Author's Notes: So I forgot Takumi gained Perfects towards the latter half of the last chapter... Still, I didn't really give him a full team of Perfects just yet... Mainly because I was still figuring out what to evolve Yukidarumon into... Eventually, he became Monzaemon but uh... That's not until later. Also... Is it weird that Guardromon, a Virus, evolves into Andromon, a Vaccine, in his normal evolution line? The same thing is going to happen in Hacker's Memory for Betamon, a Virus, becoming Seadramon, a Data...
Kyoko curiously raised an eyebrow at her assistant as he turned in another report. "So? How's it going? Are you getting used to working as a detective?"
"Hmm?" Takumi closed his eyes and brought his hand up to his mouth. "You're asking me that now?" He opened his eyes and shrugged. "I've gotten used to it, more or less."
"I see," Kyoko brought her hand up too. "No real feel for it yet? But I'm going to need you to work even harder. Our agency's motto is…"
A man in a suit came in and looked around the detective agency. "Um, excuse me…" he meekly tried to get their attention.
Kyoko ignored him though as she nodded to Takumi. "Our agency's motto is, 'Reject not those who come. Chase not those who leave. Those who will not work will not eat.' My father taught me that," she stated with a smirk.
"Eh…?" Takumi blinked at her. "I thought it was 'Doggedly and with all your might, exhibit endurance like hard black iron'… I mean," he pointed up at the calligraphy framed above the window behind her. "It's up there on the wall and everything…"
The inept businessman frowned at the two. "Um… Excuse me…?"
"Huh?" Kyoko finally turned to acknowledge the man. "We already have a newspaper subscription."
"No… that's not it," the man shook his head.
"We've got a fire extinguisher and the Internet, too," Kyoko frowned at him. "We've got everything our office needs. Sorry."
"Um… This is a detective agency, isn't it?" the man asked.
"Huh?" the woman paused.
"This is…" the man continued, "the cyber sleuth detective agency?"
Kyoko blinked at the man and Takumi tilted his head to the side. "Kyoko-san… I think he's… trying to submit a request to us…?" He blinked at the meek man. "Maybe…?" he knit his eyebrows together. "It's actually kinda hard to tell."
"I… I have a case for you," the man nodded. Kyoko and Takumi studied him in silence for a moment longer before the inept businessman shook his head. "I'm a, um, a customer. I mean, a client. A CLIENT!"
The blonde woman continued to blankly stare at him for a few more seconds before she finally gave the man a polite smile. "Welcome to the reliable Kuremi Detective Agency. Please, tell us the details of your case."
Takumi grinned at the man as he showed their new client to the couch. "Can I offer you some coffee in the meantime?"
Kyoko stared at the man on the client's sofa from her desk. "Hmm. In other words… You planned to buy the Digimon Capture program from a hacker but were robbed of a very rare Digimon medal."
The hopeless business nodded. "Y-y-yes, exactly! 'Digimon Capture, On Sale Cheap!' It sounded too good to be true." He began seething in weak anger. "What they're doing, it's… It's awful! Playing with people's obsessions!"
"Obsessions?" Kyoko frowned at him.
"Yes! People's obsessions!" the man adamantly nodded. "There's nothing more fragile than that! When you want something, you want it no matter what, no matter the risk, no matter the method."
"Isn't that just a person lacking self control?" Takumi asked with a frown. "But, um… You're referring to medals, right? Not… Digimon?"
The man nodded at the boy. "If you're lucky, you can get several, one for saving, one for viewing 'cause they're so special. To think that they'd titillate even a grown-up's obsessions, such a dignified and rarefied thing!"
"Dignified…?" the redhead blinked.
"I'll never forgive them," the man boiled in lukewarm fury. "I'll never ever forgive them!" He began growling and Takumi blinked when it sounded more like he was choking.
"Uh… Okay…"
Kyoko looked over towards her assistant on the sofa before smiling up at their client. "We understand what you're trying to say." She crossed her arms and clarified what it was he was asking of them. "To summarize, you'd like us to get your very rare Digimon medal back for you. Correct?"
"They stole some e-money too but I don't care!" the man nodded. "All I want is to get my precious Digimon medal back." He clenched his teeth and began growling again.
"We'll take on the case," Kyoko stated. "We'll do our best to honor your emotions," she said with as straight a face as she could. When the man left, she motioned for Takumi to approach her desk. "Did you get that, Takumi?"
"For the most part, yeah," he nodded. "This is a property retrieval case."
"The perpetrator likely didn't want the medal itself. I'm guessing the plan was to pawn it for cash given how rare it is." Kyoko brought her hand up to her mouth. "There's a shop that deals in Digimon medals here in Nakano, if I remember correctly. That would be an ideal place to begin the case. Start by asking questions."
"Understood," Takumi nodded.
"Meanwhile, I'll look into this Digimon medal," Kyoko stated as she turned towards her desktop. "It's too bad I don't share that same degree of obsession."
"Eh…?" the boy blinked at her. "I think it's actually healthier that you don't, Kyoko-san," he sheepishly laughed.
"Ah, you're back," the medal man smiled at Takumi. "Are you here to sell me more medals?"
"Not today," the Cyber Sleuth shook his head. "I'm here for information actually. What can you tell me about this medal?" Takumi showed the man a picture of the rare Digimon medal.
"Mmm, I can't buy that medal," the man shook his head. "It's pretty rare, so you should hold onto it. There's a medal seller in Cron's fourth level though. He might know something about it."
"Alright, thanks," Takumi nodded before heading to the nearest access point.
Takumi spotted a suspicious hacker wearing a green Zaxon vest and quickly approached him. The hacker blinked at the red-haired sleuth. "What's that? Who are you?"
"I'm a Cyber Sleuth and I have a few questions for you," Takumi nodded to him seriously.
"You've got questions for me?" The boy frowned. "You say you're a saber sleuth?" The hacker shook his head and flashed Takumi a smirk. "I don't care if you're a detective or a cop, but I'm a professional. I don't give out info on customers."
Takumi sighed at that. "You have a client confidentiality code?"
"In my business, client trust is everything," the hacker nodded. He crossed his arms. "You say you're a saber sleuth? What does that even mean, 'saber'?"
"Cyber," Takumi corrected him. "I'm a Cyber Sleuth."
"Oh, 'Cyber Sleuth'," the gainfully employed buyer nodded. "Figures they'd have a job like that now," he scoffed. "Come to think of it, old man Matayoshi said he was in a department with a name like that."
"Huh? You mean Detective Matayoshi of the Cyber Crime Unit?" Takumi asked.
"What's that? You know Matayoshi, that old geezer?" the other boy stared at the redhead in surprise.
"That's right," the Cyber Sleuth nodded. "My detective agency is his secret weapon."
"Really? What do you mean by that?"
"It's just a… thing," Takumi chuckled. "We're something like his ace in the hold. Think of it like a buddy cop drama."
"Why didn't ya say so sooner?" the hacker shook his head at the boy. "I mean, could you not have mentioned that earlier, good fellow?"
"Hm?" Takumi tilted his head to the side as the hacker began to spill.
