After getting Mrs. Noceda, Mr. and Mrs. Morales caught up, Usagi's brain was fried. She had to answer a lot of questions about her own past. So many questions. The witches and daimon were back, Miles was being chased by some all-powerful vampire, the group was uneasy, and worst of all—Chibiusa was back!

Right now, Miles was asleep. He'd pretty much just shut down as soon as he was able to answer some of the basic questions. Mrs. Noceda advised everyone not to pressure him too much as more stress could cause a breakdown.

"How could I not have known?" Mrs. Morales asked herself.

"I just don't understand why he didn't tell us," Mr. Morales wondered aloud. His voice was loud. He looked like he was panicking. "He could've gotten himself killed!"

"My poor baby," his mother cried. "I can't believe we didn't notice. All those deflections when it came to broadcasts, his absences in class, everything makes sense now! I was so…so stupid for not seeing it earlier!"

"Come now," Wyll said. "I'm sure that's not true. Why, when I was his age, I was just as foolish and reckless. I was the Blade of Frontiers, sold my soul, and fought several devils to protect the innocent. It's the same for your son. When given a greater power and calling, one feels they must use it to protect others…and the people they care about. My best advice, should you heed someone who's been in his shoes, is to understand his circumstances, feelings, and actions."

"You sold your soul?" Joey asked.

"An action I do not recommend," Wyll said.

"Is there any way we can protect him?" Mr. Morales asked.

"You shouldn't get involved," Mr. Parker said. "I'll protect him. Don't worry."

"Because you did such a great job earlier," Mr. Morales shot back. He pointed to Giorno, "He was trying harder than you, and he's just a kid!"

"He's got a kid of his own, you know," Hobie pointed out.

Mr. Morales looked ready to say something, but he shook his head and sat down. "And you're sure we can trust…Mr. Emo to protect my son."

Kakyoin's voice cut in sharp, "Jotaro is one of the only one of us who's beaten a highly powerful vampire before. He tore him to shreds. He can do that to any vampire that challenges him, if he can do that to DIO."

He turned to Astarion, "No offense."

"Oh, none taken, I quite enjoy tearing down a pretentious Master Vampire, myself." Astarion crossed his arms. "Though, if it's alright with you, Wyll, I may take shelter with you and our old misshapen crew again."

"What?" Karlach asked. "Since Tav isn't here, Wyll's the defact leader?"

"Well, why shouldn't he be?" Astarion asked with a smirk. "He's the most sensible one of you. Who else would it be? Gale?"

"Excuse me," the harsh voice of Seto interrupted. "They're taking residence with me. They have no say over who comes in or out."

"…Might I be able to stay?" Astarion asked. When Seto frowned, Astarion huffed. "Oh, don't make me beg. Fine. One of the objects my love gave me might be able to help you, but I'll need it back. Is this proper payment?"

"What is it?" Seto asked.

"Prying eyes," Astarion said. "It's nothing terrible, I assure you. It will help you commune with beings on different planes. You may be able to fix…whatever abomination it is you're working on."

"…Fine."

"Joy," Astarion mused.

Seto looked like he was already regretting his decision. He turned to his younger brother. "Mokuba, get everyone else. We're going back home."

"We should probably get going, too," Phoenix said. "If Hobie's in trouble, then it would be wise to a head start."

"Here," Karlach said, handing Hobie a rolled up piece of parchment. "It's a scroll of misty step. It'll teleport you, should you need it."

"Not trying to be weird for suggesting it," Phoenix spoke up. "But he is strong…we could try talking to Lucifer."

It was quiet for a minute.

"What kind of people is my baby associating with?" Mrs. Morales murmured.

"He's a fake," Seto said with a shrug. "Sure, he has some control over fire, but so do Zuko, Avdol, Rei, Gale, Wyll, and Karlach."

"Don't forget yours truly," Astarion chimed in.

"See?" Seto asked. "Its all just occultism taken to a bizarre level."

"I wouldn't call the sacred art of bending occultism," Zuko snapped.

"Nor would I say Magician's Red is anything to be confused with dark magic."

"My practices are completely spiritually pure!"

Luz's mom asked her, "Niña, ¿realmente conoces al diablo?"

Luz gave her an awkward grin, "Tal vez?"

"In any case, I've had enough weirdness for tonight," Seto said. "Let's go."

"Couldn't agree more," Astarion said. He turned to Giorno before leaving. A serious look passed his face for just a second. "And…good luck. I mean it."

Chibiusa ran to the front door as most of the kids poured out. "Hey! Wait! Am I going to see you again?"

Mokuba gave her a small smile, "Of course you will!"

