"Kaolinite," Professor Tomoe began. "You've wasted many of my daimons, and you haven't managed to capture a pure heart of any significance. How many more times do you plan to fail me?"

"Professor, I'm afraid you'll have to be patient. But I have many plans for the people of this world."

"I do hope so."

Kaolinite walked away, but she was silently fuming. She had so many targets she wanted to check, but there was always someone else in the way. There had to be a way to get her targets alone so she could steal their hearts. She needed more power. More monsters. More something!

And then, her phone rang.

Expecting it to be another tirade from the professor, she hesitantly picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hello," a chilly, crisp, American accent spoke on the other end. "Might I be speaking to the lady Kaolinite?"

"Who is this?" Kaolinite demanded.

"Relax, I'm on your side," the man assured her. "Actually, I'm quite interested in your, shall we say, method of energy conversion? Souls are pretty powerful."

"I'm listening," Kaolinite said, somewhat impatiently.

"What if I told you I had a league of my own? A league formed from the unrightfully jilted members of their societies interested in getting revenge? I bet we could provide you some information that would make hunting and cornering targets easier."

It was almost too coincidental having someone who knew the wannabe heroes' strengths and weaknesses, someone who could tell her how to finally achieve what she wanted.

"What's in it for you?" she asked.

"Other than revenge? We'd like a piece of your new world. We know a little of your plans. We want in."

"Oh?" she said, somewhat surprised. "Of course, I'll need to check in with—,"

"Yes, check in with your professor. We encourage you to do so. But as an olive branch, we've developed a monster to aid your daimon today using some DNA of creatures in my region. One of my loyalists will deliver the sapling to your front door. It operates just as one of your monsters—it provides more of a psychic attack and keeps others out of the way."

"Th-thank you. This is incredibly generous if all you're saying is true."

The voice on the other end chuckled. "Consider it a start to a beautiful friendship."

…

An ominous wind ripped and tore at his face. His mask had been split open—the left half hung uselessly down off his chin. All around the shattered pavements and building were bodies—some being people he knew. For instance, he could see some of the shrine members: broken, beaten, possibly worse on the broken pieces of building and what used to be roads. His body felt weak—weaker than ever before.

He tried to pull himself up, but he couldn't. Dust swirled in the echoing breeze that whooshed and nipped at his body.

"C'mon, get up," he urged himself.

But it wasn't any use. He couldn't even move his right arm—probably broken. The ground trembled and groaned as something pushed its way through the ground. Miles tried to block the dirt from his face, to peer up long enough to see a giant shadow in the sky. The wormholes it created looked all too familiar…just like…

…

"Miles!"

He felt a warm hand on his shoulder. "Luz?"

He could see her nod in the dark. Everyone else must've been asleep. "You okay? Kind of sounded like you were having a nightmare."

"I was," Miles admitted. "I'm so stressed I'm tired, but I'm too stressed to sleep."

"I've been there before."

Miles stood up and shook his head. "Well, I'm probably not going back to sleep anytime soon. I think I'll take a walk."

"With all the monsters out there?"

"I'm not scared of them, Luz. I mean, they've been pretty easy to beat so far."

"Don't jinx it."

Miles laughed. "We're already pretty jinxed. I don't see how one walk could hurt. 'Sides, if I need help, I'll call you, okay?"

Miles stepped out of the temple and shuffled down the steep, stone steps. That's when his senses perked up. Something was out there; but it didn't seem…normal. He glanced around, looking to the trees first. Nothing there.

"Hello?" he called out. No way anyone would answer back, especially no one friendly.

"Do you work at this temple?"

A giant. This dude was a giant. He had to be! He stood way taller than Miles did. Probably 6' 5" at least! He had blond hair that ran down to his shoulders, wore a strange yellow coat and pants, and a myriad of belts. He was pale, like a vampire.

"N-nah," Miles answered. "I'm just a guest here. Why? Something you need? I can try to give you an answer."

"I'm glad someone from another world has some manners," the man said, flipping his wrist. "I thought someone I knew might be staying here…but, it could be in both our best interests if I remain out of his life."

