Monitors showing who had ended up here, why they mattered, powers, statistics, and so on were displayed on the monitors he'd asked Lyla to collect data on every single anomaly located within this universe. As to who decided to mess with the stretched, frayed, and exhausted fabrics of the multiverse, Miguel had yet to find out. As to the individuals plucked from their own worlds, timelines, and universes, well there were some interesting ones. Something was messing with the precise tracking, but the original anomaly was in this scrambled universe.

Gwen, Hobie, and Peter were here. He wondered if they were helping Miles. It was a good possibility, especially given how he…no…he wasn't taking responsibility for this. If they were lurking around here, he'd make sure they weren't trying to obliterate the timeline any further.

"So, how's staring at the screen going?"

Jack Harkness. An unexpected ally in this mess. Apparently, he dealt with multiversal catastrophes and crises far more than the average secret organization to helping all life remain, well, viable. Still, he wasn't on Miguel's level of trying to keep it all in check. Miguel knew that.

"Harkness," he muttered the man's last name.

"Seriously, shouldn't you be doing more fieldwork?" Jack asked, almost in disbelief.

"I catch monsters and anomalies by observation rather than recklessly going out there and risk screwing it up."

Jack took a sip of either tea or coffee. It didn't have strong odor. Must be tea. He'd heard there was a pretty good tea shop out there, run, of course, by someone who didn't belong in this universe. But everyone needed to make a living somehow. Miguel wouldn't worry about that until he found a viable way to open back up a path to other dimensions.

"How's that worked out for you?" Jack asked. "From what I remember Lyla and Jessica had said something about a huge, potential danger to the multiverse. You know, one you let get by you."

Miguel scowled. "I didn't 'let' anything by me. It was others who failed to do what they were told, including Jess."

"Alright then." Smug asshole.

Jack took a seat at one of the tables in the comm room. Miguel had to hand it to Director Lusamine and Mr. Joestar. Both had donated a lot of funds to ensure their project of getting the multiverse back in order was on target. Then they hired a team of elite scientists to figure out how to deal with this jumbled mess.

Miguel had people to take care of the monsters, too. The only problem was, there were two of them, and a lot of monsters in a lot of different places. Sure, Redfield and Kennedy were fast, but these monsters seemed to be spawning in at rapid rates now. Nonetheless, they handled a mass outbreak at a gardening festival the other day. Fifty-two carrot daimons.

"Oi, did JoJo say when he was going to be back?" a cockney voice asked in the back corner of the room.

The man's name was laughable, at first. Robert E.O. Speedwagon—like the band. Apparently, Joseph Joestar knew him, but he didn't know Joseph. After explanations were given, the blond man had taken to calling Mr. Joestar JoJo. He, too, had been helping with observations. Had Joseph not testified on his behalf, Miguel would have never considered having him help. Turns out, he was good at spotting monsters on the streets. They were able to deal with most things quietly and efficiently.

"He'll return within the hour," a darker, deep, woman's voice commented. Her name was Shadow Weaver. Despite the ominous nature of her name and look, she was great at sensing magic. She turned to Miguel. "I'll be back soon. I am going to search for anyone I recognize. They may be of use to us."

After she walked out, someone else scoffed. "And she isn't creepy at all. Miguel, why did you let her into this little…club?"

"It's not a club, Darius," Miguel said pointedly.

Said man rolled his eyes and went back to molding the small abomination he'd created on the table.

Dealing with toddlers would have been easier. He was a dad once. Parenting was easier than controlling a bunch of man-children!

It was. It was easier.

He dismissed thoughts of his daughter from his mind. He couldn't think about her now. He had so much work to do. He pulled up footage on the screen from a few weeks ago. Miles Morales had beaten a monster who attacked a famous CEO, a boy-ninja, and a girl with a sword. Then that bruja roja brought out that device that made all of them flicker in and out of this reality. And then that whole scene with the blurred, red figure that moved jarringly and like fuzz across the screen:

"Mr. Morales! 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?"

