you're sure…"

"Of course I am! Anyway. Go to bed. If you're complaining about me being up late then that means Jakuzure shoulda dragged you home by now."

"..."

"You locked her out of your office, didn't you?"

"I will not dignify that with a response."

"Go to bed, dammit!" Ryuko shouted, then ended the call and stuffed her phone into her pocket with a little huff. "Dammit nee-chan… and she gets on my ass about not having healthy habits. Tch, as if I need 'em anymore. I'm a fucking alien now, all I need is blood…"

"Oh, no," Snatchee groaned. "You gotta be jokin' me, Doc! You just gotta be!" She threw her arms up in the air. "This is plumb ridiculous! D'you have any idea how much of an idiot I look like right now?!"

"Not really," Mystle said in confusion.

"What's the matter?" Nio asked.

"I'll tell ya what's the matter! First a strange hotel comes blowin' right into town, right under my nose; then, the portrait ghosts bust outta E. Gadd's mits and start runnin' around the hotel, King Boo's apparently on our side now because our Luigi's being held hostage, the Evershade ghosts are actin' up, then, a bunch a' no-accounts mosey on in and start causing havoc in the lobby, apparently cyborgs are runnin' amok – and now I'm actually forced to consider the veracity of the fact that apparently, THE OWNER'S A COMPLETE DARWINIST!" she raged.

"Unfortunately, there's even terrible news." E. Gadd added.

"What could be worse than what Snatchee here told us already?" Otoya wondered.

E. Gadd fiddled with his glasses. "There's a different reason for Hellen capturing people, and it ain't pretty."

Jade's eyes widened. "What?! You can't be serious!"

"I'm afraid I am. Hellen is planning on opening the Millennium Gates, rumored to be in this exact spot, and free the Karkas Army, a golem able to disassemble itself into many parts, that seeks to cause chaos wherever it goes and destroys all it sees, feared in ancient times as a sort of warlord that can never die, and unfortunately, I've read how the tales of those that tried to control them turn out, and they're not pretty. The tales I've read about this particular being are my favorite legends, I must admit..."

Ombra just laughed at that, and his laugh made everyone feel uneasy. "Does she, now? I would not sound so sure of that were I you."

"What do you mean by that?!" Aria exclaimed.

"A Great Old One like myself, or Karkas, does not serve mortals so easily," Ombra warned. "If one can resurrect themselves through the darkness, what makes you think that those of us who were born in the darkness cannot do the same?"

"We really should have seen that coming," Mystle said with a roll of here eyes. "But it's not as if it will matter. If Hellen's trying to summon a golem, we can destroy it, even if it is a possible relative of Cthulhu."

"Then you're a fool," Ombra said with a scoff. "The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be. You think Hellen could control the Realm of Darkness? My kind dwells beyond those dark gates, deeper and darker than you could ever know. And soon the Realm of Light shall become ours to rule over in darkness."

"I really hope we can get some payback against her," Roman swung his cane around. "I can safely bet me and Zap can whip out a Spark Shot on her trashy hairdo."

"X-Squad, I hate to be that kind of guy again, but you're our only hope! Against all odds, without any hesitation, and at any cost... you have to get my ghost collection back!"

"And if we say 'no'?" Hibiki said, as E. Gadd frowned at her. "Okay! Okay! You don't have to give me that look. We'll get those creeps," Hibiki moaned, looking down at her shoes.

"I'm counting on you, lads. You may not be the best ghost hunter I know, considering the best ghost hunter I know is in a painting, but you're proving to be quite competent." he chortled. "Why don't you give me all the ghosts you captured so far? My convenient Ghost Container is right over there," he pointed to his left.

Furina nodded and pressed the nozzle to the container's slot, as Ombra simply sent a stream of essence into the slot. Furina pushed the handle forward to lock the ghosts, cyborgs and the Stray Devil into the tank.

"One other question." Lyre said. "What are those in the back corner?" She asked, pointing to two destroyed Poltergusts.

"Ah, those are the prototypes for the Poltergust 1000 and 2000. They were working well but they kept spontaneously combusting. No matter how many cooling systems I put in, they kept spontaneously combusting until they exploded. Luckily, the Poltergust 3000 and its variants haven't exploded-"

"Oh, that's good." Kanade said.

