Hearts of the Multiverse

Chapter Four: The Ghost of You

"Fair enough," Makoto said. "I wonder what those creeps are after, anyways."

"We won't know until we go after them," Giorno said.

Arven shook his head. "I'm still not sure that's such a great idea. What if we go out there to look for them and one of us gets hurt or something?"

"And if we don't go out there, a lot of other people are going to get hurt," Giorno pointed out. "Inaction is as good as rolling over and letting them screw you over, so yeah, we might get hurt, but that's going to have to be something we'll need to be prepared to do."

It was silent for a moment before Sokka spoke up, "Kind of kills the good mood, but I guess that's a good point."

Miles was about to say something to the effect of, "But we'll look out for each other," when something small bumped into his sneakers. He glanced down and saw a small creature that resembled a cherry. It looked up at him and smiled. "Cher!"

"Hey, Arven, is this little guy yours?" Miles asked, picking up the small guy as carefully as possible.

Arven shook his head but smiled at the Pokémon. "No, but he's a cutie! Where'd you come from, little guy?"

Heels clicked against the concrete path leading up to the house. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid he got away from me."

A quick glance startled Miles. The first thing he saw was very red hair, but he realized soon, it was another boy in a green school uniform and brown flats. Another boy followed closely behind him. His hair was platinum blonde and weirdly layered and trimmed, as if he'd done it himself. He also wore a black hoodie, pants, and shoes.

"That's alright!" Arven said, handing the cherry-mon back to the red-haired boy. "What's his name?"

"Sting. I really enjoy the Police," the red-haired boy said (I don't know if they cover that in the anime, but they do in the manga). "And you are?"

"He's Arven, the son of Professor Turo and Sada," the blonde-haired boy said. "We've met before."

"Yeah," Arven nodded. "It's been a while. How are you?"

"Better than I was. And you?"

"Relatively the same. I made a few friends."

"I made a few not enemies," Gladion said with somewhat of a smirk. "Good to hear."

"And you?" Miles asked the red-haired boy.

"Kakyoin Noriaki," the other replied. "And you?"

"I'm Miles Morales."

"I'm Luz Noceda! This is my brother, Hunter."

"I'm the cool one, Sokka. And the guy with the scowl is Zuko," Sokka said.

"Hino Rei."

"Mizuno Ami."

"Kino Makoto. Your Pokémon is adorable! I love him! I wonder if I can get one like him?"

"Well, this little guy just started following me one day. Led me to Gladion and the rest of our group, actually." Kakyoin peered over Miles shoulder. For a split second, Miles thought he saw the red-haired boy's mouth hang open in a sort of shock. But he quickly regained his composure. "And who are you?"

Giorno peered up, not much interest in the conversation. "Sono Giorno Giovanna."

"Ah. I see."