"Yes, yes, a very rare Digimon medal!" the green-vested boy thought about it. "Yes, someone did come by looking to sell one! We couldn't agree on a price, though, so he left."
"Do you know where he went?" the sleuth asked.
The hacker crossed his arms. "Where did he go? How am I supposed to know?" He tensed up as Takumi frowned. "I'm telling you the truth. Honest! I ain't no liar!" He nervously chuckled at Takumi. "So if you see Matayoshi, would you mind telling him I said hello?"
"Sure," Takumi nodded before setting off deeper into Cron.
"Make sure you remember that!" the hacker called out to him as he left.
Takumi chuckled to himself as he quickly contacted the office. "Kyoko-san, I managed to get some information about the medal from an apparent buyer. He seemed pretty shaken up when I mentioned Detective Matayoshi."
"Hmm… This guy came to sell the medal? Looks like we weren't wrong about that," Kyoko nodded. "And the buyer's attitude did a 180 when you name-dropped Detective Matayoshi? I guess the old man has some real pull," she chuckled. "There are probably plenty of people who owe him. And a lot of people he must have dirt on, too," she considered. "By the way, I've made some progress on the investigation on my end as well," she crossed her arms. "I picked up the signal of the Digimon medal. A very rare Digimon medal, to which a unique ID has been assigned."
"Really?" Takumi asked. "Do you know where it is?"
"I've managed to track it down, but nothing beyond that," she shook her head. "The ID has a privacy setting, preventing the owner and address from being identified. It was a real trick to analyze. The protection on it is pretty damn tough." Kyoko chuckled at the challenge. "But anyway…" she crossed her arms and smirked at her assistant. "Results of the trace picked up signals across the globe, but there was only one signal in EDEN. I would guess that this is the client's medal."
"So where should I go?"
"The signal came from Cron's fourth level and from somewhere pretty deep inside the area. I'd like you to head there immediately."
"Understood," Takumi nodded.
"It's a rough place, so be ready for danger," she warned him. "I leave the case in your hands now."
"Just leave it to me, Kyoko-san," her assistant smirked.
Takumi tensed up when he saw a hacker ahead of him wearing a Demon mask. "Hold it right there!" he called out. "You're the medal thief I'm looking for, aren't you?"
The Demon hacker turned to him in surprise. "Oh, dear. You're telling me that you think that I stole a very rare Digimon medal? There's no way I could so such a nasty thing. Look at me, with my skinny arms and soft, fair skin."
"Sorry, but the ID on the victim's medal led me to you," Takumi shook his head. "You're going to return it to him now."
"What's that? You've got an ID match?" The hacker shook his head at the persistent sleuth. "Oh boy, you don't know when to give up. Like I told you, I don't know anything? I never saw any businessman."
"I didn't say anything about a businessman," the redhead frowned.
"What? You didn't say anything about a businessman? All you said that the victim was male?" The Demon hacker stopped speaking and stared at Takumi through his mask. After a while, he began to shakily laugh. "Nobody likes a nag! I'll teach you a thing or two! Get outta my way!" he cried out as he sent his Digimon to attack the detective.
Takumi jumped backwards as a white-clothed ghost appeared before him. "Hell's Hand!" the ghost cried out as a giant decaying hand emerged from its cloak.
"Zettai Reido Punch!" Yukidarumon quickly countered the hand with his punch. He managed to shake the ghost off, but another Digimon resembling an ancient cherry tree began shaking its many branches.
"Cherry Bomb!" The tree flung its cherries towards the snowman and Cyber Sleuth.
Yukidarumon protectively shielded Takumi as the boy scanned both Digimon. "Bakemon and Jyureimon…" he frowned. "Yukidarumon, keep out of Jyureimon's attacks. Rapidmon! Andromon!"
Rapidmon quickly circled the giant tree, distracting it while Andromon opened his chest plate. "Gatling Missile!"
While those two took care of the Perfect-level Virus, Yukidarumon squared off against the Bakemon. The ghost frowned at him as it tried attacking again. "Hell's Hand!"
"Zettai Reido Punch!" Yukidarumon deflected the decaying hand before straightening up. "Snowball Fight!"
Takumi smirked as the Adult-level Vaccine finished it off. "Alright, now join the others! Rapidmon! Use Golden Triangle!"
The Cyborg Digimon created a green triangular barrier and released a beam of energy at Jyureimon's scattering cherry bombs. Once the explosives were taken care of, Rapidmon pointed his arm cannons at the tree itself. "Rapid Fire!"
Jyureimon flinched backwards as Takumi's team regrouped. The redhead nodded to his Digimon before calling out to them one last order. "Xros Combo!"
"Rapid Fire!"
"Snowball Fight!"
"Spiral Sword!"
"Boof!" the Demon hacker cried as he fell backwards. "You…!" he glared at Takumi from behind his mask. "I won't forget this!" The hacker quickly scrambled back up to his feet. "I'll report this to my leader… to Jimiken!"
Takumi was about to chase after him, but his Digivice began to ring. "Kyoko-san? I just met a Demon hacker that went 'boof'…"
"Hmm. That's the first time you heard someone go 'boof'?" she asked with a smirk. "What a splendid experience for you!" She suddenly became serious. "But more importantly…"
"Don't worry," her assistant shook his head. "I defeated him."
"Huh? What? Did you get the Digimon medal back?" Kyoko smirked as she shouldn't have expected anything less from her assistant. "That's some impressive work in such a short time. By the way, I contacted you because I have new info," she seriously nodded. "Right now, the next case is at the agency. Given the client and the particulars, I decided that it'd be better for you to cover it."
"Really?" Takumi blinked at her. "Who's the client?"
She shook her head as he would just have to wait until he returned. "Sorry to dogpile you with stuff, but could I have you come back to the office as soon as possible?"
"Alright, I understand," Takumi nodded. He looked up towards where the Demon hacker disappeared and frowned. "So Jimiken really is in charge of the Demons…" He shook his head before returning to the logout point.
Matayoshi flashed the red-haired teen a wide smile. "Hey, you there! Assistant detective! You look like you're doing well."
Takumi blinked at the detective in confusion. "Detective Matayoshi… What are you doing here? Weren't you looking into…?"
"What's that? Whatever became of the Kamishiro and Nile Corporation case?" he asked. "That's on the back burner right now. I'm on a different case today."
Takumi looked over to the familiar woman at his side. "Ah, you're…"
Kyoko nodded to the boy. "Here is your next client. Your friend Sakura-kun's mother."
"You're one of Sakura's classmates?" the woman asked Takumi. "I've heard her talk about you."
Takumi nodded. "Is there something you need to ask of me?"
"Yes," she gratefully smiled at him. "It'll be easier to talk about this with you. To tell you the truth…" she frowned, "Sakura has run away from home."
"Huh!?" Takumi's blue eyes widened.
"She's been acting very odd lately. I've been worried, but I had no idea she'd do anything like this," the woman sighed.
"You said she'd been acting very odd lately," Kyoko noted. "Could you be more specific, ma'am?"
