And now my friends it is time for probably the saddest part of any story, the conclusion. Please enjoy this one last chapter to The Crazed Phantom!

Ghost Hunt belongs to Fuyumi Ono.

Everything was silent in the spirit world. The evil had been vanquished, the shadow that had loomed over them all was gone.

Momoru and Koitsu clutched one another's hands, feeling a peculiar sense of freedom wash over them.

"W-what is this feeling," Koitsu managed after a moment.

Tatsu opened her eyes and smiled gently at the bewildered spirit, "It's freedom. The seal that kept us here has been broken due to Zetsubo's defeat."

Momoru's eyes widened, a feeling of cautious optimism came over him, "Then that means at least we can..."

"Yes," Tatsu murmured, "at last we can all be at peace."

Two more figures emerged from the fog that had settled around them all.

Momoru's eyes teared up slightly as he laid eyes upon two very familiar faces, "Mother, Father!"

Masani and Daiichi turned their heads and broke into to smiles, both rushing forward to embrace their son. "Oh Momoru, I thought we had lost you," Masani cried sorrowfully. Daiichi remained silent, merely relishing in the moment.

Meanwhile the SPR team was attempting to recuperate, Ayako being the one to access everyone's injuries. No one got away without a cut or bruise but some, like John and Monk were slightly more serious. The sudden attack suffered by Monk had done some damage. He had a long slice going down his back while he had a few cracked ribs from where the demon had squeezed him. John on the other hand had a sprained ankle, thanks to the swipe of Zetsubo's long tail.

"In all honesty," Ayako said as she looked over Masako, "we could have come out a lot worse than this, we were quite fortunate this time around."

"You're telling me..." a new voice muttered from behind them.

All eyes turned to see Naru's double.

Lin regarded the man's appearance with concern, "Will you be alright Eugene?"

The said man merely gave a weak smile and a thumbs up, "Give me a few days of rest and I'll be fine... That's one of the nice things about being dead, healing takes a lot less time!"

Naru regarded his brother in something akin to exasperation.

Gene noticed and made an attempt to look innocent, "Well, you always said I was usually dreadfully honest Noll!"

Naru shook his head and sighed, "Three years dead and yet you remain the same as when you were living, honestly I'm a little disappointed Gene."

The light hearted twin gave a laugh and then shrugged as he faded away, "Not everything changes in death silly."

Tatsu walked over to the group and raked her eyes over all of them, "So... what's the damage?"

"Not to bad honestly, I was anticipating something worse than what we got," Ayako said after a moment.

This seemed to relieve the spirit, "Good."

Naru gave the woman a slightly indignant look, "So when do you plan on releasing my girlfriend from possession?"

Tatsu gave a light laugh before shaking her head, "My apologies, I didn't realize you were so anxious to have your beloved back."

Naru's cheek's flushed but only slightly, he was clearly flustered by the comment.

Tatsu closed her eyes, a look of concentration coming onto her face, "Be ready to catch her," she murmured. With that, her spirit emerged from Mai's body and ended up standing beside her.

Mai's eyes reopened for a moment, long enough for everyone to see the familiar chocolate brown eyes and then they rolled back into her head as she fainted.

Naru readily caught her, holding her bridal style to his chest.

Tatsu stood with a smile, a peaceful aura radiating from her.

"So.. what happens now," Monk asked.

"Now," Koitsu said as her and the others came over, "now it is time for our spirits to finally be at rest. We have long awaited this moment."

"B-But you can't very well do that without saying goodbye first..." a distinct voice answered her.

All eyes turned to the girl in Naru's arms, "Mai!"

She gave a weak smile, her body still almost completely limp, showing them all just how worn out she was.

Koitsu returned the smile, "Of course."

Naru looked down at his girlfriend, meeting her eyes. With a reluctant nod he carefully lowered her to a standing position, keeping a hand on the small of her back to steady her. He knew at her current state she probably wouldn't be able to stand for long, but it might just be long enough.

Mai stumbled forward to embrace Koitsu, she sagged slightly, relaxing as she felt arms wrap around her.

"Thank you for everything," Koitsu whispered to her, her voice cracking with emotion, "thank you for listening and being so kind... But most of all thank you for helping us get our freedom."

Mai smiled tearfully, "And thank you for being my surrogate older sister."

The hug became tighter then but it was comforting and calming.

They pulled away hesitantly, neither one wanting to let go. They both had tears in their eyes, their bond had become so strong in such a short amount of time. Ultimately it was Koitsu that let go, her hand lingering on Mai's arm.

Masani came over next, her motherly aura comforting for Mai in this emotional moment, "I told you that you could do it darling!"

Mai gave a shy smile before hugging her too. She had never felt so connected to the spirits on a case. Their interactions had even been fewer than some cases but yet they had just connected so well, it was really astounding.