"Take care, Mini Moon Warrior," Karlach said with a small wave.

Chibiusa seemed down for just a split second before she smiled and waved at the group. "Thank you for letting me stay with you! Safe journeys!"

Everyone except for their original group cleared out, leaving them only with the new outsiders: Mr. and Mrs. Morales, Mr. Parker, and Ms. Noceda.

"Give me one moment," Rei told them. "Yuichiro and I will set you up with somewhere to stay."

"My son," Mrs. Morales began. "Is he going to be safe here?"

"Mrs. Morales," Usagi found herself saying. Both Miles's parents looked at her. "I know all of this seems scary. I was scared when I first became Sailor Moon. I'm…not as brave as Miles. I've never told my parents who I really am. But I guess that leads me to this: Miles is a good person, friend, and hero. I'm not letting him get hurt on my watch. In the name of the moon, I'll punish that vampire!"

"And don't worry," Kakyoin said. "While that vampire is out there, the majority of the Crusaders have decided to stay here. We've experience in vampires."

"And you've said you killed one," Mr. Parker asked.

"Jotaro killed one," Polnareff corrected.

"One of the strongest vampires the human mind could conceive," Avdol said.

"And I'm still not surprised," Kakyoin said with a slight chuckle.

"I mean," Danny spoke up. "I could always try to possess him. It might work, given we can somehow weaken his will."

"That's…not a bad idea," Kakyoin said.

"He might be able to hurt you, Danny," Virgil interjected. "If this guy is as strong as Mr. Parker says he is, he might have something counter it. Plus, what would you do after you possessed him? What if you get stuck in his body when we try to beat him?"

"I mean, it's happened before," Danny admitted. "There was that one time with Point Dexter…"

"Then we'll need to come up with contingency plans," Richie said. He smiled. "C'mon, we've got this, V-Man."

While the others talked, Usagi decided to slip into Miles's room to check on him. She forgot that the scary guy two years older than her was guarding his room. Jotaro gave her a heart attack. She took a breath and walked over to him.

"Um, is he okay?"

Jotaro didn't bother to look at her. "He's fine."

"Can I check on him?"

Jotaro paused, examining her for a second. "Sure."

She walked inside, him following behind her. Super. Miles was sound asleep. She took a breath of relief. "Thank goodness."

"So annoying," Jotaro said.

"What is?" Usagi asked.

"Too many problems," Jotaro explained. "Witches, vampires, DIO. You've got no idea."

"If you do," Usagi said. "Please, tell me. I need to know! I want to help!"

"It'd be best if you stay out of the way. I don't need some girl jumping in trying to make things better and wrecking everything."

"Hey! I'm not just 'some girl.' I'm Sailor Moon," Usagi spoke defiantly. "And of course I'm not going to stand by while people get hurt. Besides, Miles is my friend! I'm going to look out for him!"

"Then let me ask you one question," Jotaro countered. "Are you willing to risk everything just to beat this guy? I mean, your friends out there. You all seem close. They could get hurt just trying to help. Think of what you're willing to sacrifice."

"They won't," Usagi swore. She placed her hand over her heart. "I won't allow it! I won't allow anyone to sacrifice themselves or be sacrificed for the greater good."

Jotaro was quiet for a minute. "I don't think you've the kind of shit I've seen."

"Try me," Usagi challenged. "I've fought monsters that took over a theme park, a monster that photographed my friends and made them disappear, a hell tree that almost destroyed all of Tokyo, a meteor of monster flowers that almost took over the whole earth, that's not even counting Death Phantom who tried to ruin the present and the future!"

"Hmph." Jotaro crossed his arms. He smirked slightly. "And could you do it all again, if you had to?"

"Of course I could," Usagi said with no hesitation. "I'll do anything to protect the people I love!"

"You know," Jotaro said. "When you say it, I actually believe you. You've got guts, kid. I just hope it's enough."

"It will be," Usagi assured him. "You can count on me!"

"I'll hold you to it," Jotaro said. He paused again. "Oh, and thanks, for not throwing yourself at me."

Usagi chuckled and rubbed her neck. "No problem! You're not really my type. Not that I mean any insult, it's just that I have a boyfriend who I love a lot. He's the best!"

"Fine by me. Just don't be so gushy about him. You can't lose your focus."

"Ugh. You sound like Rei and Luna."

"Did you bother to think they might have a point?"

"Hey!"

The Joltik Miles found earlier scuttled from his bed to Usagi. It tapped on her shoe.

"What's up, little guy?" Usagi asked. She could hear Miles murmur something inaudible, maybe he was sleep-talking.

