A/N: I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! It's my birthday in eight days! Please read and review as an early birthday gift! Haha! Seriously though, hope you guys enjoy!

So many lives blipped off the traces of his monitor, but they had not gone back to their original dimensions. It was if they had disappeared into another dimension entirely—or a pocket dimension.

"Did you find out if my grandson was among them?" The old man, Joseph Joestar asked.

"I've told you before," Miguel said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I built the new tracker on limited tech. It's not a precise locator. It only gives indicators of who might be around. The cameras couldn't track where they took all those missing people, but it appears like your grandson was not taken."

In fact, more annoyingly, he went off with Miles Morales in some unknown direction. According to Joseph, Jotaro Kujo happened to be the strongest member of their ridiculously overpowered family. Well, at least one of them wasn't on the side that would eventually unravel the multiverse. Perhaps Joseph could talk some sense into his grandson.

"Those Paldean trainers lost their friend," Lusamine noted, reexamining the footage. "Though, Paldeans are known for their lackadaisical approach to Pokémon battles. They all seem consumed with other matters: fashion, art, baking. It's no surprise they weren't prepared."

"And what does it say about us that we were also caught off guard?" Miguel countered with a growl. Her elitism irked him.

He stood up from his desk. Jack eyeballed him. "Though you weren't the type to go on missions?"

"Seems I'm the only one competent enough to do so."

"You're hurting my feelings, O'Hara," a half-drunk Leon S Kennedy deadpanned.

"You're drunk. Redfield, you're with me. We're going to rendezvous with two of our newest agents in the field."

Chris Redfield nodded whilst Leon shrugged and muttered. "Didn't ask for any of this bullshit."

"I still can't believe you gave two teenagers the tech to counter any power-dampeners, but you won't help me fix my vortex manipulator," Jack complained.

"They're responsible. They know what needs to be done to save the multiverse," Miguel said. "You? Your friend was right. Can't have you jumping around all of time and creating more holes."

"He's going to need time to sober up," Chris said with a sigh, trying to snap a drunken Leon S. Kennedy awake.

"I'm going, too," Joseph insisted. "I'm going to find my grandson and make sure he's alright."

"I think I'll get out, too," Jack said. "See if I can find anyone familiar."

"Have fun," Leon said, suddenly perking up. It was doubtful the sarcastic ass had been asleep in the first place.

Miguel was sure this outing would be the furthest thing from 'fun.'

…

"What's the deal?" his newly acquired friend, who he decided to refer to as his friend did, V-Man, asked.

The young boy detransformed, letting the green light fade in the alleyway behind the building that was definitely a trap—but for who? No one could even get into this weird place except him. V-Man, Wall-Climber, and Plant Magic were not able to phase through walls.

There weren't any of those monsters nearby. But there was a bad energy in the lower levels of that place, he could sense it.

"Hold up, Gear made something for the occasion," V-Man said, handing him a wristwatch. "It'll let us know where you are, and it can deactivate some passcodes. You might be able to break in from the inside."

"I've got an even better idea," he said. He interlinked V-Man, Plant Magic, and Wall Crawler's arms, making them all invisible and intangible to the human eye and touch. "We can all phase through that wall now and explore what's down there. There might be more monsters down there, so it'd be best if we stick together."

"Wow!" Wall Crawler exclaimed. "I didn't know you could do that! Virgil, Willow, can you believe this?"

"Static here, Peter. Remember we gotta stick to codenames."

"And I like Plant Magic. It makes me sound mysterious."

"But you just called me Peter," The young Peter Parker complained.

"He's got you there, Static," Willow Park argued jokingly.

"Heh. My bad," Virgil Hawkins said, scratching the back of his neck. He turned back to the teenage half-ghost. "Why didn't you change your first name, Danny?"

"Well, no one's caught me yet," Danny said with a laugh.

"Hold on," Virgil said, clicking a few buttons on his watch. He was getting a call from Richie. "What's up?"

"I've intercepted a secret message from that creepzoid organization. You might want to hold off your investigation of that building. There's nothing in there now, but…there will be." Richie explained. "Do you want me to play it for you?"

"Yeah. We need to hear it."

…

Fire flew from his fingertips as he regained consciousness. Someone had hit him with something holy. A weapon only a divine being could hold, and now his daughter was gone. And whoever took her…

Would have hell to pay.

Lucifer, Maggie, Angel, and Godot led a four-person team. Given that the attack had been performed by heavenly-designed creatures, Godot reasoned it was only natural that they were hiding somewhere holy.

That's how they ended up at the Hikawa Shrine.

There were no angelic monsters holding his daughter hostage, much to his disappointment. But everyone here was in the same situation: missing a loved one or friend. Godot even seemed to recognize one of these people.

"And they just took off with Maya, Mr. Edgeworth, and his annoying sister?" Godot asked the man with hedgehog quills for hair.

The man nodded, not seeming too invested in the conversation.

"That still doesn't explain why they took Charlie," Maggie—no—that was wrong—Vaggie said.

"They must want someone in your group to come and face them," the CEO surmised.

He heard a loud voice say, "Hey! I thought I ran you off!"

It was the tiefling. He was sure she wasn't a demon. Nah. Not similar enough to any demon he'd seen before.

He held his ground. "I'm looking for my daughter. Some angelic fu…."

He glanced around the room, noting there were quite a few kids. He straightened his suit jacket and took a deep breath in. "If I wanted to hurt anyone, it's not going to be a room full of bystanders with the same problem as me. They took my daughter, and I need to make sure I put an end to whoever did so. I'm not out to trick anyone. I'm just here for Charlie."

The tiefling's hand inched slowly away from her battle-axe. "Fine. But if you pull any funny business…"

He cut her off, "I get it. But…honestly? Good luck with that."

"Cocky, aren't you?"

"Pissed is more the term."

"I'm sorry, who are you?" a teen with a burn scar on the side of his face asked. He wondered how he got it. Wait. Gotta keep on track.

"I'd rather not say."

"Tell us your name, or you're not allowed in the building," another teen in a…Spiderman costume told him.

"We don't have time for this," Vaggie hissed. "We need any leads we can get to get Charlie back!"

Lucifer sighed and muttered, "I may or may not be…Lucifer Morningstar."

There were a few glances exchanged: some worried, some concerned about the worried faces, and some doubtful. Another sigh and he held up a fireball in the palm of his hand. "Ta-da."

"Why do you all look like that?" the first teen asked.

"Um…Lucifer…is the ruler of hell. The bad place you go to in the afterlife. You know, if you're a bad person while you're living. And he tried to overthrow God." Spider-kid explained.

"Look, I was only saying we should give humans free will. I mean, all those events are a bit tilted towards Heaven's advantage."

"Didn't you say all of us were horrible?" Angel asked.

"Not helping," Vaggie said. "Look, I'm an angel, and I'm helping him. Does that help our case."

"Prove it."

"UGH!"

Vaggie extended her wings for everyone to see. "Happy?"

"I think we should give him a chance." He recognized that voice. It was the old man from the tea shop who had tried to defend him before. "I see a father in need of help. Titles shouldn't matter, so long as he is not cruel to his people."

"I can vouch for that," Angel said. "He's pretty chill, you know, for hell."

"Alright," a girl in a red and white robe said. "He can stay for now; at least until we get this mess solved."

There was a silence in the room as Lucifer went around the room, asking about Charlie. He showed them pictures. He was stopped by the sound of static. Suddenly, the TV in the room had turned on.

…

Gwen kept giving him looks. He knew she was sorry. And he knew she was waiting for the right moment to talk to him. Would it be right to forgive her? She was his friend, but she had fully intended on not telling him that Miguel was going to let his dad just—die! But maybe Kaiba was right. Maybe she did deserve a second chance to at least prove herself. Still, keeping that big a secret…

And Giorno, Sokka, Luz, Anne, Pav, and Joey were missing because they were careless.

Was this a punishment for something? Throwing a bagel at The Spot? Leaving his parents on such bad terms? Getting his universe's Peter Parker killed? Treating Spot as a villain of the week? Getting his uncle killed?

Not listening to Miguel?

UGH! No. That couldn't be it. That damage was caused by The Spot. Not him. He was the one who was opening wormholes.

What was he supposed to do?

And now, apparently, Lucifer was in a shrine. How he did that, Miles didn't know. He had a daughter that he was rambling about and showing off pictures just to see if anyone had seen her. Nothing in this world made sense.

Gwen was walking towards him. Someone swiftly sat beside Miles. It was Makoto.

"You'd better have a good reason for betraying your friend," Mako said.

"I…thought I did," Gwen muttered. She glanced down to the ground and then back at Miles. "Miles…I'm so sorry."

"Sorry?" Mako scoffed. "You can't just come in here and give a lame apology after—,"

Miles cut her off. "Mako, it's cool."

He turned back to Gwen. "Look, I'm not going to say that everything is okay between us, but, since you are trying to help me, I'm guessing that you split from Miguel, right?"

"Completely," Gwen said with no trace of hesitation. "I realized he was wrong, about a lot of things. I think we can save your dad, Miles. That's why I formed my own band."

Miles was silent and then chuckled. "A band, huh?"

Gwen half-heartedly laughed back. "Yeah. Turns out this one isn't so bad."

"Going forward," Miles said. "No secrets, alright? We'll go from there, okay?"

Not everything was instantly forgiven, but he was going to try and leave a window open. It'd be tough, but Gwen had been one of his only friends for a while. And she'd broken away from Miguel's group. Surely that had to be worth something.

At that moment, the television in their room turned on, broadcasting the face of that Red Witch. She grinned from ear to ear a malicious and eerie smile.

"It's her," he heard Arven whisper.

"Of course it's me," the Red Witch answered. When Arven jumped back, she laughed. "Oh please, why be so shocked? Our company is capable of greater feats than speaking through television."

"Give me back my brother!" Katara shouted.

"And my sister!" King added.

"And my Mamo!" Usagi protested.

"And my daughter!" Lucifer said, flames rising from his mouth and fingertips.

"Yeah!" the little girl, Pearl agreed, rolling up the sleeve of her robe. "And Mystic Maya, Miss Franziska, and Mr. Edgeworth!"

"How cute," the Red Witch said with a slight giggle. "And you'll get your friends back, if others take their place."

"We're not letting you do that," the Avatar, Aang said. "We'll all come to stop you."

"Not so fast," the Red Witch said. The witch switched the screen to a darkened room where all their friends lay on the floor, unconscious. "It's invitation only. If we detect that any of you have come with them, we'll dispose of your friends. After all, we know all your energy signatures since you've been so willing to fight against our daimon for so long. Of course, we'll do that if any of you fail to show up, too."

"So…who do you want?" Hunter asked.

"I'm so glad you asked, Hunter," the Red Witch said. "Given how you've evaded us thus far, you'll be invited here along with your other friends, old and new: Josuke Higashikata, Arven, Firelord Zuko, Miles Morales, Seto Kaiba, Usagi Tsukino, Wyll Ravengard, Phoenix Wright, Jotaro Kujo, King, Yugi Muto, Steven Universe, and surprisingly, Lucifer Morningstar."

