Author's Notes: You know... Something weird about Alphamon, the sword they give her model is the Ouryuken, but Alphamon Ouryuken isn't in the game. I guess the difference between both versions is a bit subtle, but I don't know... I mean... Alphamon's sword attack is called Holy Sword Gradalpha, so it doesn't really feel right for me to have her use Ouryuken... It's a shame Alphamon Ouryuken isn't available. I kind of wish Dukemon Crimson Mode was in the game too... He'll be making an appearance in Hacker's Memory though, apparently, so I'm looking forward to that. Anyway, here's the final set of side cases I wanted to include before the final boss. Two red cases and a purple case... As for the rest of the sets... I'll go over that later.

~COMEBACK~SHOW~

Takumi patrolled the halls of Broadway but paused when he overheard a businessman speaking to himself while staring at a Jimiken poster. "That all right with you, Jimiken?"

The redhead blinked at that. "Jimiken…?"

"A paradox, a one-winged angel, a demon's heart, fallen to this weakened world of lies and song," the man nodded.

"Is Jimiken making a comeback tour or something?" the boy absently asked. He tensed up as the man noticed him staring.

"So you wanna know about Jimiken, huh?" the man smiled. "Not yeeeet!" He chuckled to himself. "Jimiken is awesome!" He laughed before walking away. "There seems to be loads of people awaiting Jimiken's return! No, really! I meant it! It's the truth!" he continued to laugh.

"Something tells me I'm going to have to deal with a Jimiken case again soon," Takumi nervously scratched his cheek as a strange premonition washed over him. He shrugged it off though as he needed something to do while his friends were recovering. "Am I ever going to get to my next case…?" he wondered before returning to the agency.

Client: A Businessman in Nakano (?)

Place: Shibuya

Details: Do you remember me!? WHAT!? You don't remember me!? LOL! My comeback show is going to start.

Takumi blinked at the note as he recalled the strange businessman from before. "Don't tell me that was…?" He flinched as a transmission was suddenly sent to his Digivice.

"Ooooooh yeeeeeeeah!" Jimiken appeared on the screen with a bright smile on his face. "How's everyone doing tonight!? That's right. It's the one, the only, Jimiken!"

"Um…" Takumi blinked at him. "How did you get this number? Are you up to something again? I will stop you, you know…"

"Huh!?" The grown man brought a hand up to his forehead. "Hey! Your part is done already. You should be gone, baby!"

The Cyber Sleuth sighed. "I would leave but I can't just let a person like you free to wreak havoc while I'm gone."

"What do you…? What do you mean one-hit-wonder!?" The enraged rock star let out a furious yell. "How dare you defy the Lord of Rock! That's just cruel, baby!"

"You said it, not me," Takumi shook his head.

"Huh?" Jimiken blinked at the boy. "Okay, well maybe you didn't SAY it…" He fell silent and looked down. "But you were totally thinking it!"

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't…" the blue-eyed boy shrugged.

"I knew it! I hope you remember that when you're facing me again! I've got a little surprise in store, Cyber Sleuth!" the man exclaimed with a laugh. "You are officially invited to Jimiken's Mighty Comeback Tour! Yeeeeeah!"

"Eh!?" the teen tensed up.

"Isn't that awesome!?" Jimiken asked him. "Aren't you so freaking psyched!? Oh, and guess who's Jimiken's special guest? I present to you… Miss Tawa Reiko!"

Takumi blinked at him a few times. "Who's that again…?" The name sounded familiar but the boy couldn't remember why.

"Huh? What do you mean, 'Who's that'!?" the rock star frowned at him. "That ain't funny, kid! Tawa Reiko! You know, Tawa… Reiko…" The boy continued to stare at him with a clueless expression on his face, causing the man to groan. "The CD sales-girl!"

"Oh!" Takumi's blue eyes sparked as he remembered. "The girl from Shibuya Records!" he nodded.

"Whatever! If you want her back, you'd best make an appearance!" the man smirked. "Come to Shibuya Records. We're gonna light it up and kick off the show!"

Takumi knit his eyebrows together. "Why do I have to appear?"

"You… you don't wanna go?" He shook his head. "But you have to go! I submitted a case! You accepted it!" he laughed. "I got you trapped now!"

Takumi stared at the slip of paper in his hand. "You submitted a case where you're the culprit of a kidnapping…?" The Cyber Sleuth was extremely confused by this. "What…?" He stared at the strange adult. "Should I even bother…?"

"A real sleuth would never abandon a case!" Jimiken pointed out with a laugh.

Takumi sighed as the man hung up. "I'm actually kinda worried about Reiko-san. Maybe I should go to Shibuya Records, just in case." He quickly left the agency but paused when a familiar Digimon in an orange monkey suit ran towards him.

"Hey, there!" Etemon smiled at the boy. "I was just coming to look for you! I can't find my darling soul mate anywhere! I went all around town but Reiko's nowhere to be found!"

"Yeah," Takumi nodded. "I was just about to go save her."

"You're going to save her?" the Digimon blinked at him. "From who? From what? What's going on!?"

"It looks like Jimiken might have taken her," the boy explained.

"That washed up, talentless, idiotic, one-hit-wonder kidnapped my sweet Reiko!?" Etemon exclaimed. "That tone-deaf freak had better not harm a hair on her head!" the Digimon seethed. "Just thinking about it gets me mad! He's probably got her locked up, doing terrible things to her… like making her listen to his new album! He will NOT get away with this! THAT POSER! THAT INSULT TO ROCK AND ROLL!" the monkey screeched.

"H-hey, calm down!" Takumi nervously tried to get him to settle down.

Etemon let out another cry. "My very heart ignites with this fury! REIKOOOOOOO! I must become something more. I must awaken the metal that slumbers deep inside! Soaring Guitars! Thundering Drums! The purest form of rock! Heavy Metal… Heavy Metal…! AWAKEEEEN!"

Takumi flinched as the Digimon became engulfed by a bright light. "Etemon!" When he lowered his arms, he blinked as the orange monkey was suddenly replaced by a monkey made of metal. "You… evolved…!?"

"I have become MetalEtemon!" the Digimon nodded as he was ready to save his favorite fan. "I'm coming for ya, Reiko! Yeeeeeeeaaah!"

"Well, come on!" Takumi nodded to him as they took off towards Shibuya.

MetalEtemon frowned as he studied the streets. There seemed to be a mini riot going on as throngs of teenagers cheered for something. "This is a tough situation… Before we go in, we need to gather some more info…"

Takumi crossed his arms as he noticed there were people wearing Demons masks about. "It looks like Jimiken has turned Shibuya into his own personal playground… Is this a part of his 'comeback tour'?" The boy decided to call out to the closest hacker standing in the street. "Hey! Do you know where Jimiken is?"

The hacker only laughed at Takumi. "Yeah, without Jimi, the music scene is just boring!" He quickly sent his Digimon forward to attack the interfering Cyber Sleuth.

Takumi dodged backwards as a dark grey dinosaur with a half-mechanized body tried to swing at him. The redhead frowned before having BlackWarGreymon counter him. "Use your Black Tornado against MetalTyranomon!" The Jet-black Dragon Warrior roared as he drilled into his opponent.

"Guardromon!" the hacker had his other Digimon try to help defend MetalTyranomon.

"Destruction Grenade!" the robot fired a pair of missiles from his wrists.

"Giant Missile!" SaintGalgomon countered them with his own set of missiles.

When both his Digimon collapsed, the hacker stared Takumi in fear. "N-no. I was defeated by this scumbag? I can't accept this! It's not happening!"

Takumi shook his head as he moved on but as he worked his way through the crowd, he noticed there were a lot of Jimiken fans gathered for the man's return. "Is Jimiken really that good?" he absently asked out loud.

