None of the other avatars Aang tried to channel could tell him what this place was. Honestly, he'd never heard of anyone visiting this 'Japan.' If there were any habitable, uncharted territory, the Fire Nation would have tried to colonize or control it. It made no sense.

Even so, at least he ended up somewhere where he could talk to the other avatars. Pearl, a little girl local to the Kurain Village, had said most of the people here, including herself, were spirit mediums who could channel the dead. They took on the forms of the dead they spoke to, like he did with Roku and Kyoshi those few times.

"Aang!"

Pearl, Sprig, King, Monster Kid (That was literally his name), Frosta, and Barry ran over to him, super excited. Aang gave them a smile, "What's up, guys?"

"Can you do the marble trick again?" Sprig asked. "I'm gonna figure it out this time."

Sprig was a humanoid, pink frog. He had been the first person…er…well individual Aang had come across in this strange world. One minute he'd been having a peaceful, small celebration amongst his friends, and then he woke up in this world after the ground had stopped splitting open and swallowing them all into the purple abyss below.

There was a swarm of monsters attacking the village looking for crystals. While Jotaro Kujo, a standoffish teenager with an apparently invisible spirit attached to him (to which Aang could see due to being the bridge between the human and spirit world), was doing a good job at keeping them under control. Aang was able to manipulate the clay pots back into their original form. They released some sort of evil spirit attached once defeated, almost like it was never alive. Aang didn't know if he should feel guilt over fighting them or not. Still, he wasn't going to let objects turned living attack innocent people. Jotaro had been a bit surprised Aang could see his 'stand,' but he didn't ask too many questions about him being the avatar or what that meant. Honestly, it was a little bit of a letdown.

But at least the others liked the cool tricks he could show them!

"Oh, you mean this?"

Aang, already having the marbles in hand as soon as he saw the others, used his airbending to rapidly twirl them around in between the palm of his hands like a mini twister. It brought back memories of Kyoshi Island. Good times.

"I wish I could do that," Monster Kid said. "But I can't airbend…and I don't have arms."

"One of the world's greatest earthbenders is blind," Aang said, almost matter-of-factly. "Maybe you can't do this, but I'm sure you've got lots of cool stuff you can do."

"Well, I wanna be a warrior like Undyne. But she's so much cooler than me. Taller too."

"I'm sure you can be just as cool as her. And I'm not very tall, either," Aang said with a small laugh.

"You sure you don't want me to try and catch you a Starly?" Barry asked. "Seems like it'd be a great Pokémon for you, Aang. Then we could have battles, and I could show you all the ropes!"

Momo, his pet lemur-bat flew down and climbed onto his shoulder. Perfect timing. "Well, Momo doesn't really like birds."

"Oh, makes sense. Don't worry. We'll find a Pokémon that'll get along with Momo and Appa!"

"Can we ride Appa again soon?" Sprig asks. "Doing all those loopty loops in the air was so much fun—and satiated my insatiable sense of danger!"

"If Appa is okay with it, I don't see why not."

"How tired does flying make him?" King asked. "Hooty tried to make me fly once, and I got tired after the fifth failed attempt!"

"Everyone," a girl's voice called out. This was Iris Hawthorne, one of the head shrine maidens. She had a timid and calm demeanor. "Supper is ready. It's time to come inside."

Everyone gathered in the common space and sat down for a meal. It was a soup made up of different vegetables. Both he and a boy just a bit older than him, Steven, were vegetarians. Iris, being a kind person, made two different food options. Honestly, he'd been treated very well by the hostesses of Kurain Village.

Aang sat next to Steven; both being pacifists, unsurprisingly became fast friends. Aang was friends with most of the people here, to be fair. Raven, Marnie, and Syaoran were a bit standoffish, but Aang chalked that up to Raven being a private person, Marnie being shy, and Syaoran being two years younger than him. Toriel and Professor Sycamore acted more like parental figures (or the monks, in his case) than anything else. Koichi was nice. And so was Yugi. Though, they kept busy with a card game Yugi had brought with him. Koichi seemed better at it than most others here, Aang included. And his friend, Rohan, didn't really seem to like anyone. Or, he preferred the company of himself over others. It was kind of the same with Jotaro, only in a less arrogant way. He just seemed to hate people, especially girls, much to his own and definitely Steven's distaste. But, hey! Sokka was kind of sexist, too, before he met the Kyoshi warriors. Maybe Jotaro just needed to meet Suki. The thought made Aang laugh.