"Say what now?" Lucifer asked. Everyone was too stunned or in fear to answer.

"You have thirty minutes to reach us. Failure to do so will result in their destruction. Do you understand?"

An address flashed onto the screen.

"We'll be there," Zuko assured her. "And when we get there, you won't be hurting anyone. I'll make sure of that."

"Are you?" she countered. "Well, we'll just see about that."

With that, the screen flicked off.

"Why did you tell them we would meet them?" Kaiba asked Zuko. "It's obviously a trap."

"Do you want a bunch of innocent people to die?" Zuko countered. "Because I'm not going to wait for that to happen. Sokka is a good friend to all of us and Katara's brother. I'm not just letting him rot there. And everyone else here has someone to protect—and you have a friend down there!"

"You confuse thin tolerance with friendship, Firelord," Kaiba said, sarcasm dripping in his tone. "The only person who matters to me is well-guarded by a terrifying tiefling who does her job very well. If you're willing to go and get yourself killed out there, that's fine."

"You flatter me, lad," Karlach shouted from a corner of the room. "But, still, there's lives on the line. You've got to show them some consideration. After all, Gale is one of the ones who saved your little brother from being attacked by that card-game daimon. So, perhaps his highness is right."

She turned to Wyll. "I'd never ask you to do something you don't want to do."

"But you're well aware that I'm going to go save our wizard," Wyll surmised. He turned to Seto. "I promise to protect you while we're there. Have you ever known any monster to get past the Blade of the Frontiers?"

"Not to mention that, but our friend, Robin has been protecting you a lot, as well," Starfire pointed out. "He and Connie will both die if you do not go."

"I'm going to save Connie," Steven assured her. "I'll save your friend, too."

"But you can't just ask my brother to go on a suicide mission," the little kid, Mokuba argued. "He's my only family!"

The whole group started arguing.

"We need to go!"

"Not my problem!"

"They're not taking my son!"

"Or my nephew!"

"How in the hell did I get chosen for this? Is it because of the ducks?"

"Maybe?"

Miles stood up on a stool, trying to gather attention. "Hey! Everyone calm down!"

No one was listening. He heard footsteps beside him. It was that tall, sullen guy, Jotaro Kujo. "Good grief. At this rate, everyone is going to die."

"I'm trying to get their attention," Miles said, gesturing to the crowd.

"Seems like you need presence." Jotaro cleared his throat. "Everyone shut the hell up!"

The group turned towards them. Jotaro gestured to Miles, "Your turn, man."

Miles gave him an appreciative nod and faced the group. "Look, I know this is scary. And I'm not going to stand here and pretend I'm not scared. But like or hate the people trapped wherever the witch has them, they have helped you more than they should. They're friends, friends we shouldn't turn a blind eye to when they need us most. After all, it was Mamoru who helped Usagi become Sailor Moon again, Giorno who helped me fight off so many monsters and became a good friend, Sokka who fought off daimon with a sword and a boomerang, Luz who used magic to ward off and defeat enemies, Kakyoin who helped us figure out where to go, or Connie and Robin who always fought for two different groups when we needed them. My point is, I'm not giving up on any of our friends—and they are our friends. To call them anything less is an insult."

He paused and inhaled. "I've learned a lot—being Spiderman. It's about taking risks and making sure no one gets left behind. I've been given this great power, and so have a lot of you. It's time to use it responsibly. With great power…comes great responsibility."

He shut his eyes. "So…could we stick together on this? I don't want anyone to die. And if we stick together—if nothing else—I can protect us. I promise."

There was a murmur amongst the crowd; Zuko was the first to speak up. "Miles is right. It's not as though we're powerless. We can stand up for ourselves and save our friends."

"And not to brag," Lucifer spoke up. "But I've been known to be able to handle a few monsters here and there."

There was a general murmur of agreement amongst everyone—everyone except Kaiba. He seemed to be mulling it over, at least. Starfire drifted over to him. "I do not like to ask favors. But please…friend Robin means a lot to us."

Seto looked from her, to Miles, to Wyll, to the group. He finally sighed and said, "Fine. But Ravengard, you're with me."

"You can rest assured that I will not allow anyone to fall to those monsters."

"But Seto," Mokuba said. He didn't finish whatever he was going to say, but he looked pointedly at his brother.

"I'll be fine," Kaiba assured him. "I'll make sure they pay for even trying to use my blueprints."

"Then all that's left it to…actually go," Arven said.

"¿Hablas en serio?" Nemona said. "This is crazy!"

"I agree," Adora spoke up. "We really should go with you!"

Zuko shook his head. "And endanger everyone they've got captive? You heard the Red Witch. Considering they're out for souls, I don't think they'd have any qualms on getting rid of our friends."

It was silent for a moment before Eda spoke up. "If anything happens to my son, I'll make sure everyone involved is reduced to a smoldering pile, got it?"

"I'll watch over him," Jotaro said. "He'll be fine."

"If you can find Bruno," Abbachio said. "He might be able to use his stand to get you out of there. And I guess, find the little…brat, too."

"We plan to," Miles said, tugging his mask over his face.

…

The room they were in was freezing. All around them were tall, clear crystals. They seemed to be…growing out of the ground like plants. Willow would either be creeped out by or love this place. Luz blinked awake, trying to fight off the oncoming headache the light in the room caused. She felt someone help her up. It was Pav.

"Hey Luz, you alright?" he asked, seemingly on edge.

Where were they anyways? The last thing she remembered was being at that café and the air getting heavy. Next thing she knew, she was here.

"Where are we, Pav? Where's King? Eda? Amity? Hunter? Darius? …Cool Aunt Lillith?"

"I don't know," Pav said. "I think it's just the thirteen of us in this room."

Luz glanced around the room and saw Sokka, Anne, Giorno, Joey, Kakyoin, some guy with dollar signs on his jacket, Connie, Mamoru, Penny, Robin, and a kid who wore relatively the same school uniform as Kakyoin. They all looked like they were sleeping—though one person was breathing raggedly.

Luz crept over to Giorno and tried to examine his pulse. It was there, but it wasn't strong. She didn't have Stringbean; she couldn't heal him! Katara and Josuke were nowhere in sight.

"I've tried everything I know," Pav said. "I-I don't know how to help him. Everything I should be able to do—it's just not happening down here. It's like they've muted any ability I have."

Luz tore off a piece of her jacket and took out a marker. She drew a healing sigil and tried to place it on Giorno's palm. It didn't work. Yes, the old Titan's language was dead, but there had to be something she could do.

"Come on!" She muttered more to herself than anyone. "Work!"

Giorno cracked his eyes open. "Luz?"

His voice was raspy, like he needed some water. He probably did with whatever toxin they inhaled earlier.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to make this sigil work. It's supposed to heal people," Luz explained, tears ebbing at the corner of her eyes.

Giorno looked at her for a second before pushing the sigil away. "Grazie. But we should wake up the others and get out of…wherever this is. It's freezing."

"Giorno your pulse is…" Luz began.

Giorno held up his hand. "Luz, it's fine. I'll be fine. We just need to get the others out, or they won't be, you included."

Before Luz could object, Giorno stood up and began to try and shake Sokka awake. The Southern Water Tribe leader woke up with a jump and a grab for his boomerang. Unfortunately, it seemed like their weapons had been taken, too. Pav, Luz, Sokka, and Giorno worked together to wake up the others so they could form a plan to get out of here.

Sokka felt around the walls, looking for some kind of break that would indicate a door. They were probably sealed up magically and Luz said as much.

"So, you're saying that we're stuck here," Anne surmised.

"We're not giving up so easily," Robin objected. "C'mon, there's gotta be a way out of here."

"What do you suggest?" Joey asked.

Robin stood up and tapped at the walls, pressing his ear against the smooth surface. "It's not hollow. I was hoping it would be. That would make things much easier."

Mamoru tried next. He transformed into Tuxedo Mask and launched a rose at the wall. To their surprise, it hit its target and made a hairline crack in the foundation. However, the rose quickly turned black and a sharp electric current ran across the room, zapping everyone. The hairline crack mended itself.

"Try that again," the Red Witch's voice echoed. "And I turn up the voltage."

"Let us out!" Connie protested.

They could hear the Red Witch chuckle. "If only you'd kept to your own business. Then maybe your friends wouldn't have to die today."

"You leave them alone!" Luz shouted.

"And what is a powerless, little witch like you going to do to stop us?"

"Why don't you come out here and find out?" Luz challenged.

"No thank you," the voice spoke with a laugh. "I'll leave you all to your own devices for now. It's not like you can do anything in there. This whole building has power dampeners…not that it matters to one of you."

Giorno glared at the ceiling; Luz wasn't too sure where the voice came from above, below, or around. It was hard to tell.

"Until the party begins, you can relax. I don't need you until then. It's not like any of you are actually getting out of this."

"We'll see," Kakyoin said. "If you've brought Jotaro into this, it may be you who pays the price."

"I'm absolutely mortified," came the sardonic voice.

With that, they were left in silence. Everyone sat down, still in shock (no pun intended) over their predicament. Luz had no clue where they were, and she was even more confused to the end goal. Why did these people need souls? And just what were these talisman they seemed to be searching for?

"You wanna bet Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune are here somehow?" Sokka asked to no one in particular.

"Unlikely," Mamoru said. "Whoever's up there probably knows everyone who is in the building right now."

"Is there really no way out of here?" Penny asked.

"Doesn't look like it," Giorno muttered. He glanced up at the silver-haired boy. "Sorry we couldn't meet again under better circumstances, Koichi."

"H-How do you know my name?" the silver-haired boy asked.

Giorno raised an eyebrow. "We helped each other out against an enemy stand user. I…guided you around Italy…sort of."

"I've never been to Italy," Koichi said. "I have no idea who you are."

"Maybe you two haven't met yet," Sokka said. "It's like Miles and Luz are always saying, time is weird here."

"Absolutely," Luz agreed. "When multiverses collapse, things can get all wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey."

"Eloquent," Kakyoin said.

"The Doctor said that, not me."

"Doctor Who?"

Pav, Connie, and Luz laughed while Robin and shook his head, "Really? Now of all times to make that joke, especially when it's going over a lot of people's heads."

"I think I get it?" Joey said. "It's that nerd show, right? You know, with the nerdy protagonist."

The trio openly rebuked this comment with scoffs and gasps.

"You call the smartest hero in the whole multiverse a nerd?" Pav asked.

"Well," Joey challenged with a smirk, "Is he?"

"Yes," Luz said. "But that's not the point!"

"I have no idea what we're talking about right now," Penny said.

"But we should be talking about how to escape," Mamoru pointed out.

"Right," Luz said, slamming her fist down into her palm. "…but how do we do that without magic?"

"Well, the Red Witch mentioned not needing us until a 'party,'" Sokka said, using air quotes to emphasize his point. "We might be able to sneak past her then."

"Looks like we don't have much of a choice," Anne said.

There was a weird and uncomfortable silence around the room. Luz glanced at the faces scattered about and blurted, "Since we might be here for an unknown amount of time, does anyone want to talk about where they're from?"