"Yeah, it's good!" a girl wearing a cap cried. "It's got that Jimi-style beat. It stirs something inside you. That's just what real music should do!"

"I don't really get it," Takumi shrugged before he dodged out of the way of a rock being thrown at him. "Another Digimon battle!?" He knit his eyebrows together as his team defended him from the Gottsumon and Pumpmon charging towards them.

MetalEtemon frowned at the girl's taste in music. "Forget about that washed-up has been! This is what real music is!" He pulled out a microphone out of nowhere and began screaming into it. "Love Serenade!"

Both opposing Digimon winced from the noise before BlackWarGreymon knocked them out of his way. "Dramon Tackle!"

"Pff, pahlease!" the girl rolled her eyes at Takumi and MetalEtemon. "Jimi would kick your ass, buddy!"

Takumi shook his head as he continued onward towards Shibuya Records but another hacker wearing a Demons mask stopped him. "Who the hell're you?" the boy scowled at the Cyber Sleuth before sending his three Digimon to stop the redhead.

Takumi studied the large red aquatic Digimon carefully before noticing the two green frog-like Digimon flanking it. "TonosamaGekomon and two Gekomon," he mused before sending BlackWarGreymon and Darkdramon out to quickly get rid of the two Adults.

"Gigastick Lance!"

"Dramon Killer!"

The two Gekomon were easily dispatched but the TonosamaGekomon took in a deep breath before releasing out a booming roar through his two horns. "Kobushi Tone!"

MetalEtemon frowned as he screamed even louder into his microphone. "Dark Recital!"

Takumi covered his ears as the two Digimon made an obscene amount of noise. "SaintGalgomon!"

"Saint Punch!" the large Digimon launched a wave of fiery explosions from his fist, taking down the TonosamaGekomon.

The Demons hacker fell backwards as his team was torn apart. "Y-you're… so strong… It's like you're bursting with the furious and undefeatable soul of Jimi!"

Takumi knit his eyebrows together at that. "Um… No, I'm not." He shook his head before turning towards MetalEtemon. "It doesn't look like we'll be getting any useful information here."

"Pff, I know all about Jimiken already!" MetalEtemon shouted. "Let's go help Reiko at Shibuya Records!"

"We should have just done that from the beginning!" Takumi groaned as he headed straight for the music store. He got to the front of the building before noticing a crowd of Jimiken fans cheering and looking up. "Huh?" The boy curiously lifted his head and blinked at the man perched on the store's sign. "Jimiken!"

The man frowned at the blue-eyed teen. "Tooooo laaaaate! I'm sayin' you're just tooooo laaaaaate! Yeah!" He smirked and made devil horns on his hand. "Look who showed uuuuup! Had to keep me waitin'? I rock the truth, baby!" he cried. "Music is life! Welcome to the holy land! That's riiiiight! This temple of rock and roll soul! The Heavenly Tower of Shibuya Records!"

"You're through here, one-hit-wonder!" MetalEtemon shouted up at him. "Now get off the stage! Let Reiko free, right now!"

"Oh, yeah!? Hey, hey, heeeeeey!" Jimiken shook his head. "Monkeys don't bother me! I'll never set Miss Reiko freee! Now back the hell off! And don't intervene! This is between him and me!" he pointed at Takumi. "Don't make a scene!"

"I need to hear it from her!" MetalEtemon demanded. "You're a relic, Jimiken! Just a washed up rocker who lost the music long ago!"

The makeup wearing rock star let out a surprised scream at that. "Metal monkey! I ain't even begun to rock! Metal monkey! Can't turn back the clock!" He glared at the Digimon trying to challenge him. "We gonna tear this place up! This is Jimiken's comeback performance! And your farewell tour!"

Takumi sighed and lowered his gaze as his neck was getting tired up looking up. He paused though as he spotted a familiar girl coming out of the store. "Hm? Reiko-san?"

MetalEtemon tensed up and took a look at the girl for himself. "Re-Reiko!?"

"Hey, everyone!" the girl cheerfully spoke into a microphone. "You ready to rock tonight!?" she asked as the audience began to cheer around them. "Awesome! I think you all know this one…" She smiled as she began to sing off-key. "Ooooh! Ephemeraaaal hummingbird! Your song touches my heeeeaaart!"

The metal Digimon shook his head in disbelief. "What the… What… Huh!?"

Jimiken chuckled at that. "Didn't see that one coming, eh?" He tauntingly laughed at the monkey.

Takumi brought his hand up to his mouth and considered this situation. "I can totally just walk away right now…" he told himself. "I can just go and never come back." He nodded, not noticing Jimiken was trying to gauge the boy's reaction. "Yeah… That seems like the best plan…" He blinked when he sensed someone frowning at him intently. "Huh!?" Takumi tilted his head to the side and looked up again.

"Waaaaaah! Oh, yeeeeeeaaaaah!" Jimiken suddenly screeched.

"What!?" the Cyber Sleuth frowned as the rock star dropped three Digimon on him. BlackWarGreymon and Darkdramon growled as they rammed into the two DeathMeramon. SaintGalgomon tackled into Boltmon but winced as the Data Digimon began swinging his axe at him.

"Battle Tomahawk!"

The super-gigantic dropped Boltmon to the sidewalk before Takumi switched him out. The blue-eyed teen quickly had BlackWarGreymon and Darkdramon return to him. "Target Boltmon first! If at all possible, lure him into losing his battle axe!"

BlackWarGreymon roared as he began charging up the atmosphere's energy into a massive fireball. "Gaia Force!"

"Dark Roar!"

Both DeathMeramon tried to counter the blasts with their own flaming breaths. "Heavy Metal Fire!"

Boltmon rushed towards them with his battle axe raised above his head. "Battle Tomahawk!"

MetalEtemon screeched before throwing a banana peel in front of the Ultimate. "Banana Slip!"

Boltmon immediately tripped over his feet and landed in front of Takumi's third Digimon as he finished loading. Jimiken's eyes widened at the sight of the mechanical dragon. "That's…!"

"Mugendramon! Mugen Hand!" Takumi ordered.

Mugendramon's eyes lit up as he used his right arm to crush Boltmon. Jimiken shook his head at the unfair boy's powerful Digimon. "Hey, hey, hey! What's with you bringing a Digimon like that to this fight? It's not rocking for you to use Yuugo's Digimon against me! Are you feeling me?" he yelped when Mugendramon glared up at him with his dual cannons glowing.

"Easy, Mugendramon," Takumi patted the ferocious beast's head. "Just focus on the battle."

Jimiken yelled out to his DeathMeramon. "Get rid of that monster now!"

"Heat Chain!" Both Digimon tried to restrain Mugendramon with their burning metal chains, but Mugendramon roared as he snapped one chain with the sharp claws on his left hand.

"Booster Claw!" He shot the retractable arm at one DeathMeramon as BlackWarGreymon prepared a follow up attack.

"Dramon Killer!"

Darkdramon pointed his gauntlet at the other DeathMeramon. "Terrible Gaze!"

WarGreymon threw his opponent into Darkdramon's before the two quickly got out of the way. Mugendramon stomped his foot on the ground and pointed his cannons at the DeathMeramon. "Mugen Cannon!"

Jimiken frowned at the results before looking down at Takumi. "You're not bad," he reluctantly admitted with a groan.

"Um, Jimi-san?" Reiko worriedly frowned at the man. "Are you okay?"

"Reiko-san?" Takumi blinked at her.

"Reiko," MetalEtemon whined, "what's going on!?"

Reiko gasped at the strange metal monkey. "Etemon-san? Is that you?" She looked over towards the red-haired teen standing next to him. "Oh, and look, Cyber Sleuth Takumi is here too!"