Eh, Katara was probably stronger than he was, anyway.

"Thank you for your lovely hospitality, Iris," Toriel said with a small, fuzzy smile.

"It's quite a pleasure," Iris said, returning the gesture. "It's been a while since we've had guests. You're welcome to stay as long as you need."

The soup tasted delicious as always. Iris seemed to make everything without flaw, but she also shied away from compliments.

"The soup is fantastique," Professor Sycamore marveled.

"Oh, it's nothing," Iris said. "It's just something I made on the spot."

"Professor Sycamore is right," Yugi said with a small smile. "This is great!"

As they continued to talk amongst each other, Steven turned to Aang. "So, how'd searching for your friend go today?"

"Honestly?" Aang asked. "Not well. Kurain Village is far off from the city, and a lot of people give me weird looks when I take Appa into Tokyo."

Aang slumped over at the table. "I miss them, though."

"I get that," Steven said. "I can help you find them tomorrow. I mean, if they ended up here."

"Really? That'd be great!"

There was a pause. Furious scratching noises of pen on paper could be heard as Rohan drew his new 'manga' chapter. It was like the drawings Sokka did but good.

"Have you found any of your friends?" Aang asked.

Steven shook his head. "But I have a feeling they're here."

"Same here. I get it."

At that moment, a loud jolt of thunder echoed across the sky. Soon enough, rain poured down like waves of water.

"Well, someone made Poseidon mad," Syaoran murmured.

"Poseidon?" Aang questioned.

"He's the god of the seas in Greek mythology," Yugi explained.

"Oh? Back home waterbenders derive their power from the moon. I know the moon, actually," Aang said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Fascinating," Rohan spoke sarcastically. "It's been done in a million different stories—a boy talking to the stars. Honestly, it's generic."

Aang shot him a glare. Yue's death was no such thing. But then, he supposed he hadn't said anything about Yue being the moon spirit.

"Hey, I've been to the moon before," Steven said.

"See? You're proving my point," Rohan said flippantly.

"Let's just get back to having a nice meal," Koichi said, seeming to sense the tension in the room.

Aang continued to glare at Rohan who merely smirked in response. Not only that, but what if the rain didn't clear by tomorrow? How could he search for the others then?

Sister Bikini, a very tiny woman, jumped at the next roll of thunder. She shook her head and looked to her guests. "You all probably want to stay in this building for a little while. It's going to be storming for a while."

"Great!" Frosta exclaimed sarcastically. "Just what we need on top of all those monsters."

"Not to worry," Aang assured them. He posed in what he hoped was heroic. "As the Avatar, it's my job to keep the world safe—well—I guess it's more like worlds now."

"Oh? And how do you plan to do that, Moon Boy?"

Sokka couldn't draw, but at least his sarcastic quips were actually funny.

"More than draw," Aang said swiftly. He grinned when Rohan grumbled something under his breath. "I can bend water, earth, fire, and air, and I've saved my world before. I just need to get to the root of this problem. I'm sure once I find my friends, we can solve this quick!"

"I'm sure you can, too," Steven interjected.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang at the door. Jotaro, who was closest to the door, hesitantly opened the door only to have a woman fall through and collapse in a bloody heap on the ground. She had short silver hair and wore a tattered fancy dress-suit. She held a broken whip in her hand which reminded Aang of June.

"Miss Franziska!" Pearl shrieked.

Aang jumped up high into the air with his airbending and landed next to the woman. Too bad Katara wasn't here; she could help him try and heal some of these wounds.

"Nnnngh. I n-need to speak to Edgeworth," she groaned; shortly after, she passed out.

"Miss Von Karma," Iris said. "Someone get a bedroll! We need to treat those injuries!"

"I can help with that," Steven insisted.

He ran over to them and licked the palm of his hand. "Um, sorry. This is gonna be a little weird."

He slapped his spit-filled hand onto one of the injuries, before Aang could yell at him to stop, the woman's injuries started to heal and disappear.

"That's disgustingly useful," Jotaro commented. "I don't want to know why or how you learned to do that."

"Unimportant," Steven said dismissively. "Can you help me get her to a bedroll?"