"A little personal, don't you think?" Penny asked.

"I guess what I meant to say is what's it like where you guys come from?" Luz asked. "You don't have to say anything personal. We all come from different places. I just thought it might be interesting to share."

"Well, I used to live with frog people for five months. They were actually really sweet, and I miss them a lot," Anne spoke up. "I can't help but wonder if we're gonna meet up again. Dimensions aren't usually meant to connect like this; but since they are…"

"You might get to see them again," Luz finished.

"Exactly!" Anne said. "I miss my frog fam, and I know they miss me, especially Sprig."

"He's been with us for the past two months," Koichi spoke up. "He's a nice…guy? Kid? Frog?"

Anne chuckled. "I'm sure he'd love to hear that."

"So…are you from Morioh?" Kakyoin asked Koichi.

Koichi nodded. "I guess you are, too."

"I was…before DIO sent me to try and kill Jotaro." Before Koichi could argue, Kakyoin held up his hand. "I tried to kill Jotaro. That didn't happen."

"I'm not surprised." Okuyasu said. "I bet he creamed you!"

Kakyoin chuckled. "Pretty much. But he also saved my life and saved me from DIO's mind control."

Giorno raised an eyebrow and dug something out of his pocket. It was a man completely in shadows. "I take it that's why you didn't trust me. Yes. It makes sense now. This is DIO, isn't it?"

Kakyoin was silent for a minute before slowly nodding. "That's him."

"Why not kill me?" Giorno asked. "Why would you take that risk of me being just like him?"

"Because Avdol insisted you were not just DIO's genetics. You're also part of the person who he stole his body from; Jonathan Joestar."

"Mr. Joestar's gramps?" Okuyasu asked. "He talked about him while we were on that boat together."

Another nod. "It would be hypocritical to not give you the same chance Jotaro gave me."

"I actually found out about being related to the Joestar bloodline recently," Giorno explained. "I'm not sure it will matter later, but I'll do my best to try and help the family I know now. Josuke has been nice to me, and I won't forget that."

"Do you think they'll come for us?" Penny asked quietly.

"That's not what I'm afraid of," Luz said. "I'm afraid they will come for us."

"They won't come alone," Mamoru said. "The senshi and the others will have their backs."

"I sure hope so."

…

Meanwhile in the next room, Miles Edgeworth woke up in a very similar situation. Except everyone around him was already awake. Franziska and Miss Fey helped him sit up—his head felt so foggy and heavy. The last thing he remembered was being in that small café, something grabbed him, and Wright had tried to reach out to him.

Foolish, loveable idiot.

"Does anyone have any idea where we are?" Miles asked.

Bruno shook his head. "None whatsoever. Sticky Fingers isn't able to get us back to the apartment. I'm not sure what's going on."

"It's obviously a ransom," Franziska said. "I thought someone in your position would know something about that."

Bruno narrowed his eyes at her. "It'd be best to talk about how to escape now."

"This is exactly why I wanted to get to my brother," Franziska said, crossing her arms. She turned to Miles. "Did you have any idea these men were mafia—at all?"

"Wha—?" Maya reached her hand over her mouth. "No way! That's not true, right, Bruno?"

Bruno was unusually quiet. "…we all make our way in this world—one way or another."

"Whoa," Maya said, taken aback. She paused and then grinned. "That's actually really cool. No wonder you and Abba were able to find answers so fast, or know where we were when we needed help!"

"Precisely," Miles agreed. "Franziska, Mr. Bucciarati and Mr. Abbachio are hardly the monsters in this situation."

"You've had problems with mafioso in the past, if I recall correctly," Franziska stated. "I'm not going to wake up one day to find out my little brother, the esteemed prosecutor, was found dead in a gutter!"

"You have my assurance that would never happen," Bruno said. "Well, unless we fail to get out of this place."

"No one is ending up dead in a gutter," Raine protested.

"How do you propose that?" Darius asked, condescendingly. "Last time we tried to get out, we were almost electrocuted to death!"

"Not to mention our stands aren't working," Rohan said. "They took away all my writing utensils. So, it's all null and void."

"There has to be something we can do!" Charlie Morningstar, their newest acquaintance, argued.

"If we could just break out of this area," Raine began. "We may be able to find the power dampeners and possibly use them against our enemy."

Miles felt the room get colder. Suddenly, Miss Fay shrieked and pointed to their feet. Crystals had begun to form around them. As Miles tried to move his feet, the crystal grew to his knees. Many of the others were in the same situation.

Miles looked to the ceiling where 'Dr. Knight' had spoken before, "What's going on? What are you doing?"

"Making sure we're all ready for the party. It would be impolite to throw one without gifts."

"Human lives aren't gifts," the wizard, Gale argued.

As the crystal grew to eye-level, the witch laughed. "That's where you're wrong. Your lives are worth so much to them—worth their own."

Before everything faded to black, a couple of thoughts crossed Edgeworth's mind. Wright's life held intrinsically more value than his own, and he knew the witch was right.

Phoenix would absolutely throw away his own life to save anyone he cared about.

…

The youngest Kaiba sat on the steps leading to the shrine, tapping his foot against the pavement and hugging his arms around his waist. Toph felt bad for him; it was lonely enough being an only child with distant parents. Being a kid with no parents and a busy brother who was now gone to spirits knows where must've been total isolation. She sat down beside him.

"So…lonely, rich kid life, am I right?" Toph asked.

It hadn't meant to be an insult, and she wasn't sure if he'd take it that way. If only socializing hadn't been made so tedious as a little girl.

"Are you…wealthy where you're from?" Mokuba asked carefully, apparently trying not to be rude, too.

"Well, my parents are. I haven't seen them ever since I joined up with Aang and the others," Toph explained.

"Why not?"

The other kids had walked over to them. It was like a swarm, but Katara always said the more the merrier…in most cases. Hop leaned over the garden railing. "Why haven't you seen 'em?"

"It may be a delicate issue," Bede argued.

Toph waved him off. "Nah. It's fine. Thanks, though."

"Of course."

Toph sighed and leaned back against the stairs. "As a Bei Fong, I was a part of one of the richest and most respected families in the Earth Kingdom. Since I was born blind, my parents tried to coddle me and never let me go past beginner's lessons in earthbending. One day, I went off on my own and found a family of badgermoles. They taught me a lot of what I know about earthbending. And from there, I learned to go even beyond that and bend metal. But that's after I joined up with the Avatar."

"And we were happy to have you on the team," Twinkletoes (Aang) chimed in.

"Yeah, you guys would've totally failed without me," Toph said with a grin. She turned back to Mokuba. "It's terrible to feel lonely, but I feel like your brother isn't one to be taken lightly. I'm sure he'll be back in no time. He's tough—like me."

"You really think so?" Mokuba asked.

"I hate liars," Toph said. "So, I wouldn't lie about something like that."

"Thanks," Mokuba said with a slight smile. He paused. "Is your friend strong enough to defeat those monsters?"

"Zuko?" Toph questioned. "Absolutely. Him, your brother, and the others will come back soon; I know it."

"Besides, you know Wyll. He's unbeatable," Hau said.

"It's just a killer to have to wait here," Mokuba said.

"Tell me about it," Barry agreed. "I hate waiting around like this. I wish we could just march down to wherever the others are and battle them until they gave up—and maybe we could even charge them a million pokedollars for losing!"

"Putting the cart before the Rapidash, isn't it?" Hop asked. "We need to trust them. If we go over there all willy-nilly, it could put our other friends at risk."

"True," Barry said.

"If Chairman Rose has anything to do with this, I'm sure there's some bigger machination going on. Which means, unfortunately, you're right, Hop," Bede said, crossing his arms.

Now that the atmosphere was a bit more tense, Toph wondered, how were the others holding up?

…

They finally arrived at the building. It was decorated with balloons, streamers, and confetti that fell from the entryway to the ground. The building was a harsh red that had faded into a pinkish hue.

"Well, that's not gaudy at all," Lucifer commented.

"It doesn't matter what this place looks like," Zuko said. "What matters is rescuing everyone inside. Let's go."

"Why does it look so…cheery?" Yugi asked skeptically.

"It's a taunt," Kaiba said.

"Dramatic bitch," Jotaro muttered.

He was the first (with King on his shoulders) to walk towards the building. He didn't crane his head back to ask, "You coming or not?"

They all looked to each other and nodded, following the two to the door. Zuko kicked in the door, and held his stance, fire dancing at his fingertips, ready to strike down any witch or daimon in sight. The doors flung open to find…a party room?

Yes. The room was filled with balloons, shiny presents, and a sign that read 'Happy Death Day. From the Deathbusters.' The fire that encased his hand disappeared in a whoosh of air. It's as if the energy in the room was a natural extinguisher.

"The Deathbusters…really? That's the name they're going with?" Miles asked.

"It does kind of sound cringe," Lucifer agreed. "That's how you kids say things, right? 'Cringe?' I don't know. I haven't been to earth in a while…or interacted with young sinners."

"I never imagined Lucifer as a grandpa type," Josuke said.

"I'm just an angel who likes his privacy. I like to live a quiet life." Josuke flinched. "What? What did I say wrong now?"

"Good grief," Jotaro tugged his hat over his eyes. He scanned the room and his eyes landed on a black, rectangular box with a lens. Zuko remembered Luz telling him something about old-school cameras. She showed him this recording device. That's the thing Jotaro was staring at now. "What's up with the tacky setting?"

The Red Witch's voice responded, "Two of you should be turning fifteen and seventeen tomorrow. Since that's not going to happen now, we figured we'd throw a small surprise party."

Right. It was his, Usagi, and Katara's birthdays tomorrow.

"And what makes you think that?" Wyll asked. "Despite us travelling here, don't take us for weaklings. We're not just going to hand over our souls to a hag like yourself."

"A-a hag?! I should kill your little wizard friend now for that!"

"Wyll, seriously, don't piss her off," Phoenix whispered. "She can still hurt the people we care about."

"Not if I—!" Lucifer balled up his fist, but only a puff of smoke came from the palm of his hands. "Oh…we might have a problem. That's never a good sign."

"Enough games," Kaiba said. "We did as you said. Now, let those people go."

"We're not done here," the Red Witch said. "Don't worry, Mr. Kaiba. All you must do is work for us. You're not like the others. You certainly don't have a pure heart."

Kaiba gritted his teeth but said nothing in response.

"So, what are you waiting for?" Arven asked. "Why don't you come meet us here?"

"Oh, we'll be meeting soon. But, not grouped together like that. Certainly not."

Lights shined around the building: blue, red, and green. Certain hues enveloped certain people. Josuke, Usagi, Miles, Steven, and Yugi were surrounded by green light, Lucifer, Wyll, and Phoenix in blue, and Zuko, Arven, Jotaro, Seto, Hunter, and King in red. In the blink of an eye, they were in a new room. Well, not so much a room as a maze. It was tall, made of fencing and shrubbery, and the ground was made up of dark cobblestone. Some of the hedges still had partial streamers and confetti interlaced between the branches.