Tatsu seemed unsure as to whether she wanted a hug or not but Mai solved that problem by rushing forward and hugging her. The priestess was surprised but then smiled and hugged the girl back. "I'm glad that I got to meet such a young and intelligent psychic like yourself Mai," she told her truthfully, "it truly has been a privilege."

Mai nodded, "I can honestly say the same for you, Tatsu."

They shared one last smile before parting.

Naru resumed his position just behind Mai, hand returning to her back for support.

"How touching," exclaimed a new voice.

All eyes switched to a new face behind the group of spirits.

"Mokimo," Momoru exclaimed. His face grew pained before he embraced the smaller girl, "Forgive me Mokimo..."

The girl laughed and poked his forehead, "Dummy, I already did!" She looked to the others, "Aren't you all tired of being here already? I've been waiting forever for you guys to show up but you never did."

They all shared a light laugh, smiles littering everyone's faces. Not long after, all of them became slightly more transparent.

The SPR team looked on quietly.

"Be good Mai," Koitsu said playfully as they all continued to fade.

Mai gave a tearful smile, nodding, "I will as long as you promise to be at peace."

Koitsu spared a gentle look at the man beside her and then smiled in complete content, "No problem there, Mai darling."

They all gave smiles as their spirits finally faded away.

Naru pulled Mai into his arms, kissing the top of her head softly.

The ground below them seemed to fall away, leaving them all floating.

"Whoa, what's going on," Monk exclaimed.

"Our business in the spirit realm has ended," Masako said, her hand unconsciously intertwining with John's, "we're returning home."

The light grew brighter and brighter and then no one knew anymore.

-POV-Switch-Mai POV-

I shut my eyes as the light became blinding. I suddenly realized that Naru wasn't there anymore. I looked around in panic and noted that none of them were there.

"Mai," a voice spoke behind me I whipped around to see the faint figure of Tatsu standing before me, her gaze concerned.

"Tatsu," I breathed, "why are you still here?"

She put her hand on my shoulder, "To give you a warning."

That caught my attention.

"Mai... I..." she seemed to be having difficulty finding her words, "You... you must be very wary of the future. Do not be reckless or do crazy things. But most importantly; beware the coming storm." Her face was grim, "It is of the utmost importance that you heed my words, don't be afraid to tell your Kazuya of anything that may happen. You must be more confident in his ability to help you." She kissed my forehead gently, "Be safe Mai."

With that she disappeared right before my eyes and the bright world around me began to fade.

The next thing I knew I was opening my eyes to look up into worried sapphire blue eyes.

"She's awake," someone said with relief.

Similar murmurs of relief sounded from all around me.

I groaned in mild pain, rolling my head around, "W-What happened?"

"We were hoping you could tell us," Naru's smooth voiced sounded, laced with concern.

With his help I managed to sit up and by then finally noticed we were no longer in the basement but rather back at base. I shook my head, hoping to clear some of the dizziness. "What do you mean," I asked at length.

"We all woke up like 20 minutes ago Mai," Ayako said with her hands on her hips, "you remained practically comatose, we were getting worried..."

I looked down, feeling sheepish, "Sorry for making you worry." I suddenly remembered Tatsu's warning, "Oh that must have been why I woke up later."

The team looked at me expectantly.

"Tatsu gave me a warning about what is to come," I said, "she said to 'beware the coming storm'. She said not to do crazy or reckless things and to stay safe too."

Looking around at the team I knew they had taken the message to heart like I had. Whatever was coming had Tatsu worrying for our safety. I met Naru's eyes and reached for his hand. Our fingers automatically intertwined when they reached each other. Even though the future ahead of us was shadowed with uncertainty and possible danger I knew that our team would overcome it.

I spared a glance and smiled softly. With Naru and my adopted family at my side, nothing could stop me.

-LineBreak-LineBreak-LineBreak-

Somewhere in the deep and never-ending darkness however, something much more sinister was brewing.

"So Zetsubo... it seems you were brought down anyway," a dark voice rumbled, "you have proven useless to me once again."

"Forgive me father," Zetsubo murmured quietly.

"Silence," the first voice growled, "Skullshroud!"

"Yes father," a nearby voice purred.

"Show me your strength," the voice said, "destroy this meddlesome wench that foiled our plans. She must be eradicated or all of our planning will have been for naught!"

"Consider it done father," the voice replied, an evident smile in its voice.

"Good, it is time to enter phase two of the plan, prepare yourself Zetsubo; should you fail me again I will not be so forgiving."

All three occupants of the room stood.

"These mediocre games end now."

Some foreshadowing for the next story! ;) I had to throw that in there, even if it was cheesy. I hope to see you all returning to the next story which will be titled Endless Nightmare. Keep an eye out for it, I might put up an author's notice as a final chapter to this story for awhile to direct you to it. Thank you all for reading this! I know I was awful about updates but I hope you enjoyed it all the same. Also thank you for all of the wonderful reviews, I personally read every single one and appreciate all of the kind words.

R&R if you so wish, tell me what you thought! See ya next time!