Jotaro scowled but nodded, nonetheless.

Who was this woman? Who was Edgeworth? Had she been attacked by monsters? Okay, dumb question. Obviously. But why did she come here? And how did Pearl and Iris know her?

Aang supposed they'd find out as soon as she woke up.

…

Evil beyond himself never ceased to impress him. Alastor knew there had to be a greater power that had orchestrated this massive dimensional shift. Though, not even the villains he came across seemed to be capable of such a feat. No. He hadn't met the mastermind, yet.

DIO, for all his self-made grandeur, was just like the rest of hell's population. He'd fall as he had before; that Alastor was sure. If he kept overstepping and planning a coup, Alastor may just drop a small hint of his existence to one Jotaro Kujo.

All of it was migraine-inducing. He would not be powerless—never again. He swore the last time would be against Adam. At least he'd finally found a way to get some control back on his power. Every day he felt himself grow just a tad stronger. He supposed he had Mr. Giovanna to thank for that. He really should've read the details of their deal closer. This would continue to happen until…well…until he was much like his Husker.

In both life and death.

But not to matter with that now! That was a bargaining chip for later, after all!

He had other deals to make.

…

Katara had just told a story about a little ghost girl from the Southern Water Tribe. They had been studying until the storm struck. To pass the time, the groups started telling each other stories. Katara's had been the creepiest, so far.

"Does anyone else have a ghost story they'd like to tell?" Rei asked, holding the flashlight to her face.

"Or you can keep them," Usagi said, huddling and shivering in the blankets. Miles snorted through his nose but managed to stifle his laughter…some.

"Hey!"

"C'mon Usagi," Minako said. "Don't be such a big chicken!"

"I've got a ghost story," Josuke spoke up. "And I know it happened, too."

"Really?" Katara asked. "Go ahead."

"Well, it all began with a girl named Reimi. Now, Rohan and Koichi, mostly Koichi, told me most of the background, so I might not do it justice. But Reimi was sixteen when she was babysitting Rohan at her house. That night, a serial murderer by the name of Kira Yoshikage snuck through the house. He killed her dog, Arnold. When she heard the dripping of the blood onto the floor, she saw what he'd done and scrambled to save Rohan. She saved him…but she was stabbed in the back by him. Her spirit couldn't rest—not until Kira was dead. So she haunted the streets of Morioh, looking for anyone who would help her. It's lucky Koichi and Rohan did."

"Whoa. That's actually super creepy," Miles said.

"Told you!"

"I didn't know stand users could see spirits," Kakyoin remarked. "I'll have to keep that in mind in case we go ghost hunting."

"How do you factor into this story?" Kaiba asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, that? Well, me, Jotaro, Hayato, Koichi, Okuyasu, and Rohan tracked down Kira and beat him up. We beat him up…and then his head was squished by an ambulance."

"That's gruesome," Robin said.

"I mean, he was trying to explode us all, and he was a SERIAL MURDERER," Josuke said, staring at Robin for emphasis.

"Touche."

"I've got a ghost story," Arven spoke up. "This one is also real."

"Seems like we're all in the mood to tell real ghost stories tonight," Ty Lee said.

"It's not technically a ghost story, but I think it can count," Arven said. "It's about my dad."

Katara and Sokka leaned forward, giving Arven a knowing and sympathetic look.

"When I was born, my mother left us to study abroad. She never came home, and I found out she left for good when I was about five. My dad sealed himself up in his lab inside the Great Crater. It was a dangerous place, and the Pokémon who lived there could be dangerous. Then one day, he left and never came back. I tried to go to find him, but I just ended up getting Mabosstiff hurt, badly. I spent years trying to find a cure—and I did, with the help from Julianna. They're my little buddy. Together we found the herbs guarded by legendary guardians that cured Mabosstiff. In the process, Miraidon, the legendary my dad had been studying got stronger, too. When we finished our journey, my dad asked us to come meet him in the Great Crater. Juliana invited Nemona and Penny. Truth is, I don't have a lot of friends, so they really came through for me when I needed it most."

"Anytime," Nemona said with a wink. "Also, I would've helped you if you just asked."

"I couldn't bring myself to do that," Arven said, shaking his head. "My pride wouldn't let me."

"You were going to miss out on meeting your dad just because of your pride?" Nemona asked.