She stooped down next to Miles. His eyes were moving while he was sleeping; must be a nightmare. She gently shook him awake. "Miles. It's okay. You're alright."

He cracked his eyes open, "U-Usagi? Where are my mom and dad? What time is it?"

"They're fine. They're worried about you. Maybe you should talk to them?" Usagi suggested.

"I always wanted to tell them who I was," Miles said, burying his face in his hands. "Now they're in more danger than they ever were, and it's all my fault!"

"Don't worry, Miles," Usagi said. She gestured to herself and Jotaro. "We're going to help you!"

Jotaro gave him a nod and a thumbs up. Very reassuring.

"Oi Jotaro!" Okuyasu, Josuke, Zuko, Sokka, Katara, Joey, Yugi, Hunter, Luz, Kakyoin, Giorno, and Amity walked into the room. "While some of the nerds out there were making all these whacky plans, your friend thought of something!"

"Oh? What's that?" Jotaro asked.

"This guy's stand," Kakyoin said, pointing to Okuyasu, who had a massive smile on his face. "Can erase things from existence."

"I've always wondered where they go," Okuyasu said. "But, who cares if it gets rid of that vampire guy, right? Perfect plan!"

"We'd just need a plan to keep him in place for long enough," Zuko said. He turned to Miles. "We could use your help for that. We can weaken him, spiderpeople can trap him, and that's when we have the upper hand."

"That's a hell of a stand," Jotaro said. "How's your control over it."

"I hit where it counts," Okuyasu said. "You just get him to me, and I'll do the rest."

"Cos he's the best," Josuke encouraged. They began to do a weird friendship handshake.

"I can't tell which one of you is Mordecai and which one of you is Rigby," Luz commented, leaving a lot of people confused. "Oh, right. Nineties. It's a show from the future."

"Look, we all need to get some sleep," Katara said. "Get some rest, Miles. Everything is going to be alright. We won't let anything happen to you or anyone else."

"Thanks, guys," Miles said, giving them a small smile.

"I'll keep watch for now," Jotaro said, "Someone else can take over at four."

"I'll help you," Kakyoin offered.

"I'll take over at four," Giorno offered.

"And I'll help you," Josuke added. "It'll be good to get to know distant family!"

…

They sat in a comfortable silence for twenty minutes, at least. That was, until Kakyoin decided to break it.

"I'm glad, you know," he said quietly. "I'm glad you were able to beat DIO and get out."

Jotaro lit his cigarette and took a drag. "You didn't."

"I know," Kakyoin said. "But I don't regret anything, just so you know."

"Of course you don't," Jotaro snapped. He didn't know why, but he felt so angry by Kakyoin's blasé attitude. After everything, he didn't even care that he'd been killed. How hard the doctors at the Speedwagon Foundation had tried to save him, how his parents had grieved him, how they blamed Jotaro, and how Jotaro had been grieving for months until he was summoned to this weird world.

"I didn't die on purpose," Kakyoin said, rolling his eyes.

"I know," Jotaro said. "But you shouldn't have tried to go up against DIO by yourself."

"I knew the risks," Kakyoin said. "I knew them when I joined you guys. DIO had to be stopped. I couldn't allow anyone else to be controlled by him—to prevent harm from coming to your mother."

"I would've preferred it if you'd stayed alive."

"Well, I'm here now."

"And what happens after here? Do you go away again?" Jotaro asked. "Do you even know how upset your parents were when they found out that you…"

It was only now that he'd realized he'd grabbed part of Kakyoin's gakuran. He let go and readjusted his hat. "You just don't get it. You're like her. You haven't seen what I've seen."

Kakyoin was quiet before the calm appearance faltered. "Mom and Dad were upset…I'm sorry. I didn't account for that. While we were traveling together, I told them I was on a field trip, that it was necessary for my studies."

"No wonder they were so upset with the old man and me."

"My apologies to anything unkind they might have said to you or Mr. Joestar."

"Jiji handled most of the conversation," Jotaro said. "Besides, now that I know about Josuke, I'm probably going to wring his neck next time I see him."

"It was a shock to me, as well," Kakyoin said. "I was liable to disbelieve Josuke until he showed some of the same mannerisms as Mr. Joestar."

"I wonder if Grandma Suzy knows," Jotaro's voice trailed off.

It was quiet for a minute before Kakyoin spoke up again. "I am sorry, if I caused you any grief, truly. I just…I owed it to all of you to try and beat him. I didn't…I didn't want any of you to get hurt. You were my first real friends."

"…I understand. You were one of my first real friends."

He hated how sappy that sounded. But, to be fair, Kakyoin had started it. Maybe he wouldn't notice or bring it up.