This man…his eyes…they looked a lot like…

"You know," Miles found himself saying. "Giorno never said anything about his family or friends. Are you related to him?"

The man nodded. "Yes."

"So, are you two not on good terms or something?"

"There are no terms," the man said. "He never knew me. And I only found out about him recently. Too recently."

He shook his head. "I'll keep an eye out for him. But, for now, I think it's best to leave his life undisturbed. Perhaps when the time is right, I'll come by again."

The man started to walk away. He didn't look much older than Giorno, but Miles had a gut instinct about who he was. Maybe it was a longing to see his own dad?

"Hey!" He called out. The man turned, raising an eyebrow. "You know, I'd give anything to find my dad right now. I can't tell you what's going on inside Giorno's head, but, I don't know, don't give up?"

The man paused. "You've probably had your father your entire life. If I had known I had an offspring…well…I always used to swear I would do better by them than the filth I grew up with. It seems I failed, unintentionally. They forced me to watch how he was raised. I suppose it was to infuriate me, to show me what was taken from me. And I suppose it worked. I am standing here, deliberating."

Miles rubbed his arm and shook his head. "That sounds rough…who are 'they?'"

"Nothing I cannot destroy. If they choose to attack my son, I will rip out their throats."

Extreme.

"He's alright here," Miles said. "We're friends. I wouldn't let him get hurt."

Or at least, that's what he assumed. They talked more to each other. Giorno didn't really talk to anyone else at the shrine, anyways. Maybe Luz, Josuke, and Hunter on a good day. Sometimes Katara would talk to him, but he didn't seem to trust her, yet. Maybe he never would, given Sokka and Zuko didn't seem to trust him at all.

"Hmm. That is wise. From what I've heard, he's a formidable ally."

"All I really care about is that we have good conversations and keep each other's secrets," Miles admitted.

He didn't know why he said that. Was he being emotional? Something about talking to a father-figure was sending him over the edge right now. He really missed his dad.

"Ah. A fair exchange," he said. "How did you find out his?"

"He told me to level the playing field. He already knew mine."

"And that is?"

"I can't tell anyone. I can't mess it up. It's life and death."

"Maybe I can help…since you are protecting my progeny."

This guy spoke like he was from a way different time.

"I need to save my dad," Miles said. "And there are people who are trying to stop me."

"Why ever would they do that?" the man asked.

"Because…" he shouldn't be spilling his guts to this guy. But he looked so…sympathetic? There was a sort of weirdly, comforting energy about this guy. "It would mess up the timeline."

The man scoffed. "Is that all? That's trivial and an easy hurdle to overcome."

"Maybe in your universe," Miles mumbled.

The man grinned, almost like a demon. He shook his head. "Not just in my universe, Mr.—?"

"Morales. Miles Morales."

"Morales, eh?" the man glanced around. "I'll make you a deal. You keep protecting my son, and I will help you with your mission. Perhaps, you'll find, an even better world than when you left it when you get home."

"No offense, but how?"

"You're young. You've yet to explore all known possibilities of the multiverse. I have. I have a solution. A plan. I need my son for it to work. Keep him healthy and safe, and the three of us will gain everything we desire. I, DIO, swear it."

This guy was cryptic, for sure. And his wording was too vague. But if he could deliver what he was saying he could, it could be a solution. Still, it was good to have multiple solutions.

"I'll keep Giorno safe, but that's because we're friends. I need time to think about what you're saying."

The man tilted his head and grinned. "Of course. Take all the time you need. In the meantime, I'll be watching from afar. I suppose one day, I will meet my son. Today is not that day. I expect you'll keep our discussion a secret."

It wasn't a question, but Miles found himself nodding anyways.

"Good. Take care, Mr. Morales."

The man sauntered off to some unknown location, leaving Miles questioning if he'd ever been standing in front of him in the first place. And when he left, it was kind of like a trance was broken. Maybe that guy was a vampire. Miles shook his head; he was already dealing with one vampire-like asshole. Two was too much.