"Well, he wasn't my dad, was he?" Arven shot back, a little spitefully. He laughed and held his head in his hands. "Turns out, he was an android my dad had designed to keep watch over his work because my real dad was killed by one of those Pokémon who hurt Mabosstiff!"

He was in tears now and gestured around the room flippantly with a flick of his hand. "That's why all of this is so…unnatural. I'm not used to living with a lot of people. I've always taken care of myself and Mabosstiff. That's it."

"Arven," Katara began. She glanced to Sokka. "We know what that's like. The Fire Nation killed my mom when I was a little girl, and then our dad had to go off to war. We didn't see him for a long time."

"Did you ever get to see him again?" Arven asked, in a low voice.

"We did," Sokka said. "When we were planning the invasion in Ba Sing Se. He helped us fight against the Fire Nation."

"That's good," Arven said. He laughed with a sort of bitterness that would make sour candy seem tame. "At least your dad didn't abandon you."

"I think," Adora said. "I think story time is over."

No duh. Poor Arven. Miles couldn't—wouldn't imagine a life without his dad.

It was quiet for a few seconds before Arven spoke up again. "Sorry for ruining the mood."

"It was getting late anyways we should probably head to—," Rei began.

She was cut off as someone inhaled sharply, painfully.

Giorno clutched the shirt he was wearing (a comfier shirt Yuichiro had lent him). Miles wasn't sure what to do. His friend shut his eyes, as if in enormous pain, a green luminescent webbing coursed down his arms and legs. That must be the source. But where was it coming from? Was this a daimon…or was it…?

"DORA!"

Nothing. Giorno still looked as though he were going to pass out. He grabbed Miles's arm. "It's him. It's the Radio Demon—he's—!"

Giorno passed out before he could finish his sentence. The webbing stopped and retracted back to the center of his chest. Miles shook him gently. "Giorno! Dude! Wake up!"

Katara stooped down beside him, feeling his wrist. She sighed with relief. "He's just sleeping. His pulse is still strong."

"What did he mean by that?" Kakyoin asked. "Who's the Radio Demon, Miles?"

Miles shook his head. "Not my story to tell."

"He could be seriously hurt, and you won't tell us?" Zuko countered.

"They've got you there," Kaiba said with a shrug.

"You know about this, too?" Kakyoin asked.

"Miles knows more," Kaiba deflected.

They all turned to Miles. It really wasn't his place to tell Giorno's secrets, especially about the deal with Alastor. But what if Zuko was right? What if Giorno was hurt? If he could prevent that demon from hurting him any further, shouldn't he? With great power…

Damn it.

"When Giorno came here," Miles said. "He was hurt—bad. He accidentally made a deal with a demon to stay alive."

"Oh, that's all?" Kakyoin asked with a sardonic laugh. "A demon?"

"He was dying," Miles reiterated. "It's not like he had a choice!"

"He should've known better," Rei said.

Miles was surprised. Up until this point, the Shinto Priestess had been the most understanding. Now, she was deciding to be judgmental, at the worst possible time.

"You've never done something you've regretted?" Zuko asked.

And now the person who was most suspicious of Giorno for most of their time here was on his side. Rei looked to the floor. Kakyoin still seemed unsure. "He could be a threat to this entire group."

"He's not," Miles said. If anyone was a threat by definition…it'd be him. "Giorno is a good person. He's always helped me when I needed it."

"I mean, he is Spiderman," Josuke argued. "I've never read a comic where Spiderman was evil. It'd be a good concept, though. Point is, I think we can trust Miles, if nothing else."

"He just looks so much like…" Kakyoin's words trailed off.

He must've had problems with Giorno's dad. What had happened? Should he ask? Or would that incriminate Giorno even further? No. He wasn't going to do that.

"You're basing this off looks?" Zuko asked.

"Not very sound," Sokka agreed.

"You don't understand," Kakyoin argued. "That man was dangerous. Hell, he wasn't even a man!"

Another jolt of thunder rang against the roof of the Hikawa Shrine. The moment was interrupted as a guy's voice yelled, "Hey! Anyone home? Please, I need help! I gotta kid with me."

Kaiba groaned. The accent was Brooklyn. Almost stereotypically so.

"Don't let him in," Kaiba warned.