"There was this… music video," the client explained. "She'd stay in her room with all the lights off, just watching this same video over and over, morning, noon, and night. She wouldn't leave her room, even to go to school. So of course I scolded her for it, but…"
"And that was when she ran away," Kyoko guessed as she crossed her arms.
"Yes," Sakura's mother nodded. "So I went to the police and the detective here recommended your agency to me."
"But why bring you all the way here?" Kyoko asked, looking over towards Matayoshi.
"We've seen a run of cases similar to this lately," Matayoshi smirked. "This would be the straw that broke the camel's back."
"The camel's back?"
"Yeah," he nodded. "I pulled the video we think caused her to run away and did a bit of research. Here…" Matayoshi streamed the video to the office's television.
Takumi turned around from his seat to get a better look as Jimiken suddenly appeared. "Hiii, my little honeys," the rock star smiled. "Thanks for waiting! And now, what you've all been waiting for. 'Of the Demons, By the Demons, For the Demons!' It's time to jack the airwaves! Well? Are you feeling me? This tingling feeling running through your bones?" He crossed his arms into an 'X' over his chest. "Listen up! My new single: Ephemeral Humming Bird! Get chills down your spine. Become fans of mine!"
"Th-that's it!" Sakura's mother cried. "The video Sakura was watching!"
"Well, that saves me the long-winded explanation," Matayoshi crossed his arms. "The 'Demons' hacker team, run by this punk Jimiken, has been on a huge crime spree lately. That said… To pull off something like a large-scale hijacking of the airwaves would require a big sponsor pulling the strings, I would think."
"Hence the camel's back?" Kyoko asked, bringing her hand up to her mouth thoughtfully.
"Yeah," the older detective nodded.
"A large-scale airwave hijacking, a big sponsor, all while police attention is elsewhere…" Kyoko frowned at the only plausible answer. "Kamishiro?"
"There's no hard proof, but it's gotta be them," Matayoshi agreed.
"Kamishiro?" Sakura's mother blinked at them in surprise. "The company that runs EDEN? How are they connected to my daughter?"
Kyoko ignored her question but reassured the woman with a smile. "Leave your daughter to us, ma'am. We'll find her. You can count on us. Stay calm and wait at home. In fact, why don't I drop you off there?" Kyoko stood from her desk and looked over to her assistant. "Takumi, get the details from Detective Matayoshi, okay?"
"Of course," the teen nodded to her.
When both women left, Matayoshi pulled his cap down over his eyes. "If Kamishiro is involved, we HAVE to get to the bottom of this. I made a mess of things with them before. If I mess up again, the top brass will come down on me and hard. The perils of being a civil servant, I suppose."
"Matayoshi-san…" Takumi frowned at him.
The man shook his head before crossing his arms. The older detective intently stared into the boy's bright blue eyes. "That's where you come in. I'd like to borrow your unique 'talents'."
"Eh!?" Takumi tensed up. "What do you mean by 'talents'?"
"Don't worry. I've heard it all from Kyo-chan. She's told me what you can do," he smirked.
"She… did?" the redhead nervously frowned. "Why would she…? And without telling me…?"
"It's only natural that you might be a tad confused," Matayoshi sighed, "But Kyo-chan and I want nothing more than to expose Kamishiro." A serious frown washed over his face as a he looked off into the distance. "I used to believe in justice. I had ideals and a partner I respected. But all of that was taken from me. By Kamishiro."
"H-huh…!?" Takumi knit his eyebrows together. "D-did something happen?"
"Kyo-chan didn't tell you, huh?" Matayoshi lifted his gaze towards the boy's face. "Kamishiro snuffed out Kyo-chan's father, my former partner and the founder of this agency."
"Kamishiro… did!?" Takumi frowned as Kyoko had never mentioned this once to him. She mentioned her father and his various expressions often enough, but she never seemed upset with any of it. "Kyoko-san…"
"Of course," Matayoshi continued, "there's no actual proof, but the two of us have wanted revenge on Kamishiro ever since. I'd like nothing more than to catch them red-handed. With Kamishiro scurrying about like mad and you coming into these weird abilities of yours… This is our big chance. Please," he pleaded the teenager, "help me. No," he shook his head and corrected himself, "Help me and Kyo-chan!"
Takumi knit his eyebrows together as he considered the man's story and saw that Matayoshi had closed his eyes. "I'll do what I can to uncover the truth, Matayoshi-san," the teenager finally stated with a serious nod.
"Thank you," the detective gratefully smiled at him. "I'm counting on you, young one!"
Kyoko stared at her assistant when she noticed he was a bit more serious than usual. "I just passed Detective Matayoshi on the street," she stated. "What happened? It looked like there were tears in his eyes."
Takumi frowned as he told her the truth. "Matayoshi-san told me about your father." Kyoko slightly frowned at that but said nothing so the teen continued. "You also told him about my half-cyber body…"
"Hmm…" the blonde woman brought her hand up to her mouth. "Detective Matayoshi is a… passionate man, isn't he? He's well aware that your Connect Jump ability skirts the boundaries of what's legal. Plus, he'd ordinarily never ask so much from someone who's still only a child. But…" she crossed her arms as she seriously stared at her assistant. Looking into the boy's blue eyes, she understood everything on his mind so closed her eyes. "For Matayoshi, going after Kamishiro is very personal."
"And you, Kyoko-san?" Takumi asked.
Kyoko shook her head and opened her eyes to look at him once more. "Honestly, the old man thinks I shouldn't get myself involved in this. But I'm going after Kamishiro as well. He's probably thinking that, since he can't stop me, he can still look out for my well-being," she said with a small smile. After a while, she sighed. "He's too passionate for his own good. It can be almost painful to watch sometimes," she chuckled.
"Kyoko-san…" the boy continued to just stare at her, amazed by how she could separate her duty from any remote desire for revenge. He wore a small relieved smile and gave her a nod. "Alright..."
"Sorry for rambling on like that," she apologized to him. She shook her head as it was time for them to work. "Okay, then. Let's get back to the topic at hand. Track down the clues on the missing Sakura."
"Of course," Takumi brought his fist up to his chest.
"Any lead is good, even a small one. Check places she'd usually go to pick up her trail." Kyoko turned towards her monitor and frowned. "While you're doing that, I'll look into Jimiken and this disturbing video. I've got a general guess percolating, but if I'm not careful in checking things out, there could well be fatal consequences. I don't want to lose my assistant through my own personal negligence," she smiled fondly at the teen.
Takumi gave her a smile of his own. "I could say the same thing about you, Kyoko-san," he nodded. He took in a deep breath before psyching himself out. "Alright, then I'm off!"
"Have a safe trip," Kyoko nodded to him.
Takumi smirked as he tried to think about his friend's habits. "Someplace Sakura would be likely to go…" he muttered to himself. "Well, she seems to come to Nakano a lot. It's as good a place to start as any!"
Takumi looked around Broadway's CD shop before a familiar voice called out to him. "Oh! Takumi! What are you doing in a place like this?"
The redhead turned around and blinked at Nokia. "Oh, hey, Nokia. I'm working right now."
