"Sokka, what are you doing?" Katara asked.

"I'm helping to decorate for the Summer End Festival," he answered, putting brush to paper, smashing it down like a mad man. "Rei said I could help advertise and decorate and gave me some words to copy."

"Is…is that us?" Miles asked, looking at the weirdly drawn people standing in front of the questionably drawn shrine. "Why is my hair so poofy?"

Giorno pointed to the paper, "And why is my hair only three circles at the top?"

"At least you have hair!" Luz objected. "What's with the triangle on my head?"

"It's your witch's hat!"

"Can't be Luzara without a witch's hat," Amity said sardonically.

"Why do you and my sister sound so similar?"

"Why am I so short?" Gus asked.

"Why are we representing the shrine?" Zuko asked.

"Because we've been here for a few months now," Sokka said. He was right. It'd been two blissful weeks since they'd beat Kaolinite and Belos. "I thought I'd help Rei paint the environment."

"I think it's cute," Suki said. "Hopefully Rei agrees."

"Look, you even painted Yuichiro!" Usagi said, gaining the floppy-haired guy's attention.

"Yo! Let me see!" Yuichiro took the drawing and examined it. "Not bad, dude. Not bad."

"He's only saying that because all the hair in his face is blocking his vision," Josuke said. "What'd you do to my hair?"

"I tried!" Sokka said. "Cooler hairstyles are hard to draw!"

Nice save.

"I'll take that as a compliment…um…Sokka, your sleeve is on the corner of your drawing. It's messing up your ink."

Sokka glanced down to the sleeve of his shirt. It was, in fact, coated in stripey lines of ink. Sokka yelped and slammed his face down on the table in defeat—right into the freshly drawn photo. When he came back up, he had a miserable frown and poorly drawn versions of himself marred across his face.

"Head's up," Joey said, walking into the room with Yugi. "Kaiba said he's coming by later, something about monthly philanthropy and helping with the festival."

Sokka groaned. "I was in the zone, and you had to bring in news like that, Joey?"

Joey snickered, but Hunter cut him off. "I think there's more to Seto than meets the eye."

"Yeah, we know," Joey said. "The problem is, even if you've had a hard life, you can't go around treating other people like trash. Also, he'd probably sue you if he knew you called him by his first name."

"I know," Hunter said. "But maybe he can be better."

"He's coming to study group, too," Willow pointed out. "Maybe you can talk to him there."

"If someone wants to change," Aang said. "You can't make them change. They have to make that decision themselves."

Now that Kaolinite was gone, Kaiba had come around to asking them about the functional and physical aspects of everyone's universes. He'd employed Miles', Penny's, Richie's, Connie's, Gwen's, Pav's, Robin's, and Ami's help to rebuild some of the lost code that might be able to get them home and finally separate every dimension again. Miles wasn't so sure he wanted to be separated from his friends again, but he had a time, a place, and a canon event to stop. Kaiba had guaranteed if they did the calibrations right, it should get him where he needed to be. He'd be there to stop his father's death, and Kaiba swore his silence in return for getting the device working. No questions asked. Miles had even proposed a plan where they created something that would allow them to slip through every once and a while. Once Miles drafted the schematics, Kaiba had been so impressed, he offered Miles a job…intermittently, when he could travel back to his dimension.

Job or not, it would be nice to nice to see everyone here again, especially Mako and Giorno.

"Speaking of change," Usagi said, looking around the room. "Has anyone noticed how Rei skipped the last two study sessions?"

"She's slacking," Anne agreed. "But it's her business, right?"

"You should totally scope out what she's doing!" Marcy suggested. "I mean, what if she's in danger and secretly needs help?"

"Or give her some privacy?" Anne suggested.

"Exactly, everyone deserves to have their own personal business," Arven agreed.

"Okay, but what if she's in trouble again?" Usagi asked. "What if the witches are back? What if she needs help? WHAT IF SHE'S GOT A BOYFRIEND?"

"A boyfriend?" Yuichiro questioned. "Rei's never said anything about some guy to me!"

"Maybe she doesn't want to hurt your feelings," Usagi said, giving him a sympathetic look and pat on the shoulder.

"Ahh! You guys have gotta go check it out!" Yuichiro said. "If I do, it'll look too suspicious!"

"You can count on us!" Usagi said with a two-finger salute.

"This does seem a little invasive," Yugi pointed out.

"It's all for the greater good, Yugi!" Usagi said. "Besides, where is she right now?"

"She said she had some things to work on for the festival," Katara said. "I really think that's where she's been."

"You should try asking her tonight," Giorno advised, glancing to his communicator. "She said she's going to be here tonight."

"You asked her?!" Usagi said. Confusedly, Giorno nodded. Usagi sighed and shook her head. "It's fine. But now she'll be onto us."

"What's this 'us' business?" Arven asked, crossing his arms.

"You're no fun, Arven!"

"What? Am too!"

"You haven't even helped us catch Pokemon yet," Usagi argued.

"If he's slacking," Nemona said. "I'll gladly help you!"

"Really?" Usagi asked, eyes lighting up.

"Of course!" Nemona said. She pounded her fist against her palm and then grabbed Usagi's hand. "In fact we can go looking before study group tonight! I can teach you everything I know and then we can battle together!"

As Usagi was helplessly dragged away, two teenagers entered the room—Virgil Hawkins and Danny Fenton. Now, Virgil had the right idea about his superhero identity. His name was Static Shock. It was far removed from his original name. The last part in Danny's superhero identity almost sounded like his actual surname. Sure, it was cute, but cute doesn't disguise well!

"What's up, Virgil? Richie not coming today?" Miles asked.

"Oh yeah, he is. He just wanted to take a look at a few of the shops before he met us up here," Virgil explained.

"So, no new monsters?" Danny asked.

Miles shook his head. "I know that TV guy was on their side. Do you think he's done with them? Or do you think we're going to see him again?"

"Hard to say," Virgil said. "I mean, Richie's been trying to get the deets on his location, but they're pretty good at covering up their tracks."

"If there are more evil witches," Willow said. "We'll handle them."

"Nothing else we can really do," Arven muttered.

Hunter began looking uncomfortable. Miles wondered if he knew about the talisman. But that shouldn't be a problem; Luz swore them all to secrecy. She didn't want to stress him out even further. Besides, hopefully that secret died with Kaolinite…

Then again, Lucifer had decided to spare Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune. He was sure they couldn't obtain heart crystals without help from a daimon, but the fact was they still posed a threat…even if they seemed reluctant in their business.

Usagi was safe with Nemona. He was sure the big, fire-ghost crocodile she had could eat any monster that came their way. Steven seemed to be safe in the Kurrain Village. Aang said he was. Plus, Josuke's scary nephew was staying there. He was like 90% safe.

"Uh-oh, uh, Yug, guys, I think someone else is giving Kaiba a run for his money at the festival," Joey showed the screen on his computer to everyone.

It was Champion Leon hosting a casual tournament to introduce others to Pokemon battling. The tagline was 'Let the Champ Show You How to Battle!' Kaiba had planned to introduce dueling to people who attended the festival. It was going to be a huge marketing ploy.

"Maybe he won't notice?" Sokka asked.

At that moment, the door flew open. Kaiba stormed in, appearing severely enraged; so, slightly worse than usual. He grumbled a 'hello' to the people he passed, handed Miles a folder, and asked, "Where's Mizuno?"

"After school program," Virgil answered. "Maybe you should sit down?"

"I'm comfortable standing," Kaiba said, pacing the room.

Miles flipped through the blueprints. These inscriptions were absolutely rushed. It looked like a doctor had written a prescription rather than instructions on a reality manipulator.

"I've been experimenting," Kaiba said, brusquely. "The charred remained of Charlie's…abilities left behind contained daimon DNA. I recreated one just to see if I could beat it with some of the cards in my deck."

"You did what?!" Hunter asked.

"It worked. My Blue Eyes beat it; turned it to ash," Seto said. "I can teach people how to use this to defend themselves, but, no! Some idiot in the most outlandish attire wants to show off his dragon!"

