Adding all of Rei's friends to the conversation was easier done than said. Once everyone got back, they decided to have a conversation about this witch. Luz still looked a bit dazed. Whatever the monster that had attacked her and Hunter had done, must've been bad.
The group sat in the living quarters of the shrine. Miles noted that Baldur's Gate was still loaded on the TV. Hopefully he wouldn't burn out the gaming system. But now, all of them were trying to talk about what they had just experienced. Apparently Usagi and her friends were superheroes around Tokyo. They'd been protecting people for a while now—maybe as long as Miles had been protecting Harlem.
"So, you guys are superheroes, too?" Miles asked Rei.
Rei nodded. "It's a secret. We try not to go around broadcasting it."
"Understood."
"How are you feeling?" Katara asked. She'd been searching for her boyfriend earlier and had arrived later than Sokka and Zuko. But she seemed just as concerned.
"I'm fine," Rei assured her. Her face softened. "Thank you for asking."
Usagi held her cracked compact in her hands. She looked ready to cry.
"Hey, sorry about your compact," Miles spoke up. He paused. "It's important, isn't it?"
Usagi nodded. "Without it, I can't transform into Sailor Moon."
"And that's the superhero identity, right?" Josuke confirmed. Usagi nodded. "Damn. That sucks."
"Don't be so glum!" Nemona said. "We'll help you for now!"
"Absolutely," Adora agreed. "Most of us are probably heroes, anyways."
Sure. Totally not a multiversal anomaly. None of that here. But what could it hurt to help? Well, Miguel or any of the other spiders could catch him out in the open. Unless he ran into, maybe, Hobie, he'd be kind of screwed. Still, leaving someone to fight without powers seemed like a jerk move.
"I'll help," Miles offered. "Gotta study whatever power that lady had. Wasn't electricity. I would've been able to shoot it back."
"You can bend electricity?" Zuko asked, almost wearily.
"Yeah. I just learned how to take down forcefields, too," Miles bragged a little. "I wouldn't use it to be evil or whatever, so don't worry."
"And we're just supposed to trust each other? Just like that?" Anne asked. "Seems sketch."
"What other choice do we have?" Arven asked. He handed out a few sandwiches he made. "I can sort of vouch for some people here, especially Miles and Luz. They've been really nice to me."
"And Zuko and Sokka literally saved Rei and Hunter back there," Josuke added.
"In other words, now's not the time for petty mistrust," Giorno said. "There could be a bunch of monsters out there, and we don't even know what those girls in the tree wanted. Could also be dangerous. We don't know, and I hate not-knowing. We should probably do as much research as possible. That might involve fighting more of those things."
"I'm sorry," Lillie spoke up, her voice small and quiet. "You want us to go out and look for a fight with those monsters?"
"Not necessarily," Giorno said. "But if we can learn more about them, they could be easier to stop."
"It might not be a bad idea," Luz chimed in. She stood up. "I mean, our friends are out there. If we sit back and do nothing, they could be in danger."
She looked over at Hunter. "I'm not going to let any of my friends or family down."
Hunter gave her a half-hearted smile and murmured a 'thanks.'
"And we'll make sure no one gets hurt, either," Makoto said. She winked at Miles. "It's good to know there's more than one person who can manipulate electricity."
"I can't sit back and do nothing," Usagi said so quietly it was almost as if she never said anything.
"I'd prefer if you stayed back for a while, until we can fix your compact. The girls and I have got it," her boyfriend, the masked guy, Mamoru said.
"Because roses are so effective," Sokka said flippantly. This earned him a glare from the boyfriend. "What? It's true. You could at least use a boomerang. I mean, I used to have a space sword. It's something!"
"He's got a point," Josuke agreed. "Who in the hell uses roses to be intimidating?"
"Please friends, let us not fight," Starfire said. "We should do as our friend, Giorno, suggested. We should stay on track and try and find these monsters—perhaps even locate a centralized area where they have come from."
"Great idea," Giorno said with a nod. "At least someone is being rational."
"Harsh," Anne said.
"But not wrong," Miles said reluctantly. "Look, we've got to try and get entire scope of our situation. I mean, it seems like we've found a few of our friends here, but it's like Luz said: our friends are probably out there."