"…Yet."

"YET?!" the squad, Occult Research Club, and Raiden yelled.

"Grandpa!" Jade scolded.

"Hehehe, I kid! I don't think it'll explode. I guarantee that it won't!" E. Gadd chuckled. "So, are you all ready to go?"

"Not like we have other options..." Starscream muttered.

"Either way, whatever ghosts you catch, you can bring them to the lab. Along the way, I'm sure you'll find everyone. But you have to keep alert for the spirits while roaming this hotel, especially the Portrait Ghosts. They can be quite unpredictable. To help you out, I have yet another invention to show you."

E. Gadd grabbed something underneath his seat and pulled out a bulky, red device.

"I call it... the Virtual Boo! VB for short! Ain't it a beauty?"

"Um..." The squad didn't have a definite answer.

"This is a state-of-the-art virtual-reality device fitted with a fancy red screen! Really cutting-edge stuff! And red is all the rage, you know? Just wait until I finish the marketing materials on this! It'll fly off the shelves! Heh heh heh!"

"So this is what Virtual Reality has come to, huh? Hmm, I can't help but think I've seen this before," Satsuki put a hand on her chin.

Despite his reluctance, Raiden took the gadget. "So what does it do again?"

"The VB can allow you to communicate with me at any time. You can apply the goggles to your eyes to see me, or I can tap into the VB's microphone and give you quick updates. At least it'll be a way to give your eyes a break if they feel disoriented. We can test out the communications system later. But I have one more thing to give you."

The professor held out his fingers before taking out another red device. This one was smaller and cylindrical-shaped.

"The first thing you need to do is install this tracker inside the elevator for me. I'll tell you what it is later. Just get it installed once you return there!" he handed it to the princess.

"Sweet!" Drakus grinned. "I think we're ready to get going, everyone!"

E. Gadd chuckled and then looked at Jade and Snatchee. "Jade, Snatchee, how about you go with them?"

"You sure? We could keep you company."

"That's sweet of you, dear… but I'm alright to be on my own."

"Oh, I suppose. Just don't do anything stupid, alright?"

"When have I ever done anything I'd regret?" E. Gadd chuckled as the two hugged.

"And fer one, Jade, it's high time somebody took care a' Hellen, and it seems like we're the ones to do it. And seein' how I still don't particularly trust any a' these fellers, I'm gonna need to keep an eye on 'em. I ain't lettin' that X-Squad outta my sight so long as we're in the hotel," Snatchee said sternly. "And anyway, if they really are gonna do this – well then, we might as well help 'em out."

Soon, the X-Squad, along with Jade, Xegard and Snatchee, were all ready to officially begin their adventure in the haunted hotel. Once they entered the elevator, Snatchee brought out the cylindrical device E. Gadd gave her. Then, it automatically turned on, expelling some steam as it startled Snatchee. She fumbled around before getting a hold of it. "Okay, let me just unscrew this here, do this, and... Voila!"

The three watched the elevator tracker materialize next to the button panel. A large, red screen and a smaller one popped out of the device, indicating the elevator's location and a map of the corresponding floor. Colombo barked happily at the exposed invention. Then, E. Gadd appeared on the little monitor.

"Ah! Great work! It seems like the installation was a success!"

"It looks interesting, but what does it do?" Kanade asked.

"I'm glad you asked! The tracker can extract map data about the hotel floors from within the elevator! It takes all that data and displays it on the monitor! Isn't that great?"

"I guess it's a way to let us know what to expect when we visit the other levels." Lyre said.

"Exactly! It currently has the map of the Basement since B1 is accessible. Now then, why don't you take the buttons you collected from the Steward and insert them into the panel?"

"Oh, those." Roman took out the '11' button. He was about to place it in himself, but the button magically flew into its respective slot and locked in place. He grinned and brought out the '5' button. After the same thing occurred, the tracker displayed a map of the Twisted Suites and the RIP Suites.

"Alrighty then! Now the panel has three buttons! Although we did explore part of the Mezzanine, the elevator can't stop on 2F until we get that button. We also can't access the third and fourth floors, either. You would think Hellen and her staff would build a staircase. But of course, things aren't always that easy."