"No…" the Digimon dramatically cried into his arm. "My poor, precious Reiko…! Has your bright heart been so poisoned by this talentless hack!?"

"What do you mean?" Reiko asked him. "You didn't come here to see me perform? It's my big debut concert!"

"Is that what this is?" Takumi asked. "Jimiken told me to come because he kidnapped you."

"Wait, what?" she blinked at the boy. "You think he… kidnapped me? Jimi? As some kind of human sacrifice? That's just ridiculous!" she shook her head and brightly smiled at the Cyber Sleuth. "There's no way! I was invited to perform! Tanaka-san came to the store and—"

"Whoa! Hey!" Jimiken began loudly coughing. "That does not rock!"

"Oops! I mean Jimi-san!" Reiko corrected herself. "Not Tanaka. Jimi. Anwyays, Jimi-san came to the store and told me about his dream of making music the whole world could love! He said he could sense my innate talent, so he invited me to come on up and sing!" she grinned. "I mean… performing like this, in front of a packed house. That's always been my dream. How could I pass up this chance?"

"Reiko…" MetalEtemon smiled at her. "You are fearless. Well, at least I don't have to listen to his terrible songs anymore."

"Hey, what!?" Jimiken glared at the Digimon. "My music rocks!"

"You really think so?" MetalEtemon challenged him. "Are you… deaf? This music doesn't rock. It besmirches the name of rock! It's just a poor mockery of rock! You could never understand rock's true might!"

"Whaaaaaaaat!?" the man asked.

"Hey! Wait!" Reiko cried. "Take a step back!" She smiled both musicians. "Stop fighting! Right now! Both of you have forgotten what music can really do! You're both talented. You're both unique. Why does it have to be a competition!?"

"No, no, no, no, nooooo!" Jimiken shook his head. "This ape thinks he's better than me? Jimiken?" He placed his hands on his hips and frowned at the Digimon. "That does not rock!"

"I've had about enough of you!" MetalEtemon pointed at him. "C'mere, you preening, star-faced punk! The blistering power of my metal will melt your face!"

"Oh yeah, monkey-boy!? Bring it on!" the man hoarsely cried. "I'll solo the heavy right outta your metal!" The rock star suddenly jumped down and ran off with MetalEtemon to settle things.

Takumi smirked as he tried to hold in his laughter. "So this totally happened…"

"Okay…" Reiko smiled as she watched both musicians try to hold a rock-off. "Not exactly what I had in mind, but at least they're talking."

"Yeah, I guess," the boy chuckled.

"Music is capable of a lot of things," she stated, "but most important is that it can bring people together. Digimon too." She suddenly raised a fist into the air. "Alright! I wanna be part of this rock-off too!"

"Eh!?" Takumi blinked at her before cheerfully smiling and giving her an encouraging nod. "Good luck then."

"The show's only just beginning!" Reiko nodded. "I hope you're ready to mosh tonight, Mister Cyber Sleuth!"

"Maybe next time," the boy crookedly smirked. "I'd better report the results of this case back to the agency. I hope you have fun, Reiko-san!"

"That was definitely a client for the ages," Kyoko smirked at her exhausted assistant. "As they say, 'Yesterday's enemy is today's client'…"

"Who says that!?" Takumi frowned at her.

She crossed her arms and chuckled at him. "The wheel of fate is always turning in detective work. You should know that by now."

The red-haired teen sank into the sofa with a sigh. "I'll say…"

~BOY~A~

"So, how are you feeling?" Arata asked Takumi as they both had coffee together at K-Café. "Is your body holding up?"

"It's holding," Takumi nodded. "I have problems sometimes focusing… and on some occasions I tend to lose control of my emotions… but for the most part, I'm fine," he shrugged. "You?"

"I'm good," the older boy nodded as he took a sip from his cup. "I don't have any side effects from having my body become an Eater, if that's what you're worried about."

"How about from my Digimon's attacks?" Takumi asked.

"Nah, I'm fine, really." Arata rubbed his sore jaw and smirked at Takumi. "Heh, that punch did sting though. I'll give you that."

"S-sorry…" Takumi lowered his gaze.

"That was a really childish thing of you to do back there, but…" the older boy crossed his arms, "that's not necessarily a bad thing, either."

"Eh?" the younger boy stared at his friend in surprise.

"Hey, Takumi?"

"Yeah?"

"Uh…" the older boy hid his expression behind his jacket collar.

"What is it, Arata?" Takumi tilted his head to the side.

"Tha…"

"Hm?"

"Th-thanks…" Arata finally told him.

The younger boy smiled at him. "Anytime…"

The two boys sat in the café in silence for a while before Arata frowned at how awkward this was. "You plan on staring at me all quiet like that all day or something?" he roughly asked the redhead. "Cut it out, Takumi! It's weird and embarrassing seeing that! I mean… I guess that's kind of your thing, but still!"

Takumi laughed at that. "I'm just repaying the favor from when we were little. You used to tease me a lot, you know!"

Arata smirked at that. "Yeah… you really have grown since then…" He lowered his gaze and frowned to himself. "Actually, to be honest… I have something I need to ask you."

"Really?" the blue-eyed boy also became serious.

"Because of all that trouble I ran into, I'm starting to feel like I'm falling behind the rest of you in terms of sheer strength and whatnot," Arata admitted. "I hate just leaving all the cool stuff to you and Nokia, so… I want you to come with me for a little while. I'll file this as a proper case, so now you have to do it as part of your job, right?"

"Even if it wasn't a case, I'd still help you out, Arata," Takumi nodded with a smile.

Arata chuckled at his kindness. "Yeah… I know…"

Client: Sanada Arata

Place: Tokyo Metropolitan Building

Details: I want to settle something from the past. The target is Under Zero. The purpose is revenge…

"Revenge…?" Takumi frowned at that. "Arata, just what is this about?"

The raven-haired teen brightly smiled at his friend. "So you'll come along with me after all? Great! Thanks a lot, Takumi. I mean it."

"Well, it's not like I can say no," the Cyber Sleuth smiled. "But seriously, can you give me the details of the case?"

"There's only one thing I have in mind for us to do and that's go out and capture me a really strong Digimon," the older hacker stated. "All the crap I've had to put up with lately has meant I'm short on new Digimon and that's not good, not in the least. Besides… I also have some revenge that I need to exact sooner rather than later."

"It's not against a person, is it?" Takumi cautiously asked.

Arata shook his head. "Let's get going, Takumi. We're going to Under Zero."

The boy blinked at him. "You want to break in again!?"

The older boy nodded. "I'm sure you remember, but to get to Under Zero, we have to go through the Valhalla Server. This won't be easy, but I trust you to get us through." He crossed his arms. "I… can count on you, right, Takumi?"

"Of course!" the redhead brightly smiled. "But… will you tell me what's there already?"

Arata laughed at his curiosity. "Let's just get over there so you can find out for yourself!"

Takumi smirked as he finished clearing the last bit of security leading to Under Zero. "Alright, we're here," he stated with a nod.

Arata paused for a moment as he looked around the deepest room of the Valhalla Server. "When I went with some Jude guys to take on Under Zero, we had been unstoppable in EDEN up until then," he recalled with a small smile on his face. "Nobody could beat us. Adults, cops, nobody. We figured Under Zero would be the same way, even with its reputation for being impregnable." He suddenly lowered his head and hid his frown behind his jacket collar. "But we hit a snag when we got to the outer wall… A security Digimon showed up and kicked our asses. It was a complete and utter wash."

"A… Digimon…?" Takumi's eyes widened.