Zuko glanced around, but he only saw Arven, Jotaro, Seto, Hunter, and King. The others were elsewhere.

"If you want to find your friends, you'll have to search through the maze. Be careful not to get too separated. Good luck!"

With that, she seemed to abandon them once more.

"What do we do?" Arven asked.

"We stick together," Zuko said. "You heard her. She's using reverse psychology to try and get us to think that separating is for the best. It won't work on me."

"How do you know?" Hunter asked.

"I've had a lot of practice with others doing the same thing," Zuko said. "Let's get moving. If nothing else, we'll be able to find her and then find our friends."

…

"There is a new development," Pucci said. "They have your son."

This was troubling. It would have been oh-so easy to let Jotaro march into his own doom, but not if that cost him the life of his most promising offspring. And what kind of father would he be if he willingly abandoned such a prodigious progeny?

"They've threatened to hurt Giorno should anyone else interfere with their plans," Pucci explained.

"And how do they intend to know?" the vampire, Astarion asked.

Asking the rogue to join their group could come in handy, especially with the specific weapon he had on his person. DIO could sense Alastor lurking somewhere nearby. No doubt he'd come to collect. They had so little time to complete their plan.

"Apparently they can trace the energy of any individual," Pucci explained. "We'll need more than stealth. We'll need to not exist."

"That shouldn't be a problem for ourselves—seeing as we're not much alive, anyways," Astarion said, seeming confused as to what the problem could be.

"Lord DIO has a stand. Stands are energy. They're pure spirit and soul."

"I see," Astarion remarked. "That is a problem."

He grinned. "However, during my sleuthing I came across a rather interesting group. I persuaded them to help us."

"How?"

"One of them erases traces of energy. He's half ghost. It's quite an intriguing ability. If only I had an ability as such. No need to thank me, even though you'd be lost without me."

DIO smirked. This man was vain, but he did get the job done. He wasn't sure if he liked Astarion or hated him. Only time would tell.

"When are they coming here?" Pucci asked.

"Oh, they should be arriving any minute now. Two of them are technologically savvy. I don't understand the stuff, personally. It's beyond me how obsessive these humans are with their 'com-pute-ars.' and 'fones.' But…should I be able to look at myself through one of their mirrors or cameras, I suppose I would be a bit obsessed, as well."

"Get to the point, Astarion," Pucci said.

Astarion scoffed. "Rude. Fine. Two of them are great with technology, and they decoded a secret message that was sent to the victims Kaolinite lured into her trap."

"And?" DIO pressed.

"And they're all in real danger."

DIO turned to see seven teenagers standing with them. One was a boy with silver hair, green eyes, and a black and silver jumpsuit with a D inscribed on the chest. The next was a boy in a dark, long blue and yellow coat, white shirt with a black bolt of lightning, black pants, and white mask with yellow goggles. Another was a girl with round glasses, dark green hair tied into braids, green blouse, yellow vest-coat, shorts, striped leggings, and practical shoes. Then there was the masked one in a red suit with black webbing mimicking a spider's web. His uniform was made up of a bright red and blue. Then there was a boy who looked…familiar. His face did, at least. His hair was hidden by a red cap with white stripes. He wore a long-sleeved blue crop top in a similar fashion and pattern to the hat, red pants, and boots. The last of them were two sailor senshi. DIO had been keeping up with these local vigilantes. They were the only ones that belonged in this universe outright. One had short, blonde hair and a theme of dark blue and yellow in her suit. The other long, aquamarine hair, and navy blues in her suit.

"I heard you're quite close to the boss," the familiar-faced boy said.

Pucci leaned into DIO's ear, "That's Guido Mista, the illegitimate son of Hol Horse."

DIO raised an eyebrow. How ironic Giorno held some control over his former servant's son.

"I hold an interest in saving his life," DIO said simply, not wanting to divulge too much information.

The boy glared at him. "If you try anything funny or get the boss hurt, I'll make sure yours is cut short, got it?"

The threat made by such a lowly child irked him. However, the ferocity and loyalty was what made DIO allow him to live. It might come in handy one day.

"Let's get going," the green-haired girl insisted. "They've got my friends, my boyfriend!"

"Who's your boyfriend?" the aquamarine-haired girl asked.

"Hunter."

"How do we get inside, ghost boy?" DIO asked the silver-haired boy.

"The name's Danny. Danny Phantom," the boy said with a grin. "You can just call me Danny, though."

"We don't have time for introductions," Green-hair insisted.

"She's right," the boy with the yellow goggles said. He turned to DIO. "My friend, Gear built these devices based on Danny's ability to mask his trace. With them, we should be able to go in and save everyone."

"I guess we should start," Pucci began.

Danny waved his hand. "I'll get us down there faster. Everyone take one of the clip-ons V-Man is handing out."

V-Man, apparently, handed out small cubes full of electricity. He showed everyone how to clip them onto their shirts. Then Danny held out his hands. "Everyone grab onto each other, alright? If we stay connected, I can teleport us through the walls. We'll be able to find them faster."

…

Usagi, Miles, Steven, Yugi, and Josuke had decided to stick to their right turns. Unfortunately, the old myth of sticking to right turns in mazes was leading them nowhere fast. Eventually, Miles stopped them and shook his head.

"We're just leading ourselves deeper into this place," Miles said.

"I could lift either Usagi or Yugi up to see if they could see past the walls," Josuke suggested. When he received looks from the others he shrugged. "What? No one else had any ideas."

"If I could just talk to…" Yugi murmured. He shook his head. "No. Never mind. I can't here."

"Who are you talking about?" Usagi asked.

"Just a friend who's really good with strategy," Yugi explained. "He'd be able to help us, but I can't seem to reach him."

"Kaolinite probably blocked all cellphone signal in this place," Steven surmised.

Miles checked his phone. Yep. No signal down here. He figured as much. His own body was on factory-reset as it was. He couldn't use any of his spider abilities.

"So, if I'm not prying," Usagi spoke up. "How did you guys become heroes?"

"We all know how Spiderman becomes a hero," Josuke teased. "Radioactive spider bite."

"Is that true?" Usagi asked Miles.

Miles nodded. "Kingpin murdered my universe's original Spiderman. Another Peter Parker taught me what I needed to know."

"Is he one of the ones who…?" Usagi asked, her voice letting him know what she wanted to ask.

"Betrayed me? Yeah. Though, I can't focus on that. We need to focus on getting everyone free."

Miles couldn't stop to think about that right now. He needed to keep moving. If he stopped to think about it for even a moment, it would be too depressing. He was going to help his friends get out of this alive.

"You know," Josuke interjected. "I kind of have this vision of becoming a cop ever since we stopped Kira. And that's all thanks to Jotaro. He's really cool once you get to know him. Even Rohan likes him! I met Okuyasu because of Jotaro."

"What about you two?" Usagi asked Steven and Yugi. "We don't know each other very well, and I'm sorry we're having to meet like this, but maybe talking to each other can help."

"My friends and I just wanted to play card games," Yugi said. "But the monsters in the cards are…alive. They do a lot more than win matches, and sometimes, cruel people like to take advantage of that. So, we try to stop people like that."

"Why didn't Seto tell us that?" Josuke asked. "That's totally awesome! Tch. Arven taught us about Pokémon."

"Seto is a guarded person," Yugi explained hesitantly, seeming to try and find the right words. "Truth is, I used to be scared of him. But getting to know him, I kind of understand why he's so cold towards people. I believe there's good in him."

"I'm glad someone believes that," Miles muttered.

"You know," Steven cut in quickly before an argument could start. "I got my abilities because of ice cream."

"Really?" Josuke asked.

"Indirectly…yes."

"And your girlfriend is Connie, right?" Josuke asked. Steven nodded. "She's a nice girl. Super smart. She helps us a lot at study group."

"That's Connie, alright," Steven said with a wide smile. "Super smart and concerned for others."

"She doesn't yell at me like Rei," Usagi said with a slight grumble. She paused. "Hey…I know this is kind of weird to talk about, but Haruka and Michiru were talking to me the other day. They said that sometimes there needed to be sacrifices so that the world could exist peacefully. What do you guys think of that?"

"Depends on the sacrifice," Josuke said. "Human lives? Not worth it. A game of dice? Depends upon who you're playing against. Allowance for food? Totally."

"I think they were talking about a history assignment and how people were sacrificed in war for the greater good," Usagi explained.

"I would never allow anyone else to sacrifice themselves for my sake," Yugi said. "However, if it's just me and I'm trying to save someone I care about, I might."

"I've done it before," Steven said.

"Small world," Yugi said with a sheepish grin.

"I would make sure whoever threatened my friends couldn't do it again," Josuke said. "Crazy Diamond is crazy strong."

"Hardy-har."

"Come on, Miles. Don't let life-threatening danger kill a good vibe."

"How are you so calm about this?"

"You want me to freak out? Not my style," Josuke said. "I've learned that you've gotta learn to deal with whatever life throws at you."

"The people you love count on you, even if they don't know it. Because I'm Spiderman, I've put everyone I love at risk. My dad could die! Giorno could die! Pav could die!"

That didn't even cover the fact that Miguel was out there somewhere. He'd really made a good friend while he was here. And he was in danger from so many things! Alastor, the damn soul-draining thing, and now because Miles had gotten involved, the witch was using him as bait. He was so tired of everyone using his loved ones against him. So tired. Wait—loved ones…? Did that count…?

"Miles…" Usagi put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile. Cutting off his thoughts. "I promise to help you. I don't believe anyone should have to be sacrificed or hurt in order to keep peace. I'll stop them. I promise."

He was quiet for a moment before he spoke up again, "Thanks, Usagi."

The group continued until they reached a path lined by luminescent crystals. The area ahead was so misty, no one could see through it.

"We must be going in the right direction," Steven said.

"Or this is a trap," Yugi countered.

"Can we afford to be skeptical?" Josuke asked. "My friends are probably in there. Even if Rohan doesn't want me to save him, I'm gonna save all of them. And look, I don't know much about my paternal family, but Giorno seems pretty cool."

"Then let's go," Miles said with a nod.

The group walks ahead until reaching a clearing with nine large crystals in the center. Inside the multi-colored, prismatic prisons were Anne, Giorno, Joey, Okuyasu, Mamoru, Connie, Rohan, and Pav.

"You finally made it."

Before anyone could move, crystals shot up from the ground and encased their arms and legs, trapping them in place.

"Let them go!" Usagi called out.

The Red Witch appeared in front of them, along with five daimon. One a cerulean knight with Romanesque armor, another golden monster with wings like and nostrils like a dragon, another with glossy, white skin that shone as bright as a diamond, another with pink skin, purple suit, and skull and crossbones tie, and lastly one that looked like…Prowler. It had the purple mask, boots, and everything.

"What are you waiting for?" Josuke asked, obviously annoyed.

"Are you that eager to throw away your life?" the witch asked with a laugh.

Miles rolled his eyes. "You know what he meant."

"We're just waiting for your other friends," the Red Witch explained. She began to disappear again. "These crystals should hold you tight. I'm going to go find out what's keeping them, and maybe drive them out of hiding. Then we can begin."