"Not only that, I wouldn't be a fan of climbing several flights of stairs. I'd be pooped after walking up three floors minimum!"

"Nevertheless, I'm sure you'll find those buttons in no time!" E. Gadd smirked.

"Should we just head on up now?" Kanade was about to press the '11' button.

"Hold on! Before you move on, I want to let you know that the tracker is linked to the Virtual Boo! The data is automatically sent to the VB, so you can view the map anywhere, anytime! It can give you a detailed layout of the floor, so don't go forgetting about it!"

"That sounds convenient."

"Indeed! The map is super helpful for inspecting new floors. While you three are exploring the hotel, you should hunt down the elevator buttons as they will let you reach new floors, ripe for exploration! Oh, and you might find your friends, too! Heh heh heh! Also, one last thing. We need to test the VB's communication system. You can put the goggles on and activate the E. Gadd Hotline by pressing the button on the side."

"E. Gadd Hotline? You know, grandpa, sometimes I question the naming scheme for your inventions." Jade groaned

"Ah, don't worry about it, Jade. Just do it for me."

"Okay, then." Drakus grabbed the VB and placed the headset over his eyes. He pressed the button, and he saw a low-resolution image of E. Gadd on the red monochrome display.

"How does it look?" Raiden asked.

"It's shit, honestly. I've seen a flip phone do a better job at projecting virtual reality."

"Testing... Testing... One, two, three... This is E. Gadd, resident genius! Am I coming through loud and clear, Drakus?"

"In a way, yes. I'm going to have to get used to this red though."

A magic wand stopped on the thirteenth tick mark of the elevator dial. When the doors opened, Biscuit, Snoozy, Chomp, Lucifer, Elle, Tank, Spiny, Ace, Terry, Paris, and Xegard were the first to get a view of the lobby in front of them. The room was adorned in fancy, red décor with hanging drapes, chairs, chests, and other furniture. There were the other embellishments placed around the room. To their right was a standing stack of playing cards arranged into a pyramid. A standard, green and red die acted as a centerpiece on a wooden table. Tons of posters and picture frames were hung on the walls, too. However, the ghost animals were entranced by the floating objects near the middle of the room.

"Arf?" Biscuit barked in confusion.

"What is it, pal?" Chomp wondered before his jaw was left wide open. The squad were stunned by the trio of top hats circling in midair. After a few more movements, the entities revealed themselves from underneath the headdresses. Three individual female ghosts appeared in an introductory fashion.

"Ta-da!" the ghost to the heroes' left appeared first. She was a blonde-haired girl with two short ponytails, a purple top hat, and a matching tuxedo, the sleeves too long for her arms. The young magician also sported a light red cape from behind and a dark red tie. "My name's Ginny! The youngest and legally the most agile!"

"Presto!" the one to their right showed up next. She also had blonde hair with a pair of ponytails, but they were longer than Ginny's. While she wore a similar outfit, her top hat, jacket, cape, and bowtie all looked patched up. "The name is Lindsey! The most stylish of them all!"

"Shazam!" the ghoul in the middle materialized last. Her blonde hair was wrapped in a single ponytail while looking the most formal. "And I'm Nikki! The oldest sibling and arguably the best!"

From a distance, Lindsey quietly scoffed at her comment. Ginny giggled to herself.

"Did we just run into a circus or some knockoff talent show?" Mystle raised an eyebrow while everyone peered from within the elevator.

Nikki turned around and spotted the squad. Cackling to herself, she floated over to the doors and screamed out loud, but no one was fazed.

All three magicians couldn't help but chuckle at Drakus' confused look, then, Drakus screamed, and sent the trio flying into the wall.

It was so loud, every mortal in the universe could hear it, everyone in the omniverse had heard it, an Eiffel tower toppled over and somehow turned into a fork, Russian vodka suddenly became the greatest drink of all time, a Canadian killed a man, Chuck Norris had a stroke, the primitive people of many planets had begun worshipping this sound as the "Great Sound God", as they sacrificed their delicious foods to the gods.

"It's definitely the hangover kicking in." Mini concluded.

"See, Raiden? Magic exists." Eruka said.

"Shut the hell up Eruka, we don't want Inkerton, Ombra or Raiden to know about the unspeakable things Delirious does to the Tooth Fairy," Wildcat remarked.