Miguel didn't need two reality-wreckers running around. This demon would need to be considered dangerous, too.

"You get away from him, radio demon!"

That's it. That's what he was called. The radio demon. He was the one putting out all of those crazy broadcasts, telling stories so intricate that it almost seemed like an inside joke only to himself.

"MUDA!"

The blonde boy with the weird hair loops and strange black, outfit appeared on the screen.

"The terms of the deal were you wouldn't include anyone in my circle," he said, monotone, almost too confident.

"Yes, but Mr. Morales isn't in your original circle, is he? 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!"

And Giovanna was his surname. Miguel had been looking for a record of anyone born with that name, but he couldn't find anyone.

"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?"

He seemed genuinely frustrated, perhaps even a bit uneased by the prospect of this radio demon having any of his power. And what power was that? Miguel supposed he'd find out, more than likely the hard way.

"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."

"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."

Mr. Giovanna was allies with Morales. Noted. Could be useful in the future.

"I'm not like you."

"Really? If you say so."

"Well, I simply must be going. I've got other, more pressing, matters to attend to. Best of luck to you all."

The radio demon turned on his heel. "You'll need it."

"Giorno," Miles mumbled. He looked half-dead. Miguel squished any sort of pity he had to the bottom of his chest.

"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."

"Hey! What do you think you're doing? Get away from him!"

The entrance of Pav was where the tape was cut short. After that point, it became nothing more than static. Miguel had examined this only piece of evidence that Miles was here twenty times over. It told him nothing of where he actually was. He'd found and interviewed the CEO, Kaiba. However, he kicked him out of his office. And the scary demon-woman bodyguard he hired was beyond his own powers and abilities. He wouldn't budge on any information, not even when he was informed of the consequences of anomalies. He acted like the very fabrics of time and space should bend to his will.

Why is it that life's most important responsibilities and power was so often left in the hands of children?

Then Jess strolled in with Lusamine. Miguel looked at them expectantly. "What have you got for me?"

"News," Jess said. "Big news."

…

In another forged space in the dark recesses of an unknown laboratory, Kaolinite sat in a meeting with a man like a lion's mane for hair. He spoke with a French accent, although, he swore he was from somewhere entirely different. Kalow? She wasn't listening too intently.

"So," Professor Tomoe intoned. "It works like a maze with no exit?"

Lion man's eyes sparkled. "Oui. All you need is a little bit of bait."

"A little bait, hmm?" Professor Tomoe asked. He turned to Kaolinite. "Kaolinite, I want you to take today to observe our hindrances: look at the friendships they've formed, who or what they care about. I believe Mr. Lysandre's technology will prove to be innovative and provide us with a harvest of pure hearts. Work with him today. You'll be on the field together."

Lysandre did a small bow and held his hand over his heart. "We will gather as many beautiful souls as possible."

"In the meantime," the professor said. "See if you can collect the few we've already targeted."

"Of course, professor," Kaolinite assured him.

The two began to walk out of the lab, a few eggs in hand. Kaolinite turned to her compatriot. "What makes your group want to help us?"

"Each of us has our own motives," Lysandre explained. "I merely seek beauty in this ugly world. I had a plan to remake the world entirely, more than likely before you."

"Rather assuming," Kaolinite said with a sneer. "We've been here for almost twenty years, biding our time."

"I meant no insult," Lysandre said. He hesitated, seeming to reminisce. He sighed and clutched his fists. "Merely to demonstrate that I put a lot of thought and effort into my inventions…and connections. I know, perhaps if we can find them, some of the most beautiful souls, inside and out."

Kaolinite nodded. "If we can find them."

She paused. She knew the look in his eyes. Dejection. Rejection, even.

"Is revenge a possible motive, as well?" she asked.

"…Possibly."