"To be fair, Charizard is Fire-Flying, not dragon," Arven pointed out. If looks could kill, he'd be dead. "If Nemona heard you insulting Champion Leon, it wouldn't go well for you."

"Is that a threat?"

"No, it's a fact," Arven said. "She's super nice until someone annoys her, then she's a nightmare. I've only seen it once, in a battle against a Team Star member. It was scary."

"Why is entry to the festival so expensive?" Zuko asked. "Festivals should be enjoyed by everyone."

"Everyone?" Kaiba questioned, straightening his jacket. "And what if those witches come back? They won't stop until they get what they want. And if they can just casually stroll up to a free event, do you think they'd hesitate to attack you?"

Miles saw Hunter slowly leave the room. Poor guy. Luz, Willow, Amity, and Gus seemed to be the only other ones who noticed. They left, too.

"I've got passes for anyone who needs one," Kaiba said.

"Quite charitable," Joey said.

"It's not charity," Kaiba snapped. "It's insurance. Having people there who can actually beat daimon would be good. And with your fourth-rate deck, well, you're not defeating any monster."

"But with my Time Wizard, I can just—!"

As the others continued to argue amongst themselves, Miles snuck past everyone and headed to check up on Willow, Luz, and Hunter. He could sense someone following quietly along.

"You know, Spidey-senses work on stand users, too, Giorno."

"I'll never get used to a non-stand user being able to detect me," Giorno said with a small laugh.

"Yeah, well, I'm built different," Miles said. He paused. "Hey, Gio, I was wondering about something."

"Go ahead."

"Where did you live before all this? If it's okay for me to ask?"

"…It's not important," Giorno said.

"Look, all I want to know is if you had a good place to live," Miles said. "You never talk much about it, so I was worried."

Giorno chuckled. "It was rough for a while, but I live comfortably now. Why with the sudden concern?"

"I don't know," Miles shrugged. He was concerned. He knew, from Giorno's dad, that his childhood probably wasn't a happy one. Maybe he could get him to talk about it. It could help. "It's just, I miss my folks, but you've never mentioned yours."

Giorno paused. "There's no need to. You've met Mista, Bucciarati…and Abbachio, I guess."

"Are they like family friends?" Miles asked.

"No," Giorno said. "But we accomplished the impossible together."

"Which was?" Miles pressed.

Giorno looked at him for a second and sighed. "Miles, as much as I trust you, I don't want to talk about that."

"Oh…um, I'm sorry," Miles said. "I guess I was just curious. Sorry."

"Miles, let me give you some advice," Giorno said.

"We're the same age."

"Just listen to me, okay?"

"Alright."

"I don't know what's going to happen going forward, but I do know that things are going forward," Giorno said. "You can't be bogged down by your past if you want to achieve anything. That's not how dreams work. What matters is we're all here and alive. We have the power to make a difference in our own futures. Remember to keep looking forward."

"My Uncle Aaron told me to keep going," Miles said.

"Smart man."

"He turned out to be a merc called the Prowler."

"…If he killed bad people—"

"He tried to kill me at one point."

"Oh. Um, sorry about that. That is some heavy baggage."

"He didn't know it was me, though."

"Unfortunately, we all do what we think is right, even if it goes horribly wrong," Giorno said.

"It did for him," Miles said. "He died because…of me."

It was quiet for a minute.

"He may be alive in this reality. After all, Kakyoin, Bucciarati, and some of the others were dead before we came to this strange new world. Perhaps you can keep an eye out."

Unless it was the wrong Uncle Aaron. Miles had set out to ask Giorno about his homelife and he'd ended up spilling more about his own. At this point, he didn't want to say anything more.

"Is there anything else you'd like to talk about?" Giorno asked.

Miles shook his head. "No. Thanks. I'm just gonna go check on the others."

Miles walked ahead, a little unnerved. Talking to Giorno sometimes threw him off. He didn't even know why.

They walked until they reached the room the others holed themselves in. They were…talking. Laughing, even. Luz looked up, saw it was just the two of them, and waived them inside.

"Hey, how's it going?" Miles asked.

"Oh, we're fine," Luz said. "Just relaxing away from the others. It was getting a little too much in there."

"I can understand," Miles said. "At least there hasn't been any more monsters."

"Don't will them into existence, Miles," Gus scolded. "Saying that something isn't happening is the fastest way to get that thing to happen!"

Miles could've sworn he saw Hunter's eye twitch.

"Which it's not going to because we beat Kaolinite," Luz added in swiftly and with a nervous chuckle.

"But what if they come back?" Hunter asked. He stood and started pacing the room. "What if someone worse replaces her? What if they attack someone else? What if—?"

"Then we'll be ready," Giorno said. "I'm not tied to Alastor's deal anymore. And none of you've seen the full strength behind Golden Experience. It will be alright."

"But, if we beat the enemy," Amity spoke up. "Why aren't we able to go home?"

Good question. Kaiba said Kaolinite probably wasn't the cause of the universal conglomeration, but rather a symptom. Whoever did this was planning something bigger. Something catastrophic. But Kaiba had said to keep it under wraps while he figured it out. Which was more than likely for the best. Unwarranted panic wouldn't help.

Suddenly, Yuichiro stuck his head in the doorway. "Hey guys, everyone is sort of…fighting. So, can one of you greet the guest at the entrance of the shrine? I need to help Yugi and Katara settle this *as they're the only ones trying to be diplomatic*."

"Sure," Miles said. He turned to the others. "Anyone wanna help me out?"

Giorno nodded. "Sure. It'll give me something to do."

"It could be someone really cool," Luz said. "I'm in!"

"I'll go, too," Amity said.

"I think I'll stick around here," Hunter said with a nervous laugh. "You guys go ahead."

"Then we'll stick with you!" Gus said, pulling Hunter and Willow into a side hug. "Oh, but if it's Mr. Wright, tell him I'll be back a little later!"

"Will do," Luz said. As they walked along, Luz kept talking, "I'm glad almost everyone's here. I wonder if Vee or anyone else ended up in this place."

"Maybe she's the guest," Amity said. She turned to Miles and Giorno. "Vee is a very shy basilisk. She'll probably look human if she's here, but if she's run out of magic, she may look like a basilisk. If you see a girl like this," she held up a photo of a creature that kind of looked like an anthropomorphic green slug. "That's her."

"She's as sweet as can be," Luz said. "We're siblings!"

"How many adopted siblings do you have?" Giorno asked.

"Do friends count?"

The quartet reached the entrance to see a man with wiry, brunette hair, long-sleeve tan trench coat, navy pinstripe suit, and red converse investigating the wish tree that had once been a daimon that attacked Rei. Miles immediately became suspicious.

"Guys," Luz whispered quietly to the others. "That's the Doctor!"

"Doctor who?" The three asked almost simultaneously, making Luz laugh.

"He's a time traveler," Luz said. "He might be able to help us!"

The man looked up and spotted them. He smiled and waved. "Hello!"

"Hi," Miles said. What else was he supposed to say?

"Doctor!" a woman's voice called out. A woman came up the tall stairs and strode over to the man in the suit. She was wearing a dark magenta jacket, green blouse, jeans, and sneakers. Her dark hair was in a short ponytail. She turned to the group. "I'm so sorry, we were just running a few scans. We'll be out of your—."

Giorno cut them off, "Why are you here, really? No lies."

"Don't worry," the man, The Doctor, apparently, said. "We're here to help."

"If you try anything, with anyone here, I will make you wish you never had," Giorno warned.

"A very fine greeting, this one, yeah?" the woman asked.

"We've had a few problems," Luz explained. "You see—,"

Before she could explain, the Doctor cut her off. "So we found out. We found Kaolinite's broadcast amongst a myriad of other things yesterday. This place…everyone here…it's the origin for something big. I'm not sure what, but it's almost like some sort of calamity nexus soup at this location."

"That still doesn't answer my question," Giorno said. "What are you doing here? Are you here to hurt anyone?"