"Uh—hi, Nikki, Lindsey and Ginny," Drakus said. "My name's Drakus, and this is my gang, the X-Squad."

"Hello, young lady," Ridley said with a wave.

"Do you like magic?" Nikki asked, shaking off the dust.

"Well—yeah," Drakus replied.

"Awesome!" the triplets cheered.

"Everybody likes magic," cooed Lindsey. She fanned out a deck of cards and held it out to the squad. "Pick a card. Any card."

Drakus picked the first card he saw, and everyone did the same. Then, Lindsey shuffled the cards before holding them back out.

"Do you see your cards anywhere?" she asked.

"I—no!" Drakus gasped as he looked at the deck. "They're gone!"

"Are they?" Lindsey asked, as she reached under Roman's hat and pulled out the cards.

"Oh fuck! How did you do that?!" Roman asked.

"Lots of practice," replied Lindsey. "Hey, do you know what people also like? Flowers." She pulled a flower bouquet out of her sleeve and handed it to Luigi. "Here, those are for you."

"Thanks," Luigi said, tucking the bouquet into his pocket.

"And do you know what else people like?" Ginny chimed in. "Elevator buttons."

As she spoke, the next elevator button appeared in her palm.

"But this little guy has the aggravating habit of—vanishing." Ginny closed her fist and then opened it, the elevator button nowhere to be seen. "Vanishing—into thin air."

"Only to show up someplace else," Nikki sang out, seeing the elevator button appear on Ryuko's head. "Can you keep up?"

Ombra scoffed but kept his thoughts to himself. It wasn't as if he was jealous of the effortless charm that the triplets exuded. Ombra didn't need charm; he was more powerful than almost anyone in the room. All the same, his ego would have liked a bit more stroking.

"How about you three help us knock Hellen down a peg? Heard that she's trying to bring back Karkas, it'd be perfect practice for all of ya." Drakus said.

"And keeping that insufferable Karkas locked away is a task fit for an Old One," Ombra declared. "I would be delighted to display my incredible powers of darkness for you to see."

Soon after getting the 1st floor button, free of charge even, the X-Squad went down to floor 5.

Along the ride, Luigi and Jade helped the squad learn the basic controls of the Poltergusts. By the time they finished learning, the elevator reached the fifth level. Luigi hesitated to exit through the doors. Lyre gave him a quizzical glance.

"Come on, Luigi. You can't be that scared, right?"

He sighed heavily. "I'm sorry. I still can't believe that all of this happened."

"Don't worry. I'm sure we'll get everyone out of here soon. Besides, what's the worst that can happen?"

Luigi didn't answer. His conversation with E. Gadd was stuck in his mind. To reiterate, as much as he trusted both him and Daisy, the last thing Luigi wanted was for the princess to suffer from something fatal. Being trapped in a painting was practically a death sentence to him, especially since Mario's been a victim thrice.

Then, he heard a familiar ringtone coming from the VB. He put the goggles back on to see E. Gadd.

"Ah, Luigi. I just remembered something important I neglected to mention. Remember how you used the plunger to grab your opponents in the Smash tournaments?"

"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot about that, too."

"Right! The Suction Shot is still a feature on the Poltergust Z-00! You can fire the rubber plunger to let it stick onto any smooth or flat surface, then suck on the rope and pull off a powerful slam to break any objects that stand in your way! Sadly, it's not featured on Jade's Poltergust. So if you happen to come across anything heavy, I would just ignore it for now."

"Okay. Sounds good."

"I'll talk to you later. And don't forget my briefcase!" E. Gadd closed the call.

"So, this was the floor you and the others stayed on, correct?" Ombra asked.

"Yeah. From what I remember, Hellen made the doors disappear. Not only that, this couch is in the way!" Drakus said.

"I guess that won't matter for now. E. Gadd's suite must be down this hallway."

"Makes sense to me. Let me get rid of these suitcases though. Watch out, everyone. I don't want to accidentally hit you."

Everyone stood back as they watched Furina slam the blockades, and collected some of the money that came out. After passing a sitting area, they approached the end of the corridor where they saw a cleaning cart and the entrance to Room 504.