Rei ignored him and opened the doors. A soaked blond boy ran through. He held a tiny child in his arms. They couldn't be older than nine or ten. And the blond guy looked about sixteen, like Kaiba. Most importantly, the boy and the kid were banged up pretty bad. The boy took the brunt of the damage—he had wounds on his legs, arms, chest, and a few scrapes on his face. The child had a surface gash on their arms and legs. Their brown hair framed their face and was caked with dirt. Their purple and pink striped shirt and shorts were torn, and their sneakers were no better. The only thing intact was some heart-shaped locket they wore around their neck.

Kaiba appeared a bit surprised. "Wheeler. What did you get yourself into?"

Wheeler, apparently, glanced up to Kaiba. "Oh. It's you, rich boy."

He gasped and fell to his knees, "Someone please take the kid!"

Katara was quickest. She grabbed the child from the blonde before he passed out.

"Seto," Connie started. He flinched at the name. "Who are they?"

"The child I have no idea," Kaiba said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "The mutt is Joey Wheeler. A pain in my side."

"Josuke, can you help me heal them?" Katara asked, using her healing abilities on the child's wounds.

"Of course! DORA!"

"Are they going to be okay?" Pav asked.

"Yes," Katara said with a nod. "But what could've done this to them? Usually the daimon don't scratch people up like this."

"Good question," Zuko agreed.

"I guess we'll find out," Sokka said sternly.

Miles helped Katara, Josuke, Sokka, and Zuko get Giorno, Joey, and the child to a bed. Katara sat down beside them. "I'll keep an eye on them for now. Someone can take a shift for me later, preferably Josuke since he's also a healer."

"Goodbye full night's sleep," Josuke grumbled.

Sokka grinned, as if gaining some divine intervention for brilliant insight: "That's rough, buddy."

Zuko shot him a look. "I only said that one time. What was I supposed to say to 'my first girlfriend turned into the moon?'"

"Not that!"

"I'll stay with you," Miles offered. "I wanna make sure he's okay."

Katara paused and nodded. "Thank you, Miles. I'm sure they'll appreciate it."

It was quiet for a moment before Sokka pulled Josuke and Zuko closer, "We'll smooth things over with Kakyoin. I'm sure it's all a big misunderstanding!"

"Yeah," Josuke agreed. "I mean, if I saw someone who looked like Kira *or by extension Kawajiri,* I'd probably be skeptical, too."

Sokka and Josuke walked back to the main room while Zuko lingered behind. "Kakyoin was right before all this. We all do things we're not proud of. I don't know what Giorno's gotten himself into, but I can tell he's trying. I'm not exactly Mr. Social, myself. Far be it from me to judge anyone. And I don't think you're a bad person either, Miles."

With that, he left the room, leaving himself and Katara. Katara kept a constant flow of waterbending above everyone every twenty minutes or so.

"Hey Miles," Katara spoke up, not breaking her concentration. "What is Spiderman, anyways?"

"Spiderman?" Miles repeated. Katara nodded. "It's our duty to protect the world from people who would like to hurt it. I'm my universe's only Spiderman."

"That must be pretty lonely," Katara said. "Do you have a lot of friends back home?"

Miles paused. "You've met Pav."

"Yeah, well, you two interact less than you and Giorno do. Plus, he said he's from a different universe from you."

"Wait," Miles said. Why was she asking all these questions? "If you know that, why are you asking?"

She continued, seemingly ignoring his question. "Why didn't you tell us about that 'Radio Demon?'"

"Because it was Giorno's business. Not mine."

"Zuko was right. He could've gotten hurt. We're still not sure about all the details of this deal. If Giorno is your friend, wouldn't it be good to help him by finding out?"

"What are you suggesting?" Miles asked.

"Let me rephrase: how many friends did you have from your own universe? The people you see every day?" Katara asked.

Miles was quiet. Ganke didn't count. Not really. He was pretty sure Ganke would enjoy a single-person dorm. His folks were the closest people to him, and the people who he considered great friends before had betrayed him in the worst way possible.

"I didn't," Miles admitted. "I had me and my family, and I'd do anything to protect my family."

"I would, too," Katara said. "But I also have plenty of people I'd call my friend, even people here. I don't want to see anyone get hurt. Maybe I can help you get Giorno out of this deal. I just need to know more."