"W-what? No! Absolutely not!" the Doctor said with a scoff. He said it so earnestly and genuinely, it was almost enough to make Miles believe him. Giorno stared at the Doctor, his eyes faltering for a second. This did not escape the attention of the man. Then Doctor eyes turned to Miles. "Oh, you mean the situation with Mr. Morales and his father. Well, technically speaking, that is a bit beyond my reach. Anyways, any death that may or may not occur in his universe doesn't seem to be a fixed point in time."

"So, Miles can save his dad," Luz surmised. Everyone looked at her. "Fixed points are spots in time you can't change."

"We call them canon events," Miles explained.

"Canon events? Oh, I do like that," the Doctor said with a wide grin. The woman beside him coughed. "What? Right! Sorry. I'm the Doctor!"

"Martha Jones," the woman said with a small smile. She turned to Luz, "You seem to know a bit about time travel."

"My mom is into a lot of sci-fi," Luz explained. "My name is Luz Noceda! It's nice to meet you!"

"He already seems to know who we are," Miles pointed out.

"But formalities are still nice," Luz insisted.

"If it's any consolation, I don't know who you are," Martha spoke up.

"Then allow me to introduce myself," Amity spoke up. "My name is Amity Blight."

"Giorno Giovanna."

"I'm Miles Morales."

"So, Doctor," Luz began. "Be real with me, have you seen any more monsters?"

The Doctor sucked in a deep breath of air. "I've not seen them, personally, no."

"But they're out there," Giorno surmised. "How do you know that?"

"Time-traveler?" Luz pointed out. "He probably knows everything that's going to happen next!"

"Then we can rely on him for answers," Giorno said.

"Actually, no," the Doctor said. "Those fixed points, 'canon events' as you call them exist somewhere in this jumbled universe. I knew what the original fate was, but now, with everything all scrambled together in one big timey-wimey mush, I can't say for sure what's going to happen next…isn't it exciting?"

"Yeah, real fun," Miles said. "Except for the part where we all might DIE!"

"He does get carried away, you'll have to forgive this one," Martha said. "In any case, we're here to help solve this…mush."

"Right, carrying on like this can't be healthy for whatever power source that's holding this conglomerate together," the Doctor said. "It takes the power of a dying sun just to interact with someone from another dimension, mixing them altogether like this? I can't imagine what sort of power is fueling it."

"I actually knew that," Miles said. "In theoretical physics, they say it would take the power of a dying star just to travel to the past. I'm from 2023, same with Luz and Amity. But Giorno is from 2001, hell if I know when and where Sokka, Zuko, Katara, and their friends are from, and the shrine priestess, this year here is supposed to be 1996. However, we've still got a lot of 2023 conveniences. It's like things blipped in and out of where they should be rather than just a mashup of everything from every dimension."

"You're taking theoretical physics? At your age?" Martha questioned.

"I'd like to travel, too," Miles said with a small grin. "Besides, time waits for nobody, whether you can travel through it or not."

"Watch out," Martha said to the Doctor. "He might be smarter than you."

"I assure you, he probably is," Giorno said, like it was a competition of who had the better friend. Miles wasn't gonna say anything otherwise.

"The others will be coming up to study soon," Amity pointed out. She looked to their guests. "Did you need to see anyone?"

"Yes, we thought, since this seemed to be a common point for gatherings, given the dimensional residue exuding from this place, we'd speak to everyone all at once."

"I'll give you this one warning," Giorno said. "If you so much as cause a hint of trouble for anyone here, you'll be swiftly taken care of."

"Hospitality? Not much of a threat."

"You know what he meant," Miles said, crossing his arms.

"Of course," Martha said. "We're here to help. Two doctors at your service…well, a man who calls himself one and a medical student."

"Hey!"

"Like I said, the title is earned."

"She's right," Miles agreed. "Takes a lot to go through medical training. My mom's an RN."

"So, saving people is in your blood, Miles," Luz said, holding up her hand for a high-five. "C'mon don't leave me hanging!"

Miles laughed and gave her a high-five. He gestured towards the shrine. "Come on, follow us."

…

It wasn't as though Bede enjoyed traveling with other people; he just missed elements of his home. Though, truthfully, there wasn't much to miss. The editions to the gaggle of people with them only served to annoy him further. Still, they needed to make sure everything at the festival would be safe. He didn't want to see Mokuba so downcast again over his brother. And…Seto had been kind to him. He seemed like such a cold person, but Bede knew better. They were a bit too similar.

Right now, the youngest Kaiba was dead set on interviewing all the security detail, making sure there were no monsters or witches. Of course, Bede and Silver had been training their Pokémon together, just to make sure no former chairman or bosses showed up to make things worse. Who knows where Rose had gone? He was still out there; and that unnerved him as much as a Rookidee. With them was Marnie, Hop, Hau, Toph, and Wally. Others would be joining them soon; the 'adults' had won the decision to keep them out of their business.

"And you're absolutely sure there's no cursed objects in any of the booths?" Mokuba pressed one of the older guards.

"We checked every item to make sure it wouldn't transform, Mr. Kaiba," the guard assured him.

"All this fuss," Hop said, crossing his arms above his head.

"Of course, a Slaking like you isn't worried about other people," Bede said.

"What if it were your brother?" Silver asked.

"Oi! I get it!" Hop said.

The punk girl from Spikemuth intervened. "Lay off. We're all worried right now."

"Have you heard from your brother yet?" Hop asked her.

Right. The one who refused Dynamax gyms. The youngest old person he'd ever met.

The girl, Marnie, shook her head. "I'm starting to get worried."

"Maybe he never ended up here," the sickly, green-haired kid, Wally spoke up.

"Or he's hiding from the press," Bede suggested.

"That's not…unlike him," Marnie agreed, reluctantly. "You might be right, Bede."

"Don't tell him that," Hop argued. "His ego's big enough."

"Some people enjoy logical thinking," Bede countered.

He let Hop fume while his mind turned to other matters. He could've found Rose. He just knew it! If he'd been able to go out, he'd have found him…and he…and he…he…

Would have done something! He couldn't just get away with abandoning him! It wasn't fair! He'd worked so hard to help him accomplish his dreams for Galar, only to be tossed aside, dropped in the middle of nowhere with no chance of success. He was lucky Lady Opal had given him a chance, but, in all honesty, he wished for a family. He thought he had that with Chairman Rose and Lady Oleanna.

"Bede, are you okay?" Mokuba asked.

Bede dusted off his shoulders and straightened himself out. "I'm fine. I'm just bored to tears."

"I understand," Mokuba said, sympathetically. "But given everything, I want to make sure there are no incidents at the festival."

"That's for the best," Bede agreed. "Rose is still out there."

"If you don't mind me asking," Mokuba said. "What was he like?"

He looked at Mokuba and then to the others. "I can tell you, a bit away from prying eyes and ears."

"Don't mind us," Hau said.

"Yeah," Hop agreed with a wry grin.

Bede rolled his eyes and took Mokuba aside. When he was sure they were out of earshot, he began, "Chairman Rose adopted me when I was left behind by my family. I grew up in a large family. They didn't have enough money for the new baby they were expecting…so they gave me up."

"That's terrible!" Mokuba said. "They just…left you?"

Bede nodded. "But that's not important. What's important is that…Chairman Rose was the one who adopted me. He said he saw potential in me. He even gave me my first Pokémon, Hatenna. Of course, under my care, we found more friends and beat anyone in our way…except the new champion."

"Hop's friend?" Mokuba asked. "Didn't they go traveling? That's what Hop told me."

"You shouldn't talk to that idiot," Bede chastised. He gave him a small grin. "Though, yes, Gloria went traveling. She was one of the only trainers I respected."

Bede shuffled his feet. "Anyways, under his care, I was told to find wishing stars, an invaluable power source that allowed gygantimax battles. They also gave power to a lot of Galar cities. That's why Spikemuth is so run-down. They don't use wishing stars. Chairman Rose was worried that power would run out—so much so that he released Eternatus to try to channel an abundance of power by himself. Problem was he couldn't control it. Not even Champion Leon could."

"So, what happened next?"

The nuisance had decided to stick his neck into the conversation. Bede hadn't even noticed he'd walked over to them. "And Gloria and I sought out the legendary Pokémon to catch Eternatus!"