"I can't say what the future holds," Kakyoin said. "Firelord Zuko, Avdol, and Rei are better at that than I am."

"So…do you trust these people?" Jotaro asked.

"I didn't at first," Kakyoin admitted. "But I got to know them. True, I'm still no social expert, but this group is full of good people—heroes at heart. You've got more family you didn't know about other than Josuke."

"Giorno," Jotaro had heard. Avdol had told him. He was part Great-Great Grandfather Jonathan and part DIO. "Wonder which half is going to win out."

"Hopefully the Joestar half," Kakyoin said. "After how he risked his own life to save Miles, I wouldn't be so quick to give up hope."

"You're right."

They shared another moment of silence before Jotaro spoke up again.

"Hey…don't die this time, alright?"

"I won't."

"Swear."

Kakyoin chuckled and shook his head. "Fine. I swear."

He'd better not. Not like he'd let him.

…

As Miles drove back to his own flat, he couldn't help but feel ill at ease. Sure, things were going well with Wright. He hadn't complained otherwise. Still, the conditions they found themselves under weren't the most optimal. Hadn't even managed a first date.

"Edgeworth, eyes on the road," Abbachio snapped. Franziska glared at him.

Ever since the incident, to increase safety and halve the burden of their multiversal guests, he and Wright had decided to split up some of the guests. Eda had insisted on looking for a place of her own and was in leagues with Kaiba, of all people, to do something about it. Hopefully the stress would be lesser on everyone soon. For now, Franziska, Bucciarati, and Abbachio were with him. It wasn't so bad, but he'd still like to have his own space back.

And then his check engine light came on.

He groaned and stopped his car near the park. "I'll call a cab."

"What a night," Bucciarati said. "Those witches return, there's some sort of vampire on the loose, and we're out in the open."

"Thank you for emphasizing," Miles said with an audible scoff. He shut the car off and started to dial a number to a car towing service. He'd get the cab second. That's when bright fireworks illuminated the light sky—blues, pinks, purples, greens, and vibrant colors reminiscent of childhood soared above the park's sky.

"Is there another festival going on?" Bucciarati asked.

"There's not supposed to be," Miles said, checking the date on his phone. "And especially not at this hour."

"Probably some American who got teleported here being rude as hell," Abbachio said dismissively. "Not our problem."

"No," Franziska spoke up quickly, she pointed to the window. There was a white van with a eerily familiar black star on it, getting ever so closer to his sports car. "But that is."

Before anyone could do anything, a black bolt of energy was shot from the window of the van, barely whizzing by Miles's face. His eyes widened at the realization. They needed to move. "Let's go!"

Getting to somewhere public would be good. All the shops around were closed. He prayed to any deity that might be listening that there was civilization coinciding with the fireworks. He looked behind him to see a monster speeding towards them on its fours. It would out-speed them for sure!

Bucciarati turned and swung his hand outward. "ARI!"

The monster jumped over something, surprising the mafioso. "It can see Sticky Fingers?"

"Of course it can," a cold, woman's voice spoke up. It was a strange woman in a short red tank-top, red and black skort, and long red hair that looped at the ends. She was quite similar to Kaolinite, but she appeared a little younger. "I had help creating a function that would allow me to see those pesky invisible attacks."

She pointed the gun directly at Bucciarati, shooting before any more questions could be asked. Abbachio dove to catch him and the crystal, but he was kicked away by the soccer-ball patterned daimon. The kick threw Abbachio away quite a distance, so, maybe it was more than looks.

"Step aside," Franziska said, shoving Miles out of the way. She pulled out a whip (he was not sure where she had gotten it) and lashed out at the daimon. It simply grabbed the end and jerked her forward, causing her to face-plant on the ground. The daimon grabbed her and held her tight.

"Franziska!" Miles tried to help her, but the witch pointed the gun at him next.

"Your turn next. Please hold. Don't make any sudden movements, or the Prosecution Princess gets it."

The new witch tried to grab the crystal, but as expected by this point, two gloved hands nabbed the crystal first. The two rogue senshi leapt to the side and examined the crystal. The blonde shook her head, "Not a talisman."

The bluenette tried to return the crystal, but was interrupted by the red witch, snatching it from her. She held it so tightly; it might break. Bucciarati's face twisted in pain. They had to get that crystal back from her!

"Ugh! I was so sure about him! That's the last time I follow Mimete's advice."

So, there were more of them; great…

"Seems like I need more than one distraction here," the witch murmured. She was surrounded by a few blobs of shadows. "Oh? Seems someone heard my pleas. Isn't that great? Attack those sailor guardians!"