Finally, she disappeared in a flurry of rose petals.

"Let's hope the others had a better plan than we did," Josuke grumbled.

As Miles stared ahead at a painful reminder, he couldn't help but agree.

…

These people were kinda whacky. The most normal people here were Danny and Peter. The two sailor senshi didn't talk much, the Priest kept between himself and the big guy, the big guy was ominous-looking (looked more like a bad dude than just a concerned dad, but he'd been fooled by appearances before), Astarion looked super bored and annoyed to be here (plus he was some sort of Lord of the Rings elf, which was kinda cool), and Willow was super sweet but her powers were crazy strong. Even with Danny being 'normal,' he sort of reminded Virgil of Ebon, ability-wise. The two were polar opposites in personality.

However, when they got in the building, their powers were shut off. Even Danny's transparency. He turned back into a normal guy. They'd managed to get to this maze before everything shut off completely. Richie gave him a device that would shut down the power dampeners in the building for thirty minutes. They needed to find those dampeners and the people trapped here. That being said,

"We should probably split up," Virgil said. "I'm gonna go find those dampeners. Danny, you're with me. Everyone else, try and find the people trapped here."

There was a general murmur of agreement before he and Danny rushed off in search of the dampener.

"Gear said it would be best to stick to corners, Wiring is usually tied to the walls, and it was probably someone with technological know-how who assembled a dampener. To keep something going with a current that strong, they'd have to wire it to some main energy source."

"What if it's not electricity?" Danny asked.

"…we kick it?"

Danny chuckled but seemed doubtful. They'd figure it out. But Richie had been sure it was electrical. This stuff hadn't started coming about until the Death Busters started working with CEO's and professors from other worlds. Even though Richie had only been able to hack through a few websites to obtain minimum information, he found out the Death Busters were after some sort of talismans, and they needed human souls. Richie guessed they were either demons or something far more sinister.

If only he could talk to Richie right now. But no; electronic devices were out.

"I've got an idea," Danny said. He pulled out a Pokémon ball that the kid, Allister, had helped him catch. It was a little red dude that looked like a bolt surrounded by blue electricity. "Jolt, do you think you can guide us to the dampener?"

Jolt looked at Danny and bobbed back and forth before speeding off in the opposite direction. It waited at the end of the hallway, wanting them to follow it.

Danny jerked his head towards Jolt, "Let's go!"

"Good thinking!"

"You know it."

…

"Does this place even have an exit?" King asked.

"Beats me," Arven said. "Ugh. I bet we're being played. Seems about right given who we're up against."

They'd been searching for at least an hour now. Jotaro was beginning to think they were right.

"What if they're already dead?" Hunter asked, tears in his eyes. "Those are my only friends—my only family!"

"Calm down," Jotaro grumbled. Panicking wasn't going to help. It'd only make things worse for everyone.

"Easy for someone who has a lot of people in his life to say," Arven shot back.

Before Jotaro could counter with knowledge of the far greater perils he'd been in, Seto did. "Then allow me: if you two don't pull yourselves together, everyone you care about will die. I don't need to be here. The only person I care about is back at the shrine."

"Then why are you here?" Arven asked, getting slightly abrasive.

"Monthly philanthropy," Seto said sardonically.

"Do all rich people in your world act like this?" Hunter asked with a scoff. "No wonder Luz hates them."

"Money has nothing to do with it," Zuko chimed in. "I'm royalty, and I say all of you are out of line. We can't feel sorry for ourselves if we want to save our friends. And we can't act apathetic, either."

"We don't even know which way we're going, Firelord," Seto said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

At this point, even Jotaro was starting to wonder why this guy came.

"Seriously, why did you come?" King asked. "I feel like there's something you're not telling us."

"Might as well be honest," Jotaro interjected. He narrowed his eyes at Seto. "Not fond of working with liars, myself. And lying by omission is still lying."

Seto looked from him to the others. "Fine. I'm trying to get my technology back. If they have it, everyone could be in danger, especially if they figure out how to finish it."

"What does it do?" Zuko asked.

"It opens tears into other realities," Seto explained. "I was trying to access the past so I could trace events leading to the present. I didn't want to rely on Yugi's occult nonsense."

"What do you mean by that?" Hunter pressed.

"Not my story, not my problem," Seto said, crossing his arms. "However, to make sure we're all up to speed *because clearly it's necessary working with such rabble,* this device would have to be fueled by a powerful source…I imagine that's why they want souls."

"So, you're responsible for all this?" Hunter asked. "Do you have any idea the amount of trouble you've caused?"

"Well excuse me for not expecting intergalactic monsters to tear through realities and merge them together in some sort of disgusting, multiversal stew! I don't even think it's the witches who originally used my technology."

"Then who?" Zuko asked. "Who else could've done it?"

"See, I've gotten some energy readings on what remains of my tech back from the Tau Nebula system…or at least that's how it identifies. It's a solar system of its own. I have no idea what it's like, but that's where the witches and daimon are coming from. The original point of discord, the point in space-time that mixed everything together came from the constellation of Kasterborous. Like I said, I have no idea what the motive is. All I know is that whoever did this wanted to start a chaotic war. And they used my technology to do it. I originally accused Gideon Graves due to the lengths of time travel and reality warping he was willing to commit over some silly girl, but this runs deeper than that. No, whoever did this, had the motivation to want to see everything crumble."

"Then we're barely scratching the surface of possibilities," Jotaro said.

"That's…terrifying," Hunter said.

"Thank you for being honest," Zuko said. "Now I can see why getting that technology back is so important."

"And for the record," Seto said, straightening his coat. "I have people I want to protect, too. It's just not productive to sit here and cry about it."

"I know that," Hunter said. "But it's unfair. I finally found people I could call family. People who treated me well and like I meant something! My uncle never…I thought for the longest time that Belos was my only family. He trained me to be a solider and nothing more. I was just someone who hunted palisman for him. He left me with a sigil! He was perfectly willing to let me die on the day of unity! But when we went to the human world, Ms. Noceda treated me like I was her own, and Luz became like a sister to me. After we beat Belos, Darius kind of unofficially adopted me. I just had no idea…all of this could get taken away again."

"I understand," Zuko said.

"How? Your uncle is great!"

"But my father wasn't," Zuko said. "It was the same. My sister was always his favorite. I wasn't as strong as her when we were younger. And that day I defied him in the military meeting for wanting to defend the lives of our soldiers, he gave me this."

Zuko pointed to his face, and it didn't take long for anyone to realize he was talking about his scars.

Hunter was quiet for a minute, "Heh. I guess we can be face-scar buddies."

"He did that to you, too?" Zuko asked, raising an eyebrow. "…I'm sorry. I know how painful that is."

"You do."

It wasn't a question.

"So, we're all either orphans, neglected, or abused," Jotaro said, trying to keep from popping cigarette out of his jacket pocket. Seriously, this conversation was depressing as hell.

"Or all three," Kaiba muttered. He glared at them. "But I don't want your pity. And neither should any of you. To hell with those bastards. Let them rot."

"My dad wasn't bad," King said. "He just wasn't able to be around. He told me a bread pun from beyond the grave."

"The more I learn about you King, the more questions I have," Jotaro said.

"I'm full of surprises!"

"This day has been full of surprises," Kaiba mused. "It's given me a hell of a migraine."

"Seems like hell isn't all that bad," Jotaro joked. "Lucifer just looked tired rather than all fire and evil."

"That version of him, anyways," Seto said. "I refuse to believe in an actual heaven or hell. It was probably just an alternate dimension where abilities like he has are normal."

"Not a spiritual guy?"

"Not in the slightest."

"I've seen the destructive force behind spirits," Zuko said. "When Zhao killed the moon spirit, the Avatar connected with its other half and drowned a lot of the fleets storming the northern water tribe. The spirit controlling Aang drowned Zhao. Uncle believes he may be suffering in the spirit world today."

"Most people believe Arceus made Pokémon and humans. He was the original Pokémon who created all life. I'm not sure what I believe," Arven said with a shrug.

Jotaro shrugged. "It's possible there's a god. I haven't seen proof for or against."

"We believe in the titan," Hunter said. "Well, that's become a little more complicated because…"

King cut him off, "Because he was just too powerful to sum up in a small talk! Let's get going!"

Not suspicious at all, King.

The group tried to set forth, but Jotaro heard a thud as Seto fell behind them. He didn't seem like the clumsy type. Sure enough, some sort of vine snared itself around his ankle, dragging him down into the ground. He was already dragged through to his waist when Hunter and Jotaro lunged and grabbed his hands.

"Don't worry, we've got you," Hunter assured him. "Just hang on!"

Jotaro heard Zuko struggling with something. King had leapt from Jotaro's shoulder, probably trying to help. "Get off!"

"King, what's going on?" Jotaro asked, not being able to look over his shoulder.

"Mabosstiff use crunch!" He heard Arven call out.

There was a deep growl and more struggle as Seto slipped further into the ground. Both he and Hunter were trying to pull him up, but he started to wince and hiss. Whatever had a hold on him wasn't budging.

Seto looked over Jotaro's shoulder, eyes widening. "Let go and find me later. You've got to find everyone and get us out of here!"

"We're not doing that!" Hunter protested.

"Everyone is doomed if no one is around to help them!"

There was a sharp stab in Jotaro's palm; he let go only for a moment. A moment was enough. Seto had used his nails to get them to let go. There wasn't anything they could do to keep him from slipping through. Hunter reached for him again, but it was no use. He was gone.

"Damn it," Jotaro muttered.

Jotaro was finally able to turn around to see Zuko and Arven fighting three daimon. Zuko had managed, without his firebending (but he did have two twin blades hidden in his robe) to take down two, and Arven's dog took down one. King stomped on the vine-shaped humanoids with his tiny feet.

"And there goes one," the Red Witch's voice echoed. "Let's see if I can get another."

The noise of sludge echoed down the path. It mushed and sloshed, getting closer. Hunter backed away. "N-No, that can't be."

A pile of green sludge sped toward them. It stopped short and formed a man with long blondish hair, white robes, green suit, boots, staff that glowed red, and huge scar that ran down the side of his face. He looked straight at Hunter.

"Hello, Hunter."

"H-how? You died! Eda—she!"

"I'm quite alive; despite the Owl Lady, her precious bard, or even the titan, himself," he said, throwing a smirk to King.

"You're their god?" Jotaro asked King.

"Technically, that was my dad," King said. "But that's not important. What's important is the creep is alive again."

"Very much so," the man, Belos, right (?), said. "And I'm not the only one who might hold a grudge against someone in this group. Being revived is such a curious thing. I was brought back with the worst of demons. One who said he knew you, Mr. Kujo."

Jotaro frowned. He knew who Belos was talking about. There wasn't a shadow of doubt in his mind. Well, if that bastard wanted to come back to life, he'd find him and kill him again. This time, alone. No one else would get hurt or die.

"You have five seconds to return Seto and the others," Zuko said, brandishing the blades at Belos.

"Ah yes, the young firebender who is better with his silly, little knives rather than the natural abilities he was gifted. Your father had a lot to say about you."