"Beside the point I was trying to make," Bede said. "Listen, both of you, Chairman Rose will stop at nothing to make sure he's remembered. He wants to make history, to stamp the world with his personal seal. There's no limit to the cost. All of Galar was in great peril. Gym leader, Piers and Rohan have been helping me clean up some of the remnants of his mess."

"Don't act like you're all alone," Hop said. "I try to help with how the Pokémon feel, and Marnie is helping to spread awareness on Macro-Cosmos. We're here to help, you know?"

He did appreciate those efforts…but he just couldn't bring himself to say so. Turned out he didn't have to as some of the other kids from other groups ran up to their group. It was Karlach, Wyll, Professor Sycamore from the Kalos region, and a few of the other kids he'd met on the day of the incident: Sprig, Frisk, Monster Kid, Barry, Ash, Lillie, Pearl, King, Frosta, Gus, Toph, Syaoran, and two other kids they'd never met before. One had black hair, violet eyes, and was dressed in a school uniform for girls, and the other was a kid with shoulder-length auburn hair covered by a yellow hat, green shirt, vest similar to Mokuba's, and shorts.

"Who're you two?" Silver asked, his tone like acid on the ears.

The girl was unperturbed. She flipped her hair back and answered, "Akemi. Akemi Homura."

"Kawajiri Hayato," the boy mumbled. He didn't seem too interested in meeting new people.

"Miss Morningstar asked us to babysit these two while she attended the meeting at the shrine," Professor Sycamore explained. "I'm sure you'll get along swimmingly."

"Hey Gus," Hop said. "I thought you were at the temple today?"

"I was," Gus said, rolling his eyes.

"For some reason, my group got outvoted to let us stay," Toph explained. "I mean, at least Katara tried to argue for us. Usually she's just as annoying, but you know, she has her moments."

"I don't understand," Pearl huffed. "I want to help keep Mystic Maya and Mr. Nick safe, too!"

"Aw, don't be too down, pups," Karlach said. "I'm sure your friends and family are just looking out for you."

"But we can help them," Toph argued.

"I've got no doubt about that," Karlach said with a laugh. "Quite impressive, the whole world bending and all. No doubt you're a great soldier."

Toph grinned. "I've been known to crack some skulls."

"I'm sure. Now, let's get you lot back to the—,"

The sky grew a pink hue as pink clouds drifted overhead of them. No one had time to react as a small girl with pink hair fell from the sky. Wyll was quick to catch her and set her down on the ground. She didn't seem hurt. She must've fallen in from another dimension.

"Are you alright, Small Lady?" Wyll asked.

"H-how do you know my nickname?" the girl asked.

"Lucky guess," Wyll said. "Truly. What is your name?"

"My name…my name is Chibiusa," the girl said.

Very pink. Lady Opal would adore her.

"Were you teleported here, too?" Mokuba asked.

The girl nodded. "Yeah. Mama didn't mention anything about meeting anyone when I first got here…"

"Your mother sent you to this place?" Professor Sycamore asked.

"…Yes. Who are you people?" the girl, Chibiusa, asked.

"I am Professor Sycamore," the Kalossian man explained. "We have come from many different worlds, like yourself. But…it's odd that your mother would deliberately send you here."

"She's probably scared," Mokuba argued. "I mean, most of us were, when we first got here. Maybe too many questions isn't such a good idea."

"Agreed," Wyll said.

"Yeah," Karlach said with a nod. "Besides, we might be able to ask around and see if anyone can help her tomorrow."

"I'm supposed to meet someone at the Summer End Festival tomorrow," Chibiusa explained.

"Are they dangerous?" Syaoran asked.

"Hardly," Chibiusa said sardonically. "I'm just looking for my older cousin."

"Usagi," Frisk spoke up in a quiet voice. They rarely spoke.

Chibiusa nodded. "So, you've met her."

"Oh yeah, good soldier," Karlach said. "Little klutzy, but who isn't?"

"Should we take you to her?" Wyll asked.

Chibiusa thought about it and shook her head. "Mama says I'm supposed to meet her at the festival. So, that's what I'm going to do."

"Well, you're free to come with us," Mokuba offered. "I'm sure Seto wouldn't mind."

Both Karlach and Wyll gave each other a doubtful look.

"I suppose there's no harm in letting her stay tonight," Karlach said.

"Cool!"

"Then we should get going," King said. He rubbed his arms. "It's getting dark out here, and it's giving me the creeps."

"Alright. Let's leg it."

…

Reading through the flames was becoming tiresome. It wasn't that he wasn't good at it; no, it was the opposite. He was too good at it. Avdol and Rei had tried to cheer him up. The dismal outcomes he saw were only some of the possibilities that could occur. Still, the ones where people he knew—people he considered friends got hurt—came true. He couldn't protect them, and it had been others who had helped them get out of that situation.

The visions he saw now were…even more depressing. Still, they sometimes changed. But always resulted in someone getting hurt.

To add insult to injury, the implications Hunter's uncle left behind about his father skulking about was troubling. What was he doing? What was he planning? Did he have his bending back? It was absurd, but a lot of bizarre things had happened lately. He couldn't count out any possibility.

And now they were all gathered by this man who claimed to be a time-traveler. Luz backed him up. He must have some credibility.

Zuko looked around the room. Sokka was paying attention, Katara seemed concerned, Suki and Ty Lee kept their hands on their weapons (discreetly), and Aang looked like he wanted to talk to the man because of course he did.

There was some chatter: Jotaro was talking to Kakyoin, Polnareff, and Avdol quietly. Kaiba kept to himself but glared at the time-traveler. Usagi kept talking and laughing with Minako, which seemed to enrage Rei. The two got into an argument, which pulled Gale away from his notetaking. Charlie Morningstar was introducing herself to people she hadn't met yet, and Lucifer trailed behind her like a turtle-duck. The lawyers and their mystic sat together. It seemed the porcupine haired guy was trying to talk to the silver-haired man, who looked incredibly tired. Josuke was talking to his friends ever since they got here. They were annoying the artist. Others were talking, snacking, and waiting for someone to speak up.

Finally, the man stood in front of everyone. Zuko wasn't sure what he was expecting, but he looked…normal? Surely a time-traveler should look old, right?

"So, where to start?" the man said, clasping his hands together.

"Might I suggest the beginning?" Gale called out.

Some groaned and some booed. Gale stiffened and crossed his arms, "I suppose my wit is not appreciated at this moment."

"Just as well," the Doctor carried on, not missing a beat. "Now, I've been doing my research, and from what I've gathered, there was a sort of blip. Someone, perhaps a few someones, worked to displace people, events, and places throughout time and other dimensions to achieve…something catastrophic. It took them a great deal of power to do so, we can assume whatever they're using to keep these worlds intact is, as Mr. Morales discussed, even more powerful than a dying sun. I can only imagine what it's doing to all of space-time."

"Well, you're just full of good news," Kaiba said.

"Oh, it gets better," the Doctor said sarcastically. "I dug deeper—those talismans the 'witch' was after originated from this universe. The concept, I mean. But now, there are individuals from all universes that possess these objects. They'll need to be guarded at all times. One slip up can irreversibly separate someone's soul from their body for good. I reviewed the footage from the abandoned maze. You were…lucky that man was able to reverse the process. However, there's always the possibility he won't be around next time to help."

Hunter slowly raised his hand. "Um, yeah, excuse me, but who had one of those talismans?"

Everyone went dead silent. No one wanted to say anything. They'd kept the truth from Hunter for these past weeks only for this man to stumble in and ruin everything.

The man, seeming to catch on by the glares and the silence paused. "Oh. Ohhhh. I'm so sorry."

Hunter's eyebrows knotted in confusion for a second before his eyes widened. "I have—! Why? Why didn't anyone tell me?"

He jumped up and looked at the Doctor. "Can you get rid of it? You said you were a doctor!"

"Removing it is the last thing you want me to do," the Doctor said. "But I can do my best to make sure no one gets hurt."

Martha gave him a sympathetic look. "We understand if you're scared. But I can assure you the Doctor has worked to save many planets, universes, even!"