If only the one thing he'd taken from Von Karma had been his insistence on carrying a taser wherever he went. The shadows began to attack the sailor guardians, reappearing as they tried to stomp them out. Well, at least they were trying to help them, for now.

"H'taka!"

A lizard-like woman with brunette hair and silver armor jumped into the air, her sword set ablaze. She stabbed at the shadows, extinguishing them with flames, one by one. She then pointed her sword at the witch and the daimon. "You'll do well to leave this place alone."

"Who in the hell are you?!"

"Your doom if you insist on cracking that crystal," the warrior spoke. "There is a child with us who wishes not to see that man perish. And I will be the instrument of your undoing."

"Not likely," the witch snarled. She clutched the crystal tighter. "At least this crystal will be good fuel."

"Fuel for what?" Miles countered.

"For our grand plan," the witch said with a smirk. She pointed the gun back at Miles. "And I would've forgotten about you if you hadn't spoken up just no—"

She was cut off, as a line of shots—perhaps bullets—leading up to her spot followed her. She screamed and dove out of the trail that cut off so short to where she was standing. A kid with black hair, orange hair piece, black clothes covered by an orange patterned cloth ran over to them. He helped Abbachio up, waking him from his momentary blackout. "Bucciarati!"

"Hand over that crystal, now!" the teenager shouted. "And no funny business unless you want end up like Swiss cheese!"

"You forget, I still have my daimon! Go Repente!" the witch screamed.

As soon as it let go of Franziska, someone giggled. "That's not how you play games, Silly!"

A giant blue star zapped the monster, causing it to turn into a soccer ball with a living, cherub-like, smiley face that looked like something out of the children's cartoons Pearl watched. The crystal floated out of her grip, as if she were struck by something, leaving the black-haired boy to grab it. He rushed over to Bucciarati and placed the crystal over his chest.

"There!" the childish voice above them commented. "That's way better than whatever you made!"

It was a child on a giant, floating star. Half of his face was shaped like the sun; half was the moon. He looked like he was wearing pajamas.

"I'd advise you leave," a man with shaggy black hair said. He was dressed in adventurer's clothes. Miles vaguely remembered him telling off Lucifer.

"Tsk'va, Joestar, I told you to let me handle this!" the woman complained.

"I agree," Abbachio said. "Let her handle it if it means cutting that witch down!"

Too late. The witch threw something at the crowd; a smoke bomb, to be exact. Miles coughed from the fumes and heard tires squeal on pavement as the van sped away. Miles ran over to Franziska and tried to help her up. She pushed him away. "I'm fine, you fool."

"Damn it!" the woman murmured. She glared at the adventurer. "I could have killed her! Your distraction made that impossible tonight. We have children here—my own child is with me, and you allowed for hesitation!"

"Luz said it's not nice to kill," the child above them said.

"Think of the example you're setting, Lae'zel."

"I agree with our friend, Lae'zel," another man's voice spoke up. This one had longer brown hair and was dressed in fur-skin armor and elven ears. "To slaughter in front of a child is…unethical, putting it lightly."

"Tsk'va," the woman, Lae'zel said.

"Come now," another woman spoke up. She was similar to the man in her elven appearance and clothes. "You'll have another chance, Lae'zel. Perhaps I shall join you in the hunt for your hag."

She turned to Miles, Franziska, and Abbachio who was helping Bruno sit up along with the black-haired teen. "You should come inside. We'll house you for the night. You and your friends can rest up."

Franziska blinked. "Who are all you?"

"My name is Jaheira. I am a High-Harper and druid, as is my fellow druid, leader of the Emerald Grove, Halsin."

"A pleasure to meet you, I assure you," the elven man spoke up.

"I'm Jonathan Joestar," the black-haired man said. Joestar. The surname was familiar. The psychic, Muhammad Avdol had spoken of the Joestar family before. Perhaps he could tell him more about this man.

"It's good to see you guys again!" the black-haired boy said, hugging Abbachio, who looked wholly uncomfortable. "All I remember is switching back with…Oh hell! Did we beat him? Huh?"

Bucciarati nodded. "Let's not talk about that right now."

"I'm the Collector," the boy said. Miles spun around, almost walking into the floating child. He jumped backwards, fell, and out came roaring cackles from the child. "I've been able to watch over King from home, and I thought, hey, why not check out wherever he, Luz, and everybody else ended up? King's my best friend, by the way. I heard your friend saved him!"

"He…helped," Miles said, particularly overwhelmed by the situation.

"We should head up," the warrior woman spoke up. "The night is dark."

"And full of terrors," Franziska murmured under her breath.

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Quite dark, but not unrealistic. Shadowheart would appreciate such eloquent speech, I'm sure. I am Lae'zel."