He walked ahead of her, not stopping. She may have more in common with these mysterious allies than she originally thought.

…

"The owl is going to kill me, Luz," Hunter murmured to his sister.

They didn't look alike, but maybe one of them was adopted? Zuko wasn't sure. They acted like Katara and Sokka, so at least they had a normal sibling relationship. One of them wasn't constantly trying to kill or hurt the other.

Right now, the study group was finishing up. Only Hunter seemed to be struggling. It wasn't so much that he was getting anything wrong, according to Luz, but the "app" was finnicky. Meanwhile, Josuke had put on one of Rei's records. She had a lot of Michael Jackson vinyl (this is cannon. The writers made her a MJ fan). The dancing associated with the music was weird. Too flamboyant. And then he put on something called "Purple Rain." Josuke said this was his favorite (Araki listened to a lot of PF and Prince while writing Diamond is Unbreakable. Also…I just really like Prince). The song sounded nice, but why was the rain purple? Why did he want to see someone bathe in it? Then Anne started playing something in another language entirely. K-pop. It was different from the other music.

They still faced the looming threat of the daimon that could pop up any minute. However, they weren't just going to give them a head's up or five minutes' notice. Not only that, but Aang, Mai, Toph, and his uncle were all unaccounted for. It stressed him out not knowing if they were okay. Luckily one person was accounted for: much to Kaiba's chagrin. After all, she volunteered to be one of his new security guards alongside the girl who'd shown up with her.

"Marcy," Ty Lee, former friend to his sister, current Kyoshi warrior gushed. "I absolutely adore the mini crossbow you made. I still can't believe you made something like that!"

Kaiba's eyebrow twitched. Apparently, Ty Lee had been talking ever since they'd gotten to the shrine.

"Well, I made this new one out of parts I found discarded outside of Kaiba Corp. Oh! Mr. Kaiba, is that a safety violation? I mean, sometimes materials are thrown out for a reason. But General Yunan taught me how to make a crossbow out of practically anything. I can teach you, Ty Lee, if you want!"

And neither had Marcy. She and Anne knew each other. Zuko was sure Kaiba had tried to get in a word edgewise about safety protocols, but he was cut off.

"Hey Marcy, I think Kaiba's about to have an aneurysm, so maybe the questions can hold off for a bit," Anne suggested.

"Huh?" Marcy intoned. She glanced at Kaiba, who did appear on his last nerve. Zuko wondered if he ever looked like that while searching for the Avatar. "Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't even realize I was talking so much."

"I, too, often get carried away by the wonderful stories I share with my friends," Starfire spoke up, sympathetically.

"We can all get a little carried away with things…like Pokémon battles…which I would love to do right now, Arven!" Nemona said, her eyes gleaming.

Arven crossed his arms. "No."

"Lillie?"

"I don't want to use Solgaleo unless I absolutely have to."

"Ugh. You two are no fun!"

Nemona glanced hesitantly to Gladion who merely scowled and shook his head in response.

"Is it going to take meeting one of the champions to have a good battle around here?" Nemona mumbled.

"You could always try relaxing a little," Anne suggested.

Nemona grinned. "Now where's the fun in that?"

Zuko shook his head and turned his attention to another conversation that Josuke had started with Sokka.

"I'm telling you: he stabbed his own hand because he lost to me," Josuke said. "Top that. Bet you don't know a sorer loser than that! Oh! And to top it off, he also let his house burn down by just being so obsessed that I was cheating."

"But you were cheating," Sokka said.

Josuke shrugged. "He had it coming. And besides, it turned out alright in the end—he's got his fingers back. He doesn't threaten to have me arrested every time I'm anywhere near him."

"And he helped you catch that bombastic stand user" Kakyoin noted with a slight smirk. "Maybe bragging about his house burning down is a little, I don't know, vindictive?"

"Maybe, but he's a jerk, so…" Josuke said, crossing his arms. "Kira Yoshikage. That guy was hell to deal with. From what we've been told, it took a lot of repeating to actually beat him, too."