"I know the other Toads were given room keys to this part of the floor. And-" Luigi paused when he saw the cart slowly move on its own. It then zipped down the corner. "WAH!"

"Alright... That was freaky," Nikki admitted, then they heard some ghosts laughing.

"I hope the rooms are all unlocked, because I don't have their keys."

"Only one way to find out."

Biscuit hopped through the door first before the squad entered the suite. Raiden noticed a pair of blue headphones and some luggage lying around, so he assumed this was Bradford's room. They decided to leave and check the remaining rooms. Rooms 505 and 506 belonged to the other Toads as Raiden found their baggage, too. When they returned to the hallway, Raiden heard something from within a hole in the wall, and everyone huddled together to peek inside, and saw a Goob and a Greenie brushing their teeth in the bathroom. Then, the blue ghost scrubbed the brush on his behind, forming bubbles around his waist. The Greenie laughed as the Goob shook it off.

[DAAAAAAAMN!]

[sus]

[certified freaks, seven days a week]

Mine flushed in embarrassment. "I definitely didn't need to see that."

"Arf! Arf!" Biscuit sensed something from inside Room 508.

"Let's check it out!"

Neo went inside the room first with Raiden following behind. Mystle passed through the wall, staying quiet so that the squad wouldn't be noticed. They spotted two ghosts – a female maid and a male butler.

"I must say, what is the point of dusting off the furniture if the people who reside here are already captured?" Shivers the Butler questioned, holding an unlit candelabrum.

"It doesn't matter if they're all stuck in paintings. I enjoy spring cleaning!" the maid, named Chambrea, responded while dusting the desk.

"Hmm, so you're one of those people."

"So what if I'm a neat freak? It's my passion to keep things tidy and organized. And besides, we can find some good stuff from the guests."

"Seriously? You're snooping around and thinking about taking other people's possessions?"

"Ooh! Look at this!" Chambrea picked up a red briefcase with E. Gadd's logo on it. "I wonder what's inside! How do I even open this?"

Jade growled. "That's Grandpa's briefcase!"

"Better grab it!" Drakus slammed the door. Luigi cringed from the slam. Not only that, Chambrea and Shivers jumped. When they turned around, the butler shrieked.

"Eek! It's Bloody Jade! What are you doing here?!"

"I think that question applies to you!" Jade shot back. "You should be back in your painting where you belong!"

"Absolutely not! I have freedom yet again! I'm taking this opportunity to become someone else's retainer to provide adequate service! That, and I want to find Melody. Oh, how I pine for that piano master!"

"Wait, I thought you were attracted to me!" Chambrea huffed.

"Uh, it's kind of a one-sided relationship. She doesn't like me back. And to be fair, I was roaming the hallways until I ran into you."

"Excuse me, can you please push away your love triangle for a second? We need that briefcase!" Starscream demanded.

"THAT BRIEFCASE IS RIGHTFULLY PROPERTY OF PROFESSOR ELVIN GADD!" Lugnut yelled.

"Huh? No way! I found it, so it's mine now!" the maid hugged the bag.

"That's not how it works!"

Chambrea saw the Decepticon running towards her, so she went to desperate measures. The ghost swallowed it whole and let the case sit in her stomach. The X-Squad was a bit disgusted.

"Kind of gross, but I don't care. Give it here!" Starscream jumped at her.

"Come on, Shivers! Let's get out of here!" she grabbed his wrist and pulled him away from the princess.

"Wait a minute, Chambrea! I never agreed to escape with you!"

"Too late!" Chambrea zipped past Starscream with Shivers in tow. She stopped in front of Furina and tickled his nose with her feather duster. The archon promptly sneezed immediately before falling back. Chambrea went over to the side wall and struggled to fly through with the briefcase in her body. Eventually, she and Shivers disappeared.

"Ugh! I was so close to getting her!" Starscream stomped his foot.

"Starscream, you can't be gung-ho when interacting with ghosts," Icy Blitzwing chided as he stood up. "You need to be a bit more... I don't know, subtle."

"Subtle?"

"For lack of a better term."

"So, what are you suggesting?"

"Try a calmer approach. We're not trying to be assholes to these ghosts. Sure, they freak me out a lot, but I don't mean to be harmful towards them." Jade said.