"And we'll be heading out," the blonde sailor senshi spoke up.

True to her word, she and her partner took off in the opposite direction.

"Those two weren't with you?" Jonathan asked.

Bucciarati shook his head. "We're not quite sure where they stand, but it isn't with us. That much we know."

"We'll be sure to keep an eye out," Lae'zel said.

The Collector placed his hand on the ground and a huge star appeared below them. It was like a glowing marble platform. "You know, I was starting to worry that I'd got left behind intentionally. But then I saw how worried King was about being here, and how Luz is working with everyone to get back to the Boiling Isles, and I thought, 'hey, I can help them!' But it's weird, it's like I can't travel back anymore. Maybe someone was trying to keep me out of here."

Quite chatty to strangers. The platform floated upwards into the sky, revealing a castle that slowly became visible the closer they traveled. Lae'zel smirked at their amazement. "An interesting feat for a child, is it not?"

"You're embarrassing me, Lae'zel," the Collector pouted. "I just made a place for me and my new friends so they wouldn't get rained on. I was afraid the rain might be boiling them, so I teleported them up here."

"To have a world where your rain betrays you," Jaheira said. "I cannot imagine such an unnatural place."

The castle itself looked like it was made up of stardust and clouds. The inside was even more ethereal. Moving stars glided across the curtains, the bed sheets, the rugs. And there were lots of stuffed animals and toys. Amongst these things were six other children. Three girls and three boys. One looked similar to Chibiusa, another girl had brown hair hidden by a burette, and the last girl was a red-head in short overalls and yellow shirt. One of the boys was dressed as though he were going to present in court, another wore a vest and jeans, and the last looked more akin to Lae-zel.

"Mother, who are these people?" the last kid spoke up.

"It's good to be apprehensive, Xan," the woman said with a slight smile. "However, they are guests of the Collector."

"They were being attacked by those weirdos," the Collector said, sounding bored. "Don't worry. We took care of them."

The Collector turned back to them and smiled. "These are my friends: Xan, Ortega, Misty, Sakura, Trevor, and Madoka!"

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you," Madoka, the one who looked like Chibiusa, chirruped.

"Will you be staying with us from now on?" the child-lawyer, Ortega, asked.

"No," Jaheira answered them. "They're just staying with us for tonight."

"Make yourselves comfortable," Halsin said. "There's plenty of food and rooms."

…

He hadn't banked on The Collector being able to break down the barriers to this little nexus point he'd worked so hard to build. No matter, The Collector was still just a child with the mind of a child. He was no real threat to the grand plan that was now unfolding.

And now his greatest enemy had shown his face to the others. No doubt they'd all work together to defeat these Deathbusters, but they failed to realize they were such a minute threat in comparison to himself.

He'd destroyed and erased them all so many times, he had fuel for this game to keep going.

Forever.

…

The next day, Chibiusa was walking through the shopping center. Her mama had told her she'd make an important friend while she was here. Frisk, Ash, and Lillie had decided to come with her to avoid the current drama at the shrine. Perhaps they could all be friends while she was here training to be a sailor guardian.

They stopped in the park closest to the arcade. Plenty of kids were playing with each other. As Chibiusa walked up to a group of girls, they stopped playing and looked at her. The taller blonde girl glared at her.

"What do you want, Pipsqueak?"

The other girls started to whisper, too, "Why does she have pink hair?"

"Why is she so small?"

"Get out of here! We were playing here first!" the blonde girl yelled.

"Hey! Don't talk to her like that!" Ash countered.

She blinked and laughed. "Is Whiskers here your boyfriend? Look, we already told you, take a hike. We don't want anymore of you multiversal freaks here."

"Pika!" the yellow mouse next to Ash shouted indignantly.

"Ew! A mouse! Get out of here!"

"Why don't you leave instead?"

That voice was familiar! It was Mokuba! The girls froze.

"That's the scary CEO's brother," one of the girls whispered.

"I don't wanna get sued," another said.

The blonde rolled her eyes. "Fine. Not like the park will be fun anymore with you freaks around."

With that, the girls walked away. Chibiusa felt the corner of her eyes burn. If she wasn't being made fun of for being so small and made to feel like an outcast in the thirtieth century, it had to be here, too.

"I'm sorry about them," Mokuba said. "It seems like everyone is a bit uneasy with all these witches and monsters. They're skeptical of everyone now."

"She didn't have to call us names," Lillie said, folding her arms.

"Yeah," Ash agreed.

"What are you doing here today, Mokuba?" Chibiusa asked.

