I probably would have been more resistant to Hands leaving if Alice hadn't just left herself. Hands had taken custody of Nia to use as leverage to keep me true to the deadline Sori gave me, but part of the agreement required him to let Alice have access to her sister. That would be a lot more challenging from the Filton half a mile away. Still, if Alice was going to leave the hospital anyway, I could hardly argue. More importantly, everyone Hands held in his Dreamland would be evacuated, so I was on board with him filling up the hotel with his Dreamers. It didn't hurt that he had a soft spot for the helpless and had already agreed to house any children or otherwise dependent individuals. I wasn't so trusting that I wouldn't be keeping an eye on him, but I also wasn't so flush with options that I could turn away his help.

The six-story hotel was closer to the Kaiju epicenter than I liked, but it was still several blocks away. Then again, the Kaiju was never around long enough to affect anything more than the closest buildings to it. It had a brick and stucco exterior and long wings. There would be hundreds of beds available for Hands's dreamers, and no reason to limit themselves to beds alone. I doubted the pool was saltwater, but Hands either didn't care or had a plan to change that once he was in control of the building.

I approached the hotel alone. Hands had offered to send some of his minions with me, almost insisted, and it was certainly tempting. The last hive-mind I'd faced would have easily killed me if Sori hadn't made shield charms for the occasion. I didn't have those this time, so it would make sense to have backup. However, between death and broken trust, death was the easier to recover from.

Hands wanted to take over the hotel, and it suited my needs for him to do so. But that didn't mean this new group needed to be 'dealt with' in a mafia way. Depending on how their hive-mind worked, I might even be able to get them to join up. If I walked in and got ambushed and killed, well, it wouldn't be the first time I'd paid that price. On the other hand, if I walked in and my borrowed crew attacked the Misfits to take their home, that could easily set the tone of all future reactions.

That said, I wasn't exactly walking in unarmed. I'd collected my shotgun stolen from the back of Jon's patrol car and still wore the bulletproof vest. I wouldn't start trouble, but I also didn't want to look like an easy target.

"Oh shit!" I heard a voice yelp from the reception desk as I stepped inside. I looked over just in time to see an empty office chair go rolling away.

"Hello?" I said with my mismatched voice, peering over the edge of the desk, looking for whoever I'd startled.

A skinny guy with glasses peaked out from under the desk. He had tawny brown mouse ears and sideburns that were more fur than hair, as well as a pointed and upturned nose with long whiskers sticking out like spaghetti noodles. He squeaked when he saw me looking and ducked back under the counter. "I don't suppose you're here to rent a room?" He asked in a muffled voice.

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"More like the whole hotel. Though I understand it might already be booked." I said, amused at the guy's behavior. Judging by his features and behavior, he was like Nia and Alice, having merged with his trauma without being overwhelmed by it. His survival instinct seemed out of place for a drone in a hive mind, which reassured me that I was right not to come in guns blazing.

"The Baron is in control of the hotel. Trust me, you don't want to bother him," Mouse-man said, "He does like to recruit tho, especially big guys like you. Someone'll be out in a moment if that interests you."

"Can I ask why you're hiding? It sounds like you should be used to this kind of thing."

"The Baron keeps me up here because I'm not as scary to people, and I'm not a challenge to most monsters. But he's always watching, so if you start something, he'll make you regret it."

The last almost sounded like it was meant to be a threat, but I'd come in here ready to face another death if necessary, so it didn't exactly land. "I take it your Baron is like us? A little bit monster, a little bit human?"

The mouse snorted. "In my experience, that's a pretty big spectrum. You show a lot more monster than he does, but I'd rather make you mad than him."

"Well, hopefully, nobody needs to get mad. I've got things I need to talk to him about, though. Where can I find him?"

Reality glitched. Everything stopped. A moment that never existed and lasted forever held my very breath motionless and sent my mind reeling. Without fanfare or expectation, the Mouse-man's face changed. His face became more angular, and while his eyes held onto fear a moment longer, his mouth split in a wide grin of tiny pointed teeth. Then, the fearful eyes vanished, replaced by eyes glittering with eagerness.

"Oh," a voice hissed from his mouth. "We have a guest; how exciting. And looking for me! I love it. Did you want to fight or fuck? Either way is fine with me big guy. In fact, both sounds fun, let's do both." and then the no-longer-mouse-man scrabbled out from under the desk and, in a fluid motion climbed on top of it.

I was still recovering from the sudden change and took an instinctual step back. The creepy thing advanced, launching itself off the top of the desk at my face.

"Mother fu-" I started in surprise while trying to raise my shotgun up between myself and the 'Mr. Hyde' that was suddenly leaping toward me.

The Hyde grabbed my shotgun as he collided with me, and his form shifted again. His fingers became finger-like, and his body collapsed into himself with a squelching sound. By the time his weight struck me, he had changed forms completely and looked something like the Gremlins, though I didn't have time to take in the details. Paw-hands still gripping the gun, the Hyde's feet struck my chest and kicked off, propelling the creature away from me and tearing the weapon from my grip.

Long ears whooshed past my face as a bunny-shaped Gremlin-creature backflipped off of me, dropping the gun mid-air as it did. When it landed, it was once again generally human-shaped, with the same Hyde face as before. He ran a tongue over his tiny and jagged teeth.

My eyes tracked him as I backpedaled to put a wall at my back. Last thing I needed was someone sneaking up from behind. "Hey, now, I'm just here to talk."

"Oh, but that'll be so much easier when you join us. Come on now, if you don't put up a fight, it won't be as fun!"