Vince Noir sat boredly in the shop, reading a magazine. It was definitely a slow day, with Howard refusing to be bothered while he did whatever he was doing (Vince didn't really care at the moment what it was) and neither Naboo or Bollo anywhere in sight.

He sighed and turned the page, already bored with the issue he was reading. Then, he jumped as Naboo's voice piped up from beside him.

"I'm glad I caught you, Vince."

Vince swiveled in his seat to look at the diminutive shaman. "Don't scare me like that, mate! I nearly jumped outta my skin!"

"Sorry," Naboo replied apathetically. Vince briefly wondered when his friend had come stand beside him.

The shaman continued," Anyway, I've been looking for you."

Vince smiled."Looking for me? How come?"

Naboo held up a strange looking device, no bigger than a marble. It was dark blue and purple, with a small little strap on it. "Put this in your ear. You'll need it." Vince stared at it.

"Are you on something, dude?," he asked cautiously. The shaman looked just a little offended. "That's neither here nor there. Now put that in your ear." Without another word, he turned and wandered away.

Vince examined the tacky little piece of plastic. Fumbling with it to get it placed in his ear, he mumbled,"….weird little dude sometimes…"


Meanwhile, in an entirely different world, Nougami Neuro sat at his desk in the office of Katsuragi Yako's Detective Agency, his feet propped on the desk, his arms crossed over his chest, and his eyes closed, his normal arrogant smile in place. He wasn't REALLY sleeping, of course. Being a demon, literally from Hell, he slept very little. He was merely listening to the two humans in the office with him discuss which one would go out to get bento.

Come to think of it, he was beginning to get hungry himself. Too bad no one had come into the office to offer a good mystery for a couple of days. No matter. Something would happen soon enough.

He opened his eyes, still smiling, as Godai, a.k.a. "Slave # 2", lost a game of "rock, paper, scissors" to Yako, "Slave # 1". Godai grumbled irritatedly and left the office, slamming the door behind him.

Yako turned to Neuro and then jumped at seeing the demon standing now only a few feet from her, watching her, with his "evil" face on.

"Wh-what's with that face?," she asked, a little nervous.

"Just wondering how I can amuse myself with a little flea like you," answered the demon, his smile revealing his horrifyingly sharp teeth.

"So I'm a flea now….a little better than normal…"

Neuro grasped the top of his little victim's head, pushing down. "How far away did you send slave number 2?"

Yako, at the moment reaaaally wishing something would provide a distraction to Neuro, replied," He's just down the street. Don't worry, he shouldn't take too long.."

Down the street, Godai was stuck in an unbelievable line, all because the doofus in front was acting like frozen molasses. "COME ON, STOP SCREWING AROUND! I'll fucking kill!!,"the irritated Godai shrieked.

Neuro let go of Yako's head and walked away from her, leaving her to rub her head, muttering her woes to herself.

Without warning, a rift opened up next to an unprepared Neuro, engulfed him, and then closed.

"Neuro?!NEURO?!" the young "detective" yelped, looking around for her demonic tormentor.

The only thing that answered her was silence.

She groaned, panicking, and dashed over to where Akane was. "Akane! What happened to-"She got cut off by a loud ringing crash, followed by a pained moan. Yako wheeled around and stared at the sight before her.


Author's note: Cliffhanger, even though what's coming next is painfully obvious.

You can wait, though. Right? Right?!RIGHT?!!!ANSWER ME!! 8D