"Back then, we didn't know anything about Digimon programs at all," Arata explained. "We were only capable of doing analog hacking, which made us completely powerless to fight back. All we could do was grab our asses and run. Some of my buddies, they went crazy from the fear they felt here. Even the guys that were okay, they saw what they were up against and lost confidence in themselves. The whole thing made it vividly clear to us that we were little more than a pack of arrogant brats running wild."

"Arata…" Takumi frowned at the older boy.

Arata clenched his fists. "We let our pride get to us to the point where we bit off more than we could chew. The higher you rise, the farther you fall and all that. And one by one, people quit being hackers… It was the end of the legendary hacker group Jude." The older boy knit his eyebrows together. "I felt sorry for myself and hated to see it go. It sucked being powerless to stop them from leaving the team. I also had a constant fear in me I couldn't shake. Just remembering that time was enough to make me tremble with trauma… I didn't want anyone seeing me like that, though. So I tried to buck up and make it seem I was fine. So that's why I see this as revenge." He lifted his head towards the security cube in the center of the room. "I'll make that security Digimon's power my own and finally rid myself of this regret…"

Takumi wryly smiled at him. "It's not really revenge though, Arata," he chuckled. "You really just want to surpass yourself…"

Arata nodded as he started for the room's center. "I'm not the punk ass kid I once was back then. I'm better than that, better than my past…" He looked back towards Takumi and smiled at his friend who always supported him. "Now come on. Let's go."

"Right," Takumi nodded.

The veteran hacker began hacking into the cube and soon a Knightmon emerged before them. The boy laughed as he faced the old Digimon. "So you're still standing guard here," he smirked as he slipped his hands into his pockets. "Color me happy. It's nice to see you again!"

The Holy Land Guard Knight frowned at the raven-haired teen. "I don't… Who are you…?"

"Don't tell me you've forgotten now."

"It seems that I have…" the Digimon stated. "At the very least, you're not in my memory banks."

"Arata laughed at that. "I knew it! I mean it makes sense. Why would you!? You beat us so fast!" He prepared his Digivice. "But I remember… Hell, I could never forget you."

"I don't understand what it is you're speaking of, but any intrusion will not be tolerated," the guard said, raising his Berserk Sword.

"Ah, yes. Of course," Arata nodded. "This is just how it went the first time, too! Seriously, this is great! I wouldn't have it any other way. You're perfect just the way you are! Unlike you, though, I'm a changed man. My legs don't shake and my mind's cleared up now! I've grown up!" He quickly called out Infermon to his side. "I'm here to get vengeance for my friends! I'll kick your ass and march right on through! I won't lose this time! Not with my friend Takumi at my side here!"

"Let's go, Arata!" Takumi cried as he sent his team forward to back up Infermon.

"Hell's Grenade!"

"Mugen Cannon!"

"Gaia Force!"

"Dark Roar!"

The Knightmon took the attacks head-on as he charged for Infermon. "Berserk Sword!" He haphazardly swung his weapon, trying to cut the Perfect Digimon in half, but Infermon cackled as he retracted his limbs and head.

"Cocoon Attack!" the Free Digimon cried before ramming into the knight.

"Demon Stab!" Darkdramon lunged forward with his lance out but Knightmon quickly deflected it with his sword.

"Ankoku no Gaia Force!" BlackWarGreymon charged up the negative karma around them before throwing the giant ball of fire at their opponent.

"The Duel!" Knightmon sliced a spinning blade of air which cut through the inferno. He raised his sword again and began hacking at the four Digimon around him. "Berserk Sword!"

Takumi's eyes widened as the crazed swordsman knocked his team to the ground. "Everyone!" He quickly dug through his bags for recovery items but tensed up as Knightmon continued his rampage. "H-hang in there!"

"Infermon!" Arata cried out to his Digimon to take down the Knightmon.

Infermon remained in his cocoon state as he endured the blows. When Knightmon finally tired himself out, he opened his mouth and breathed out a stream of dark, electrified gas. "Virus Skater!"

The large knight winced but swung his sword at the spiderlike Digimon. "Grand Smash!" Instead of slashing at Infermon, he tried to blow his opponent away.

Infermon tightly gripped the ground though and partially retracted his limbs. In his half-cocoon state, he allowed his body to swing back and forth until he had enough momentum to launch himself forward at Knightmon. "Cocoon Attack!"

The large Digimon was knocked backwards and Arata smirked as this was their chance to end things. "Let's go! Hell's Grenade!" His Digimon cackled as he fired at the Knightmon.

Takumi looked up towards the Digimon as he applied a health spray on his team. "Arata!" he called out to his friend, seeing Knightmon was down. "That's enough! This battle is over!" Infermon stood over the defeated Digimon though, ready to finish it off, but the redhead shook his head. "Arata!"

Arata stared at the Knightmon with an intent frown but he decided Takumi was right. "Yeah… Just winning is good enough…" he stated as he began to relax. "Infermon! We're done here." He was about to turn to leave but paused when his Digimon was acting strangely. "Infermon?" Infermon laughed as he began to evolve. "Diablomon…" Arata stared at his new Digimon in surprise before slipping his hands into his pockets and smirking. "You know what? I feel… at peace now."

"You do?" Takumi asked with a tilt of his head as he patched up the Knightmon too.

"I've probably been a burden to you guys with the Digimon I've kept with me up until now," Arata sighed. "But now that I've got this guy…" he nodded to Diablomon, "I think I can go on with you all. I want to see this thing through to the end."

"What do you mean?" the Cyber Sleuth asked.

Arata chuckled and crossed his arms. "Don't make me say it. Seriously."

"Alright…" Takumi happily smiled at his friend's growth.

The older boy stared back at him before averting his gaze. "Dammit," he frowned, "Didn't I tell you before? Quit with the staring already! Jeez!"

Takumi laughed as he put his hands on his hips. "Why are you being so shy, Arata? That's not like you!" The younger teen yelped when the older backer suddenly put him in a headlock.

"Really?" Arata smirked at the red-haired boy and lightly tapped his skull.

The Cyber Sleuth freed himself from the hacker's grip and grinned at him. "We're done now, right?"

Arata nodded as he looked at the Knightmon continuing to watch them. "I think with that, this case is closed now, so… Thanks," he gratefully nodded to his friend before smiling up at the empty room. "I'm… going to stay here a little longer and think, if that's all right with you."

Takumi smiled at him in understanding. "Alright," he nodded. "I'll see you later then, Arata."

"I take it the boys' 'rite of passage' is over now?" Kyoko asked with a smirk as Takumi returned.

"Yeah," Takumi nodded. "Arata finally evolved, just like I knew he could."

"The final phase is at hand now," she crossed her arms as she stared at her assistant. "I hope there aren't any lingering regrets once it's over."

The teenager tilted his head to the side. "Why would there be any regrets? Everyone's come so far within these eight years. Nokia… Yuuko… Arata…"

"Don't forget yourself."

"Me?" the boy blinked at that before putting on a sheepish grin. "You really think so?"

The detective proudly nodded as she continued to study him. "You might not notice it yourself, but I'm certain of it. No matter what destiny lies before us, I'm sure you'll be able to overcome it."

"That's right… My destiny…" Takumi took a moment to consider what that might be. Mirei-san is always telling me about how my thread of fate keeps weaving itself into an intricate web connected to my friends and Digimon. Kyoko-san even labeled this as my greatest power. It's the ability for me to 'connect' to everything around me that led me to meet everyone. This power will also be what will save the world. He smiled as he remembered the final responsibility given to him: Connect Jumping into the Mother Eater to rescue Yuugo. Once I do that, everything will become undone and… He paused at that thought. Everything will be undone… He looked up towards Kyoko and noticed her typing away at her keyboard at an insanely incredible speed. If everything comes undone, won't my web also begin to unravel…? His blue eyes widened in fear as his selfish desire for everything to remain as they are returned to him.