"You know," Sokka said. "We had to defeat a guy who used his mind to blow things up. He was pretty weird."

Sokka directed his attention toward Zuko. "If someone hadn't hired him to kill us, we would've never known some firebenders could do that."

Zuko averted his gaze at the group. "I don't take pride in who I was back then."

"It's all water under the bridge," Sokka said flippantly. "Besides, I took him out; you know, just older sibling-protectiveness."

"I feel so safe," Katara said sarcastically.

"Did Jotaro tell you how we met?" Kakyoin asked Josuke, but it was as if he was addressing the group.

Josuke shook his head. "Nah. He never really talked about his days as a crusader. Mr. Joestar did, kind of. Though, it was nonsensical, most of the time."

Kakyoin paused and shrugged. "It makes sense, given who we had to fight."

"You mean Dio, right?" Josuke asked. "Mr. Joestar did manage to tell us a lot about him. Apparently, he stole my great Grandfather's body."

"Okay, that's physically impossible. Unless he was a vampire," Sokka joked.

"Oh, but he was," Kakyoin said. "Right on the money, Sokka."

"No way. I debunked vampires in my village a looong time ago," Sokka said. "People thought since there was blood on the snow near the caves, someone had been dragged off by vampires. Turns it was just old man Koda who refused to admit he needed help hunting; he'd cut himself trying to haul over one pounds worth of walwhale blubber back to us."

"Different universes," Miles spoke up. "Different rules."

"Right."

"As I was saying," Kakyoin continued. "I was controlled by Dio via a flesh bud. When I first met your…nephew, I did try to kill him. We had a fight, he won, and he could've left me to die. But he saved my life. And for the first time, I finally found something worth fighting for."

He turned to Zuko. "So, it's not how the journey starts but how it ends."

"And how did it end for you?" Josuke asked. "Mr. Joestar and Jotaro don't really talk about their friends that much. Did you guys beat Dio together?"

Kakyoin fell silent.

"Maybe that's more of a personal question," Katara suggested, noticing the tension.

"Oh. Sorry."

It was quiet for a moment before Zuko decided to break the silence. "I wasn't controlled by a vampire. However, the person who controlled me was beaten by a twelve-year-old."

"That must be quite the story," Kakyoin said.

"I was set on a path to find the Avatar by my father," Zuko explained. "I was the banished Prince. The avatar had been missing for one hundred years, but as it turned out, he had been frozen for those one hundred years. I researched, studied, sailed, and fought for years. My uncle tried to guide me on the right path, but I didn't understand him until I got everything I wanted. I betrayed people I shouldn't have, especially Katara and my uncle. But when I realized who I'd become—what the fire nation was doing to the world—I joined the Avatar and taught him how to firebend."

"And we were happy to have you, buddy," Sokka said, raising his cup of tea.

"I love the found family trope," Luz and Marcy said, almost in-tune with one another.

"My uncle tried to kill all of us at one point," Hunter said. When they stared at him, Luz gestured for him to go on. "I…uh…never had a dad. I was the Golden Guard for Emperor Belos—my uncle. He was a witch hunter, and he wanted to destroy all the witches. I didn't know that, but I helped him, a lot. It was Luz who helped me see what Belos really wanted to do. We got stuck in his mind together."

"And in the human world," Luz said with a laugh.

"There, too. Yeah."

It was quiet for a minute. Now seemed like the time his uncle would say something wise, something that could guide them, something that would at least ease the tension.

"I don't believe it," Anne spoke solemnly. She stood up and pointed at Luz. "YOU GOT TO STAY IN YOUR MAGIC WORLD? That's so unfair! I had to say goodbye to all my friends in Amphibia!"

Luz chuckled nervously. "Roll of the dice? Those things can be pretty darn unlucky."

"She's got a point," Marcy agreed.