"I don't think you want to go messing around with this guy, Katara," Miles said. "The first and last time I saw him, I could barely breathe. It was like there was pressure on my chest. Giorno said not to go looking for him, and that he didn't even read his contract properly. There was something that had attacked him, and the Radio Demon found him dying, unable to heal himself. So, they struck a deal."

He didn't dare tell Katara that he'd met Giorno's father. No. That was putting way too much trust in someone to keep a secret.

"Then we'll find a way to get rid of the demon," Katara said. She gave Miles a small smile. "Thank you for trusting me enough to be honest and open like this. I'll do whatever I can."

And now he felt like a huge jerk, but he just couldn't bring himself to be completely honest with her—not after Gwen.

"Thank you, Katara."

…

"There's not a ruddy chance in all of the Distortion World that I'd ever consider being friends with the likes of you," Bede scoffed.

The absolute nerve of this sad sod! Asking to team up to find Chairman Rose was the absolute last thing he would help the Champion's lackluster, little brother accomplish. He'd put his days seeking out Rose behind him. Sure, he may have his contact information on his Pokenav, but there was no way he was going out of his way to help Hop of all people.

"Those daimon attacked Mr. Wright. We…need your help," Hop said with a sigh.

Bede smirked. The champion's little brother asking—no—imploring him for help was quite humorous.

"Why don't you ask your brother?" Bede spoke harshly.

"I don't know where Lee is!" Hop objected.

"Not my problem. Now, leave me alone."

The absolute nerve of this sniveling wimp. He couldn't solve his own problems, so now he wanted him to do it for him. And to come to Mr. Kaiba's offices to do it was just…sad. It was an ambush! An outrage!

"Won't you consider it?" the girl, Shauna, asked.

She had been nice that day of the battle. She told Hop and Hau not to revel in their one, pathetic, little victory. She looked at him pleadingly. Even so, he wouldn't give in to this request—not if it meant working with Hop.

"No," he said simply.

"We heard they attacked Mr. Kaiba, too," the other girl, Toph, pointed out. "Shouldn't you be trying to be grateful and help us?"

"I don't follow your logic," Bede said.

"Well, he took you in, didn't he?" Toph asked. "It'd be pretty selfish not to work with us just because you hate Hop. You could really be helping him, you know?"

It was true, Seto Kaiba had helped them. But it was also true that Bede had helped him. To be called ungrateful, however, was an insult. His…mother and father often got into fights. Before they gave him away, his mother once told him he should be grateful to be alive. He tried to be grateful, but they gave him up, anyways. He tried to be grateful to Chairman Rose for unofficially adopting him, and he was cast aside again. Why should he risk being close to anyone ever again?

"I can't—won't help you," Bede insisted.

"What do you mean? Of course, we'll help them."

Bede flinched at Mokuba Kaiba's voice. He and Silver entered the lobby from the elevator to their right. Bede sighed and clenched his fists, "Mokuba, you have no idea the levels of incompetence we're dealing—."

Mokuba cut him off. "They attacked my older brother. I'm not just going to stand by and do nothing. If helping Mr. Wright helps him, then we're doing it."

"Alright!" the boy, Gus, cheered. "It's good to have you guys on board!"

"Not by choice," Bede muttered.

Gus looked at him, almost sympathetically. He hated it. "I know you probably don't wanna work with us, but if we get this done, then we can protect a lot of people from those monsters!"

"It might even lead us to the reason why we were teleported to this world in the first place," Silver said thoughtfully. "Fine. We'll help you, but don't expect us to become pals or anything."

"Bede?" Shauna asked. "What about you? You can disagree. It's alright."

"But we need him," Hop argued.

"And if he doesn't want to, he doesn't have to," Shauna argued back. She smiled at Bede. "It's up to you."

She was giving him the choice to help. He'd never really had much choice in anything. 'Do this or you're no longer useful' is what he was accustomed to. Shauna had been nice to him, nicer than most people, despite not even knowing him that well. And Seto Kaiba, for all his yelling at employees, had never asked anything of him. Maybe he did owe him this ONE favor.

"Fine. I'll help."

As he relented, a torrent of rain poured down from the sky. It would be blinding to anyone who tried to walk in it. Bede sighed as he heard Mokuba speak up. "You guys can stay here tonight. I don't think it's safe to go out. We can get to know each other better. Seto told me he's staying with his…friends at the shrine."