~TERRIERMON'S~EXCLUSIVE~SCOOP!~

"It seems everybody is prepared to depart for the Digital World," Kyoko noticed. "What do you think, Takumi? Are you ready too?"

The red-haired boy frowned to himself. "Not really…"

"Oh?" the detective blinked at him. "Is something on your mind?"

Takumi knit his eyebrows together. "I was going it over in my head what we were going to do, but then I realized something… If we turn back time so that Yuugo was never devoured by the Eaters… then EDEN Syndrome wouldn't exist. If EDEN Syndrome never existed, then you and I…" He fell silent as he didn't want to finish that thought. He sighed and shook his head. "I guess I never really got over my childhood weakness…"

"Is that so bad?" Kyoko asked him. "You're only human after all. It isn't so strange that you would carry doubts, but as you have proven time and time again, you have the ability to overcome such thoughts and feelings."

"But that's only because I have my friends at my side to help me succeed," Takumi told her. He lifted his gaze and stared at the detective. "This doubt I carry now… it's because I'm afraid I'll lose someone important to me once I finally do succeed. 'I have nothing to lose alongside my friends'… I'm sorry for overanalyzing such an elegant expression, but I do have something to lose!" The detective's assistant clenched his eyes shut as they began to fill with tears. "I don't want to lose the connections I've made!"

Kyoko never took her eyes off the sensitive teenager as he silently sobbed to himself. She remained calm as she gently spoke to him in her usual stern way. "So what do you intend to do then? Our final mission is entirely dependent on you and your Connect Jump ability. Do you wish to abort now? Right when we're so close to the end?"

"Of course not," Takumi replied as he dried his tears. "I'm just… not ready to go yet. If I go now, my doubts will only hinder us. I can't… risk losing more than I have to…"

"So you'll wait," Kyoko stated, "until you're ready."

"I… I don't know," the boy hung his head. The two sat in silence for what felt like an eternity until Takumi worked up the nerve to speak again. "Are you disappointed in me, Kyoko-san?"

"Hmm…" Kyoko sat back in her seat and crossed her arms. She remained silent for a long while before finally coming up with a proper answer for her assistant. "It's a good idea to be plenty prepared, but don't forget that the clock is ticking."

The teenager wryly smiled at her words as he felt the immense amount of trust and faith she had in him. "I understand, Kyoko-san…" He clenched his right fist as it only made his inner turmoil worse. Despite that and his wish to never lose his bond with her though, he felt the urge to give her a grateful smile. "Thank you…" he softly mumbled.

The Digimon in a woman's body smirked as it was just like him to respond in such a strange manner. She shook her head though as she decided it would be best to take his mind off his worries through work. "Ah, yes, a new case has just been submitted to the office from a Digimon," Kyoko told him. "I'd like you to take it."

"Me?" Takumi blinked at her. "Why not you?"

"This case is a little tricky…" the detective brought a hand up to hide her smirk. "It needs to be taken care of by a human. I'm too much of a Digimon at heart and so I have decided you should take care of it."

"I see…" Takumi nodded in understanding.

"You may choose to begin whenever you like," she smiled at him. "As always, check the whiteboard and then I'll have the client come over for a meeting."

"I'll take it now, Kyoko-san," he nodded to her. The detective's assistant quickly rose to his feet to check out the case note she posted up. He gently took it down and read it carefully.

Client: Terriermon

Place: Kuremi Detective Agency

Details: I want Digimon to be better friends with humans! That's why I need a secret human scoop!

Kyoko got off the phone with the client and smirked at the redhead. "Well, here he comes now."

Takumi turned towards the agency's entrance and spotted the cream-colored animal coming in. "Ah, you must be the detective in charge," Terriermon smiled at Takumi.

"I guess…" the boy nodded as he took a seat on Kyoko's usual sofa. "So, what do you need me to do?"

Terriermon jumped onto the other couch and began explaining the case to the boy. "When the interdimensional wall broke down, I was sent from the Digital World to this one. Right now there are Digimon in this world that are afraid, don't know where they are, and think of humans as their enemies. I would rather not see humans as my enemy. I'd still like to think there is a way that humans and Digimon can coexist peacefully. But I didn't know what to do…" he lowered his gaze. "So, that's when I heard about you guys and how you have solved many problems for Digimon. So, I would like to examine you in detail," the Digimon stated, scrutinizing Takumi. "Please show me all the good that humanity has to offer!"

Takumi blinked at that. "Examine me in detail…?"

"Yeah!" Terriermon nodded. "We're gonna eat together, sleep together… We'll be together all the time! It's gonna be great!"

"U-uh… R-right… O-okay…" the Cyber Sleuth hesitantly nodded as he understood why Kyoko handed him this case.

"Takumi," Kyoko crossed her arms and frowned as a new case request was just sent to them, "Sorry to interrupt, but… I know it's sudden, but there's another case I'd like you to take."

"Eh!? Another?" Takumi looked up at her.

She nodded as she explained it to him. "It seems someone has run out on a bill at a restaurant in Shibuya. The restaurant staff is asking for help in tracking down the perpetrator. It's been a while since we've had a case fit for a detective. Please handle this one as well."

"Sure," the boy nodded. "Terriermon," he looked at his client, "why don't you come along?"

The Digimon nodded as he jumped onto the boy's shoulder. "Let's go!"

Takumi looked around the street before speaking with the café waitress who had submitted the case. "Excuse me, but I'm here about a dine-and-dash case?"

"Ah, you're the detective, aren't you?" the woman smiled at him. "Please, right this way!" She led him inside so he could get a look at the crime scene. "I sent in the request and I work in the café. Please, I need your help tracking down and arresting this criminal who ran out without paying!"

Takumi crossed his arms and nodded. "Can you give me a summary of what happened?"

"Earlier today, at around 2 PM, a diner took up and left without paying for their meal," she began as the boy pensively brought a hand up to his mouth. "I was here in the café with my husband. As usual, I was dealing with the customers and my husband was cooking. Then, I think it was at about five minutes to two, I went out the back door to go and phone my friend and I left my husband in charge of the café. While I was on the phone I heard a voice cry from inside the café 'It's a dine-and-dash!' so I immediately hung up and went back into the café." She lowered her head and frowned to herself. "But when I got inside my husband wasn't there. He had run out of the café after the criminal. Before I went out for the phone call there had been more than 20 customers in the café, but…" she looked up at the listening detective, "When I heard the shout and came back in, four of the customers had gone! As I thought my husband had gone after the criminal, I entrusted the café to a regular I knew and went out looking for the missing customers."

Takumi looked over to the four people off the side and nodded. "I see…"

"Wow," Terriermon stared up at the woman in impress, "You were able to find the four missing customers in such a short amount of time?"

"Honestly, I just got lucky…" the woman smiled at the Digimon.

Takumi turned towards the four customers. "Okay, is there anything else I should know before I interrogate them?"

"The dine-and-dash occurred about five minutes after I went out the back to make the phone call," the waitress stated. "These customers must have left during that time. I'm good with faces. It's sort of a talent of mine. They even admit that they were all in the café. So… I talked to each of them and listened to their stories, but I can't work out who it was. I'm sure one of them must be the criminal, but… Please," the woman requested, "go and ask each of them about this and catch the criminal. Surely the only one who is lying would be the criminal. The other three have no reason to lie. Please investigate the crime."

"Just leave this to me!" Takumi gave her a reassuring smile.