"Oh, wow," she smiled at him. "Working as a Cyber Sleuth? I don't suppose you get to use a magnifying glass or a voice modulator or anything like that, do you?"
"Not really," the boy shook his head. "But more importantly—"
"What? 'But more importantly'?" Nokia glared at him. "What do you mean, 'more importantly'? Gah, why do you always gotta make everything about you!?""
"I'm not!" Takumi seriously stated. "There's a Jimiken music video—"
"Huh? A Jimiken music video? You're investigating Jimiken!?" Nokia frowned.
"Yeah," he nodded. "Do you know anything about it, Nokia? It's for his newest song. 'Ephemeral Hummingbird'?"
The girl quickly shook her head. "Not that I would watch his video! I mean, look at him! Just thinking about him makes my skin crawl! He gets my guts churning. I get hot flashes!"
"Hey, stay on topic here!" Takumi seriously scolded her. "Just tell me what you know!"
"Well, he's not all bad," Nokia crookedly smiled. "I mean the songs are okay."
"Is there something wrong with you?" Takumi sighed.
"What? Am I sick? Of course, I'm not sick, silly!" Nokia smirked at him and crossed her arms. "I just had a heaping bowl of rice topped with egg this morning."
"I don't have time for this," the Cyber Sleuth shook his head. "The more time I waste getting nowhere, the more time Sakura—"
"What's that? Do I know Sakura?" Nokia smiled. "You mean Sakura the crazy Jimiken fan?"
"You know her?"
"Yeah, I know her," she nodded. "She's a friend of mine. We were both listening to Jimiken's songs a while ago. What happened to her? Did she run away or something?" she worriedly asked.
"How do you know that!?" Takumi asked in surprise.
"Well, a lot of Jimiken's fans are running away lately, right?" Nokia frowned. "I heard the rumors. But I thought they were just rumors. If they're true, then this is big. The cops need to put out an ABC on these people!"
The Cyber Sleuth knit his eyebrows together. "ABC? Don't you mean an APB?"
"What!? An APB?" Nokia flashed the boy a crooked smile. "Why, what did I say? I totally said APB!"
"Nokia…" Takumi nervously scratched his cheek.
"But so go on," Nokia nodded to him. "What happened to Sakura-chi?"
"It's probably nothing," Takumi shook his head. "I don't want the cops to have to put out an ABC. Besides, you'll only make a fuss and I don't want to say." Before the girl could get another word in edgewise, Takumi walked away.
"Hey!" Nokia called out after him. "What do you mean? Now I want to know! Wait up! Hey! You! Wait!"
"I'd better keep asking around Nakano," the redhead told himself as he started up the stairs.
Ryota smirked as he noticed his detective friend coming into the arcade. "Hey, Takumi! What are you doing here?"
"Ah, Ryota," Takumi blinked at him. "I'm working right now. Did you need something?"
The brunet shook his head but looked around curiously. "Well, I'm just glad you're here. Do you know where Sakura is now?"
"Hm? Why?" the redhead smirked at his love struck friend. "Were you looking for her?"
"Um, no, not in particular! There's no deep meaning there," Ryota quickly shook his head. "I'm worried 'cause she's been odd lately."
"So you don't know anything about her disappearance?"
"Whoa! W-w-w-what!?" the brunet exclaimed in surprise. "She's gone missing!?"
"So… you didn't know?" Takumi blinked at him.
"Whoawhoawhoawhoawhoa, hang on!" Ryota frowned at the redhead. "Back it up! I wanna hear everything!"
"I don't have much to go on except that she probably ran away over a Jimiken music video," Takumi shook his head.
"Jimken's music video!? That reminds me," Ryota's eyes widened. "Sakura said something before about an 'evil pilgrimage' or something…"
"Evil pilgrimage…?" Takumi knit his eyebrows together and tilted his head to the side.
"This 'evil pilgrimage' seems to be some event where only select few fans get to meet Jimiken," Ryota explained. He worriedly looked away from Takumi. "No way! Not Sakura! That idiot! She'll be surrounded by hackers! It's too dangerous for her to go by herself!"
"Wait, Ryota…" Takumi quickly tried to calm him down. "What are you going to—?"
"I'm coming for you, Sakura!" the brunet cried out. "Hang on!" He quickly took off before Takumi could stop him.
The blue-eyed boy brought his hand up to cover his frown. "An evil pilgrimage…?" He shook his head as he started for the elevator. "First of all, I'd better report back to the office."
"An 'evil pilgrimage', you say?" Kyoko smirked behind her hand. "In all likelihood, that's where Sakura has gone. And the evil pilgrimage seems to be aptly named. Jimiken may be a frightful man in more ways than one. And I just finished looking into that music video. That disturbing video was…" she was interrupted when someone entered the office.
"Ah! Takumi!" Nokia brightened when she saw the teen. "You're here!" She frowned at both detectives. "Hey, what's this all about? Everywhere you go, that Jimiken video is playing! Does this relate to the questions you were asking, Takumi?" Nokia turned towards the agency's television and frowned. "But look at that! Even here you've got that video playing!"
"The video's got some fiendish stuff encoded into it," Kyoko warned her as she crossed her arms. "I'd try to avoid watching much of it if I were you."
"Wait, what?" Nokia turned towards Kyoko. "Fiendish?"
"You may have heard of this particular trick," the woman nodded. "It's called 'subliminal messaging'."
"Subdermal messages?" Nokia thought it over.
"Subliminal messages," Kyoko corrected her. "Simply put, messages are sent directly to the brain by slipping images from one video into another so fast they can't be seen. That video is subliminally set to be as addictive as a drug. It effectively hypnotizes you. What's scarier is what it makes you do afterward. There's a post-hypnotic suggestion built in."
"I don't have any idea what you're talking about," Nokia plainly stated, "but that's what made Sakura disappear?"
"Without a doubt," Kyoko nodded. "The suggestion includes a certain URL. I couldn't get the whole address, but it strong resembles the area in which we captured the Digimon medal thief," she said to Takumi.
"It makes sense since he was a Demon hacker," the redhead frowned.
"The location is on Cron's fourth level," Kyoko reminded him. "Get there as soon as possible and check it out for me."
"Understood," her assistant nodded as he started for the television. He paused when Nokia stood in his way. Takumi shook his head at her. "Nokia, come on. You should go."
"Damn it, Takumi! Why didn't you tell me!?" she scolded him.
"What do you mean?" he frowned at her.
"I'm going too!" the girl exclaimed. "Sakura-chi's my friend. I have to help! That jerk of a devil-worshipping idiot!"
"Alright, then come on!" Takumi nodded, not wanting to waste time arguing.
Nokia looked around Cron nervously. "Whew. It feels like we're pretty far inside here. Every time I come to Cron I get the creeps."
"Relax, Nokia," Agumon smiled up at her. "We'll protect you!"
"We can stay with you here in cyberspace," Gabumon nodded.
"Agumon! Gabumon!" Nokia's face went red as she brightly grinned at them. "What would I do without you two!?"
"Hey, hey, Nokia!" Agumon spotted something in the distance. "Look at that!"