"Yay! Sleepover!" Gus cheered.

"You sure he's not going to regret that decision?" Silver whispered to Bede.

Bede chuckled. At least Silver was realistic and funny.

…

"You got too close. They knew you were onto them," Jet said, propping his feet on his coffee table.

Phoenix felt his eye twitch. He only owned so many 'nice' things in this life. True, the coffee table was already scuffed, but why add onto it?

Ever since that daimon had attacked them, Edgeworth became a constant presence in his apartment, or he would suggest, if they happened to be with Edgeworth that they stay with him. It didn't help when Hobie told them how daimons would keep track on their targets until they proved there was or was not a talisman hidden inside them. What kind of talisman? No one knew. What Phoenix did know is that he was tired of the attempts. So far, Hobie had beaten one down with a guitar, Eda got another with her harpy magic, and Bucciarati diced one back into a shattered vase. All of them had come looking for Phoenix.

And they were still no closer to finding Chairman Rose.

"We've been scouting the west side of the Juban district for the root of this 'daimon' problem," Raine said. "It could be that they've used magic to hole themselves up somewhere we can't reach. That's what Belos did."

"Tch. Typical fascists," Hobie muttered, tossing Phoenix's Rubix cube up and down in the air.

Someone's phone rang. It kinda sounded like the Steel Samurai's theme. Edgeworth quickly dove into his jacket pocket, a sort of visible embarrassment on his face and answered his phone.

"Hello?...Well, we've been looking…No…I promise, we're close to cracking this…I've been in contact with Detective Gum…"

Audible yelling from Gideon Graves rang through the room. Abbachio grabbed Edgeworth's phone. "Don't get your panties in a wad, we'll solve your case soon enough. Also, you're already pretty much blacklisted. Hiring anyone else at this point would be moot."

Click.

It was radio silence in the room for a full minute; Eda burst out laughing. "Oh, come on, he had it coming! That was hilarious!"

"Eda…" Raine shook their head. He looked to Abbachio who carelessly sipped on another glass of…something. Phoenix wasn't even sure he had anymore alcohol, himself. "Please, we need to take this seriously!"

"I'm being so sincere right now," Abbachio said with a snort.

Sasha and Guzma started to laugh along. At least the mood was lightening a bit.

"Raine is right," Bruno said, slightly solemn. "We have too many problems building up on top of each other. We need to find some sort of clue—and soon. Lives are on the line."

"Not with the weather being the way it is," N said. He glared at the rain from the apartment window, like he was trying to make it go away by sheer force of will. "It's like the world is trying to drown itself. Like an omen."

Another uncomfortable silence, Maya clapped her hands. "Don't worry guys! I've got just the thing to pass the time!"

"Maya no…" Phoenix groaned, knowing exactly what her time-passer was.

She pulled out three VHS tapes of Steel Samurai from the cabinet. "I'll pop us some popcorn! We can crash right here while marathoning Steel Samurai!"

…

After everyone fell asleep, Phoenix dug into his cabinets for some old blankets his parents gave him a long time ago. He took a moment to breathe. He was tired. And this was even prior to any of the other-world shenanigans. He didn't even mind that so much. But it always felt like some new catastrophe was happening to him, Maya, and occasionally Edgeworth every Tuesday.

He sat on his bed for a minute, taking it all in. He heard his door creak. He looked up to see Edgeworth.

"Edgeworth. What's up? I thought you were asleep."

"Couldn't," Edgeworth said with a slight indifferent shrug. "Everyone else is still asleep. I noticed you were gone, so I wanted to make sure…"

"That some monster hadn't run off with me in the middle of your marathon? How sweet."

Although, it actually kind of was, in a Miles kind of way.

Miles smirked, "I'll know better than to worry next time."

This time the quiet they shared was strangely comfortable. It was painfully obvious that he liked Miles. Maya knew, and she teased him about it constantly (especially when she found out he went to law school just to meet Miles again). Abbachio had made an off-hand comment 'mistaking' them as a couple the other day. He was sure both he and Bucciarati knew. But maybe they knew because they were a couple, or at least, Phoenix assumed they were.

"I'm sorry," Miles said. "I insisted that we met with that sham professor. I didn't know she…"

"How could you have known?" Phoenix asked. "It's okay, Edgeworth. We had to start somewhere."