"Still," she worriedly looked around, "I really wonder where the heck my husband is. Seriously…"

Takumi approached the first customer and discovered her name was Yotsuya. "The dine-and-dash happened at 2 PM exactly, right?" she asked. "At that time I had almost finished and had got up to go to the restroom. I returned and heard 'It's a dine-and-dash!' and there was a commotion in the café… It had nothing to do with me, so I put my money down and left."

"Do you know who it was that shouted?" Takumi asked.

"Yeah, the shouting voice was definitely the waiter," she nodded.

Takumi moved onto the next customer Sanpei but the glasses-wearing college student seemed extremely jumpy. "Ni-nishio is not the criminal!" he adamantly stated as he stared at another customer. "She's a… a beautiful woman. I fell in love with her as soon as I first saw her and… and…"

"Can you just tell me about what happened?" Takumi frowned, not wanting to deal with another stalker case.

Sanpei nervously nodded. "I spent my entire lunch eating cheap spicy curry and staring at her, but after someone shouted out 'It's a dine-and-dash!' Nishio left the café. The criminal obviously ran out of the café before the shout!"

"It looks like Nisiho has a good alibi," Takumi mused to himself. He nodded as he decided to speak with her last. For now, he would get Ichihara's story.

"I was the one who yelled out 'It's a dine-and-dash!' The café owner man who heard me went running after the criminal," the brunet stated.

"Hmm?" Takumi crossed his arms as this testimony contradicted Yotsuya's story. "What did you do around that time?"

"I was curious about the dine-and-dasher, so after that I went straight up to the counter, placed the money there, and then left," Ichihara nodded. "I could only see the criminal from behind. It was a woman. I tried to run after her too, but I lost sight of both the waiter and the criminal."

"I see…" Takumi knit his eyebrows together. He closed his eyes as he went over his thoughts. "Ichihara's and Yotsuya's testimonies contradict each other therefore one must be lying. Who is it though?" He shook his head as he would need the last customer's recount in order to solve the case.

Nishio crossed her arms as she tried to recall what had happened. "There was another person named Yotsuya who left about the same time as I did. No one was behind the till, so I didn't know where to leave my money, but she left it by the register so I did too, then I followed her out of the café. I also heard someone shout about the dine-and-dash, but I don't know who. It sounded like a man's voice. One man, shouting once."

"Thank you for your help," Takumi nodded to her before going over his thoughts again. He noticed the small Digimon following him scrunch his face up. "Hmm? Is something wrong, Terriermon?"

"Uh…" Terriermon frowned. "Well, now I'm a bit confused… It's hard for me to follow… But, whenever you don't understand something you just need to hear it several times and make a note of it, I guess. We need to find the two people whose stories don't match."

"Yeah," the boy agreed. "After doing that, it's best to cross-reference the stories to the other testimonies to see which one matches up the best." He crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "Just following these steps…" his eyes snapped open. "I think I've got it!" he exclaimed before returning to the café waitress.

"How is it going?" she asked. "Do you know who the criminal is?"

The Cyber Sleuth nodded. "Yes, I do."

"Really!?" the woman blinked at the teenager in surprise. "Please, tell me who it is!"

Terriermon stared up at Takumi curiously. "The criminal is… who?"

"The perpetrator is…" the red-haired boy brought a hand up to his chin, "Ichihara," he stated with a nod.

"Huh?" the brunet frowned. "Why me!?"

"I knew it!" Terriermon exclaimed. "That's who I thought it was too, Takumi!"

"What!?" the young man shook his head. "I never did any such thing! If you think I'm the criminal, let's hear your explanation!"

"Well, let's see…" Terriermon crossed his arms. "Out of the four customers, two of their stories most definitely didn't match. Isn't that right, Takumi?" he asked the Cyber Sleuth.

The boy nodded and placed his hands on his hips. "Was the man who shouted the waiter or Ichihara?"

"Yes, well done!" Terriermon jumped up. "Just what I'd expect from you, Takumi! Among the four people, there is conflicting testimony… Who actually shouted 'It's a dine-and-dash'? Was it the waiter or Ichihara? In that case," he looked up at the waitress, "you would know your husband's voice well, as you hear him all the time, right?"

"I'm sorry," the woman frowned. "I just heard a loud voice cry out suddenly. I can't remember if it was my husband's or not."

"Oh… I see…" the Digimon frowned. He shook his head though as he continued. "In any case, isn't it strange that Ichihara said he was the one who shouted out, whereas Yotsuya claimed it was the waiter? So that must mean one of them is lying! Which means one of them is probably the criminal, right?"

"Wait…" Ichihara frowned, "but then, why are you accusing me and not that Yotsuya woman?"

"Well, hm, that's…" Terriermon knit his eyebrows together before turning towards the detective working the case. "Takumi, do you know?"

"Nishio and Sanpei's testimony must be correct," Takumi stated.

"Yes! That's right, Takumi!" Terriermon chuckled at the Cyber Sleuth's impressive deduction skills. "You're really something!" He turned back towards Ichihara. "So basically, we should trust in Nishio and Sanpei's testimony, right? Yes," he nodded to himself, "According to Nishio, there was only one shout, so it can't have been both Ichihara and the waiter. According to Sanpei, Nishio left the café right after the dine-and-dash happened and Nishio and Yotsuya left the café at almost the same time. So essentially, there is no one who can back up Ichihara's story… Yotsuya's alibi is backed up by Nishio and Sanpei, and they're not the criminal, so we can believe them. That means Yotsuya can't be the criminal. The criminal said the opposite of what Yotsuya said… Yotsuya told us the waiter shouted, but the one who said he himself shouted out was…" The Digimon pointed at the frowning customer. "The criminal is Ichihara!"

"I…!" Ichihara took a step back. "Don't… don't talk such nonsense!" he cried out. "I was definitely the one who shouted out! I called out to the other customers in the shop to warn them about what this stupid jerk was doing! I already told you! I ran out after the criminal! Why are you blaming me!? You should be thanking me!"

Takumi frowned as it didn't look like Ichihara was going to give himself up so easily. He paused though when a sweating man came into the café while panting. The café waitress turned to face him too and blinked at the man in surprise. "Oh, dear!"

"I'm sorry…" the man sighed. "I couldn't catch the criminal…"

"The criminal is here!" Terriermon called out while pointing at Ichihara. "Is this the guy?"

"You!" the waiter frowned at the customer. "You're the one who dined-and-dashed!?"

"Um," Ichihara frowned as he realized there was no way out of this.

At that point, a police officer past the café so the waitress called out to him. "Ah… Mr. Policeman! This guy here is the one who ran out on the check!"

"This young boy ran out on the check in your restaurant?" the officer asked. "Right then," he grabbed Ichihara, "he's coming down to the station with me."

Terriermon jumped up and down as the officer led the criminal away. "Case closed! Wow, Takumi, you really are as good as they say!"

Takumi sheepishly scratched his cheek and laughed. "I guess…"

"Right, back to the office!" Terriermon exclaimed. "I'm sure Kyoko-san will want to congratulate you on a job well done!"

"Right!" Takumi was about to leave the café but the officer suddenly returned.

"You there!" the man called out to the teenager. "Hold it for a second. You're the one who tracked this criminal down?"

"Sure did," Takumi nodded.

"Wow, that's amazing!" the police officer nodded. "Quite the feat indeed." He saluted the boy. "Thank you for your help in catching this dine-and-dasher!"

"W-well…" the redhead nervously chuckled. "I'm just doing—"

"Or whatever," the police officer shook his head at the simpleton. "I'm done with this…"

"Huh?" Terriermon blinked at the man in confusion.

Takumi narrowed his gaze and studied the man's uniform. "Hey… That's not…"

Ichihara snickered at them from behind the uniformed man. "You're such a bunch of chumps!"

"Huh? What is this?" Terriermon asked.