Takumi and Nokia looked up and the Cyber Sleuth hurriedly ran over when he saw Ryota being attacked by a group of Demon hackers. "Ryota!" he cried out.
"Ugh!" Despite the pain, Ryota struggled to remain standing. He grabbed his aching chest and glared up at the hackers around him. "S-sakura… I…" Unable to take any more, he fell to the ground. "Argh!"
"Ryota!" Takumi called out.
"Hang on, hang on, hang on!" Nokia cried to the hackers. "STOOOOP!" She and Takumi glared at the Demons. "What are you guys doing!? What's that shiny thing? No way! Torture, in this day and age!?"
"What's it to you, lady?" a masked hacker asked her. "You know him?"
"How barbaric…" Nokia glared at him. "It's… It's unforgivable!"
"Unforgivable? Really?" the hacker asked her in disbelief. "So what if it is? You gonna do something about it!?"
"Of course!" Nokia faltered a bit before turning towards Takumi. "We are! Right, Takumi!?" she asked as a crooked smile on her face.
"I won't let you get away with hurting my friend!" Takumi nodded.
"That's my favorite Cyber Sleuth!" Nokia cheered him on. "Okay! Let's do this!" Agumon paused and shared a strange look with Gabumon. Noticing her two friends staring at her, she blinked at them. "Eh?"
"You're… not doing anything, Nokia?" Agumon asked.
"Th-that's right!" she nodded. "I'm not doing anything!"
"That's right," Gabumon nodded to Agumon. "It's dangerous. Don't do anything!" he told the helpless girl. "You need to be somewhere safe and just watch as your friend does the fighting!"
Nokia guiltily froze at that. "Bwah!?"
"Eh?" Agumon blinked at the girl in confusion. "Is that what a real friend is? Is that, uh, what friends do?"
"Oof, ack!?" Nokia was at a loss for words. "Oh, jeez. I just… Now I feel like just the worst."
"Never mind that," Takumi shook his head as he called his Digimon. "I'll take care of it!" he seriously told her.
"Whoawhoawhoawhoa, hold on!" the Demon hacker shook his head. "You think you can just ignore us?"
"If you want a fight, I'll take you on!" Takumi cried out. "Ryota! I'll definitely save you!"
"Are you kidding with this crap!?" the hacker growled at the Cyber Sleuth. "I'll mess you up! Gigadramon! Orgemon! Attack!"
"Rapidmon!" Takumi extended his arm.
"Genocide Gear!" the dark dragon roared as he fired a barrage of missiles from his claws.
"Supreme King Fist!" Orgemon cried as he pushed his fist forward, releasing a dark blast of energy.
Rapidmon weaved around the attacks before countering with an attack of his own. "Golden Triangle!"
Andromon and Yukidarumon used the cover as a chance to charge into the enemy, pushing them back. Andromon grunted as he lifted Gigadramon above his head before slamming the mechanical dragon into the ground. The android jumped back as his chest plate opened. "Gatling Missile!"
Yukidarumon glared at Orgemon as the two of them had a punch-off. "Zettai Reido Punch!"
"Supreme King Fist!"
The two exchanged blows until Yukidarumon ducked Orgemon's bone club. The snowman closed in on the ogre-like Digimon before performing a freezing uppercut. "Zettai Reido Punch!"
Rapidmon circled around the field and targeted the Gigadramon with his cannons. "Rapid Fire!"
Andromon supported him with an attack of his own. "Spiral Sword!"
Gigadramon quickly countered by firing at their attacks. "Genocide Gear!" It roared before swinging his long tail at Andromon, tripping the cyborg. "Energy Shot!"
"Andromon!" Takumi reached into his pouch for a recovery disc. "Rapidmon! Yukidarumon! Cover him!"
Yukidarumon nodded at his command. "Snowball Fight!"
"Rapid Fire!"
The Gigadramon tried countering the attacks, but Takumi quickly pushed Andromon to his feet. "Go!"
"Spiral Sword!" Andromon slashed out a blade of energy and watched as the cybernetic dragon was finally felled.
The masked hacker let out a panicked scream as he recovered his defeated team. "I won't forget this!"
Ryota groaned as he tried to get up. "Don't let him get away," he told Takumi. "He knows where Sakura is!"
"I'm on it!" Nokia nodded. "Agumon! Gabumon!"
Both Digimon quickly responded by cornering the hacker. "Okay!" Agumon jumped in front of their target.
"Understood!" Gabumon nodded as he took his position at the hacker's other side.
Takumi sent his Digimon to circle the hacker and with Rapidmon's superior speed, the hacker knew there was nowhere to go. Ryota struggled to get to the boy and grabbed the hacker by his jacket. "Hand it over!" The masked boy let out a squeal as he stared at the hurt teen. "Hand it over now!" Ryota declared.
"Oh, that." The hacker fumbled with his Digivice. "Okay, okay! I sent the data!"
Ryota let go of the hacker and let out a satisfied chuckle. "I… did it."
Takumi nodded to his Digimon to let the hackers go before checking to make sure his friend was alright. "Ryota! What were you thinking?" he scolded the brunet.
The high school boy gave the redhead a crooked smile. "I had to do it… for Sakura's sake… I heard… there were hackers selling fake Digimon Capture programs here… They had to have known something…"
"So what?" Nokia asked him. "You let yourself fall victim to the Digimon Capture scam to find out where Sakura-chi is?"
Ryota flashed her a smirk as he chuckled. "But I've beaten them at their own game."
"Yeah, but what the heck was the data you wanted so badly?" Nokia frowned as she crossed her arms.
"Here, Takumi," Ryota struggled to send the data to his friend. "Take this."
"Ryota…!" Takumi's eyes widened at his friend's heroic sacrifice.
"That's where the Demons' hideout is," the brunet seriously nodded to him. "Sakura has gotta be there…" He let out a painful cry.
"Ryota!" Takumi quickly caught him.
Ryota let out another wry chuckle. "Guess I overdid it a little… This account is falling apart…"
"Hang in there!" the redhead cried out.
"Forget about me!" the brunet told him. "Hurry up and find Sakura… Ungh!" No longer able to stand, Ryota collapsed to the ground again.
"Ryota!" Takumi knelt at his side. "I can't just leave you here!"
The boy smirked as he held up his hand to the Cyber Sleuth, which Takumi quickly accepted. "I'm leaving… the rest… up to you…"
"Ryota…" Takumi closed his eyes. "RYOTA!" he cried out.
Nokia watched the two boys' melodramatic scene with crossed arms. Gabumon blinked at the pair in confusion. "Hey, Nokia? Why are those guys so worked up?"
"Good question," the girl nodded. "It's because they're going through adolescence."
"A-do-les-cence?" Gabumon tilted his head to the side.
"You know," Nokia nodded, "Youth."
"Youth…?" Agumon pondered it too. "Is that any different from the 'junior high school disease' you talked about before?"
"Hmm. Well, they're similar," Nokia began, "but… Junior high school disease is when you become a youth after you somehow manage to Jogress."
"Hmm…" Gabumon stared at the two boys in amazement. "I don't really get it, but humans are fascinating!"