"Also, don't act like you're not the only person who turned to a life of good, Zuko," Ty Lee joined in. "I joined the Kyoshi warriors."

"Yeah?" Sokka asked. "Well, I did that first!"

"Oh, I know," Ty Lee said with a slight smirk. "The girls told me all about it."

As Sokka began to pout, Ty Lee laughed and started helping clean up from the dinner Makoto, Miles, Hunter, Katara, Pavitr, and Arven had helped make. Tonight was a cause for celebration: the girls had a huge exam that they all passed, even Usagi. She'd spent the whole night suggesting things she'd like for her upcoming birthday. His and Katara's birthdays were the very same day as hers. Sokka had deduced that by studying their calendars. He hadn't celebrated his birthday in a very long time, nor was celebrating on his radar of things to do, but he knew Makoto, Ami, Rei, and Minako were going to throw Usagi a surprise party at the shrine.

"There's no shame in learning from a girl," Minako said ardently. "We're waaay more capable than any boy we know."

"Is that so?" Josuke asked with a slight grin. "Well, as a guy, I guess I shouldn't point out that Zuko was the last one to destroy the two daimons from the other day. And Sokka and I took care of the one at the car garage."

Before Zuko could even speak up for her, Katara countered, "And Usagi, Connie, and I took out five in the park."

"Katara was epic," Connie agreed. "Bad luck on that one water-based one. RIP. And then she used that water to destroy one of the other ones."

"You guys should've seen Miles and Giorno," Pav said. "We took out like six of them the other day."

"Is this what the conversation has come to?" Lillie asked. "Bragging about killing things?"

"When you put it that way…"

"There goes the vibe, little sister."

"W-well, I didn't mean to—."

"It's fine," Usagi said. "Besides, it is kinda morbid if you think about it."

She stood up and smiled at them. It seemed to touch all corners of the room. "As weird as it is, I'm glad we all met! It's been fun getting to know all of you, ya know? Of course, I hope everyone can get home and be happy, but for now, I'm grateful that you're all here."

"Thanks, Usagi," Katara said with a genuine smile. "It's been nice getting to know all of you, too."

"Now," Josuke said with a grin. "Who wants to challenge me at the racing game?"

"Me!" Minako and Luz chimed in together.

"No way! Me first," Usagi said.

"Clearly, Josuke wants to race against me! Right, Josuke?" Minako asked, batting her eyes.

Josuke, seemingly oblivious, shrugged. "Well, it's multiplayer, right, Luz?"

Luz nodded. "And I'm gonna kick your butt!"

"I doubt it, I've got it this time," Sokka said. Right. He liked those weird screen games.

"Awesome!" Josuke said smiling at Sokka.

"I suck at Mario Kart," Miles admitted. He turned to Giorno and Pav, "Wanna be on my team? Might have better luck together."

"Sure."

"Oh, you know I'll help you out, bro!"

"I'll play," Kakyoin said. "And I doubt I'll lose to anyone."

"Challenge accepted," Marcy said. "C'mon Anne, Ty Lee! We'll beat them easy!"

"Kaiba, you should try your hand at it," Connie said. "I bet you'd be good at it!"

"I don't have time for—,"

"Just one round? Please! I've been itching to do something that'll take my mind off things for a while."

"…Fine. One round, Maheswaran. Then we need to go."

"You know I'm in," Nemona said. She grabbed Arven by the forearm. "Let's go!"

"How'd I get dragged into this?"

"I suppose I could teach everyone here a lesson in humility," Gladion said with a smirk.

"I'm actually good at these games. They're pretty similar to simulations run by the horde," Adora said. "I can probably win."

"Star, you wanna try and beat them?" Robin asked.

"In the metaphorical spirit of friendship, we will crush them!" Starfire beamed.

With that, most everyone went into the room with the TV's everyone had pooled together to buy.

"I'm going to go make sure they don't break the TVs," Ami said gently.