Well, their friends, anyways. And he was Spiderman.
"Those monsters could be anywhere, and it doesn't sound like that lady is going to give up so easily. Who even knows where they'll pop up next? But I can tell you one thing: I'm not going to sit back and just let them hurt people. I'm going to figure out how to beat them, and everyone here will be safe."
He was his universe's Spiderman. He wouldn't let anyone else get hurt. No matter what. That, despite Miguel O'Hara's opinion on the matter, was what he signed up for.
...
In an office building some distance from the shrine, Phoenix Wright's left eye twitched as Gideon Graves melodramatically shifted through the list of accusations carried to him by Seto Kaiba's legal team. The most prominent of that legal team being Phoenix's old friend-to rival-to friend again, Miles Edgeworth.
"I didn't steal his stupid plans for whatever-the-fuck graphics!" Gideon complained. "And he's coming at me with the best prosecutor in the country? I didn't even ask to be here! I was just drinking mocha with my girlfriend, plotting the demise of that dramatic idiot Patel, and inventing better technology than that kid could ever dream of! It's absurd, Wright!"
Phoenix wasn't sure what exactly to make of Gideon Graves. It was rumored he'd made a league of evil exes and put himself at the top just to win back a certain Ramona Flowers. Toxic dedication? Maybe. The only reason Phoenix had agreed to this case in the first place was since Graves had seemed so sincere in his innocence, and the magnatama had pretty much proved he hadn't taken anything.
But the whole crux of the issue was someone who looked very much like Graves had been seen sneaking files out of the building.
"Mr. Graves," Phoenix spoke up. "Have you tried reaching out to Kaiba Corp in any way, shape, or form? I mean, they have to acknowledge with all the weird stuff going on lately, there could be foul play."
Graves blinked. "No. Why would I do that?"
"Monsters that can shapeshift might be able to prove your innocence, you know?"
Gideon snorted. "Maybe. But who's to say that kid will believe that?"
Phoenix had been doing a bit of late AM research. Apparently, Seto Kaiba was a CEO and only sixteen. He'd been through a lot of staff due to his temperament. Or people just straight up quit. Edgeworth could probably handle him. Probably.
"It's worth a shot."
"And you think they'll let me on the premises?" Graves asked sarcastically. "You're supposed to be the best defense attorney here. That Edgeworth guy recommended you. No, I need a better plan than that. If you think it'll do any good, YOU do it."
Edgeworth recommended him? Phoenix could almost hear him say, "And don't make a fool of yourself, and by extension, myself, Wright."
"I might be able to, but I can't make any promises."
"Oh, that's fine," Graves said in a sickly-sweet, definitely over-the-top tone. "It's just my livelihood is all."
He leaned in closer, "If you screw this up, I will make sure both you and that prosecutor pay dearly."
With that, Graves pressed a button on his desk; almost immediately an older man came to the table.
"See Mr. Wright out. Make sure he gets to where he needs to be."
The old man nodded and gestured toward the elevator. Phoenix internally groaned. It was enough that he had this high-profile client, but now both his and Edgeworth's reputations were on the line.
...
"So, Nick, how'd it go?" Maya asked.
"It went," Phoenix said with a sigh. "That Graves guy is...something."
"Sounds like. I've heard he's helped a lot of musicians get their start."
But at what cost? What did those poor people go through every day?
"Oh Nick! One of our guests helped me make an authentic Italian dish! Isn't that cool? You gotta try it!"
Maya Fey, spirit-medium, little sister to his late mentor, Mia Fey, had been sticking around to help Phoenix with the influx of people staying with him. To be fair, Maya kind of suckered him into helping them in the first place, but it wasn't so bad. At least they helped with the money situation.
Maya dragged him into the kitchen, where one of the aforementioned guests, was helping another divvy up food onto plates.
"Ah, hello Mr. Wright," the man in the strange, white with black polka dots and gold trim suit said. His name was Bruno Bucciarati. He'd kind of just appeared in their apartment one day, pretty beat up. But somehow that wasn't too bizarre for Phoenix. Plus, he was a perfectly polite house (apartment) guest.
"We were about to eat without you," the older woman beside him joked. Eda Clawthorne. She had people out there she cared about. If she found any of them, she had sworn she'd go with them, instead. For now, Phoenix guessed this was home base to her. She was...not as tidy or polite as Bruno.