…

Walking through a park at night didn't seem like a good idea, but Miles needed to get a breath of fresh air. His head felt all foggy from the dream and the visit from the mysterious man. Giorno never mentioned anything about his homelife. He never talked about himself too much to anyone. He more so just listened. It was nice, but Miles couldn't say he knew too much about Giorno. And what about Kakyoin's warning? He, Zuko, and Sokka didn't trust Giorno. Was it really wise for Miles to trust him—look where blind trust had got him so far!

To figure things out, he'd need all the variables. And right now, he didn't have that. Maybe trying to get to know Giorno better would be good. Could be that man was lying and Giorno's life was perfectly normal—given how he acted—probably not. But he still needed to be sure. Also, he didn't know too much about Zuko or Sokka either. Getting to know them might benefit him. Their judgement might be severely flawed, given what type of people they might be.

The air whipped around, almost tearing at his jacket. It was weirdly cold tonight for an almost-summer night. Not even his own footsteps kept him company. It was one of those nights that reminded him that he was, in fact, alone. The park was devoid of people, so empty park benches. Miles sat down and shut his eyes. He was, after all, very tired. Still, sleeping in an empty park didn't seem ideal. He just needed to shut his eyes for a minute.

"Did you hear that?" a harsh voice whispered.

Miles cracked an eye open. The voice had come from an empty stall covered in cute banners and images of Pokémon he didn't recognize. Something about malasadas. He shut his eyes—he might overhear something.

"It's a guy. Kind of looks our age," another responded. "He fell asleep. We should probably wake him up and head home. There's too many monsters out here to leave him to chance."

"I'm not leaving," the first insisted. "Not until we find that lead."

"I know the gravity of the situation, but wearing ourselves thin isn't going to save anyone," a girl spoke up. "Besides, Seto, you like you're gonna pass out at any given moment."

"I'm fine, Maheswaran," the first voice huffed. "And it's Mr. Kaiba."

"Whatever you say, Seto. Don't forget I saved your butt from those monsters."

"This isn't helping!" the second voice hissed. "Connie's right. We need to get some rest. It's almost 3 AM."

It was almost three? How in the hell had he stayed out so late?

Miles shot up, and he heard someone gasp. And then a shushing.

"Hey, you really should check to make sure you don't have eavesdroppers next time," Miles warned. "Not that I really care about your conversation but—,"

A boy with jet-black, spiked-up hair, and mask stepped out from behind the stall. He reminded Miles of Mamoru's counterpart, a little. Except he wore a gaudy get-up of red, green, and yellow.

"Who are you?" the boy asked.

The temptation to say 'your mama' was almost too overwhelming.

Miles shook his head, "Relax. I'm not a monster."

"Of course he isn't," the girl who was with them said. She had shoulder-length brunette hair and bright eyes. She wore a simple polo shirt and shorts with sneakers. The most interesting thing to note about her was the sword tucked in a pink sheath strapped to her. "Sorry. The boys are paranoid."

"It pays to be paranoid," the harsh voice from before spoke up. This last dude had probably the wackiest appearance. He had this weird white coat with collars raised, almost like knives. And he was decked out all in black: black shirt, black boots, black sneakers. Would've been great stealth if not for the coat. "Who are you? Why were you listening in on a private conversation?"

"My name is—,"

Miles didn't get to finish that sentence. He sensed something. Something bad. Miles pushed collar-boy out of the way and caught a green monster with a long tongue that leapt out of a tree to grab him. He downed it with one jolt of electricity and threw it far away from them. It struggled to get up while Miles sighed.

"My name is Miles Morales. You're welcome."

The monster launched itself through the air again, before Miles could catch it again, the black-haired boy threw some sort of bat-shaped boomerang that hit and exploded upon contact with the monster. Then, the girl stepped in and drew out a pink sword from her sheath and cut the monster in half, reducing it to its original form: a cheap plastic frog toy.

"Nice reflexes," Miles said.

"You're not so bad yourself," the black-haired boy said with a small smirk.

"Powers or practice?" the girl asked. "Wait—sorry—is that rude of me to ask?"