"I'll join you," Makoto said.

The two walked off, leaving only Rei and Zuko behind. The fire priestess sighed and shook her head. "So much for clean up."

"Here, I'll help you with that," Zuko insisted. He started picking up plates and shuffled off to the kitchen with Rei. She furrowed her eyebrows. The more he thought about it, it was strange how she hadn't spoken a lot tonight. She hadn't even teased Usagi all that much.

"Are you alright, Rei?" Zuko asked.

She pursed her lips and placed the dishes into the sink. "I'm not sure. The more I read the flames, the more uncertain the future becomes."

"You can read the future through fire?" Zuko asked.

Rei nodded. "It's something I've trained myself to do. It's more to do with the spiritual energy I'm able to channel rather than my fire. Though, fire is part of it. Perhaps you can do it, too."

"Seeing the future…"

It could be useful. But the closest he'd gotten to spirituality was at the Sun Warrior Ruins with the last two dragons who taught himself and Aang the true purpose behind firebending. Reading the future through fire might be possible, but he wasn't sure if he could be the one to do it.

"I could use the help," Rei said. Her eyes seemed tired. "Maybe you can see something I can't."

He hesitated and then gave her a nod. "I'll do it."

…

Lucifer Morningstar was finally allowed to see the good in humanity. Sure! This new world was an absolute clusterfuck, but it sure as hell beat the hell out of, well, hell!

Sure—sure—there were monsters here. But there were also tons of heroes. Incidentally, he'd 'saved' two of his newest traveling companions who had decided to stick with him. There was, the one he knew, Prince Stolas of the Ars Goetia—in human form. Smart. He was, too. It just wasn't that different from his usual appearance. And then the other was a very kind, chivalrous, and tall man by the name of Jonathan Joestar. They were attacked by a group of those monsters—they burned like paper in his grasp.

Stolas had been a bit surprised to see him, but Lucifer had quickly ushered him to the side and told him to go along with his story. He didn't want to be recognized. If anyone were to find out who he was, it was back to enjoying the company of only sinners. Just for once, he wanted to make friends with someone with purely good intentions. No, not the hypocritical 'good' espoused in heaven, but actual good. And Jonathan struck him as a good person. Along with a few others he'd managed to meet.

"Alright fellows," Jonathan spoke up. "Where to take our search next?"

Jonathan, after seeing Stolas so panicked, had offered to help him find his daughter (if she had ended up here like himself and Charlie). But they weren't sure she was even here. All of this was Stolas, justifiably, being paranoid.

"Perhaps Via could have ended up at a mall. There are endless places for shopping here," Stolas argued.

"I remember when Charlie was her age, we couldn't drag her out of the Hot Tropic," Lucifer joked. "Maybe there's one here?"

"It would just make things so much easier if I knew whether she was even here or not. For all we know, we could be looking for nothing," Stolas said with a sigh.

"Would you really be content with not-knowing?" Jonathan asked.

Stolas shook his head. "No. You're right. I need to make sure."

"You know," Jonathan spoke up. "I've been hearing about this popular tea spot. A lot of young people have been gathering there as of late. Perhaps she's there!"

Stolas looked from Jonathan to Lucifer. It was plausible if there were other teenagers there. Via, or at least the last time he'd seen her, seemed a little introverted. Still, if the tea were good…

"It's worth a shot," Lucifer said.

"Off we go then."

Stolas lingered behind, still scanning the area, while Jonathan went ahead of them. "I want to thank you again for helping me your highness."

Lucifer shushed him. "It's fine! Just don't say that too loud, alright? I don't want to call attention to myself here. I'd like to observe the good in humanity before we're jerked back to hell."

"That's…fair enough. Do not worry, you have my unsacred but binding word that I will draw no more attention to yourself."

"Thank you."