"What about multiple universes?" Godot asked.

"Surprisingly yes," the Doctor said. "Well, most would be facing complete annihilation by this point, so whatever is holding this blended culture of…stuff."

"Well put," Gale mused. "Although, it does remind me of my little adventure with the others. We were protected by, well, it's a bit private. However, in summary, I shall say we were protected by a powerful being who kept us from becoming mindflayers. It comes at a cost, you know, one I'm sure we'll not long to find out."

"You're even worse than him," Kaiba complained, gesturing to the Doctor. "Look, I was on a breakthrough with dissolving the barriers to dimensional walls. I'm sure if I can reclaim my tech, I can fix this."

"So, our hope rides on a sixteen-year-old," Eda said.

"I can help," the Doctor said. "I've fixed more complex technology before."

Kaiba glared at him.

"Not saying it's not impressive for a human to get that far, really."

"Don't worry, he's this condescending with everyone," Martha said. "You get used to it."

"Hey, it's not intentional!" He looked back at Hunter. "Trust me. I'm going to make sure no one's 'heart' goes missing anytime soon."

Unsurprisingly, this didn't seem to put anyone at ease.

…

"Thank you for figuring out the movie machine, Auggy," Karlach said to Professor Sycamore. "That should keep the kids busy for a minute, right?"

"Should being a pertinent word," Wyll said with a small laugh.

"I wonder how the others meeting is going," Augustine Sycamore wondered aloud.

This world was a far cry more dangerous than Kalos, even with the Lysandre incident. Professor Sycamore wondered…could Lysandre be here, too? If he were, was he helping others to build technology like the power inhibitors? It was very possible. He was quite the genius. He had been a friend…and more at one point in time.

However, there was no need to bring back thoughts of such days gone by. Lysandre had taken Ash Ketchum hostage, almost destroyed all the world—it's people and its Pokémon, and now presumably was trying to do the same thing again.

"Well, you know, even if I give him guff, I hope Kaiba is able to get his technology back," Karlach said. "Maybe that guy will help him. The kid's helped me stay in this world without…well…you know…overheating."

"He is quite impressive with his technological skills," Wyll agreed. He turned to Karlach and slipped his hand into hers. "Most importantly, it's possible for both of us to walk the mortal plain now."

Sycamore knew it was probably wrong to be jealous, but every romance he'd ever endeavored failed. He wished he had that with someone.

Little did he know, someone he loved was watching him quite keenly.

Watching and waiting.

…

Mokuba made sure everyone had a blanket. The best part of this room was that the middle was basically a huge, cozy, conversation pit (a room that is primarily made up of couch). Most everyone had fallen asleep, even the cute girl who'd fallen through the portal earlier. She was very polite, too. She kinda looked like Usagi, but her demeanor was different. And it was always good to make a new friend.

He was glad Bede was starting to open up a little. He reminded him a lot of Seto. Truth be told, he didn't mind having him here. Plus, he'd destroyed that daimon that tried to hurt himself and his brother. There was an army of them during those first few days of the collision; they just popped up out of nowhere during a promotional outing. Bede, Karlach, Silver, Gwen, Penny, and Wyll came out of nowhere to help them. They'd been slumming it on the streets, but Seto offered them a place to stay in exchange for protection. Of course, Karlach took care of most problems nowadays, but Mokuba was still weary. After the incident with Kaolinite, what if neither she nor Wyll could be there to protect his brother?

"Mokuba," a tiny voice spoke up. It was Frisk. They seemed wide-awake.

"Oh!" Mokuba jumped a little. "What's up, Frisk? You okay?"

Frisk paused. "This…has all happened before. I'm trying to stop it from happening again."

"What do you mean?" Mokuba asked. "What happened?"

"All of this: the daimons, the witches, us meeting. It's happened, and it didn't end well. I can't remember everything exactly, but I know either I, one of my friends, or…someone else has rewound time to try and fix things. I…I don't want to fail again."

Mokuba froze. He wasn't sure how to answer this. And Frisk looked like they were about to cry. What was he supposed to say?

"Um…it's okay, Frisk. I don't think we're going to fail. When Seto gets his tech back, he's going to fix all of this. Trust me. I know my big brother; he'd never fail."

Frisk went quiet, seeming deep in thought. They nodded after some moments of hesitation. "I hope you're right."

"I know I'm right," Mokuba assured them. "He's not going to give up, so you shouldn't, either!"

"…Thank you."

Mokuba gave them a smile. "You're welcome!"

…

When the Doctor left, most of the older folks headed out, too. This left the young adults to try and complete a study session—which Usagi turned into a sleepover. Mako, Arven, and Steven made some snacks for everyone. When they had settled down, Hunter spoke up:

"Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"We didn't want to scare you," Luz said. "It was my idea. I'm so sorry, Hunter!"

Hunter was quiet as he seemed to be thinking. Giorno spoke up. "I've got one, too. I wouldn't worry so much about it. Now that I'm out of that contract, I'm able to use Golden Experience to its complete abilities again."

"Oh yeah! How strong is your stand, Giorno?" Koichi asked.

"Future you knows a little," Giorno said with a chuckle. "I've been able to take on a few strong stand users, myself."

"A few?" Mista questioned. "Talk about an understatement. He's the strongest stand user I've ever seen."

Giorno gave him a look. A look telling him to tread carefully with his words. Miles had gotten the hang of reading Giorno's expressions. "You flatter me, really. I do my best for Italy. That's all."

"Regardless," Kakyoin interjected. "It didn't matter with those power dampeners."

"Well, I can take care of those," Richie assured them.

"And I can sneak us into places before my powers shut off," Danny offered.

"Then we're already five steps ahead," Minako joked.

"What if there's more witches and daimons out there?" Hunter asked. "What do we do then?"

"Relax, if they haven't shown up by now, hopefully they're gone!" Usagi said.

"Or more likely," Kaiba interrupted, "Since the time-traveler visited us, he knows there are more witches and daimon out there. We need to be prepared for anything."

"He's right," Zuko agreed.

"Well, what should we do?" Josuke asked.

After a minute of silence, Sokka raised his hand. "OH! I KNOW!"

That's how they ended up drawing names from a hat and establishing a buddy system. Although it seemed a little preschool, it wasn't a terrible idea. Miles ended up in the following group: Giorno, himself, Usagi, Luz, Peter, Amity, Yugi, Steven, Mako, and Arven. They'd probably stick with these groups during the festival tomorrow.

Then everyone sort of powered down for the night. However, he couldn't fall asleep. Those talismans were what the witches were really after. Since Giorno had one, and if Kaiba's hypothesis were correct, he'd become a target, too. Giorno seemed sure of himself and his abilities, but still…he didn't want to see him die again.

"You alright, Miles?"

Apparently, Giorno was having the same troubles sleeping as he was.

"I'm okay, just thinking."

Giorno was quiet for a moment before speaking up again, "So, what are your parents like?"

"Well, they're cool…overbearing sometimes. But, they just want what's best for me," Miles paused. He laughed a little, but he didn't know why. "I really miss them. I miss my home. I wish I'd left them making sure they knew that I love them. I wished I'd gotten to tell them who I really am."

"You'll get that chance," Giorno reassured him. "And I'm sure they know…they sound like good people."

It was quiet for another long minute. It felt like the silence was a heavy blanket on a humid night.

"I know, by the way."

Miles sat up and looked at Giorno, who was already up. "Know what?"

"I know it was my dad who saved us," Giorno said. He furrowed his eyebrows. "I kind of saw him, as he and the priest were leaving the shrine. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I…I didn't know if we could trust him," Miles said. "After everything Kakyoin said, I'm still not sure. I mean, he killed him before. And if that's not enough, there's an obvious vendetta between your dad, Kakyoin, Avdol, Polnareff, and Jotaro. If they thought you were anything like him…"

"You were afraid they'd kill me at my most vulnerable?" Giorno guessed.

Miles nodded. "I should've said something. I'm sorry. But I…I don't want to see you get hurt again."

Giorno folded his hands in his lap and sat still. "Hmm. I appreciate the sentiment. And you probably had the right idea…just let me in, next time."