"I just wanted to make sure you didn't take anymore hits as a lawyer. I know it's hard enough to be a defense attorney, but I couldn't imagine a world where you were disbarred or…worse."

Phoenix stood up and walked over to Edgeworth. He put his hands on his shoulders. "Miles, look, I'm not worried about it. It's alright. This isn't your fault."

Miles didn't seem convinced. Phoenix smiled slightly, "You wanna know what you can do to make it up to me?"

"…I'm listening."

Phoenix bundled the blankets in his arms and placed half the stack into Miles's arms. "Help me carry these! They're super heavy!"

Miles blinked as though he had been expecting something else. He shook his head and scoffed. "So, I've been reduced to a babysitter, too?"

"Welcome to my world, Edgeworth."

…

The former soothsayer/stand user had come to investigate the situation with Giorno. Miles was getting worried. Giorno was still unconscious, almost as if he was in a coma. Avdol had ushered everyone out except Miles, Katara, and Rei. Not even Kakyoin was allowed back inside until he'd finished his checkup.

"The deal he struck is serious," Avdol noted. "If it's legally binding, he's in danger. He'll wake up, but there's no telling how much of his power and spirit that demon can drain if no exact terms were set."

Avdol leaned forward. "I also sense that his paternal lineage is…unique to say the least."

"Is it like Kakyoin thinks? Is he related to that DIO guy?" Miles asked.

Avdol's voice became a whisper. "I'm afraid so. Which means he has the capability for great destruction, mayhem, and tyranny."

That couldn't be true. Giorno was a good person. Miles was sure of it. He had to be!

"However," Avdol said quickly. "He also has the potential to be a hero, someone who never backs down in the face of great evil. He has the Joestar family birthmark right above his shoulder. I would assume he possesses traits of both DIO and Jonathan Joestar."

"Then that's good news, right?" Katara asked. "You said the Joestars were heroes."

"It makes his situation all the more precarious," Avdol explained. "That much power…it's no surprise a demon would strike a deal with him at his weakest."

"Can you help him?" Rei asked.

"Perhaps we all can. If we find the demon," Avdol said. "We either convince him to revoke the deal, or we get rid of the demon."

Miles looked at his friend. That Radio Demon might be tough, but he was Spiderman. And no one messed with the people he cared about. No one was going to die on his watch. He'd track down that demon and make sure that deal was null and sent back to the void he came from.

…

Lucifer Morningstar had been stuck in the rain. It sucked. Being trapped in torrential pools of water, almost drowning twice. He had only been trying to get back to the hotel after looking around for Stolas's daughter.

But he guessed it was lucky he had been stuck. After all, he would've never found the two children who almost drowned in the muddy nature-made trenches of the park.

One was a child with long, black hair, long gray blouse, skirt and shoes. Although her outfit was plain, she had a lot of magical energy around her. Maybe bringing her to the hotel wasn't a great idea, but he was sure Charlie would welcome her with open arms.

The other was a child with copperish, shoulder-length hair, a long-sleeve green shirt, orange vest, and blue shorts. He'd been carrying his backpack. Hopefully it wasn't full of anything perishable; it was totally soaked.

Now, they hadn't ended up in the trench naturally. No. There was some man Lucifer had burned the hands off of to get him to drop them. He'd been holding them by their shirt collars, yelling obscenities about carving them up into tiny pieces for injuring his left eye. It did appear to have a bullet lodged in it. As to which child had done that, well, it was a mystery to him.

Humans did need to be more careful what they chose to do with their free will. The harming of children, well, that called for repercussions, right? And he would've burned the man alive, had he not jumped into a blueish portal, out of harm's way.

C'est la vie.

When he walked back in the hotel, Alastor was the first to greet them. Greeeeaaaat. Just what he needed after a hard day's work.

"Your highness! Charlie was getting worried. She thought you'd slipped away for good!"

Lucifer heard the implied 'again' and swore he'd get Alastor back some day.

Alastor looked to his left and right, "And who are these two?"

"Alastor, this is Homura Akemi and Hayato Kawajiri. They'll be staying with us for a while."

Alastor's mouth curled into a grin.

…

And now, Alastor had someone who could counter that silly time-stand. He'd read the files of the people who'd been teleported here. Homura Akemi, resident magical she-devil and time stopper. They'd make an excellent team against the likes of DIO.