The three continued to the tea shop…The Jasmine Dragon. That was a pretty clever name for a tea shop. Though, he'd prefer more of a duck theme, himself. They were seated by a young girl with pigtails. She took their order and left them to talk and people watch. He glanced around, observing the café. It certainly cultivated a…unique atmosphere. He noticed a tiefling, a wizard, and someone who'd been cursed by a devil sitting at one table. And then at another table were a man in a strangely fashionable, white suit, bobbed black hair, a man in darker purple clothes and hair, a man whose hair was like black, spiky hedgehog quills dressed in a worn, blue suit, a girl with long, black hair and purple and pink robes/dress, and another man who had silver hair who wore a deep red suit and cravat. The first table was loud and boisterous, the second, not so much. They seemed wrapped up and secretive over whatever they were talking about.

The tiefling's head perked up; she glared at him, then Stolas. She began whispering to her colleagues. What was that abou—shit, she was coming over.

"Mind telling me what in Avernus you two are doing here?" She growled.

The other two joined her. This was not looking good. Lucifer held up his hands defensively. Jonathan appeared mystified.

"A demon? Are you one of those monsters who've been attacking people?" Jonathan countered, rising to his feet.

"No. I've sliced and diced quite a few of them, myself, actually," the woman said. "However, you're one to talk of monsters when you've got two of them traveling with you."

Jonathan seemed puzzled for a moment before he looked to Lucifer and Stolas. "Do you mean John and Stolas? One is a hotelier, and the other is just a father looking for his daughter—hardly anything monstrous there."

"Really?"

A few pairs of eyes had drifted their way now. Another man with wiry, brown hair and weird suit raised an eyebrow. Oh, who was he to judge? Who were any of them?

"Look, we're not looking for trouble here," Stolas objected. "What Jonathan said is true: we're just looking for my Via. Nothing more. Nothing less."

The woman stared at them for a few moments before looking at Lucifer. "I recognize you. You were in that commercial. You're part of that hotel business that one demoness has going."

"Don't you dare say anything about my daughter!" Lucifer said, now standing.

"Your highness!" Stolas murmured, tugging at his sleeve.

The gesture was lost on Lucifer until he looked at his own, burning hands and sleeves. "Oh. Ohhhhh."

"By Job, she was right!"

"Hey, Job wasn't all that innocent. I should know," Lucifer said. He straightened his bowtie. "Yes. I suppose, you could say, I have some ties to hell."

"And just how strong are those ties?" Jonathan asked, glaring at him.

"I…may be forced to…run it?"

"Y-You-You're the devil, himself!"

"Well, to be fair, there are a lot of devils out there."

"And how do I know you're not in league with him?"

"I kill devils, thank you very much!"

Lucifer sighed. Of course, this short-lived comradery was already over. Ugh.

"You must be the one who created the stone mask," Jonathan said accusingly.

"Stone what?" Lucifer asked. "Look, I don't even get to catch glimpses at the mortal world. Dad made sure of that. If something evil creeps into this world, it's probably due to some other dealmaker or other hell-spawn. I don't even control them! All I care about is making sure my daughter's vision comes true. And her wish? Her wish is to rehabilitate sinners so they can get into heaven. That's it. I'm not out here with a pitchfork and paper ready for you to sign your soul away. And I still have my golden fiddle, I'll have you know!"

"How can we trust that? You've been lying this whole time. And you're still the devil!"

Mortals. He only wanted to meet one good person. Just one. It was already ruined by his own carelessness and other peoples' meddling.

"Now hold on a minute," an older voice spoke up. "Why not hear him out?"

An older man walked from the counter where he'd been observing the interaction. Lucifer hadn't thought much of him, as he'd been preparing their tea. Was that classist? Charlie had said something about classism once. Was he classist? Nonetheless, the old man smiled and gestured for them all to sit back down. Despite having more power, there was something about this man that commanded attention. Far be it from him to throw someone's open-mindedness back in their face.

"You don't understand," Jonathan said. "This man is the epitome of evil!"