"I have no fear of my father," Zuko said.

"Pity," Belos said. He looked to Hunter. "That's fine. I haven't been ordered to take you hostage, Prince Zuko."

Before Belos's slimy arm could connect, Arven jumped in front of Hunter, being pulled in by the slime, down to the ground. He was almost pulled under. Hunter grabbed him. "Go! You guys have families! Just leave! Try and find the others. Mabosstiff and I will deal with this guy!"

"No way," Hunter said, keeping hold of Arven.

Zuko and Jotaro made a jump to try and help them but ended up plunging into the dirt. There was no time as the slime wrapped around both of them and pulled them under in the blink of an eye. He hadn't had time to react. There was…there wasn't anything he could've done. It happened so fast.

"And that's two more for us," the Red Witch commented.

"…fucking bitch," Jotaro cursed. "If you don't let them go, I swear to god I'll kill you."

"The only one of you who can do anything is the prince," the Red Witch said. "You're without your abilities, and really, I should kill your friends for even having those silly swords. But I'll play along. I'm having far too much fun right now to end our game here."

Jotaro sighed and picked up King, placing him back on his shoulder. "If you are a god, last thing we need is you getting hurt or kidnapped."

"She took all of them," Zuko murmured, still in shock.

Jotaro walked past him. "And it's down to us to save them, so let's go."

Zuko stared at the empty space for a second and nodded. Suddenly, something bumped Jotaro's foot. It was a walking cherry. It had a face, and a twin on its stem.

"Star!" the cherry cheered.

"What's this?"

Zuko paused. "That's Sting!"

"Huh? The musician?"

"No," Zuko said, a bit aggravated. "Kakyoin caught this little guy. He named him—!"

"After his favorite musician," Jotaro finished.

"He must've let this Cherubi out before they put him wherever they did," King said. "Marnie says these little guys are super friendly."

Kakyoin—always leaving a clue to help them. This wouldn't end like last time. He'd save him.

"Of course that nerd picked one that looked like a cherry."

The Cherubi started to walk forward, stopped, and waved its stem at them.

"I think it wants us to follow him," Zuko said, walking forward.

The three walked ahead until they bumped into something—no—not something—someone. Three someones to be exact. One was a girl with round glasses and green hair, another was a boy dressed up as or actually Spiderman, and the last was a boy who looked way too much like Hol Horse for comfort.

"Where've you taken them?" the girl demanded.

Jotaro was about to argue when King perked up. "Willow!"

"King?" She held out her arms; King jumped from Jotaro to her shoulder. "Man is it good to see you! I haven't seen anyone from home! Where're Luz, Hunter, Raine, and Darius?"

"Still in danger," Zuko said. "You must be their friend."

"Where they are is where we'll go," the boy with the gun said. Great. He had a gun, too. "Mista Guido, by the way."

Willow nodded. "I'm Willow Park, this is—"

Jotaro smirked and cut her off, "Your next line is, this is Peter Parker."

"This is Peter Parker! Wait! How did you know that?"

"Also, Willow, we were trying to keep codenames," Peter said with a small nervous chuckle.

"It's fine," Jotaro said. "I would've known you, anyways."

"How? No one knows who Peter Parker is," this Peter argued.

"I have my ways."

"Thank you for keeping King safe," Willow said. "But what happened to the others?"

"Taken by the Red Witch and this guy named Belos. Given your face, that's bad, right?" Jotaro asked.

Willow's face had drained of color. "D-did he take Luz and Hunter?"

"He took Hunter," Zuko said.

"Then we need to get going. Everyone follow me," Willow said. "Cherubi is leading us to where one of his friends might be."

"That's where Kakyoin and the others will be," Jotaro said.

"Then that's where we need to be," Zuko said.

…

"Quite the large place, isn't it?" Wyll asked.

Phoenix couldn't focus on small talk, however kind Wyll might've been. He needed to find Maya, Miles, and Franziska. Even the devil himself couldn't make him talk.

"So, you were cursed by a demon?" Lucifer asked.

"A touchy subject, but yes," Wyll responded. "And are you not the leader of hell?"

"Not your Avernus, no. But there're similar demons that make contracts with people in my hell, yes. It's very…depressing. I gave humanity the gift of free will, and I get all the sinners who chose to use it for absolutely horrible things. I swear, the only bright spot in my life is my little girl. I'll do anything to save her."

"Your dedication to your daughter is admirable," Wyll said. "Honestly, it's quite uncharacteristic for a demon to care about anyone but himself."

"Is that why you and Kar…Kar…the lady tiefling are so guarded?" Lucifer asked.

"Karlach," Wyll corrected. There was a mixture of respect and fondness in his eyes. "She's survived living in Avernus. Our version of your hell is constant war, constant fighting, and constant agony. She's fought and lived through it all. I admire her most ardently for it."

"I'm more of a hands-off kind of ruler. Guess I shouldn't be, given demons like Vox and Alastor."

"Who are they?" Wyll asked.

"Overlords who bargain soul contracts," Lucifer explained. "A sacrificial lamb is all well and good, but owning someone's soul is just…blech."

"Has anyone ever told you that you are much less intimidating than expected?"

"Oh, I can be intimidating, when I need to be."

"When's that?"

"You'll see."

Lucifer nudged Phoenix, "Chin up. I'll help all of you get your friends back. No charge."

"You don't understand," Phoenix said. "This isn't the first time something terrible has happened to the people I care most about. This keeps happening to them, and I'm not sure how to stop it. Is this just going to be a never-ending cycle of my friends getting hurt? And the last time I saw Miles he thought I didn't want to be around him when it's the exact opposite!"

It was quiet for a minute before Lucifer took a breath through his nose, placed his hands together and asked, "Have you tried telling him that?"

"A bit of honesty does wells of good," Wyll agreed.

"Well, no, but—," Phoenix tried to object.

"So, he's just supposed to magically know you like him?"

Getting sassed by Lucifer, from the Bible, was not on Phoenix's agenda. Nor did he want it to be.

"Let's keep going," Wyll said. He gave Phoenix a small smile, "You'll be able to make it up to him, I'm sure."

"Thanks. But I'm not sure if telling him is such a good idea," Phoenix said. "Besides, I need to save him, Maya, and Franziska first."

"Oh, I do love a good, dramatic confession," a snide voice behind them commented. Wyll raised his eyebrows and turned. There was a man with silver hair, light armor, and elfish ears. Beside him was an insanely buff, blonde guy, and a guy with silver hair and priest's robes.

"I'll be damned," Wyll said. "Is that really you, Astarion?"

"I'm offended, darling," this Astarion said. "How many others do you know that are like me?"

Lucifer looked from the priest to the other men, "I think I'm going to go in the opposite direction…there's a lot of trouble if I stick around here."

"You can't be serious, Lucifer," Wyll said. "We all need to stick together in order to find our friends, your daughter!"

"You travel with two devils?" the priest asked Phoenix. "And the devil has a daughter?"

"Uhhhh…maybe?"

"Wyll isn't a full-fledged devil," Astarion said. "However, he was cursed by one."

"Now isn't the time for such debates," the blonde said. "As much as I'd thoroughly enjoy one, they have my son, Enrico."

The priest took a deep breath in. Phoenix intervened, "Look, why don't Lucifer and I split off, and the rest of you try to find our friends, too. If we make any progress, we meet back here."

"How will we know to meet here?" Astarion asked. "No offense, but there's not exactly any key details to identify this place."

Lucifer fished through his pocket and placed a rubber duck on the bushes near them. "Now we'll know."

"A rubber duck…?"

"I have a lot of prototypes for different kinds of ducks!" Lucifer bragged. "One can walk and spit fire! It's the most fantabulous one of them all, and it does a cute backflip!"

"This one isn't going to torch the whole maze?" Astarion asked.

"No, but I should've thought of that!" Lucifer said.

A twig snapped in the near distance. Ahead of them were about twenty, pink, gelatinous daimon. The pale elf was the first to speak up, "Time to go!"

Phoenix and Lucifer rounded the left corner while the others took the right. Lucifer stopped, pulled a staff with an apple at the end from his jacket. "Go find your friends. I'll either catch up with you soon or continue on to find Charlie."

"Can you handle those monsters?"

"Even powerless," Lucifer said, "I still rule Hell. I doubt there's much they can do to me—now—go!"

Phoenix simply nodded and ran ahead. Get to the others. Get to the others. Get to the others.

He ran until he came across a clearing in the maze. In the center were a group of vines with thorns ensnaring…

"MILES!"

The prosecutor cracked open his eyes and opened his mouth, trying to form the right words. Nothing came of that. Phoenix ran over and started trying to pull away the vines.

"Phoenix," Miles croaked. "Don't."

"It's alright. I'm getting you out of here," Phoenix insisted. He tugged at the vines holding Miles's left arm in place.

"You don't understand," Miles said.

"No, I do," Phoenix said. "I know what I'm doing, Miles. Look, I'm sorry if I ever made you feel like I didn't care about you. I really do. I need to tell you—that—I—why is this so hard? Why won't these vines break?"

"Phoenix, please stop!"

Phoenix cut his hand on one of the thorns. He first lost all sensation in that hand, and then quickly the rest of his body followed suit. He fell backwards; everything was going in slow motion. Why did Miles look so sad?

"I'm so sorry," Miles murmured. Were those tears? When had he ever…? "They were poisoned. I was trying to tell you."

He felt a pair of arms pull him up; ironically, he hoped to heaven it was Lucifer. It was not. It was one of the pink daimon from earlier. The Red Witch appeared.

"I suppose we have a good number of hearts to inspect. We should begin while we have the advantage over our intruders."

"Let him go!" Miles yelled.

"Don't worry," the Red Witch chided. "You won't be far behind him. You two can finally confess to each other in hell."

Phoenix's eyes widened. "Miles?"

He didn't say anything. He didn't argue with her at all. Miles's eyes held so much sorrow; it was painful to see, just like DL6.

The Red Witch gestured to one of her other daimon, "Grab Mr. Edgeworth. I don't suppose he has a pure heart, but he does love this fool. It'll be entertaining to see how he reacts."

Before Phoenix passed out, he could see Miles trying to struggle against the daimon. He should've been more focused on pressing matters at hand, but all he could get his brain to ask was:

He likes me, too?

Then darkness.

…

Fantastic. Everyone was here and unfrozen. Although, they were still stuck in the crystalline walls. Well, everyone excluding Zuko, King, Jotaro, Lucifer, and Wyll. The Red Witch had just returned with Mr. Wright and Mr. Edgeworth. Miles *Morales* wasn't sure what she was planning when she and the old man, who Miles had learned was Hunter's asshole of an uncle, stepped aside and started whispering to each other.

"Can you hear what they're saying?" Hunter asked, audibly enough for everyone else.

It was clear he was terrified, and so was Miles, for a different reason. Giorno was sitting inside a forcefield with the others who had been sent here, and he was not looking good. Seemed like he was struggling to breathe, and he was constantly clutching his chest.

"Zuko, Jotaro, and King are still out there," Arven whispered. "There's hope."