"Swear," Miles said. "I will."

"…So, what was he like? Out of curiosity."

"Imposing," Miles said. "Honestly? One minute Alastor was gloating about winning, the next, your dad was mocking him while he was trying to get back up. The priest got your soul back, ended your contract. I didn't even see him move."

"It must be his stand," Giorno surmised. "I'm not sure whether or not to trust him or the priest, either. Let's keep this between us for now. When we figure out just exactly who he is, we'll make more judgement calls, then."

"What if he tries to kill Jotaro, Josuke, Kakyoin, or any of the others? Kind of seems like he has a grudge against the whole bloodline and any of their friends," Miles said.

"That is a problem…" Giorno said. "If he does threaten them, I'm sure we can overpower him. I think I have an idea of what his stand can do, given what Kakyoin's told us."

"We could always just ask Kakyoin," Miles suggested.

"I'm not sure he trusts us," Giorno said. "I don't blame him. If I were him, I'd be the same way. Still, I'm not going to allow him, Jotaro, or Josuke to get hurt. They're family, too. It would be nice to get to know someone in my family who isn't a complete bastard or out to use me."

"You think that's what your dad is doing?" Miles asked.

"Golden Experience defeated one of the most powerful stand users in Italy, Miles. How do I explain this?...Oh! It's like that show Josuke and Okuyasu found on Luz's television! The violent superhero one!"

"The Boys?" Miles guessed.

Giorno nodded. "The 'superhero' Homelander is like a bizarro Superman, right? His son is just as much so. As much as he wants his son to succeed, he also wants him to succeed for the sake of his own image. I'm not sure if this is quite what this DIO wants but given my experience with family and his lack of being in my life till now, I'd assume that's what he wants. And since the priest endorsed me, I have a sinking feeling it's all connected to him."

Miles thought about this. Giorno's father had seemed truly remorseful for being absent in his life, as though it were out of his control. But Giorno was making some solid points, and it sounded like his homelife was just as his father had described—pretty terrible.

"Hey, Gio," Miles said softly. "My folks can be a little overbearing. But if you wanted to, you can stay with us for a while. I'm sure my mom would love to meet you. And my dad might look scary, but he's a good person."

Giorno was quiet, seeming to actually consider the offer. "If I can, I might visit you. I do have serious business to attend to in Italy. If Kaiba perfects those interdimensional travel devices, it's a nice idea."

Miles smiled. "Cool."

Unfortunately, what Miles failed to realize was the creature stalking in the night, sensing that a huge number of spider-persons were in this amalgamation. He grinned, knowing the hunt was on.

…

"You know, Miles, it's glad to meet someone else who had no idea about this whole Spider-Society thing. I guess I probably didn't get an invite because of the whole thing with Doctor Strange," Peter rambled on, tugging at the hem of his Yukata.

To represent the shrine, everyone had to wear them (some under protest like Jotaro and Jet). It wasn't a huge deal. Right now, all of them were at the Summer's End Festival. They were helping run some of the attractions. Miles, Peter, Luz, Amity, Steven, Yugi, Arven, and Giorno were helping the girls with this game where you could catch goldfish with this thin paper paddle and a cup. Some of the others were helping Avdol with his fortune telling booth, others were helping with food prep. It was a smart system, and people looked like they were having fun.

Yet, something was off, a lingering fear. His senses were on high alert. And it wasn't just him, it was Peter, Hobie, Gwen, and Pav, too. Did that mean Miguel had found out where they were? Or worse—Spot?

"Yeah, Miguel O'Hara probably took exception to that," Miles said with a chuckle.

"Oh please, I bet all of us combined could take him down," Luz said. "We've got the brains and the brawn."

"You think so?" Miles asked. "I'll gladly let you cover for me, Luz."

"I said 'together,'" Luz said defensively. "I mean, a vampire Spiderman is still kind of scary."

"But through the power of friendship, we can beat the scary vampire," Arven said, rolling his eyes.

"Is it cool to not want to fight a vampire anytime soon?" Steven asked. He nervously laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I was never good with horror."

"Well, he's not a literal vampire, guys," Miles tried to explain.

"Are you sure?" Mako teased. "He sounds like a natural Count Dorkula."

Lots of people groaned at the joke. That's when Haruka and Michiru walked over to their stall.

"Haruka! Michiru!" Usagi cheered.

"Hello, Odango," Haruka said. "How have you all been doing?"

"Is tired a valid answer?" Arven asked.

Michiru chuckles. "I'd imagine so. Everyone looks so adorable in their yukatas, especially you, Arven."

Arven's face turned three shades of red. "Uhm…thanks!"

If Nemona had been there to see that…

"So, what have you guys been up to?" Haruka asked.

Oh, you know, beating up witches, almost dying, getting saved by possibly evil vampires, dying, and avoiding dying.

"Just trying to figure out how to get home," Miles explained.

"Seems like that's what everyone is trying to do," Michiru said. "On the bright side, we haven't seen anymore of those witch broadcasts. Maybe someone got rid of them?"

"You keep up with that?" Amity asked, trying to sound blasé.

"Of course we do," Michiru said.

"Gotta stay aware. I mean, what are we going to do against superpowered witches?" Haruka asked.

Touche Haruka. Touche.

"Speaking of which, you all should be careful," Michiru advised. "Just because you haven't seen any witches, doesn't mean they aren't out there."

"What if something worse is out there?" Arven mumbled.

"That would suck," Luz admitted. "But we'd get through it. Haremos nuestro mejor esfuerzo."

Arven paused and nodded.

"Do you mind if I try to play?" Haruka asked Usagi.

"No! Go ahead! Good luck, Haruka!"

On the first try, almost instantly, Haruka caught a goldfish. She gave it to Michiru and the two went off to joyous attractions unknown. Maybe food. Food would be good right around now.

"Hey, does anyone want to help me get some food?" Miles asked.

"I'll go," Giorno said.

"We want to check out the food!" Luz said, grabbing Amity's hand.

"And I could use a break," Arven said.

"Do you think you can remember what everyone wants?" Ami asked.

"At least one of the five of us can," Luz said with a laugh.

That's how the five of them earned a break and got to check out all the stalls at the festival. The place was crowded with people. Sure enough, there was an event dedicated to Duel Monsters and to Pokémon. Both seemed to be doing well. Maybe Kaiba wouldn't be too unhappy. Tch. Right.

"I think all the champions from around the Pokémon world are there," Luz said. "We should go sneak in!"

"That's more Nemona's thing," Arven said. "I really am hungry, and the food here looks so good!"

"Plus, the girls, Steven, Peter, and Yugi are expecting food, too," Miles pointed out.

"But this might be the only chance to meet them!" Luz complained.

"Maybe you can ask Rei if you can after we get the food," Amity compromised.

"Alright, but I'm…" Luz cut herself off as she looked into the distance. "Mamá?"

A woman with hair pinned up in a sort of ponytail, glasses, and nurses outfit stood ahead of them. She turned to see Luz, "Luz?"

Luz shoved the food into Arven's arms and ran over to her mom, lunging into a hug. "Mamá! You're here! Oh, my baby! I'm so glad to see you!"

Miles felt his heart crack just a little, until the nurse turned to him. "Eres tu!"

"I'm sorry," Miles said. "How do you know—?"

He was cut off as a deep but familiar voice called out, "Miles!"

"Dad?"

"Miles!" his mom ran over from a nearby booth. He didn't have time to register what was going on before they both tackled him in a hug. "You're okay! We-we thought you were gone. Don't you ever do something like that again!"

"I'm sorry," Miles mumbled over and over again, trying, unsuccessfully, to keep from crying.

"Where did you go, Miles?" his dad asked.

"It's a long story," Miles said. "I met so many people, and there's a lot of dangerous things out there. But we beat them, Mom, Dad. And I know my worth. I didn't know you guys would end up in this place, too!"

"Baby, how did you get here?" his mom asked.

"Mom, Dad, there's something I need to tell you, but not here. It's private. And I should've said this a long time ago, at Dad's party. I should've just told you. If I'd just told you, none of this would've happened. No one would be in danger, and I—!"