"Uh… right," Nokia nodded. "I guess…"
"Just what are you teaching the Digimon?" Takumi frowned as he got back up to his feet. He shook his head as he returned his attention to the case. "Anyway, let's go to the Demons' Den." He looked back at his fainted friend, but noticed the satisfied grin on Ryota's face. "We've been entrusted with something important," Takumi stated with a serious nod.
"Ephemeral Hummingbird!" Jimiken shouted into his microphone. "You touch my heart!"
Nokia crossed her arms and nodded as she listened to his performance. "Yeah, see," she told Takumi. "The songs themselves aren't so bad. What the…?" she blinked. "What's wrong with me?"
Takumi was only half paying attention as he scanned the crowd for Sakura. "What?" he absently asked his friend.
"Whoa!" Nokia shook her head. "I might have just taken a trip on the dark side."
The blue-eyed boy straightened up as he finally spotted his missing friend. "Never mind that. I found Sakura!"
"What's that?" Nokia quickly turned towards the crowd. "You know where Sakura-chi is? Okay! I'm coming!"
The two rushed into the crowd and Takumi called out for the brunette. "Sakura! Hey!"
"Sakura-chi! We're here to save you!" Nokia told her.
Sakura didn't seem to hear as she stared at the stage. Takumi urgently pulled on the girl's arm. "Hey! Sakura! Snap out of it!"
"Hey, hey, hey!" Jimiken called out from the stage as he spotted the two unwanted guests. "Who are you? What do you want?"
"Jimiken! Let everyone go!" Takumi turned to face the rock star.
"Butting in on my evil pilgrimage," the man shook his head at the persistent redhead. "That takes some guts. You could even say it rocks!" Jimiken studied Takumi for a while before his eyes wandered over towards Nokia. "Aaaargh! It's you, the girl from earlier! The one who was harping all over me because of Digimon. You right little harpy!"
"A right little what, now?" Nokia blinked at him. "Hey, Takumi," she turned towards her friend, "did you understand him?"
"Harping… Harpy…" Takumi shrugged at the not-so-clever pun.
"Gah! Wait, was THAT the whole joke?" Nokia exclaimed. "Bad pun alert! Super bad pun alert!" She paused when she spotted a studio camera pointed at the stage. "But what's going on? Is that a TV camera? Wait, are we… We're smack dab in the middle of an airwave jacking?" She smiled as she tried to jump into the camera's frame. "Wait a minute! Does this mean my face is now in living rooms across the nation?" she asked with a wide smirk.
Takumi sighed at how sidetracked she got. "Nokia…"
"Oh, I'm not ready!" she cried with a blush. "A mysterious beauty needs time if she is to be talked about the next day."
"Idiot," Jimiken shook his head at her. "The camera only faces me. My incredible talent alone is what shines through!"
"But this music video was playing all over town," Nokia remembered.
"I'm talkin' live," the man told her. "It don't mean nothin' 'less it's live. These wicked fans of mine, possessed by the power of the video, have come here to listen! And now, a great crowd of my wicked fans will come to listen to me rock owwwwt!"
"What are you talking about?" Nokia glared at him. "The kids who are here are here because of the salmonella messages in your music video!"
"What? The what messages?" Jimiken smirked at how scrambled the girl's brain was. "Wait, you mean the 'subliminal' messages?"
"Uh, yeah! Right, that's it!" she nodded. "Agumon, Gabumon! Smash that camera!" Both Digimon eagerly jumped up and broke the device.
"Alright, Nokia!" Takumi smiled. He quickly turned towards Jimiken with his Digivice ready. "Now give it up!"
Jimiken stared at the destroyed camera with wide eyes. "Ah, aaah!? No frickin' way! Why you smashin' my camera!? We got that thing special from you-know-who! It's a very special, sweet memory!"
"You-know-who?" Takumi frowned. For some reason, an involuntary shiver ran down his spine.
"You-know-who said my songs needed to be heard by more and more people!" Jimiken frowned. "You-know-who said I needed to become way more popular!"
"You really shouldn't be broadcasting your washed-up glam rocker face into living rooms anymore," Nokia told him.
"Huh!?" Jimiken snapped his head towards her. "Who're you calling washed-up!?"
"Wait, I got it!" Nokia smirked at him. "You're totally ripping off that one band! They were American, I think. Or maybe British? It was something like KICKS or LIPS or whatever."
"You mean KISS?" Takumi blinked at her.
Jimiken let out a frustrated yell. "I ain't rippin' off nobody no-how!" She glared at both teens. "I will not—No, I CANNOT let that slide! This time, there'll be absolutely NO mercy!"
Nokia turned to the Digimon following her. "Agumon, Gabumon, are you ready? This time we're all gonna save a friend!"
"What?" Gabumon blinked at her. "But earlier you said—"
"Now's my chance!" Jimiken began playing the air guitar.
"Sorry, but I won't let you!" Takumi smirked as he sent his Digimon onto the stage.
"Can you feel it?" the rock star asked with a laugh as he summoned his three Digimon too.
Takumi quickly scanned the three Digimon on the field but frowned when he noticed they were all Data types. "Everyone, switch out! Nokia, cover me!"
"Agumon! Gabumon! Let's go!" Nokia nodded.
"Baby Flame!" Agumon spat out a small fireball.
"Petit Fire!" Gabumon cried as he shot out a steady stream of blue flames.
"Be careful!" Takumi warned them. "You're both only Child-level Digimon. That Boltmon in the middle is an Ultimate and it's flanked by two Perfect-level DeathMeramon! Until my Digimon finish swapping, don't overdo it!"
"We'll be fine!" Agumon nodded.
"We've got to protect Nokia after all!" Gabumon cried as he dodged a flaming metal chain one of the DeathMeramon threw towards him.
"Boltmon! Can you feel it?" Jimiken asked his star Digimon. "Use your Tomahawk Steiner!"
The prototype Cyborg Digimon lifted the heavy tomahawk ax from his back and began swinging it in a circle. He let go and threw the ax and it boomeranged through the air, striking Agumon and Gabumon. Nokia let out a cry as her two friends were pinned to the ground by the heavy weapon. "Ah! You two!"
"Baby Flame!" Agumon growled as he attacked again as Gabumon worked on freeing them.
"Little Horn!" He managed to lift it a little, but it was still too heavy for him. He panicked a bit when both DeathMeramon flanked them. "Agumon!"
"Uh-oh…" the small dinosaur frowned.
"Go! WereGarurumon (Black)!" Takumi cried out to the fastest member of his team of Virus Digimon.
"Full Moon Kick!" the dark werewolf howled as he leapt into the air. He swung his leg in a wide arch, firing a blade of energy at one DeathMeramon, before closing in on the other one with his spiked fist. "Kaiser Nail!"
Gabumon and Agumon continued pushing against the tomahawk before two cyborg dragon Digimon came to their aid. The first was a fiercely red dinosaur with two massive blades connected to his arms. The Perfect-level Virus let out a roar before lifting the weapon. The two Child-level Digimon happily got out of the way as they began pelting Boltmon with flames.
"MegaloGrowmon!" Takumi cried out.