"Not much," Seto said.

"But enough," Yugi countered.

Mamoru looked up at Usagi with pleading eyes and then back at the witch, "You won't get away with this!"

"And who's going to stop me, Lover-Boy?" she asked with a chuckle.

"Leave the boy alone," Darius yelled at the gross-looking old dude. "He's done nothing to you!"

"He's just a kid," Raine agreed.

"Hunter," Luz called out. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay, Luz, Darius, Raine. The others are going to save us. I can feel it," Hunter said shakily.

Luz went back to trying to heal Giorno, "Come on, Giorno, hang on! We'll get you help real soon!"

"G-grazie," was all he could manage.

"Oi, you bastards better let Josuke go!" the silver and black-haired teen ordered.

"Don't worry, Okuyasu," Josuke said. "Jotaro and Zuko are out there; we can trust them!"

"Jotaro is here?"

Josuke nodded.

"They're so screwed!"

Josuke laughed a little, despite his situation. "Yeah, I know!"

"Steven!" Connie called out from within the barrier. "I'll get you out of here, I swear!"

"Don't worry! We're all going to be fine!" the curly-haired boy assured her.

Miles tried to wrestle his arms out of the crystal walling, but it was useless. As long as those power dampeners were active, he was powerless. But he was Spiderman; he was supposed to make sure things like this didn't happen. Spiderman was never supposed to be hopeless, and this situation was looking pretty damn close. If he died today, everyone he ever cared about would die.

And lingering still, he felt as though they were all being watched by some opportunistic eye. Was that Radio Demon here? Or was it the stress of the situation?

"Seems as though we're ready to begin," the Red Witch said, gesturing to her daimons. "I'll do four first and then another four. It will give us time to examine for talismans."

Four daimon walked over to a still unconscious Mr. Wright, Hunter, Usagi, and Steven.

Hunter looked at his uncle. "Don't do this, please!"

"LEAVE MY SON ALONE!" Darius said, tears in his eyes.

The Red Witch looked to the man who simply shook his head. "Don't you see? We can purify your souls. They've been corrupted. We can make you better when we restart this…wicked world."

Miles shut his eyes and tried to block out the screams. No. This wasn't right. It was too much. Too much to bear. He cracked his eyes open once the screaming stopped. Four shiny, pure hearts. One of them looked normal—although still bright. The one that belonged to Mr. Wight. Usagi's was complex, shiny, and multilayered. It must've been due to her being Sailor Moon. It was the same problem with Hunter and Steven. Hunter's was blue and had turned into the shape of a small bird, but why? And Steven's heart looked like pink quartz. Why did their hearts do that? They couldn't be those talismans, could they? If they were, they would…

"Talismans," the Red Witch spoke softly. She grinned and reached out for the crystals.

Miles heard a chorus of yelling and broken sobs.

"HUNTER!"

"USA!"

"STEVEN!"

"NICK!"

"Phoenix…"

As the Red Witch tried to snag the crystals, four gloved hands snatched them away from her. It was Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune! What were they doing here? And how did they have their powers? Sailor Uranus delivered a swift blow to the Red Witch and aimed an attack at Uncle Dearest, who promptly vanished.

"Guardian of Neptune, the planet which controls the oceans, I, Sailor Neptune, will not allow you to steal this pure heart and these talismans."

"Guardian of Uranus, the planet which controls the winds, I, Sailor Uranus, will stop any ploy from multiversal manipulation and ruin!"

That sounded…eerily familiar. Miguel familiar.

"Put them back!" Luz said. "You need to put those souls back, or they'll die!"

"We can return Mr. Wright's heart crystal, but not the others," Neptune said. "The others require more investigation."

"Give them back their hearts, now!" Miles demanded.

"The multiverse is full of talismans. Our view was so limited before. But if we gather all the talismans from different universes, we can stop the approaching silence," Sailor Uranus said. She made a pointed glare at Miles. "We won't allow anyone to destroy our world because of reckless selfishness."

They knew. They knew what he wanted to do. He only wanted to save his dad. How had it come to all this? HOW? This wasn't right. THIS WASN'T RIGHT!

Miles slammed his arm against the crystal holding him in place—shattering it. He was free. He leapt up and webbed the crystals and talismans back to himself.

"What are you doing, kid?" Uranus asked. "How did you do that?"

"He really is an anomaly," Neptune murmured. "Please cooperate. We're not as willing to stand by as Miguel did."

Miles backed up until he hit something—Uncle Dearest! Crap!

"Miles!" Giorno called out. "Go!"

"No way," Miles said. "I'm not running. Not now. Not ever. I am Spiderman."

He knocked the old man back with a quick stab of his elbow and backflipped against the remains of the crystal that held him. Suddenly, his body was flowing with power, as if a switch had been flipped. He heard another crystal break.

"DORA!"

Josuke quickly joined him and stood defensively against the girls in front of them and the Red Witch who managed to pick herself back up.

"Okuyasu! Use The Hand!" Josuke called out.

"Huh? OH YEAH!"

"ZA HANDO!"

In a flash, the forcefield surrounding the others disappeared. A woman they hadn't met before with blonde hair, rosy cheeks, red suit, and a face familiar to Lucifer's stood up, her hair flying in wild directions. In an instant, the daimons that had once been standing so effectively were turned into toast crumbs.

"How is this possible?" the witch questioned. "The dampeners?"

"Are broken," a voice above them spoke up. It was a boy with a long blue jacket, goggles, and lightning symbol on his shirt…flying on a trash can lid? Beside him was a boy with white hair, green eyes, and a black jumpsuit. "Your days of stealing hearts are over, creepy lady!"

"I'll say," a darker voice spoke up.

From the center, a circle of flames sprang up, vanished, and revealed the swordsman, Wyll Ravengard and Lucifer Morningstar, alongside them was a man in priest's robes. His eyes glanced around the room and landed on Giorno, then Hunter, Usagi, Phoenix, and Steven.

"A shame you plan to use the souls of the innocent to try and purify this world," the priest said, looking to Hunter's uncle. "There's so much more to souls than that. I should know."

"A priest?" the uncle questioned. "Then you should be on my side! This world is too wicked for these poor deluded souls. This demonic magic, and—,"

The priest cut him off, "You're telling me, with the form you have, that you've never deviled in magic. Hypocrisy is also against God."

"It takes a hypocrite to know one," Slime man countered. "Aiding false prophets and demons is an abomination in the eyes of the Lord."

"I follow God and a higher cause. You are too flawed to be saved."

The priest backed away, allowing Lucifer to step forward. Huge grin on his face, the man burst into flames. As the witch moved to help him, a flash of flames came from the opposite direction—it was Zuko, Jotaro, and King! They'd made it! A girl with round glasses, a boy in a blue shirt, red pants, and weird red hat, and another Spiderman followed them. Miles internally groaned. Was he going to have a problem with this guy, too?

"PROFESSOR!" the Red Witch cried out. "HELP US!"

The fire quickly rose…but no ashes were left behind. Quite odd…and ominous.

Lucifer looked to Neptune and Uranus, "Go home…please."

The two gave each other a look and nodded. "We'll be back. In any case, there's no way to turn those talismans back into heart crystals."

With that, the duo leapt up into the air, onto the rafters of the ceiling, and out of sight.

"Please, can anyone help them?" Miles heard Darius ask.

"Hunter! Please! Wake up!" the girl with the glasses said through her tears.

He was holding Hunter, trying to get him to wake up. Connie was doing the same with Steven, Mamoru with Usagi, and Mr. Edgeworth with Mr. Wright.

"Here," Miles said, handing Mr. Edgeworth the bright heart crystal. "This is Mr. Wright's."

"What can we do for the others?" Sokka asked. "Are they…?"

"Don't finish that!" Luz objected. She shut her eyes. "Please. Don't say that."

"I think I can help," the priest said. "Give me those 'talismans.' I think I can revert them back to what they need to be. Just this once."

Miles wasn't apt to handing over everyone's souls like that. Giorno shakily stood. "What did you say your name was, padre?"

He spoke loudly enough that the others couldn't hear. "Enrico Pucci. I have always intended to meet you, Mr. Giovanna."

"You gave your support when I became…" Giorno's voice trailed off as he looked from the priest to Miles. "Miles, I think he's telling the truth."

Miles hesitantly held out the crystals. "Please…save them."

Pucci said nothing but nodded.

"White Snake."

Miles could sense a new presence in the room. It felt almost…spiritual?

In a flash, the crystals turned back into ordinary heart crystals. Pucci gently placed them back over the bodies of the victims, allowing the color to return to their faces.

"Th-thank you," many said through their tears.

Although…Jotaro and Kakyoin eyed this man suspiciously. He must've been a stand user! That's how Giorno would have known him! But…why were they suspicious?

"Mamo?" Usagi questioned, looking up at her boyfriend.

"Usako! Are you alright?" Mamoru asked, pulling her into a hug.

"I…yes! Where's Kaolinite?"

"Dead," Lucifer finished.

"You killed her?" Steven asked, shocked, sitting up with Connie's help.

"Uh…yeah?"

"That's good," Hunter said. His eyes widened. "Willow?"

She smiled through her tears and pulled him into a hug, making him blush. "Hi! Thank Titan you're okay!"

"I-I'm better now."

"Hey Edgeworth," Phoenix said with a slight smile.

Mr. Edgeworth was quiet for a moment…was he blushing, too? He coughed. "Of all the incidents that have occurred to you, this is by far the scariest! Why weren't you careful back there? You could have died if this young man," he gestured to the boy in the goggles, "Hadn't shut down those power dampeners! You didn't need to try and 'free' me. You should've run!"

"And left you behind? Never."

The blush got deeper and now Mr. Edgeworth seemed too flustered to respond.

"Mr. Edgeworth is right, Nick!" Miss Fey said. "We were so worried about you!"

"Speak for yourself," Miss Von Karma said with a slight smirk.

"Just promise never to do that again," Mr. Edgeworth murmured.

"Depends on the situation," Mr. Wright said. "I mean, I gotta keep you on your toes."

"You're infuriating."

"For the record…or report, I'd let anyone steal my heart any day to save any of you."

Mr. Edgeworth sighed. "I-I know. That's what scares me most. The witch…what she said was correct, if it needed saying."

"The same applies to me, Miles."

It was quiet for a second.

"I'd let you," Miss Von Karma teased. "I'd rather keep my heart where it is."

"You've got one?" Phoenix asked with a sort of laugh.

"If that boy hadn't stolen my whip, you'd be dead…again!"

The place started to shake. Pucci turned to the others. "We need to get out of here. Magic must've kept this place going!"

"I've got just the thing!" Gale said. He waved his hands with an unnecessary amount of flair, opening a purple portal. "It should take us back to the Hikawa Shrine Wyll has told me about!"

"Good! Let's get out of here!" Arven said.

As everyone jumped through the portal, Miles heard someone falter. Giorno. His breath was heavy, he shut his eyes, and tried to stand. Everyone else had gone through, except himself and Pucci. Miles ran back to Giorno.