Miles shook his head. "No. And it's kind of a mix?"

"It's cool, in any case," the girl said.

"So, who are you guys?" Miles asked.

"I'm Connie Maheswaran," the girl said.

"I'm Robin," the black-haired boy said with a curt nod. "Ya know, I used to know a kid who could do roughly what you did. Went by Static Shock. Can you use gravitational levitation?"

"Uh no. Haven't gotten to that yet," Miles said with a half-hearted laugh. He looked at the last guy.

The other boy remained silent.

"And I'm guessing you're Seto?" Miles asked.

"Mr. Kaiba," he snapped. Shortly after, he sighed. "It's not important. I need to find—!"

"Your program?" a familiar voice teased.

The red witch was sitting on one of the branches of the trees above. She glanced to Miles, "Ah. Hello interloper."

"You know her?" Robin asked.

"Yeah. She attacked the shrine I'm staying at," Miles explained.

"And you keep interrupting my business," the red witch countered. "But not anymore. However, I will offer you, Mr. Kaiba, a chance of clemency, if you come with me peacefully, of course."

"No way," Connie said, raising her sword. "We won't let you just take him."

"Why do you even want him, anyway?" Miles asked. He turned to Seto. "No offense."

"Oh, it's not for the sake of his pure heart. I highly doubt a CEO would have one of those," the red witch said with a laugh. "No. We have something he needs to finish."

"So, you're the thief," Seto said.

"Oh, I'm not alone," she said. "You could still be right that Gideon Graves is involved…or maybe he isn't. I'm not one to give away my allies. However, I am one for making demands. You come with me now, or you'll come with me, begging for your own death."

With that, Miles heard a 'click,' and instantly he felt a very familiar, very uncomfortable sensation. The very sense of being pulled apart due to not being in his own universe. He heard three different choked gasps and tried to focus. The red witch had some sort of device in her hand. Kind of looked like a glowing screwdriver. The top was a bright yellow, almost like a flashlight, but Miles was sure that was the source of the distortion. It had to be—she held it out in front of her triumphantly.

"You're all from different universes, so I'm told. And this proves it. This device is meant to disrupt whoever has set this whole interdimensional possibility in motion. The others can perish, of course," the red witch explained. She grabbed Seto's face, even as he was phasing out. "You're coming with us, whether you want to or not."

Seto glared at her. "I'd rather die."

"I can arrange for that—after you help us."

Miles stood up. He wasn't going to let this happen. He stumbled toward the witch, and with one strong push and electric jolt, shoved her away from the apparent CEO.

"You alright?" Miles asked. Truth be told, doing what he'd just done had drained him significantly.

Seto sort of stared at him. "Peachy. We need to get whatever that thing is away from her."

"Ah-hah!" a voice, distorted, and like an old radio host, spoke up. "Perhaps I can assist with that."

Black tendrils shot out of the ground where the red witch stood, grabbing the screwdriver from her hands. It snapped so easily and broke the four out of their painful retching and displacement.

"I'd suggest you leave, dear," the voice spoke. "You're certainly not ready to fight someone like me. Perhaps, in a different life, we would have been friends. However, today, you've made a powerful enemy—attacking such assets—what a bold and stupid move. Why the slime you must work for must be very proud."

"Who in the hell are you?"

Miles looked up, as he was going in and out of consciousness to see a man dressed in a striped, red coat, red suit, and dark red pants. Only something was weird about his head…he…kind of looked like a deer. But was that the exhaustion talking?

"I'm merely someone with a key interest in these…curators of power and progress throughout so many lives and experiences. For me to properly assess and assist with their situation, I'm afraid you'll have to leave."

"And who's going to make me?" the witch snarled.

"Why, me of course," the man said, almost indignant and astonished that she'd even ask. "After all, you're out of options. And if you try to attack me…well…"

His face darkened, static echoed around the area, despite there not being any sort of radio. Everything started to feel darker and heavier, almost making it hard to breathe.

"It WoN'T Go WeLlf fOr YoU," his voice came in distorted wavelengths.

"F-fine. There's always another day," the red witch pouted. "I will get what I want!"