"Atomic Blaster!" the red dinosaur roared as his chest-mounted cannons lit up. He threw the ax towards Boltmon, catching the Cyborg Digimon off guard before firing his cannons.
Takumi smirked but soon noticed a DeathMeramon swinging his flaming chains towards WereGarurumon (Black). "MetalGreymon (Virus)! Hold off that last DeathMeramon!"
"Trident Arm!" The mechanical T-Rex fired his metal arm at the burning Digimon and charged forward.
The DeathMeramon roared as he flared up. "Heavy Metal Fire!" he yelled as he began to spew burning metal at the dinosaur.
Jimiken shook his head as he screamed into his microphone. "Yow! Let's raise the roof! Are you feeling me!?"
Nokia and Takumi covered their ears as the speakers began to emit feedback. The girl glared at the annoying man. "Would you shut up already? Agumon, Gabumon! Let's go!"
"Spitfire!" Agumon assaulted Boltmon with a barrage of fireballs.
Gabumon rushed in closer to the Ultimate Digimon. "Blue Cyclone!" He breathed out the blue flames and began spinning in a circle, creating a small twister of flames.
MegaloGrowmon joined in with a roar. "Hammer Edge!" He punched the Boltmon with one of his Pendulum Blades.
"WereGarurumon (Black), MetalGreymon (Virus)! Bring those two DeathMeramon together and finish them!" Takumi directed them.
WereGarurumon (Black) grunted as he lifted his opponent above his head. He threw the burning Perfect towards the other DeathMeramon before MetalGreymon (Virus) launched himself backwards into the air. "Giga Destroyer!" he cried out as the hatch in his chest opened, firing out two organic missiles.
Both DeathMeramon flinched from the explosion before simultaneously attacking. "Heavy Metal Fire!"
"Let's go!" Takumi called out to his Digimon.
"Garuru Kick!" WereGarurumon (Black) returned the burning projectiles to the DeathMeramon.
"Revenge Flame!" MetalGreymon (Virus) used his Trident Arm to unleash a wave of intense flames that engulfed the burning Digimon.
Nokia smirked as Takumi managed to down them. "Alright! One more left!" She called out to Agumon and Gabumon as Takumi's last two Digimon joined the fight against Boltmon. "You can do it, everyone!"
"Tomahawk Steiner!" Boltmon tried throwing his axe again, but MegaloGrowmon countered it with his Pendulum Blades.
"Now's our chance!" Takumi cried out. "Xros Combo!"
"Atomic Blaster!"
"Full Moon Kick!"
"Giga Destroyer!"
"Baby Flame!"
"Petit Fire!" Gabumon watched as the Ultimate-level Digimon fell to the ground before jumping in victory. "Excellent!"
Agumon happily turned to Nokia. "Nokia, is this what real friends are like?"
The girl happily nodded at them. "That's right!"
"Alright, Jimiken! It's over!" Takumi stated as he climbed onto the stage to face him.
"Damn iiit!" the man cried. "Why does it have to end like this for meeee!? I just wanted to bring my simple, pure rock 'n' roll to as big an audience as possible! And I finally got help from you-know-who. I don't know how I'm going to tell—"
"You keep saying 'you-know-who'," Nokia frowned at him as she crossed her arms. "Who the heck are you talking about?"
"You-know-who is you-know-who, duhhh!" Jimiken crossed his arms into an 'X' over his chest. "Rie-onee-sama!"
"R-r-rie-onee-sama!?" Nokia frowned at Jimiken in confusion.
Takumi shook his head as an involuntary shiver ran down his spine. "Just what is Kishibe planning?" he asked the rock star.
"You know her, Takumi!?" Nokia asked the boy in surprise.
"Not now, Nokia!" the Cyber Sleuth stated. "I need to—"
"That's enough!" a familiar voice calmly called out.
Takumi frowned as now was a bad time for interference. "Yuugo…"
Nokia gasped as she looked up towards the light-haired hacker. "Oh, it's you guys," she frowned as she saw Fei following the legendary leader of Zaxon.
"Jimi-han," Fei crossed her arms, "look at you. You're pathetic. I was against using phonies like you from the very start."
"Hang on—" Jimiken's eyes widened as the girl approached him. He let out a scream as Fei quickly erased his account. "Rock… 'n'… roll…" he groaned before he was completely deleted.
"You're what we'd call a filthy pig down on the farm," Fei smirked.
Yuugo brought a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes. The boy only sighed as he opened his eyes. Takumi noticed the boy was frowning at how things turned out, but it seems as though it had to be done.
"Yuugo…" Takumi frowned as he tried to get the hacker to explain something to him, but Nokia stepped forward first.
"Hey, you," she glared at Fei. "What are you doing? I was the one who was gonna bombard him with questions!"
"You stay out of this, you frumpy little haglet," Fei coolly glared at her.
"What? Frumpy? Me!?" Nokia frowned. "You… you idiot! I am SO not frumpy! You're the frumpy one, calling me frumpy! So there! And what do you mean by 'stay out'? How are you involved with all this?"
"Not only are you frumpy, but you're too nosy for your own good," Fei sneered at the red-haired girl. "Shut your fool mouth before I shut it for y'all!"
"Agumon! Gabumon!" Nokia called out to her two friends.
"Yeah!" they both cried as they faced off against the bee-themed warrior rushing towards her. Before either Digimon could attack though, the speedy Ultimate Digimon preempted them.
"Mach Stinger Victory!"
Takumi watched as the battle had barely even started before Agumon and Gabumon were sent flying. He analyzed the Digimon and frowned at the power the TigerVespamon held. He looked towards Fei and Yuugo but noticed Yuugo didn't seem particularly too invested in the fight. Instead, the light-haired hacker had been focused on studying Takumi.
Both boys stared at each other as Nokia rushed to Agumon and Gabumon's side. She knelt down in disbelief. "No way!" She hesitantly looked up towards Fei who was smugly smirking at her. "She's too strong! I'm no match for her! Agumon… Gabumon… I'm so sorry!"
Takumi frowned at Yuugo and shook his head at him before the grey-haired boy nodded in understanding. "Fei!" Yuugo called out to her. "Give it a rest for now."
"Ha! As-if!" Fei smirked at Nokia. "If this is the best she can do, I can whup her!"
"I said to knock it off!" he sternly stated. "Or do you mean to defy me as well?" he asked.
Fei immediately backed down at that. "Gosh… I-I'd never! I couldn't possibly! I… would never… betray you…" she told her leader. She frowned at him for even thinking such things. "Shucks… Don't even say it."
Yuugo turned back to face Takumi and brought his hand up to cover his concerned frown. "This incident was an oversight on my part. I apologize."
"Yuugo, can you at least explain it to me?" Takumi asked him.
"He just wanted to attract greater crowds, which is why he hijacked the airwaves," the other boy stated. "Someone at Kamishiro prompted it, though."
"Kishibe Rie…" the redhead muttered with a nod.
"Kamishiro!?" Nokia frowned. "Then that means…"
"That Jimiken is nothing more than a Kimishiro pawn," Yuugo explained. "Undoubtedly, it was Kishibe Rie who put the idea in his head and the hijacking program into his hands."