The old man looked Lucifer up and down. "Every man has his wrongs. I cannot tell you whether to trust someone in this world we have found ourselves in, but the best way to tell if a man is a good person is to let his actions speak for him. As of now, has he done anything wrong?"

"Well, no, but I don't think you understand—,"

The old man brushed him off. "Then how can you accurately judge his character?"

Lucifer surveyed the room. Everyone still seemed very much guarded and ready to jump. It's not like he couldn't take down everyone in this room and then some, but he didn't want to. All he'd wanted was to observe the good in people. Their biases would only be proven true if he started to fight them. Plus, this man was nice to at least try and give him a chance.

He opened his wallet and put money on the table to cover the bill. "Eh. Don't worry about it. I get it. Preconceived notions and all. C'mon Stolas, we'll go look for Via by ourselves."

With that, the shorter king and high-rank demon walked out of the tea shop.

…

"Focus on the flames," Rei instructed.

This was nothing like the beauty of dragon's fire. It was a simple hearth of fire. Rei concentrated on the flames; her eyes unwavering and her scowl deepening by the minute. He couldn't see anything in the flames.

It was a new day at the Hikawa shrine. Bright and early. There would be visitors soon. But before that happened, Rei had offered to teach him how to read the flames.

"There's nothing there," Zuko insisted.

"That's because you're focused on there being nothing there. If you are determined to see nothing, that's all you'll ever see."

"So how do I see something?" Zuko asked, mirroring her frown.

"You focus on what's important to you and try to see where they're going. That's what I do."

Focus on what was important? It could work. He thought of his people how lost they might be, how with Azula roaming free, they could be led back to tyranny and corruption. Azula might even be here trying to cause mayhem. If she were here, no doubt she'd cause trouble for them. Any friend of his was an enemy of hers. No one here would be safe. The monsters were still a massive mystery. What did they want? Why were they after hearts? Nothing in this new world made much sense!

Even so…he had the drive to protect those he cared for. A burning desire.

Something appeared in the flames. A maze? Was he in the maze? It was in his perspective, and he was searching for something or someone. Every turn a dead end or a new turn. Two people stood by him, but they were so blurry, he couldn't make them out.

It was hard to breathe. The pressure of the atmosphere around him was getting too heavy. He ran through to the next corner and spotted someone—someone he recognized but could not see being chased by one of those monsters. He tried to blast it with fire, but it jumped up into the air and landed right in front of him, brandishing one of those black stars on its shoulder. He stumbled backwards into a mirror paneling, crashing through.

Now it was all complete darkness. A woman's laughter echoed high above him. Three lights appeared in the sky and a golden-gloved hand shot out at him—it was larger than the moon itself. It should've been physically impossible. He tried to command fire to his palms, but he got nothing for his effort. Just as he was about to be snatched up, another hand pulled on his shirt collar—!

"You almost fell into the flames, idiot!" Rei hissed. She stared at Zuko for a second. "S-sorry. Are you alright?"

Zuko paused, not really sure how to answer her. Should he be honest about what he saw? What did he see? How in the world was he supposed to explain it?

"Peeking into the future by reading the flames, hmm?"

A man stood in the doorway of the shrine. He had a darker complexion and hair in a style Zuko had never seen before. He wore a red robe and a simple beige shirt and pants. He also had a lot of jewelry and a bandana around his forehead.

"Who are you?" Rei asked.

"Don't worry. I'm a friend. I believe we have a mutual connection. Kakyoin Noriaki. He told me that he told all of you about Dio. And he said there were two people who could manipulate fire here, too. I suppose that is you two?"

"Why are you asking?" Zuko asked.

"I wanted to visit for a while. Kakyoin said you might need some help with monsters, and I've seen tragic timelines and events that could possibly happen if we don't correct them now. I want to help."

"What's your name?" Rei asked.

"Avdol," the man said with a slight bow. "Muhammad Avdol."