"And I doubt it!" the radio host said, his voice picking up its cheeriness again.

Miles could make out a flash of petals as he heard the witch vanish in a 'swoosh!' And then he heard footsteps near his head, as he collapsed.

"Mr. Morales!" the radio host spoke. "Now I really do believe we'll get along charmingly! You're a rule-breaker, I'm a rule-breaker. You'd break down entire universes just to save one person, and I'd do it…for the fun of it! I'm quite sure we'll be seeing more of each other on this crazy adventure we've been put onto, hmm?"

"You get away from him, radio demon!"

"MUDA!"

The radio host dodged something. Miles couldn't see it—whatever it was. He saw Giorno, though. How'd he get here? Why was he here? Should he be glad?

"The terms of the deal were you wouldn't include anyone in my circle," Giorno said.

"Yes, but Mr. Morales isn't in your original circle, is he?" the demon mused. "Also, it's good to see you again, too, Mr. Giovanna. How have you been? You look far better than when we first met. And honestly, you should be thanking me. After all, I'm the one who made that possible!"

"I'm weaker because of you!"

"But I didn't take your soul. Just a little power, that's all. You're fine without it. I'm the one who needs it, really."

"Why?" Giorno questioned.

"Ah-ah! Our deal DOES state that we're not to discuss that particular matter. Though…you were half-dead on the pavement when we made the deal. I'm surprised you remember any of it."

It was quiet for a moment before Giorno spoke up again. "Leave him alone. That's your only warning."

"While I can't say I appreciate the attitude, I do have to appreciate that someone like ourselves seems to have made a budding friendship with someone."

"I'm not like you."

"Really?" the demon asked, condescendingly. "If you say so."

The demon straightened out his suit and dusted himself off. "Well, I simply must be going. I've got other, more pressing, matters to attend to. Best of luck to you all."

He turned on his heel. "You'll need it."

"Giorno," Miles mumbled, his voice quiet. He wasn't sure how much longer he could stay awake or if anyone else was.

Giorno looked at him—a sort of shame and sadness in his eyes he'd seen in the mirror before. "I'm sorry. Luz told me you were out for a walk. Then I sensed he was around somewhere. I guess it's part of the deal. I…couldn't tell anyone about the constraints. There's no escape from it, no backdoor. I think I'm stuck where I am for now. I need Golden Experience's full abilities back. If I can't get them back…everyone could be in danger. I'm such a fool for taking that deal. Why did I do this?"

"I'm going to help you," Miles said. "I'll help you get out of that deal. I promise."

"Miles…thank you."

Miles almost passed out, but he heard someone yell, "Hey! What do you think you're doing? Get away from him!"

"Pav?" Miles managed to ask.

Then he passed out.

…

Phoenix had found something. While Edgeworth, Bucciarati, Abbachio, N, and Maya had researched the intended purpose of Kaiba's technology. It was a little bit of a gray area, but a necessary evil to determine why the technology had been stolen. Apparently, it had been an idea that allowed multiversal and temporal travel. He had intended to essentially create time-travel.

"The power of time shouldn't be left in the hands of a sixteen-year-old," Bruno said. "No human should."

"And yet it seems he was very close to hacking it," Edgeworth said. "There was a separate component left off the original plans, thank you for letting us know, Leone."

"I've never met lawyers who actually want the truth before," Abbachio said with a sort of scoff. "But here we are: time travel, honest lawyers, and children who can literally bend the earth to their will."

"And metal!" Toph added.

She and Wally were standing together. Wally looked a bit more ashamed while Toph seemed more confident and at ease.

"You're not supposed to be in here," Phoenix said. "Wasn't Eda supposed to be watching you guys today?"

"Oh, she is, I just thought I could help here. I told you, I'm great at shaking the truth out of people: sometimes literally!"

"In that case," Maya spoke up. "Did you find out anything?"

She received many weary looks. "What? It's not like you guys have any leads as to who could've stolen time-machine technology."

"Besides," N added in quickly. "A lot of the times there are problems in my world, it's usually solved by kids. I was seventeen when I met…a friend who helped save the world."