"Right... And this is coming from the girl who goes ahead and slams ghosts onto the floor just recently."

Jade sighed heavily. "Can you at least try? For me?"

"Alright, I'll do it for you. Now, where do you think they went?"

Chomp had a good guess as Biscuit got their attention. He simply walked to the same wall they went through and vanished through it. "Maybe they're next door neighbors now?"

"Guess it is! Let's follow him!"

Before they could, the squad got ambushed by a trio of ghouls. A Gold Ghost, a Greenie, and a Goob were wearing maid outfits and floated around E. Gadd's suite.

"Everyone! Get ready!"

"Okay!" Starscream charged his blasters. As the ghosts got closer to them, he waited for the right moment until all three revealed their faces. Releasing the bright light, he stunned all of them. Even better, every ghost got caught in the nozzle as Furina used the Poltergust. Her shoes dragged across the carpet, but she maintained her focus. Furina even learned how to slam the ghosts with the Z-00. In a matter of seconds, she caught the combo inside the vacuum.

"Now that's how you handle the ghosts! Great job!" Jade congratulated.

"Thank you! I'd say your advice worked out well!"

"You'll be a pro soon enough."

"What? You're saying we're not good right now?" Furina teased.

Jade blinked. "Huh? That's not what I meant."

"I was just playing with you! Come on, let's head over."

He sighed in relief, letting out a chuckle. They headed over to Room 507 where they found an unfinished suite filled with white tarps, construction equipment, a work desk, and rolls of wallpaper. Chambrea was so distracted from dusting that she didn't see the squad. Shivers, on the other hand, was staring out the window. Jade placed a finger over her mouth as he tiptoed towards the maid. Soon, she realized the ghost hunter creeping near her. Jade tried to stun her with the Strobulb and got the briefcase wedged in the hose. But Chambrea wasn't losing health, and she tickled the ghost hunter's nose again.

"Achoo! Darn it!"

Meanwhile, Furina rushed over to Shivers before Chambrea could grab him. She flashed the butler with the light and sucked on the tail. Furina caught him for a few seconds as she drained his health. She wasn't able to get him in one go as Shivers escaped to the next room. Chambrea followed him from behind.

"Nice try, but that was quite an embarrassment for you!" she mocked Jade.

"You okay?" Furina pulled her up.

"Yeah. Thanks."

Just then, E. Gadd contacted her through the VB's microphone. "Jade, can you hear me again?"

"Yeah, Grandpa. Loud and clear."

"Sorry, I was busy rummaging through my lab for something. I was going to check up on your progress. Did you get my briefcase yet?"

"No, we didn't. We ran into Shivers the Butler and a maid who ended up... er, eating it, so to speak..." Jade said.

"What?! That's not what I wanted to hear. Although I must say, it's interesting how you already found a ghost from the first mansion."

"Yeah, but we got an issue," Raiden interjected. "When Jade tried flashing Chambrea, she was hardly fazed. The Poltergust just got stuck on the briefcase."

"Hmm... That does sound like a predicament. If I recall, my briefcase has a smooth circle on it. You should try using the Suction Shot to grab and slam her!"

"Why didn't I think of that?" Jade said, feeling dumb.

"No worries, Jade. I'm positive you'll succeed! Over and out."

"At least I know what to do now. Besides that, you did well against Shivers for a bit."

"Really? Thanks! I can sense he could be done after another good suck!"

"Yeah... Um, let's hope no one takes that out of context."

"What do you mean by- Oh... I see," her cheeks went red.

Pushing that aside, they saw Biscuit, Ace, Paris, Tank, Spiny, Chomp and Terry walk out of the incomplete bathroom, as they rejoined the squad as they tried searching through Thad's suite. Surprisingly, they had no luck even though Luigi detected their silhouettes with the Dark-Light Device. Then, they heard something in the bathroom.

"This is where I saw those ghosts brushing their teeth," Luigi mentioned.

"You think we should catch them?"

"If they're still here."

They all went inside, but there was no sign of the spirits. However, Jade jumped when he heard the shower turn on. They saw steam forming within the curtain.

"Uh, Jade? I really hope you're not taking a bubble bath right now," Neo whispered.

"Well, there are two problems with your theory. One, I'm fully clothed. And two, how can that be me when I'm standing right here?!" she hissed.