"Are you three coming?" Gale asked from the other side. "It's hard to tell from our standing!"

"We won't be taking the portal. We have a demon to fight," Pucci said. "I'll get them back safely. I promise."

The portal collapsed as said demon strolled through, knocking Pucci aside. His grin was as wide as ever. "Mr. Morales! It's so impressive to have witnessed that extra burst of gusto, even when the dampeners had not been shut off! You must care a great deal for Mr. Giovanna."

"Miles…don't listen," Giorno wheezed.

The Radio Demon clutched his fist, causing Giorno to seize up. A crystal was pulled from his chest. It was golden and turned into a broken, short, golden arrow.

"Now, this is what I wanted. I had a feeling he'd be holding one of the talismans from his universe."

"Give that back, I'm warning you," Miles said in a low voice.

"Or what? You'll kill me?" The Radio Demon asked. "I know your type, Mr. Morales. You have a code. You won't kill me. That goes against your silly rules!"

"I'll make an exception!"

Miles lunged into the air, making a grab for the arrow.

CHUNK!

He heard it right before he felt it. One of the tendrils connected to the demon's shadow had stabbed him through the gut. The air left his lungs as he spat up the smallest increment of blood. He'd been with his Uncle Aaron when he was shot by Kingpin. Is this what he'd felt like? Miles let the tears flow. Damn it. All he wanted to do was save his family. He'd never asked to be Spiderman. He'd never asked for any of this.

"MILES!"

Giorno…still alive…good.

"Hmm? One act of generosity before you cease to exist?" the Radio Demon egged on.

Giorno ignored him and crawled over to Miles. "Golden…Experience…Requiem."

"MUDA!"

A sharp stab to the gut hit Miles like a semi-truck. He sucked in as much air as he could. He reached down to his gut; it was completely healed! Is that what Giorno could do?

He glanced over to Giorno, but all the light had left his eyes; he wasn't breathing!

Miles panicked and pulled Giorno into his lap. "H-hey! Come on, man! Come on! You can't do this! Wake up! WAKE UP!"

Tear tugged at the edges of his eyes. "C'mon, you're my best friend here! I need you! Come on!"

Nothing.

"GIORNO!"

Miles sobbed for a moment. And then it struck him. It struck him stronger than any tendril, any insult hurled at him by another Spiderman, or any lie. He lifted his head up and glared at the Radio Demon. That damned smile. He'd wipe it off his face.

"I'm going to kill you," Miles muttered.

"What was that?"

"I'm going to kill you," Miles yelled. He gently moved Giorno off of him and moved closer to the demon.

"You're not actually sad about that gutter trash, are you? You're better than him, Mr. Morales," the Radio Demon said, almost scoldingly.

"What did you just say about my son?"

"ZA WARUDO!"

It was funny. One second, Alastor had been standing in front of him, and then, he was thrown twenty feet against the wall of the building. Giorno's father now stood in front of him, holding the arrow, helping Pucci back to consciousness.

"You shouldn't take what's not yours," Alastor said in a voice more static than human. His eyes darkened as he lunged at him.

However, a new person stepped in front of Giorno's dad and shot a bright arrow right into the right side of Alastor's torso. He was jolted backwards and fell to the ground. The man, who looked like he was straight out of Lord of the Rings, put the bow back onto his back.

"Stings, doesn't it? It was blessed by Silvanus," the man-elf explained. "Perhaps you shouldn't mess with the child of a master vampire."

Wait…Giorno's father was…

"You're a vampire?" Miles asked.

"Unimportant," DIO said. He gave Miles a nod. "I am grateful, Mr. Morales. Your loyalty to my son will not be forgotten or go unrewarded."

Alastor chuckled as he lay in a crumpled heap. "Heheheh. You have no idea who you're allying yourself with. Though it's fitting. The reality ruiner and the vampire so hellbent on destroying a bloodline he'd hire the most incompetent fools—some of whom betrayed him."

"Brave words for a dead man," Astarion said.

"Dead ex serial murderer," Pucci said. "We know just as much about you as you know about us."

"Then I suppose," Alastor said, a black portal appeared beneath him. "That this is a draw."

He vanished in an instant. His blood still stained the floors. Miles turned to Pucci, DIO, and the elf. "Please help Giorno!"

"Damn that devil," DIO muttered. He turned to Pucci. "Do you think you can…?"

Pucci nodded. "I'm impressed that his soul held the requiem arrow. It must have been placed there by the mastermind who decided to intermix these realities. Someone wants to see others suffer."

"But for what purpose?" the elf asked.

"That's what we must find out," DIO said. "If my son's life is tied into the bindings of this plot, I will make sure whoever is doing this faces the wrath of god."

Pucci held the arrow for a few seconds before it turned back into a golden heart crystal. He placed the crystal back into Giorno's chest. He began to breathe again, steadily. It's as though the deal wasn't even affecting him anymore!

"I used my White Snake to break his pact with that demon, Alastor," Pucci explained. "My stand does a lot more than I originally thought, or it could be that it gained extra abilities from exposure to new universes. I'm unsure. But he should be fine now. Just don't let him get attacked by any daimon. His soul will return to the talisman form."

Miles nodded, wiping his eyes. "I understand. Thank you for helping him!"

He wasn't sure if it was from all the stress from that day or the taxing of his powers, but Miles passed out.

…

DIO picked up the young man who had saved his son while Pucci picked up Giorno.

"Poor souls," Pucci said. "They've been through so much these past months."

DIO nodded. He had meant it when he said that he wished he'd been around to raise Giorno. He'd always swore he'd be a better father than the rat bastard who had raised him. To learn that such a woman had raised his son; it put him into a fury he'd known so well growing up with Jonathan. Perhaps he'd find her and destroy her after all this was said and done.

And of course, that delinquent brat was still alive. These fools were all so…infuriating!

"A shame," Astarion said. "I wished that arrow had landed a killing blow. He did seem wounded."

"It's not enough," DIO muttered.

He'd have that demon's head on a pike.

"Oh, I agree," Astarion said.

The pale elf had been a nice addition to their team. He'd also been a magistrate in his old life. He wasn't as boring as most minions.

As they reached the exit, a man's voice hissed. "We're not here for anyone except Miles Morales. We don't want a fight."

It was that multiversal pest, Miguel O'Hara. DIO had read up on him. He was a threat to his son's guardian…friend. He was with a few others: Chris Redfield: a man more agent than man, the immortal who couldn't die, and…

"Joseph Joestar," DIO mused. "I'd assume you'd know better than to join up with such scum. Given your bloodline, you could be doing better."

"Joseph is helping to keep the multiverse safe from threats like Mr. Morales, like you," Miguel shot back.

"Oh?" DIO asked, raising an eyebrow. "Is that why you're doing this? Or is this because you feel guilty? Yes. I believe that's it. You want to destroy Miles' chance at happiness because your mistakes turned you into a monster. Tell me, do you even know if it was you who really caused the collapse of the dimension you infiltrated, like a parasite?"

"I'm warning you," he bared his fangs. DIO smirked and showed off his own. "You can still leave here alive."

"And what can you four do against me?" DIO asked. "Shoot me? Take a photo of me? Inject a nonliving body with venom? Fools."

He handed Miles to Astarion and marched closer to them. "There's nothing you can do to me. Absolutely nothing. Now, these two are under my protection. If you so much as breathe near them, you'll feel how Dear Avdol, Iggy, and Kakyoin did when they died. Feel free to fill in your 'friends,' Joseph. I don't need you, yet."

DIO turned away from them and walked back to his group.

"At least tell me where my grandson is!" Joseph demanded.

DIO looked over his shoulder at Joseph and smirked. "No."

"ZA WARUDO!"

With a gift given to him by a new friend, DIO opened a portal and jumped through with the others to the Hikawa Shrine.

"Place them at the entrance," DIO said.

"But what if someone attacks them?" Astarion asked.

"They won't," DIO said. "The other spiders will sense Miles."

"Then we should go," Pucci said.

DIO nodded. "Yes."

…

The next morning, Miles woke up groggy, but alive. He remembered how Giorno's father had saved them from Alastor. He sat up and saw that Giorno was already awake, beside him.

Miles jumped back, but relaxed when he realized it was Giorno. "Y-you saved my life."

Giorno nodded. "Are you surprised?"

Miles paused and shook his head. "You…just had so much to lose. Why did you save me?"

"As strange as it sounds, I care about you," Giorno said, rolling his eyes. His face softened. "Are you okay?"

Miles nodded. "Yeah, but what about you? I mean, that demon tried to steal your soul!"

"And he stabbed you!"

"Touche."

It was quiet for a second before Giorno spoke up again. "I don't like getting close to others. I'm not sure about what you said earlier. I asked Luz about it. The 'ace' thing. It's hard to get to know other people, but I…I have always wanted to find someone I could trust. Maybe I'm not even adverse to relationships. I'm not sure about anything anymore."

"Could be demisexual," Miles suggested. "Gwen told me about that one. It's like where you have to be super close to someone to have a relationship, everything else gives the ick."

Giorno looked at him. "Did you see her again?"

Miles nodded. "I think we've made up? I'm not sure, but I think things are gonna be kind of weird."

"Do you want to go talk to her?" Giorno asked.

"Honestly?" Miles asked. "I'd rather just lay back down and sleep."

"I feel better than I've felt in a long time," Giorno said. "Did…did the priest break the deal?"

Another nod. "That priest is amazing. I've never met anyone like him."

He would tell Giorno about his father, but his father had sworn him to secrecy.

"Miles? Are you alright?"

"Oh yeah! I'm fine. I just needed to—,"

Miles was cut off as Usagi ran into the room along with Gwen, Pav, Hobie, Hunter, Amity, Willow, Darius, Luz, Zuko, Sokka, Katara, Jotaro, Connie, Steven, and some boy he'd never met before.

"MILES!" Usagi cheered. "I can't believe how strong you are! Thank you for helping us!"

"It was really Father Pucci," Miles said. "He was the one who saved us. He brought us back to the shrine."

"A shame he couldn't stay and chat," Jotaro said in a monotone voice.

"I'm just glad everyone got home in one piece," Sokka said. "It was looking bad there for a second."

"Hello Mista," Giorno greeted the boy in front of them. "This is Miles Morales. He's my friend."

"Your…" his voice trailed off. Giorno gave him a look. "Cool."

"C'mon everyone!" Usagi cheered. "The others did something awesome for us!"

"Oh right, you're about to miss the party," Sokka said.

Katara nudged him. "It's supposed to be a surprise."

"Well, technically a part of it was for yours, Zuko's, and Usagi's birthday today," Sokka argued. "But it's also good to celebrate a dead, evil witch and being alive."

"Thanks for clarifying the evil part," Gwen said.

"Well, Amity, Luz, Hunter and the others are witches, and you don't see them being grabby for souls!"

Miles laughed at the absurdity of the situation, and for the first time in months, so did Giorno.

…

He watched on. It had been quite the show.

The CEO was smart…so close to getting a hint of the causal event.

All the pain and tragedy had been so entertaining. He hoped it kept coming.

He couldn't wait to play his own part in this show.