"At least two of you have common sense," Toph shrugged. "Look, if you want answers, you need to listen, not look."

"What do you mean?" Bruno asked.

"Hop told us about this weird CEO," Wally began. "His name was Chairman Rose. He was famous for having a whole company that made complex technology."

"I've heard of him," N agreed. "He almost destroyed all of Galar to accomplish his vision of being a legend. I'm not surprised if he's behind it. He was all about the innovation of technology."

"Plus," Toph interjected. "That kid he fought was his protégé or something. It could have been an inside job. I mean, what's a better way to get your company up and running again than to steal someone else's work?"

"So, then the real problem would be within the very same place it began," Phoenix surmised.

"I don't think that's it," Abbachio spoke up. "Look, the kid might be a little shi—,"

Edgeworth cut him off, "Language! There are children present!"

"Honest and prudish about language. The day unravels more mysteries." Abbachio shrugged. "Like I was saying: he was honest about that Rose guy the very first time we met him. He even told us he thought Rose might be behind the dimensional stuff. Something about ripping apart the world for wishing stars or something like that. Seems like he was using the kid in the process. Kaiba took a special interest in his sob story, too. If what I've overheard from the brother is right, well, then there's reasons for that."

"So, then we ask him if he can help us," Toph suggested.

"After he and Hop's battle?" Wally asked. "I don't know if that's such a great idea."

"There's not a lot of others around here, now is there?" Toph asked. "Besides, we can go and talk to him. I'm sure we'll be able to convince him to work with us."

"But you've gotta be careful how you frame it," Maya pointed out. "Maybe if we have like a heart-to-heart or something?"

"Or tell him what's at stake," Bruno said. "It could be that this technology could make our situation worse. I don't believe any of us here are from this particular world—especially not him. If we give him our reasoning, that perhaps anyone from a different world could be in great trouble, he may be a bit more willing to help. The reasoning behind all of us being here…still concerns me."

"But we need to be careful," Edgeworth interjected. His face darkened a little. "If the person he trusted the most discarded or used him as surmised, he could have developed a deep root of distrust of any authoritative figure. We can't just go barging in asking him questions about this 'Chairman Rose.'"

He had a good point and the experience to know what a manipulative parental figure acted like.

"Edgeworth is right," Phoenix said. "If we're going to launch an investigation, we should probably do it tactfully."

"Well, if it's about authority figures," Toph began. "Then WE should probably be the ones to talk to this Bede kid."

"I think he's the same age as you," N mumbled.

"And? I'm still right."

"Maybe Toph has a point," Wally said. "As long as Hop doesn't get too hot-headed, we might even be able to be friends with Bede."

"I'm really not sure about the practicality of having children involved in an investigation," Edgeworth frowned. "Not to mention the legal and moral implications."

"But they're just making friends, Mr. Edgeworth!" Maya argued. "Besides, we'll be asking most of the questions. We're just trying to understand the situation better, right?"

It might be a good idea in theory, but the morality was definitely off. Still, Pearls had helped them in the past. It could be worth a try…so long as they didn't get involved in anything dangerous. As long as it was just talking, right?

"It might not be a bad idea," Phoenix conceded. "But all you're allowed to do is talk to this kid. Nothing more."

"A bit boring, but okay."

"In the meantime," Edgeworth cut in. "What are we going to do?"

"I'm going to go investigate more about this Rose character," Phoenix said. "Could be that he's hiding in plain sight."

"Not alone you're not, Nick," Maya spoke up.

Investigating this corporation could be dangerous. Sure, he could survive swallowing a glass bottle with trace remnants of poison, getting electrocuted, trying to dodge Franziska's whip attacks in court, not so successfully dodging Godot's coffee throws, getting hit over the head and experiencing blunt force-trauma and amnesia, and falling through a burning bridge (only to name a few things he'd survived so far), but given that there were now monsters thrown into the mix of things, Phoenix would prefer it if no one else went investigating with him. He was a magnet for that sort of thing, and if anyone got hurt, he'd never forgive himself.