"Well, I was actually heading to the shrine to check on everyone," Mokuba explained. "I mean, those monsters' kind of ruined everything yesterday. Karlach, Wyll, and Astarion are searching for the vampire who tried to attack Miles yesterday, so he and his friends won't have to worry about that anymore. They said they have experience with that kind of stuff. Plus, they wanted to make sure everyone was safe, too."

"So, you came here by yourself?" Chibiusa asked. "That's not safe!"

"I'm not alone," Mokuba argued. "The others are around the park. They went to see if they could catch Pokémon. I'm just good with my Duel Monsters."

"You should try to catch some Pokémon," Ash advised. "You can make some great friends that way! I can teach you guys how, if you want!"

Before they could respond, Chibiusa spotted a familiar face at a food stand.

"MAMO!"

She ran over to Mamoru and hugged him, not noticing Usagi seething inches beside him.

"Chibiusa! Mamo and I are on a date! Go away!"

Chibiusa looked at her for a second before sticking out her tongue. This only furthered Usagi's tantrum. Honestly, she looked like such a crybaby.

"I'm hanging out with Mamo today," Chibiusa said.

"I thought you were hanging out with us."

Chibiusa looked back at the four kids waiting for her to catch up with them. Their eyes were begging her to come and play with them instead. Stupid Usagi. She might've won this round!

"That's right," Chibiusa said. "Sorry Mamo, I was hanging out with everyone here first!"

"That's alright, Chibiusa," Mamoru said with a small smile. "We can catch up later!"

Chibiusa grinned while Usagi glared at her. The temptation to make a face at her was overwhelming. She turned away from them and walked back to the others.

"So, what are the plans for today?"

The five children rejoined the main group of kids who had gathered to search for Pokémon. Ash helped Chibiusa catch an egg-shaped Pokémon called Togepi. She named it Hamigakiko because it had the pattern of toothpaste. As they searched for more Pokémon, a voice called out to them, "Hey! Whatcha lookin' for?"

There was a boy with white hair covered by a purple cap that had little tiny stars dotting the fabric. He wore something that looked like pajamas with a sun and moon based pattern. His face was even like a sun and moon. He waved and smiled at them.

"Who are you?" Chibiusa asked.

"I'm the Collector," the boy said. "You can just call me Collector, though."

He peered around them and gasped, quickly flying over to King and hugging him. "KING! Buddy! I found you!"

"Collector! You ended up here, too?" King asked.

"Nah. Someone was trying to keep me out," he said. "But I got through anyways to try and rescue you guys. Now, I can't get back."

"Seems like whoever made this place is messing with us," King agreed. He smiled. "But, thanks for coming here, anyways."

"That's not all!" the Collector said. He waved his hand and a rabbit appeared. "I brought him here for you. I figured with everything going on, you could really use him right now!"

"Francios!" King said, hugging the one-eyed, stuffed rabbit tightly to his chest. "Thanks! This means a lot to me!"

"It's cool," the Collector said. He looked at the crowd of kids hunting Pokémon. "Hey, Misty, Ortie, and Trev taught me how to catch those guys. I've got two; we're friends now."

"Hold up," Ash cut in. "You know Misty and Trevor?"

"Hey, you're that champion guy they were talking about," the Collector said. He paused. "Hey, since I introduced myself, why don't you guys introduce yourselves? Then we can hang out and Lae-zel won't be mad at me for inviting strangers to our house."

Frosta, Ash, King, Mokuba, Shauna, Toph, Frisk, Lillie, Hop, Hau, Gus, Wally, Pearl, Sprig, Monster Kid, Hayato, Homura, and Chibiusa acquainted themselves with the Collector.

"Man, you've made a lot of friends here, King," the Collector said.

"Some of us are more-so acquaintances," Hayato mumbled.

"That just gives you more chances to make cool memories," the Collector said.

"That's a good way of looking at things," Chibiusa said with a small laugh.

The Collector placed his hand on the ground, a giant, glowing blue star appeared. "Hop on. We can get home faster. I can even take you guys back on this thing. It's safe. King will vouch for me."

King nodded. "Perfectly safe."

Chibiusa grinned. "Then let's go!"

…

Astarion had found the vampire. He'd been skulking around the park at night. It had been where the festival had taken place. Luckily, he didn't seem to have a clue to where the spider people (possible driders?) were.

He swung his enchanted dagger at his chest, cloaked entirely in shadow. There should've been no way for him to sense him. Yet, he caught his wrist so effortlessly. He was twisting it to where Astarion was sure he heard a crack. A jolt of pain ran down his arm as he screamed from the shock. The vampire managed to throw him backwards. Wyll tried to use Sorrow to at least get this Morlun off balance. It didn't work; he moved faster than Wyll, jerking the weapon in his hand, sending him flying, too.