"Miles, slow down," his dad said. "Who's in danger?"

"I…everyone!" Miles said. His mind was going into overdrive. So much was happening at once. His chest seized up, and it felt like his body was shutting down. "Giorno, Hunter, Usagi, Steven, you, me, everyone!"

"Miles," Giorno said, he stooped down next to him. "Come on, this is a good thing. We've found your parents. Everything is going to be okay. We've got this, remember?"

"Back up," Luz's mom said. "Who's trying to hurt Hunter?"

"It's a long story, Mamá," Luz said.

"I'm sure you'll fill us in," Miles's dad said.

"You must be Captain Morales and Mrs. Morales," Giorno said. "It's good to meet you, signore and signora."

"Who are you?" Miles's dad asked, incredulously.

Giorno stood up and extended a hand towards him. "My name is Giorno Giovanna."

"Well…at least he didn't call us by our first names like, Emo," Mr. Morales grumbled.

"She has a name, Dad," Miles said weakly.

"Speaking of," Mrs. Morales interjected. "She said you got lost. Where did you go, Miles?"

The pain in her voice hurt him even more. There were no words to make any of this okay. Why wasn't he happy? He just felt so…overwhelmed!

"I'm not sure. I don't know where all I have been. I don't even know where here is."

"I think he's a little overwhelmed," he heard Luz's mom say gently. "Maybe we should give him some space."

"…Camila is right," Mrs. Morales said. She gently placed a hand on Miles's shoulder. "Miles, baby, it's alright. Let's just…where are you all staying right now?"

"The Hikawa Shrine," Giorno answered for him. "I've introduced myself, but there are a number of people staying there. We've…forged a friendship, kept each other safe. Miles is a very good friend to me. He's…been through a lot."

Miles appreciated someone else being able to put their situation into words.

"My poor boy," his mom said, soothingly.

"C'mon Miles," his dad said, helping him back up. "Let's just relax for a minute, alright?"

It was quiet for a minute before Miles asked, "I'm glad you guys found Luz's mom. She really missed you, Mrs. Noceda."

"I sure did," Luz said, hugging her mom tightly.

"I missed you, too!" Mrs. Noceda said, hugging her. She looked over to Amity and pulled her into the hug. "And don't think I forgot you, Amity!"

Mrs. Noceda looked to Arven. "Who are you?"

"My name is Arven," he murmured. "We…we should probably get back to the others. They're probably starving, especially Usagi."

"MILES!"

Oh no. Oh crap.

A familiar brunette man in a pink bath robe, baggy clothes, and slippers carrying a baby ran towards their group.

"P-Peter?!"

"Yeah, don't worry, I'm not with Miguel."

"We know," Giorno said with a firm glare. "You must be the infamous Peter Parker."

"What are you talking about?" Mr. Morales asked. "Peter Parker is dead."

"Your Peter Parker is dead," his mentor corrected. "Uh, sorry. You must be Miles's parents. My name is Peter Parker. This is my daughter, Mayday. Say 'hi' Mayday!"

To her credit, Mayday did wave her tiny hand at his mom, blabbering in baby-speech.

"Peter, what are you doing here?" Miles asked.

"You know this man?" his dad asked.

"He's," Miles sighed. "He's my mentor."

"Mentor?" His mom questioned. "Mentor at school? What are you talking about, Miles."

His dad dawned a look of realization. "No. That's not it. Miles…are you?"

"He's Spiderman," a dark voice said.

A man with dark black hair, red eyes, dressed in a long, black dress coat, silver button up, black slacks, shoes began to approach them. Peter handed Miles Mayday. "Miles, take her and run. Go with your family, get out of here!"

"Oh, but why chase my meal off?" the man questioned. "I have a buffet in front of me. Two and a half totems."

Mr. Morales pulled out his gun, and Giorno stepped in front of Miles. "Take one step closer to your own demise."

"Giorno Giovanna," the man mused. "The son of a lesser god. I must say, I am impressed to meet such a powerful young man. A delicacy for sure, but the souls of spiders are far…greater."

"Miles…" his mother said. "You…"

Miles took a deep breath and stood up. "Mom, Dad. I've been doing my best to protect you. And I'm not going to stop now. I'm Spiderman."

…

Chibiusa walked with her newfound friends. The scary-nice lady with an axe, her boyfriend, the professor, three lawyers, a mystic, and three witches were watching over them. She learned the boy who let her stay with them, Mokuba Kaiba, was the brother to a wealthy CEO, Seto Kaiba. Her mama hadn't mentioned any of this when she told her she'd make a special connection back in the twentieth century. Could this boy be the one she was talking about?

"Come on! We're gonna be late!" the mystic's cousin, Pearl shouted.

"We're actually going to be there a few minutes early," the red-haired boy, Silver corrected.

"I can't wait to see the duel," Mokuba said. He laughed. "Though, I'll be honest, I'm not sure why Joey volunteered to go against him."

"Who knows?" Hop said. "He might have a card up his sleeve."

"You're as terrible with puns as your brother," Bede complained.

"Hey, at least you admit I'm like Lee with something," Hop joked.

Bede rolled his eyes.

"If you want, after the show, I can help you find Usagi," Mokuba offered. "She should be somewhere around here. Seto said she would."

"Not without one of us, pup," Karlach said. "We'll help you find the moon warrior."

"I'm a moon warrior, too," Chibiusa said, a little jealous of the cool title.

"Is that so?" Karlach asked. "How about Mini Moon Warrior?"

"It's cute," Chibiusa said.

"It suits a young warrior," Wyll agreed.

"Though, children shouldn't be anywhere near a fight," Mr. Edgeworth was quick to point out.

"I've told you hundreds of times," Toph said, clearly annoyed. "I have shot boulders into and destroyed tanks and airships. I'm ten. It doesn't matter!"

"Airships?" Karlach questioned. "This girl is a military of her own."

This earned a grin from Toph. These other kids weren't so bad. Maybe, while she was here, they could become friends.

…

"Where are they?" Usagi whined.

They were sure both Champion Leon and Seto had finished debuting their shows by now, and the others still hadn't come back with food! Even the crowd around their stall had died down.

"We should go check on them," Yugi suggested.

"Yugi's right," Mako agreed.

"Someone should probably look for Rei, too," Minako said. "She's gone missing."

"Ugh! Rei! Now is not the time!" Usagi chastised. "Yugi, Steven, can you guys help me look for her?"

"Sure," they both agreed.

"We'll look for Miles and the others," Mako said.

"Oh, I'm sure you're more than willing to do that, Mako," Usagi teased.

Mako turned a bright shade of red. "It's not like that! We're just good friends!"

"Uh-huh."

"No really," Mako said. "I think…never mind. It's not my business or place to say anything."

Usagi stared at her for a second and then shrugged. They walked until they reached the clearing at the entrance of the festival. Rei was sitting on one of the benches watching the drummer for the festival practice. Her name was Maya Tohno. It had taken Rei a lot to convince her to perform at the festival.

"Rei," Usagi began carefully. "Are you okay?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I'm okay. It's just nice to see someone so dedicated to doing something they love," Rei said. She looked to Usagi, Steven, and Yugi. "Do you guys ever get tired of always having to worry about an uncertain future, never knowing where you're going next?"

"A lot," Steven said. "I was actually on the road trying to find myself before I ended up here. I spent my whole childhood fighting my mom's problems."

"I deal with a lot of stuff that resurfaces from the past, too," Yugi said. "It's a little scary, but as long as you've got good friends around you, I believe you can get past anything."

"They're totally right," Usagi agreed, sitting down next to Rei. Truthfully, she'd been feeling a little overwhelmed by their new enemy, too. "These Deathbusters are scary, but we're going to get through it together—if they're still out there. There's never going to be a day when you don't have me, Rei!"

Rei smiled. "I trust you, Usagi…even if you are a klutz."

"Hey!"

Before Usagi could mouth off, a white van drove up to the entrance. A stereo from the car announced, "Maya Tohno to entry. I repeat, Maya Tohno to entry!"