"You're a fool if you think you're going alone," Edgeworth said. "It's like you told me, both our reputations are on the line here, no?"

"And we've got a lot at stake, too," Bruno said.

"Yeah," Abbachio agreed. "I'd like to get back home and have a nice glass of Prosecco."

"I think we all want to get back home," Wally said. "I miss traveling around Hoenn. It was good for my lungs. It's a bit too…industrial here. No offense! I really appreciate having a place to stay, and—"

"It's okay, Wally, we understand," Maya said with a small laugh.

"Th-thank you, Miss Fey," he said with a small smile.

"Ew, never Miss Fey. Just call me Maya."

"G-got it!"

"Home is important," N mumbled.

"And I've got a bet I've won against a boomerang kid about there being lots of worlds out there."

"Then it's settled," Maya said, clapping her hands together. "You're stuck with us, Nick!"

Despite her self-confidence and assurance, Phoenix still wasn't sure if this was a good idea or not. Then again, he'd never known Maya or Mia to back down. And Edgeworth was probably going to follow along just to make sure nothing else went wrong…no other reason, unfortunately. Abbachio and Bruno seemed good with sticking together, maybe for a reason, Toph and Wally seemed confident (less so on Wally's part) on the idea of befriending Bede, and N was…too aloof to really read.

But at least, unlike most times, there was a plan.

Now how did that song go about life and making plans?

…

"Seto didn't come home," Mokuba said, he hugged his arms.

Bede shifted uncomfortably in his shoes. This oversentimental display of affection made him feel somewhat queasy. Familial love was confusing, to say the least. But it also stung like a Beedrill. While Bede would never call himself envious, Mokuba was lucky to have any sort of family. Even if Bede went back home, there wasn't much there for him. Even if he just had his brother, he had someone. Bede's family had given him up a long time ago. And Chairman Rose and Miss Oleana…if he ever saw them again, he'd make sure he got his revenge!

"We can go looking for him," Silver spoke up. "It's 8 now. If we go now, we should be able to do a formidable exposition. I'm sure with our Pokémon, we can find a lead. And should anything give us trouble, we're not weak. We'll destroy any other monster or enemy we come across."

Silver was about their age. It was rumored he was the kid of the crime boss Giovanni of Team Rocket. That's why that bumbling detective had asked him if he knew about who was spawning those monsters the other day. Due to the current open case the eldest Kaiba brother was dealing with, he had unceremoniously kicked the detective out of the building to avoid any further drama.

Bede and Silver had very similar temperaments, and he couldn't tell if that was a good thing or not yet. At least he wasn't annoying like the Champion's brother.

Damn that annoying brat! Coming here and acting so much better than him! And that lackadaisical almost-champion he'd been with failed to take anything seriously. How had they won? What was he still missing?

"Hold it," a girl's voice spoke up.

Two girls stood in the doorway. One was Penny. She was from Paldea. She was only a little older than them by four years. Nothing that gave her any sort of authority. However, it was Gwen Stacy, the other girl who Seto had left in charge of babysitting for now that might present a problem.

"We need to find Seto," Mokuba insisted. "He could be in trouble."

"Hmm," Gwen posed thoughtfully. "Not sure he'd want you guys going out there. Why don't you let me and Penny handle it?"

"No, we can handle ourselves, thank you very much," Bede said.

"Okay then, let me put it like this. You're not going out there. Penny is going to stick with you guys to make sure you don't."

"You do realize I helped topple an evil corporation, right?" Silver asked. "I think finding one person is within my capabilities. It's a little insulting to imply otherwise."

"You three remind me of Atticus," Penny said with a small laugh. She turned to Gwen. "I don't think you're convincing them otherwise."

"Look, they might have the means to defend themselves, but Mokuba doesn't," Gwen argued. "No offense, kid. I just don't want anyone getting hurt. Not when I can prevent it."

"Let us come with you, and we can make sure of it," Bede insisted.

Gwen exhaled through her nose and paused. "Fine. But if it gets too heated out there, you're taking a Corviknight back here."

"Deal."

"Deal!"