Karlach's brutish strength wasn't even enough to throw the damned creature. She leapt up into the air and tackled him, shoving him to the pavement, taking a cleave at him with her great axe. She, too, missed. She eventually screamed in rage and went into a frenzy. Flames licked the edges of her armor as her infernal engine heated up.

"Steady now, love," Wyll called out, pulling himself back up.

"Not until this bastard is dead!"

"You won't be able to do that," the bored vampire drawled.

"We won't let you hurt those kids!" Karlach screamed. She raised her axe again, slicing and dicing the man repeatedly. He simply regenerated. Karlach huffed. "How?!"

"I come from a long line of prolific Inheritors," the monster explained. He loomed over the three. Claws raised at the ready. "You should've never tried to attack me. Your lives are now forfeit."

"Incende!"

Thank the gods. The monster was set ablaze by a familiar sacred flame, giving them time to get back up. The familiar elven, former cleric of Shar now cleric of Selûne, Shadowheart walked over to them. She glanced at Astarion. "I thought we were finished fighting master vampires, Astarion."

"Where've you been?" Karlach asked with a grin.

"About," Shadowheart answered with a coy smile. "I just found some company the other day. He said he knew you."

The vampire was surrounded by a wave of even bigger flames as Lucifer walked over to them. Karlach visibly scowled; Astarion still held his stance that devils were to be trusted over vampires, any day. Besides, unlike Raphael, this one might actually like them.

The vampire man screamed, but instead of burning to ash, he simply vanished. Astarion scrunched his nose at the thought of him getting away.

"Rooming with devils," Karlach said disapprovingly. "That's even worse than being Shar's chosen, you realize that, right?"

"Come," Wyll said. "Let's not fight. Lucifer helped us during the Kaolinite incident. It's only fair we give him a fair shake. But if he betrays that trust, we'll deal with him appropriately."

"Fine," Karlach said. She turned to Lucifer. "But if you step one toe out of line—"

"Yeah, yeah, obliteration," Lucifer said. "Look, we've got bigger problems. Something powerful broke through the dimensional field the other day. We've gotta find out what it is. It could be just as dangerous as this vampire guy."

Astarion groaned. "A new problem?! We can't even solve our old ones!"

"Stop moping," Shadowheart chided. "It suits you too well. Your face will get stuck like that one day."

At least her sarcastic wit hadn't died with her worship of Shar.

"Perhaps we should find Lae'zel and Tav and go hunting," Shadowheart suggested. The bitterest of rivals come to trust and love each other. How cliché. This further dampened Astarion's mood somehow. Though, he would enjoy finding his beloved Tav. Surely, they'd know what to do. "We might be able to put our brains together again—sans the tadpoles."

"Tadpoles?" Lucifer asked.

"You don't want to know," Wyll said.

Lucifer raised an eyebrow but shook his head. "Yeah, I guess not."

"So, why not help me search for them?" Shadowheart asked. "That's my plan, anyways. I've heard Gale is with you somewhere. Why did you leave him behind?"

"Gale is helping guard the Spider-people at the…well…I shouldn't say. We could have prying ears."

"Smart plan," Shadowheart said.

"You know," Karlach began. "Lae-zel is right. You do tend to take charge when Tav isn't around."

"Is there a problem with that?"

"Not at all, soldier."

"Can we please get going?" Astarion asked. "I don't trust standing out here in the open like this."

"Oh, don't worry, Astarion," Karlach said. "We'll protect you!"

"I don't need your charity protection," Astarion scoffed.

"Then we can leave you here," Wyll suggested.

"Then again, I would be a fool to snub it."

Still, now that he was thinking about it. Those people he had met; their greatest enemies had come back to life. Did that mean that Cazador could also…? And if he were to encounter this master vampire, or the supposed god, DIO, what kind of destruction and tyranny could they create together?

No. He wouldn't allow it. He'd destroy any master vampire he came across. No matter what.

…

Alastor would never show it. However, there was an encroaching fear lingering in the back of his mind about the originators of this place. The files his agent here managed to steal from Vox's intel.

This had happened before. All of it. According to the files, there were massive gaps of energy in space-time just eaten to keep this place running. But what was that energy made up of? Everything could be controlled by this uncertain factor.

There would be no freedom, no creativity, no fun. He was so tired of puppeteers. Honestly, he was doing the souls out there a favor. If he had control over them, at least they'd only have to work for him. He would use the power behind their souls to set things to right—to his right.

If they were taken by whatever was out there…who's to say what would happen?