Said drummer ran down to the entrance and spotted the van. All too late did Usagi see the woman with the same red hair but younger face than Kaolinite step out of the van with a strange looking gun. She aimed it at Tohno and fired. A black bolt of energy struck Miss Tohno, forcing her pure heart crystal out of her body.

"You two should transform. We'll cover for you," Steven said.

Usagi gave them a nod. "Moon cosmic power, make up!"

…

This guy was strong and fast. It took everything he had to get Golden Experience to match this man's speed and strength. Still, he wasn't just going to let this guy kill his friend…or his parents.

Miles, Peter, and Amity tried to slow him down with a combination of webbing and abomination magic, but it wasn't working. Miles's father had tried to shoot the man, but he simply flicked the bullet away. Maybe silver bullets would have worked better? And he wouldn't stay still long enough to hit him with Requiem.

Giorno barely dodged slicing claws at his face. The man snarled. "I am the ultimate inheritor! Of course, I can see what no other lifeform can see. That includes your ridiculous stand!"

"See this!"

"MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA!"

A barrage of punches from GE hit the man in the gut, even lifting him into the air with the impact. The man simply brushed it off and kicked Giorno backwards. Being controlled by Alastor was one thing. It was another to have nothing he did work.

"Giorno!" Miles yelled. The man focused his attention back on Miles. Not good!

"Hey!" Giorno called back. "Ultimate asshole! What are totems?"

"Perhaps you, yourself are a totem, Mr. Giovanna. Do you wish to find out?"

Giorno smirked. "No. Just had to distract you long enough."

The man's eyebrows furrowed before a certain white-haired spawn cast some sort of green spell on the man, "Timē."

The man doubled over for a moment, but a moment was all that was needed. Bucciarati had come over with Abbachio and Mista. He used his stand, "STICKY FINGERS!"

The group jumped through the zipper shaped hole, leading them back to the shrine. Giorno knew it probably wasn't the last time they were going to see this man. And if they were after spiders…

"Bucciarati, you need to go back to the festival and get any other spiderperson, do you understand?" Giorno asked.

"You're the boss," Bucciarati said with a slight smile. "I'll be right back."

True to his word, he was back in a flash with Peter, Gwen, Hobie, and Pav. The four were a bit shocked to see Peter B, but they quickly found their groove.

"Miles, who was that?" his mother practically yelled. He did hate yelling.

"I-I don't know," Miles stammered. Today was already rough on him. He sat down on the floor, taking a few shallow breaths.

Giorno stepped in, "Miles, it's alright. You're safe here. We're at the shrine."

"Let me explain," Peter B said. "That man is Morlun. He's one of the most dangerous enemies to any spiderperson as he hunts and his diet consists of spider totems…us, basically."

"What the hell, we're already dealing with witches!" Gwen argued.

"Someone is intentionally messing with us," Hobie said. "It's sabotage."

"Or a distraction," Abbachio said. "You were lucky we were near you. If Kaiba knew his event was this close to getting messed up, he'd have a bitch fest."

"What do we do?" Pav asked.

"…if Mr. Stark were here, he'd know," Peter said. He paused. His eyes widened. "Mr. Stark!"

"Who's Mr. Stark?" Camila asked.

"He's my mentor! He's Iron Man!" Peter said. "The dead are coming back to life! If he's back, we can get his help! And Thor! Thor can kick this guy's butt!"

"Just say ass," Mista groaned.

"Call whoever," Giorno said. "I'm not letting Miles get hurt."

Giorno sat down beside Miles. "I swear. I won't allow them to hurt you or your family. I'll work with whoever I need to."

"That's actually a point of interest for me," the pale elf spawn interjected. "Your father has a message for you. He's offering immortality and greater power, apparently. I assume this would also mean protection as well."

"I…" Giorno's voice trailed off. Immortality would more than likely mean…but if it made him stronger, wasn't it worth it? Then again, who's to say what he'd be if he accepted? And his father didn't seem like a man of any ethical code. True, Giorno had and would kill to keep others safe and accomplish his dreams. But picking off the crusaders one at a time, especially after meeting Avdol, Kakyoin, Jotaro, and Josuke (even though he wasn't a crusader) seemed so wrong and spiteful. Would he bid him to hurt them?

"Would you like some seasoned advice?" Astarion asked. "Don't take the deal. Power is grand. But the kind of power he's offering comes with a long list of strings. I should know."

"Aren't you working with my father?" Giorno asked.

"Dear boy, I work with whomever I feel like working with. At the time I merely worked with your father to be contrarian to Alastor. I do hate a puppeteer, well, unless, of course, I'm the one in control. But take it from someone who knows, his protection is more dangerous than fighting your own problems."

"I need to think this over," Giorno said, standing up.

Miles reached out to him, grabbing his hand. "Gio…don't take the deal."

"Miles…it's alright. I'll do what's best for everyone."

With that, he walked off to his room, to think for a moment.

"Are you having fun, Gio?"

He summoned GE as Alastor stepped out of the shadows. The Radio Demon tilted his head and chuckled. "Oh, I've learned my lesson. But I should teach you one more. One that will benefit you."

"Why should you care about my benefit?" Giorno asked with a glare.

"Because if you take your father's deal, it's like Astarion said, you'll be nothing more than a glorified puppet. You and I both know what he'll force you to do."

"What do you want from me?"

"You already know."

"No."

"No? Well, I'd weigh your options, Mr. Giovanna. Morlun is powerful. I'm not even sure if your father can beat him." Alastor grinned. "But I can. All it takes is one death. One versus many."

Giorno was silent.

"Perhaps once he tears through a few of the other spidermen, you'll realize what you need to do," Alastor continued. "Until then, you can always reach me. But don't let him tear through the one you care about most."

Giorno took a sharp breath. Did he know? How?

"You've never had anyone who cared about you before," Alastor said. "It's frightening, I understand. But you know what's even more frightening? Losing that person. Once they're gone, there's no point. After all, we are so similar, Gio. I've been where you are, only, I failed. You have the chance to do the right thing."

"Go away."

"Think about it."

With a gust of air, he was gone. But a dark chill remained in the room.

…

Yugi held off the daimon with Marshmallon. However, it had made them all hop around, trying to avoid the fireworks it fired into the air. Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune showed up on cue and examined the heart crystal. It turned out to be normal, so they bounced.

Yami took over, and after an ordeal of summoning was able to summon Dark Magician. Dark Magician froze the daimon in place for a moment, ticking it off. Steven threw his shield at the monster's abdomen, but it still sprung back up. Again, Yami looked through his deck, knowing he may be able to summon Dark Magician Girl soon.

However, it wasn't needed. A small sailor guardian adorned in pink hit the monster with an, albeit, weak attack. Sailor Moon was provided the time she needed to hit it.

"Moon spiral heart attack!"

The daimon dissolved back into a small tambourine, hitting the ground with a small thud.

"Chibiusa!" Usagi exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Mommy sent me here to train," Chibiusa said indignantly.

Chibiusa was followed by a small army of children, including Mokuba. Karlach, Wyll, Phoenix, Miles, Maya, Franziska, Joey, Champion Leon, and Kaiba followed behind them.

"We need to go," Kaiba hissed.

"Why?" Yugi asked. "What happened?"

"Not only this," Kaiba gestured to the remains of the daimon. "But Morales, Stacy, and co. are facing a…difficult situation. We're having a meeting about it."

"So much for no more witches," Usagi sighed.

"It's so much more than that," another voice, belonging to Firelord Zuko spoke up.

"Let's get going," Robin agreed.

"Steven," Connie began. "I think this might be really bad. Are you going to be okay for this?"

Steven nodded. "I'll be fine. I've been doing my exercises daily."

"Okay. As long as you're sure."

"She's not lying, Yug," Joey said. "It's some kind of vampire, apparently. He's crazy strong."

"We'll deal with it, Joey," Yami assured him. Vampires were new, at least in this age. Not so much in Ancient Egypt, surprisingly. "We'll help in any way we can."

"Not sure what exactly we're gonna do against this whack job," Joey said with a shrug.

"Our best, Joey. Our best."