"Great job working that out," the man pulled his officer's cap down, "unfortunately it doesn't matter. Don't you get it yet?" He quickly pulled off the costume. "How about now? I'm not a real cop."

Takumi sighed. "That's the second time this has happened to me now…"

Terriermon lowered his gaze and held his head in fear. "Oh no…" he trembled.

Ichihara laughed at the small Digimon. "Oh, you should see your faces!"

The fake officer frowned at Takumi. "We are members of the much talked about Shibuya Delight gang. Members of Delight love the thrill of getting away with crimes again and again and we're impossible to catch."

"But that's…!" Terriermon sternly frowned at them in disapproval. "You mean you actually enjoy running out on checks and restaurants, doing bad stuff and deceiving everyone!?"

"Tip of the iceberg, idiot!" Ichihara sneered at the small Digimon. "Do you really think that'd be enough to satisfy us? You've embarrassed us and you're gonna pay for that. We will have our revenge! First, I'm gonna spread a rumor around that you couldn't catch the guy who did the dine-and-dash! Best detective around? I don't think so!"

"But such a roundabout kind of revenge won't be enough for us!" the fake cop nodded.

"Catch me if you!" Ichihara challenged Takumi. "If you can't, we're gonna keep doing bad stuff!"

"Hey!" Takumi frowned at them as they took off.

"Eh!?" Terriermon tried to grab Ichihara but it was too late. "They got away! Where do you think those guys are going?"

The café waitress frowned at the sudden turn of events. "I heard something. A gang of thugs who always cause trouble around this neighborhood hang out at the Shibuya subway station."

"In the labyrinth?" Takumi knit his eyebrows together.

"But don't even think about going after them. It's too dangerous," the woman looked at the teen in concern. "Those guys are criminals, so we should leave this to the police. Here is your fee," she handed the boy his payment. "Please, don't be shy. You did a great job tracking down the criminal."

The woman walked away and Takumi frowned at the fee in his hand. "I can't accept this if they're still on the loose."

"Hmm," Terriermon lowered his gaze, "I just… I'm a little worried about what that guy said before, about 'revenge'… I know what it is. Revenge is when someone does something bad to you so you do something bad back to them in return, right?"

"Yeah…" Takumi sighed.

"Why would he say such a thing though?" the Digimon asked as he held his head in confusion. "It wasn't our fault he got arrested. It was his own fault for doing all those bad things. Nothing good ever comes from getting back at someone…"

"You're right…" the redhead sadly stared at the ground and placed his hands on his hips. "It tends to just lead into a spiral of darkness and despair…"

Terriermon moaned at such scary thoughts. After a while, he looked back up to the Cyber Sleuth. "Anyway, sorry," he apologized. "Should we go after those guys?"

"Yeah," Takumi nodded. "It wouldn't feel right for me to leave them to do as they pleased."

"Okay, let's do it!" the Digimon exclaimed. "We're off to the Shibuya subway station!"

"For them to be in a labyrinth would mean they would need Digimon of their own," Takumi mused as he looked around the station.

"Those guys are trying to use Digimon for evil purposes," Terriermon frowned. "They're probably abusing them all the time." He shook his head as he didn't understand it. "We never use humans for anything! I never want to have that kind of relationship with a human!"

"It's like you say," Takumi nodded as he picked up the upset Digimon and placed him on his head. "Let's get over there and show these guys!"

"What the hell!?" Terriermon exclaimed as he jumped off the boy's head. "Let me off!"

"Sorry…" the boy apologized. "You're getting a bit too riled up though. Just relax and we'll be fine."

The Digimon nodded in understanding before staring at the path before them. "I wonder if those guys are in here. Let's go!"

"We've got you now!" Takumi glared at the delinquents. "Just give it up and turn yourselves in before I drag you in myself!"

"Well done," the blond man pretending to be the officer crossed his arms and smirked at the persistent Cyber Sleuth, "you've managed to find us!"

"To be honest," Ichihara shrugged as he slipped his hands into his pockets, "you guys just came here to be defeated by us, but well done anyway! You guys use Digimon, don't you?" he asked studying Takumi's team behind him. "Well, we happen to be hackers too, so let's go! We are the better Digimon masters, as you will see."

"Masters…?" Takumi frowned at that.

"Here, I brought this along with me," the fake cop handed Ichihara a Digivice. "Use it to fight this guy."

"Wha…!?" Terriermon tensed up as a powerful train-like Digimon rushed towards them.

Takumi carefully pulled the small Child aside as the train swerved around to face them. "Terriermon!"

The long-eared Digimon jumped out of the boy's protective grasp and frowned at the train Digimon. "GrandLocomon!"

The fake cop laughed. "This is a Digimon I found around here recently. After we had a little 'chat' or two with him he became a nice obedient little slave."

"What!?" Takumi angrily tensed up as his team growled at the hackers.

"The pride of Delight has been insulted," Ichihara stated. "Avenge me, little Digimon. Put the hurt on them!"

The Ultimate let out a painful roar as he was forced to battle them against his will. "Destroyed Crash!" He threw his spiked wheel into the air and it segmented itself into pieces before the Digimon fired them at Takumi and Terriermon.

"Brave Shield!" BlackWarGreymon protectively rushed in front of them as Darkdramon charged his Gigastick Lance.

"Dark Roar!"

"Don't directly attack him!" Takumi called out to his team.

Terriermon nodded as he tried to help stop the rampaging Digimon. "Blazing Fire!"

GrandLocomon shook off the attacks before charging towards them again. "Limited Express Attack!" As he gained speed, the friction produced red-hot flames.

Mugendramon roared as he rammed into the train to stop it. The two skidded to a halt before the draconic machine's eyes lit up. "Catastrophic Day!" He detonated himself and the two Ultimate Digimon were caught by the explosion.

"Mugendramon! GrandLocomon!" Takumi clenched his fists.

Ichihara and his friend laughed at such a reckless move. "What's that supposed to do? What a weak Digimon! But that's what happens when they're led by such a weak hacker!" the fake cop exclaimed.

The boy tensed up when Takumi's Digimon turned towards them for insulting their tamer. Darkdramon roared as he prepared his Gigastick Lance. Ichihara let out a shaky cry before controlling the large train with his Digivice. "G-grandLocomon! C-crush them!"

Terriermon frowned. "Takumi, that machine!"

"Darkdramon! Help Terriermon get that Digivice away from them!" Takumi called out as he applied a health patch on his mechanical dragon. "BlackWarGreymon, support Mugendramon!"

GrandLocomon struggled to rise as he was forced to attack again. "Destroyed Crash!"

"Black Storm Tornado!" BlackWarGreymon summoned multiple tornadoes to direct the attack away from him, while also doing his best to not harm the train.

"Booster Claw!" Mugendramon shot his arm towards GrandLocomon and tried to restrain him.

"Come on! Crush them with your Limited Express Attack!" Ichihara yelled.

"Dramon Tackle!" BlackWarGreymon tried to push against the train as GrandLocomon tried to pick up speed.

"Darkdramon!" Takumi called out to his Cyborg Digimon.

Ichihara yelped as the D-Brigade weapon rushed towards him and Terriermon quickly began to spin around. "Petit Twister!" The hacker suddenly dropped his Digivice and Darkdramon quickly stabbed it with his arm.

"Gigastick Lance!"

With the Digivice destroyed, GrandLocomon's body sparked with electricity as he finally came to a halt but Takumi gasped as he noticed the Digimon's injuries. He hurried forward with multiple recovery patches in hand but the ground underneath the train began to crumble away. "Everyone! Get back!" Mugendramon and BlackWarGreymon quickly backed away but GrandLocomon didn't move as he fell into the Digital abyss. "GrandLocomon!" The Cyber Sleuth quickly held out his right hand and scanned the falling Digimon's dissipating data.