"Then if Jimiken testifies to that fact…"
"It's no good," Yuugo shook his head. "Everything he's done has been of his own free will. He has been as skillfully manipulated as the girls he controlled with his posthypnotic suggestions."
"But Yuugo…" Nokia crookedly smiled at him. "How come you know about this place?"
He didn't answer so Takumi quickly said something in the hopes of invoking a response from the composed boy. "It's just like back then when you saved me from the Avalon Server…" The blue-eyed boy noticed how Yuugo's eyes flicked towards him before casting them elsewhere.
Fei frowned at the two nosy redheads. "Didn't I tell you, you frumpy little thing? Stay out of this."
"Yuugo," Takumi stared levelly into his grey eyes, "you know why I can't do that. I'm an irregular hacker, after all. You yourself said that and more when we first met. Call me a 'soft touch' but I know we both want the same thing for EDEN. That's why I'm a Cyber Sleuth."
It was probably for a fraction of a second, but Takumi swore the other boy wore a small smirk at that. "I'll send coordinates for the location where girls are gathering in the real world to your terminal," Yuugo nodded to the Cyber Sleuth.
Takumi smiled as he knew that there was no way the other boy was going to tell him anything else. "Thanks, Yuugo…"
Yuugo turned away from the irregular hacker to hide his expression from the deceptively sharp redhead. "Sorry to make you clean up this mess, but… Thank you," he told Takumi. "Let's go, Fei." He didn't look back as he headed for the exit.
Fei blinked at Takumi in surprise before looking towards Yuugo. "Hang on just one gosh-darned minute!" Before following after him, she flashed Nokia a smirk. "You're lucky I have a thing for weak and frumpy things. It kinda makes me wanna punch a wall, though. Next time, I won't go so easy on y'all."
Nokia crossed her arms as she left. "Wh-what's up with her? We've got Yuugo and Kamishiro and this and that… It's all just so stupid-complicated!"
"Not really," Takumi stated as he brought his hand up to his mouth. He closed his eyes to consider everything that has happened thus far. "If I think about it enough, I'm sure—" he winced as Nokia cried out.
"Oh! That's right! We came to save everyone who was on Jimiken's evil pilgrimage!" Nokia hurried back to Sakura and the others. "Sakura-chi! All you girls are suffering from the Pomeranian effect! Are you okay!?"
"Stockholm Syndrome…" Takumi corrected her with a smile. He shook his head as he'd have to go over his thoughts another time, preferably with Kyoko. "First of all, let's head back to the agency," he suggested to Nokia.
"I see," Kyoko proudly smiled at her assistant's recount of what happened. "Then you were able to safely rescue all those who had been subliminally brainwashed?"
"Yeah, but…" Ryota frowned, "they're all in the hospital now."
"Nothing to worry about," Matayoshi reassured the boy. "There are specialists who can break post-hypnotic suggestions."
"More importantly, how are you doing?" Kyoko asked him. "I heard the hackers did some nasty things to you."
"I'm perfectly fine!" Ryota exclaimed. "I just want to…"
"What's wrong, Ryota?" Takumi asked him with a tilt of his head. "Are you still…?"
"I'm going to look in on Sakura!" his friend adamantly stated. "I'm still really worried about her!"
Takumi smiled as the brunet quickly took off. "Ryota…"
"Ah, the passion of youth…" Kyoko smirked as she crossed her arms.
"Well, then," Matayoshi crossed his arms before sternly nodding to Takumi. "Mind if I ask about the highlights of the case?"
"Not at all," Takumi shook his head as he explained it to the older detective.
"Hmm," Kyoko brought her hand up to her mouth. "If I were to summarize the police report, it would probably read like this. The Demons and Kamishiro conspired together…"
"But assuming Kamishiro is behind this string of cases, just what exactly are they after?" Matayoshi asked.
Takumi closed his eyes. "Jimiken only wanted to further his fan base… Kishibe helped him accomplish that, but why?"
"We're missing something, but what?" Kyoko asked. "Or will that something make itself known? Is trying to jump to a conclusion with what little info we have now too big a risk?"
Takumi opened his eyes. "We don't know enough quite yet to make a guess or act," he concluded.
Kyoko nodded in agreement to his words. "Let's proceed on the possibility that we're either missing something or that something will turn up," she smiled at her assistant.
"Right," Takumi nodded and returned her smile.
"Thanks for all your effort again," she nodded back. Kyoko lifted her gaze towards the girl sitting on the client's sofa. "You have my thanks as well, Shiramine Nokia."
Nokia looked up at the detective in surprise. "Oh, uh, well, thanks…"
"Nokia?" Takumi stared at her before realizing she had been quiet for quite some time now. "Is something wrong?"
The girl frowned to herself and closed her eyes. "Hey, Takumi? Do you have a second? I want to talk to you outside real quick."
"Hm?" Takumi tilted his head to the side. "Alright, sure." He watched Nokia head out but frowned at her in concern. He shook his head before following her out.
"She wants to talk outside, huh?" Matayoshi smirked as both teens left.
"Maybe this is also the passion of youth at work," Kyoko chuckled. "Enough of that," she crossed her arms. "Any progress on the Kamishiro and Nile Corporation case, old man?"
"Don't rush me," the detective stated as he placed his hands into his pockets. "I'm in the process of clearing some key obstacles. It's like I always said…"
"Haste makes waste, right?" Kyoko nodded.
Nokia frowned at her friend. "Um, Takumi… I… I just…"
"Come on, Nokia," Takumi told her, placing his hands on his hips. "Just tell me already."
"I will NEVER forgive what those hackers did!" she fiercely exclaimed.
"H-huh!? What do you mean?" he blinked at her.
"To use such adorable Digimon so selfishly, as their puppets—as their slaves!" Nokia frowned as she further considered something. "And the Digimon were so miserable. I felt so, so bad for them."
"Yeah…" Takumi sighed.
"When I saw what you were doing, I knew I needed to do something too," Nokia stared at the redhead in admiration.
"Like what?" he asked with a slight tilt of his head.
"Looking on from the sidelines isn't good enough," she shook her head. "There must be something I can do to help!"
"Yeah…" Takumi gave her an encouraging smile.
"I just can't think of anything specific I can do right now," she admitted. "But if I do, you'll be the first to know! Look forward to it!"
"Alright, Nokia," he brightly chuckled.
"Okay, it's on!" the girl shouted. "I'm going to use the power of my sexy cut bod to the max! Shiramine Nokia… Fight on!" she raised her fist.
Final Notes: It's after this Nokia starts to really improve. As for Ryota and Sakura... well... Sakura wasn't really important to begin with but Ryota completely gets relegated to just one more sidequest before being further demoted to just DigiLine messages. Oh, and that's the last of Jimiken getting involved with the main story. Man, the Demons were very short-lived. Well... not really considering their uniforms have been around since Yuuko's first case. Oh, what's up with the Japanese name of Ogremon being Orgemon? That's a bit weird too... Sorry if I'm rambling... I'm kinda hungry...