"Bark! Bark!"

"Huh?! What was that?" they heard a woman inside.

"Uh... Housekeeping!" Snatcher responded.

"How rude! You dare barge in here while I'm showering?! You clearly don't know what the word 'privacy' means! You're lucky that I'm wearing my bathing suit!"

"As if we wanted to see you naked..." Raiden shuddered.

Biscuit was getting restless that he grabbed the edge of the shower curtain and yanked it off the hooks. From there, they saw Miss Petunia, an overweight, pig-like ghost lathering in soapy hot water.

"AAAHHHH! You stupid dog!" Petunia shrieked. "And you! Why are you peeping on me again?!" she glared at Jade.

"I wasn't peeping!" Jade sputtered.

"You disgusting child! I oughta pounce on you with my stunning beauty for creeping on me in the shower twice!"

"Stunning beauty? No offense, madam, but have you checked yourself in the mirror? Or do you have trouble seeing your reflection?" Random Blitzwing asked.

"Be quiet! I'm going to- EEK!" Furina activated the Strobulb and sucked on her tail. Jade also got close and helped the archon reduce Petunia's health. Biscuit barked twice at them to perform a collaborative slam. They followed through by whacking the obese woman twice until she got trapped in the Poltergust Z-00.

"Whew! That was quite a team effort there!" Starscream felt proud.

"Yeah. I wasn't thrilled to see her again. Thanks for the assistance," Jade appreciated.

"No problem! So if those two aren't in here, maybe they went into 505 or 504?"

"Might as well check."

When they got to Chet's room, the door was open. There were voices inside.

Not just Issei grunting in pain, as well as Shivers and Chambrea, but someone gloating and monologuing. Not just some asshole, but also a girl screaming in fear and distress.

The squad dashed forward, shoes or feet thumping loudly against the wooden floor, the underside of Ryuko's hair lighting up in glowing red in response to the anger she felt. She could smell the fear in the air, the blood, the hate, the anger, the desperation, the lust. It painted a picture she didn't like in the slightest.

Without even bothering to stop, the squad burst into the living room of the darkened house and dashed past Issei with a loud battlecry- Ryuko's scissor blade expanding in her free hand as she rushed towards the cross wearing bastard pinning a girl (not just any girl, Asia. That poor lost nun from earlier today- had he been why she'd gotten a weird feeling from that old church?) to the wall with his hand on her naked breast.

She saw red.

Red from her anger.

Red from her blade swinging in a glowing arc as it expanded into its full Decapitation Mode faster than the eye could track.

Red from the brilliant line of death shrieking from the edge of her blade, swinging forward with such force that it blew through the entire house and spiraled off into the air and disappeared.

"Aah! That hurt! I won't give up this beautiful suitcase that easily!" Chambrea flew away yet again.

"Might as well check."

When they got to Chet's room, The door was open. There were voices inside.

Not just Chambrea and Shivers in there, but Issei grunting in pain, someone gloating and monologuing, and also a girl screaming in fear and distress. A familiar voice.

The squad dashed forward unconsciously, their feet thumping loudly against the wooden floor as Ryuko pushed her power again, the underside of her hair lighting up in glowing red in response to the anger she felt. She could smell the fear in the air, the blood, the hate, the anger, the desperation, the lust. It painted a picture she didn't like in the slightest.

Without even bothering to stop, the squad burst into the room and dashed past Issei with a loud battlecry- Ryuko's scissor blade expanding in her free hand as she rushed towards the cross wearing bastard pinning a girl (not just any girl, Asia. That poor lost nun from earlier today- had he been why she'd gotten a weird feeling from that old church?) to the wall with his hand on her naked breast.

She saw red.

Red from the anger.

Red from her blade swinging in a glowing arc as it expanded into its full Decapitation Mode faster than the eye could track.

Red from the brilliant line of death surging from the edge of her blade, swinging forward with such force that it blew through the entire house and spiraled off into the air and disappeared.

Red from the blood that poured from the two halves of the would-be rapist as her flying slash split him from crown to crotch in a mere instant. He only had enough time to look vaguely surprised before he fell apart, viscera and gore splattering about in a backwards shotgun blast that coated the floor of the living room while his disgusting outsides tumbled down and separated into two… and then about a trillion atoms due to the X-Squad dumping every bullet or dust they had into him, because they wanted him dead. Dead beyond a shadow of a doubt. Dead beyond even Ragyo's ability to survive.