Terriermon sadly stared at where GrandLocomon fell. "Oh… GrandLocomon!"

The fake cop screamed as Darkdramon let out a low growl. "P-please! Don't kill me!"

"Wh… WHAT!?" Ichihara took a nervous step back. "But that… that doesn't make any sense! How could that Digimon be defeated so easily!?"

Terriermon trembled in rage as he faced the two criminals. "Never… I'll never forgive you!" he cried. "Digimon are not tools for you to use! We were flung into this world we don't know. Every day we struggle with terror and fear… There are Digimon being terrorized by humans! But… there are also Digimon who believe there can be friendship between humans and Digimon! That GroundLocomon probably thought that!" The small Digimon began to cry. "Humans are… Humans are…!"

"Terriermon, that's enough," Takumi knelt at the Child Digimon's side, placing a hand on Terriermon's small shoulder. "Not all humans are like that," he gently reminded him. "I'm your friend, right?"

The Digimon snapped his head up towards the Cyber Sleuth. "Uh! Takumi…" He sniffled as he wiped his eyes. "That's true. You're not like that, Takumi. You help any human who is in trouble… and even Digimon like me as well. We haven't spent much time together, but even so, I know," Terriermon nodded. "You are kind and warm-hearted, Takumi."

"M-me…?" Takumi knit his eyebrows at that but a small smile appeared on his face.

Terriermon took a deep breath before facing Ichihara and his friend again. "Like Takumi said, give yourself up to the police. Reflect on what you've done and set it right. Even people like you can turn things around… So, I'm going to try to trust in you."

"Ye-yes!" Ichihara nodded, frightened by the three Virus Digimon eying him suspiciously. "I will leave immediately…"

When the two left, Terriermon looked up at Takumi before noticing the boy was studying some new data he collected. "Ah! GrandLocomon! You saved him!"

Takumi nodded. "I'm a Cyber Sleuth, aren't I?" he asked with a smile.

The small Child Digimon smiled back at the boy before climbing onto his shoulder. "Well… I guess this has turned out well then, wouldn't you say?"

"Sure did!" Takumi grinned as he placed his hands on his hips.

"Alright," Takumi stated as they emerged from the labyrinth. "We're finally out. Where do you want to go next, Terriermon?"

The small Digimon paused and looked down at the ground. "Well, Takumi, I think that about does it for my case."

"Huh?" the Cyber Sleuth turned to face him. "What do you mean? I thought you wanted to examine me completely. That's why you submitted this case, right?"

Terriermon wryly smiled at him. "You know, the reason I picked you wasn't just because you were a capable detective. I wanted to make friends with humans, but I myself was afraid of them," he frowned down to himself. "So I asked you guys because you have a good reputation among Digimon. Humans like those guys and I will never understand each other," Terriermon shook his head. "Some part of me will always be afraid and never want to be around them."

"Terriermon…" Takumi knit his eyebrows together as the small Digimon reminded him of someone he once knew.

"But when I see you, I understand," he looked up at the kind red-haired boy.

"Y-you do…?" Takumi asked.

"Whether it's a Digimon or a human, you have a way of looking at someone and gaining their trust. So, I would like to be able to look people in the face and be honest, like you," Terriermon nodded. "I'd like to be able to make friends, without being afraid."

"Make friends… without being afraid…" Takumi smiled at that.

"More than that," the Digimon continued, "I want to go out and tell the Digimon of the world that there are humans like you, that they don't need to be afraid."

"Yeah…" the Cyber Sleuth felt his blue eyes fill with tears so quickly wiped them up. "You have nothing to lose alongside friends… right?"

Terriermon nodded in agreement. "And finally I would like to ask you something, Takumi."

"What is it?"

"My hand may be small, but…" Terriermon shyly lowered his gaze, "pinky promise?" He looked back up at the boy. "Promise me, however hard it may be, you will never give up. You will create friendships between Digimon and humans and do your very best!"

Takumi paused at that as he remembered what had been bothering him before. He took a deep breath to dispel his worries and gave the small Digimon a determined nod. "It's a promise," he stated. He knelt down and linked his pinky with Terriermon's.

"Yeah!" Terriermon grinned at the boy. After a while, they finally let go of each other's pinky finger and Takumi stood back up. The small Digimon took a few steps back, ready to face the world on his own again. "Well, anyway, it was really awesome how you dealt with that case, Takumi! Thanks!" he nodded. "Okay, I'm off then!" He turned around but paused. "See you later!" he called back to the boy once more before finally leaving.

Takumi watched the small Digimon disappear down the street and smiled to himself. He clenched his right fist and stared at it for a while before nodding. "Thanks, Terriermon… for reminding me what it is I'm fighting for… and who it is I want to be…" He turned around and started back towards the agency. "I… don't want to be afraid anymore either."

"I'm home, Kyoko-san," Takumi smiled at the detective as he returned.

Kyoko looked up from her screen and greeted him with her usual response. "Welcome home, Takumi." She chuckled as he handed her the case fees he collected. "Yet another case successfully solved!"

"Yeah," the boy nodded but he paused when he noticed the woman scrutinizing him. "Is something wrong, Kyoko-san?"

"Huh?" she blinked at him. "Is it just my imagination or do you look a bit more mature?" she asked. Takumi knit his eyebrows together and smiled back at her. "Well, when we have the time you can tell me about it in detail."

"But we have time now," Takumi pointed out as he grabbed an empty folder. "And… this is something I want to tell you before we all leave to the Digital World."

"So you've come a decision?" Kyoko gave the boy her undivided attention.

The Cyber Sleuth seriously nodded to her. "I want to face the Mother Eater without holding back. I want to save Yuugo and I will. I won't allow myself to falter anymore. I have no excuse to so long as everyone is at my side."

"And if in the end we were to part?" she asked him. "What will you do then?"

Takumi kept his gaze steady. "Doggedly and with all my might, I will exhibit endurance like hard black iron," he stated. "Even if we have to say goodbye, I won't give into my weakness. I'll surpass myself no matter what."

"What makes you think you can?"

"I know I can because we're connected to each other by fate." He clenched his fists. "That's what I believe with all my being!"

Kyoko finally cracked a smile at him. "Well, it looks like things went just like I had hoped. You've really grown up a lot, I feel like."

"Kyoko-san…" Takumi stared at her with glowing blue eyes.

"The case is about to come to a close," she told him with a nod. "Once we set off, there will be no turning back. I trust you understand your responsibilities."

"Of course!" the Cyber Sleuth stated, ready to see this through to the very end.

Final Notes: Terriermon's case is my favorite DLC case... There's just something heart-warming about it being the final case you can do before leaving for the Digital World. Arata's case you actually get by talking to him on the roof of the Metropolitan Building before departing for the Digital World. It's not as impressive and Nokia's or Yuuko's evolution cases... but I suppose it works. That Knightmon isn't too much of a challenge though. I think the only problem with him is if his Berserk Sword attack does connect, because it's insta-death. And then there's Jimiken's case... They seriously give him a case to wrap things up but not one for Ryota? Oh well... At least the world didn't implode from too much MetalEtemon and Jimiken... I know at this point you also get access to the Royal Knight Challenge cases and the Demon Lords cases, but those feel more like post-game stuff. I'll be altering the epilogue anyway so those case sets will be more like bonus chapters. I finished the Challenge cases, but I'm still working on raising a proper team to fight Lucemon... It's taking a ridiculous amount of time because I'm actually focusing on case hunting that Agumon (Black) medal than training my Digimon... Meh, I'll get to Lucemon eventually, I suppose.