"You guys didn't have to do that," Phoenix said.
"Well, Maya was curious," Bruno said. "It served two purposes."
"Literally," Eda said with a laugh.
The door swung open, and the gaggle poured in: Hop, Hau, Shana, Wally, Toph, BB, and Gus. All of them were kids—BB being the oldest at fourteen. Toph and Wally were probably the youngest. Hop, Hau, Wally, and Shana had come from a place where those marketable creatures that fought each other actually existed. Toph came from a place where people could bend elements (she could, too). BB was a part of superhero group and could morph into any animal of his choosing, despite all animals being as green as he was. And Gus came from the same place Eda came from; a place where magic freely flowed. It was like having a large family. Phoenix had never really had one. His parents had died pretty early on in his teenage years, so he knew how to take care of himself.
Eda, who knew Gus beforehand, looked to him. "Hey! Did you—?"
Gus shook his head. "Nope. None of them. I'm gonna go back out tomorrow."
Eda sighed and sat down at the small table. "Thanks, kid. I'll probably join you again. Just thought it'd be nice to help out around here."
A green dog walked through the living room, leaving Phoenix only a little perturbed this time. BB, or Beast Boy, was a unique kid. He could transform into different animals—and he liked dogs. A lot.
He waddled over to Eda and then changed back; he gave her a goofy grin. "Don't worry, Eda, we'll find them and the titans!"
"I'm sure we will," Eda said. "Probably in some trouble, but they can handle it."
"And I'm sure they'll find their way to us," Shana said. "There's no way they can't!"
The radio crackled in the background. The speaker was like someone from the 1920's. "And now time for short stories with your delightful host! Now, our story begins in England, along a jagged mountainside. A man, his wife, and child crashed and were badly wounded. The mother perished, but the son and father were awoken by a mugger in the disguise of a savior. From that moment began a promise, a legacy, and a legend. Stay tuned to catch the rest of the story!"
"That guy's creepy," Toph said with a slight grimace.
"I want to know what happens next, though," Maya argued.
"What if the ending's lame?" Eda asked. "Human stories always end weird."
"Are you kidding?" Gus asked. "Human stories are the best!"
"The best kind of stories are the ones you make yourself, cousin," Hau stated.
"Agreed!" Eda said with a grin.
Phoenix sat down and rubbed his temples. He'd go and try to speak with Kaiba Corp tomorrow. With any luck, Edgeworth wouldn't be there. If he did, Edgeworth might perceive this as meddling or tempering with the case.
"Oi, Mr. Wright, you don't look so good. What's up?" Hop asked.
"It's nothing, Hop. Just go ahead and eat your dinner," Phoenix said dismissively.
"Is that so?" Bruno asked. "Hate for the effort to go to waste."
There was a bit of guilt there. "I'm sorry. I've just got a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to..."
"So, you're gonna starve yourself? Bright idea, Wright," Eda said with a snort.
"Well, I need to try to get into Kaiba Corp tomorrow, but I've heard the CEO isn't very...cooperative."
"Oh, is that the sixteen-year-old that runs that gaming business?" Maya asked.
Phoenix nodded.
"You're worried about some kid?" Eda asked. "Just tell his mom if he's that much trouble."
"He's an orphan."
"Oh...well, could've said that before I stuck my talon in my mouth."
"I might be able to help you," Bruno offered. "I have special clearances for occasions such as this. I might have a contact within the company. You never know."
"Really?" Phoenix's face brightened. "That would be extremely helpful! Thank you."
"Not a problem. Now, please, don't let the food go to waste."
...
Somewhere, in another reality, perhaps, stood a dark and morose laboratory. The red witch, Kaolinite frowned as she looked at the recent reports she'd just written. The webslinger, the invisible attacks, the boomerang boy, and the fire-bender were all a big imposition on her plans.
Ever since whatever force had decided to tear open a new window through space and time, a new, powerful, and most promising crop of pure hearts had been scattered all around Tokyo.
The only problem would be actually getting a hold of them. She'd need to corner most of these targets, make sure none of the pests stood in her way.
Then—and only then—she would bring Dr. Tomoe what he needed to destroy this world and begin the next.