If that rat bastard was somehow capable of coming back from being turned into cubed spam on the ground, then they'd do it again and again until it stuck.

Ryuko sighed, winding down as the threat vanished and her body vented heat from her joints, the red in her hair fading as she planted her pristine and untouched blade in the floorboards and relaxed. "That was close… you okay, Asia? Sorry about… that. It was… kind of an instinct. Hate bastards like that… had to beat more than a few while I was… nevermind, not the time."

During the squad shooting and slashing the priest creep into atoms, Shivers was sent flying into Furina's cross hairs and getting sucked into the Poltergust Z-00. His last words were, "NO! Not again! This is worse than lighting myself on fire!"

The archon successfully captured the butler, as she laughed.

"Nice work! You captured your first Portrait Ghost all by yourself!" Jade said.

"Thanks! It was quite hectic but exhilarating, too! That just leaves Chambrea, and I have an inkling we'll get that suitcase out of her body soon."

"You are a relentless bunch, aren't you?" Chambrea said, already tired due to Ridley slamming her into the priest.

"I guess you could say that," Ridley shrugged, slightly grinning. "Come on! Get that ass!"

Chambrea swayed to her right to avoid the first Suction Shot, but she wasn't unable to dodge the second. Furina heaved the plunger from the briefcase and whammed her body all over the mini-golf set. The maid tried to break free, but it was no use. The luggage escaped her stomach before being trapped inside the Z-00.

"Whoo-hoo! You did it!"

"Ruff!" Biscuit licked his owner's face.

"Heh heh! Thanks! Now we have a briefcase!" Furina stopped when he heard something rattle in the vacuum. He shook the nozzle before an elevator button fell out. It was marked with a '3'.

"Sweet! A new elevator button!" Neo exclaimed.

"Hey, I heard the great news!" E. Gadd called from the VB. "You were remarkable at catching those ghosts! Now that you have my briefcase and another button, why don't you come back down to the lab? I'll present a special surprise to you!"

"You got it, E. Gadd!" Furina replied, carrying the red bag.

"I know this is only the start of traversing this hotel, but I feel confident to handle the other floors now!"

"Glad to hear you're excited. I just hope I can handle seeing more ghosts as we move on."

The squad paused, turning to Issei and finally taking in his state for the first time since they'd entered the now room. The poor guy… even if he'd wanted a Devil contract for something evil, it didn't mean he deserved getting murder by a creepy priest. "Shit, Issei- you okay?" Akira said.

"Akira!? How- why- what!? Argh-!" Issei stopped, clutching his leg as he tried to get up and only succeeded in falling down to the ground. "Dammit! My leg… and my back. That bastard tried to kill me… a-and then tried to… I tried to stop him, I promise, but I'm too weak, dammit!"

"Easy, easy. C'mon man you're going offline here," Starscream winced, kneeling down by Issei and grimacing as Ryuko sent a few fibers to staunch the bleeding in his leg and back. "Scrap… this ain't good. Asia, are you hurt? Scrap- you need clothes too, after all of that."

"I-I'm… f-fine… S-Starscream-san… y-you…" Asia trembled, slumping down against the wall and curling up in a fetal ball as she stared at what used to be her superior for the time being. "You killed him… y-you just… t-tore him to pieces like it was nothing… h-how…?"

"I-" Ryuko stopped, shaking her head as she ejected more fibers from her hands to bandage Issei's wounds. "... I'm not gonna say it's a good thing, but the guy was about to rape you, Asia. I wasn't about to let that happen. And I won't apologize for stopping a guy who's at least a murderer and a rapist. I coulda knocked him out, maybe, but I wasn't gonna take that chance."

She shook her head again, then stood up with Issei's good arm slung over her shoulder. "C'mon, let's get outta here. Issei still needs medical treatment and my fibers ain't great for that."

She held out her hand gently, giving Asia the softest, most reassuring smile she could at that moment. "Trust me?"

After a moment of hesitation…

Asia's hand landed in hers.

"... O-okay. I-I… I trust you."