Special effects: Starting with Ultraman Tiga

Chapter 427 Kyoko Evil Tail

Late July, 2010.

Outside the Narumi Detective Agency, Shotaro Sasaki leaned against a pillar, pinching his chin with his left hand, and muttered to himself, "The stagnant winds of the city are telling me that an unprecedented killing intent is coming from behind me."

Just then, a woman dressed as an explorer drifted in on the wind, looked at Shotaro, who was leaning against a pillar, and said, "City Boy~ You should go home and talk to yourself!"

As she spoke, she lashed out with her whip at the foot of Shotaro Satoshi, making a cracking sound.

"Whoa!" Even the dashing Shotaro was startled and jumped up, looking at the woman dressed as an explorer in front of him, and asked, "Hey, what do you want?"

"Get out of my way! I need to talk to someone upstairs!" Kyoko Todoroki shoved aside Shotaro Hidari, who was blocking her path, and walked toward the wooden door with the words "Narumi Detective Agency" written on it.

"Ah~ are you our guests?" Shotaro raised an eyebrow and asked.

"You are... a detective?" Kyoko Todoroki stopped pushing the door open and asked.

"Haha~" Shotaro chuckled lightly, just as he was about to say some cool lines, Kyoko Todoroki suddenly lashed out with the whip in her hand, using it to tie Shotaro up, and then dragged the whip-bound Shotaro toward the Narumi Detective Agency on the second floor.

"That's perfect! Please accept my request!"

"Wow!" Shotaro exclaimed as Kyoko Todoroki dragged him all the way to the Narumi Detective Agency on the second floor.

Shotaro's scream also attracted the attention of everyone in the Narumi Detective Agency.

The office door was pushed open, and Shotaro was thrown in, spinning like a top.

Seeing this, Akiko Narumi instinctively got up to catch him, but was knocked down by Shotaro Hidari and fell to the ground with a thud.

Shotaro Sato also collapsed in front of Akiko Narumi, letting out a cry of pain.

Narumi Shokichi, who was sitting in the boss's chair reading the newspaper, heard the noise and put down his newspaper, Fuuto Daily. He glanced at Shotaro Hidari sitting on the ground and couldn't help but shake his head.

This kid is as mischievous as ever.

"What are you doing?!" Shotaro, who was sitting on the ground, looked up and angrily questioned Kyoko, who was dressed as an adventurer.

"Who are you?!" Akiko Narumi asked, rubbing her sore bottom.

"My name is Kyoko Todoroki." Kyoko Todoroki looked at Shotaro Hidari lying on the ground, smiled, adjusted her cowboy hat, and introduced herself. (She is the same actress as Merry, the Warrior of Love, from the Juken Sentai series.)

With that, Kyoko walked to the coffee table, stepped on it, and said, "As you can see, I'm a museum employee."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Kyoko Todoroki lashed out with her whip, striking Shotaro Satoshi's feet with a sharp crack.

Startled, Shotaro shrank back and quickly picked up his hat that had fallen to the ground.

"A museum?" Kyoko's words made Shotaro and Akiko Narumi instinctively look at Kirihiko Sudo.

Sudo Kirihiko was also taken aback. He carefully examined Kyoko Todoroki, then shook his head, indicating that she was not a member of the organization.

"I want to do something for the benefactor I've always admired!" After putting away the whip, Kyoko Todoroki seemed like a different person. She held the whip handles in front of her chest with both hands and said with a lovestruck expression.

Shotaro was stunned by Kyoko's sudden change in expression, dropping his hat to the ground. After blinking, he asked, "What?"

"He's a well-known figure in this city~" Upon hearing this, Kyoko Todoroki quickly ran to Shotaro Hidari, knelt down, clasped her hands in front of her chest, and introduced him with a smile and admiration: "The curator of the Fuuto Museum~"

"Zonezaki, Ryubei?!" Shotaro Hidari blurted out instinctively.

Just uttering this name filled Shotaro with inexplicable fear, as if the name itself held a great terror.

"He's the head of the museum, and also...my father..." Upon hearing this, Philip stood up abruptly.

He had already met Sonozaki Wakana in the Earth Library, and learned about his background from Narumi Shokichi.

The news that the root of all evil that made the city weep was actually his father had a tremendous impact on him.

"It seems the curator lost a very important item at the excavation site!" Kyoko Todoroki recalled the information she had overheard from Rubei Sonozaki, saying, "It seems to be called 'Evil Tail'."

"Evil tail?" Shotaro Sato frowned.

"To think that such a perfect curator would be so troubled! This must be something crucial to the museum's fate!" Kyoko clenched her fist, then grabbed Shotaro's collar, saying, "Please come with me to find that Evil Tail!"

"No, that's a bit... impossible..." Akiko Narumi leaned closer, intending to refuse, but before she could finish speaking, Kyoko Todoroki pinched her mouth shut.

"Understood, I accept this request." Shotaro shook off Kyoko Todoroki's hand and agreed.

"That was great~" Kyoko Todoroki patted Shotaro Hidari on the shoulder with a happy expression, and then sat down on the sofa.

"Huh?!" Akiko Narumi exclaimed in surprise, pulling Shotaro Hidari into the inner room of the office. Lowering her voice, she asked, "Is everything alright? That's the Sonozaki family's place!"

"Ah, so this is what they call fate." Shotaro turned around and put his hat on his head in a cool manner.

"Perhaps." Philip nodded absentmindedly.

"Why don't we just have Otosan go with you?" Narumi Akiko said worriedly.

That's the head of the museum! He's an extremely dangerous person!

"No." Narumi Shokichi put down the newspaper in his hand, looked at Narumi Akiko, and said in a deep voice, "I will not provide Shotaro with any help in this matter."

He knew perfectly well that Shotaro had probably already been affected by the fear dopant.

However, Shotaro himself was unaware of this.

Only by letting Shotaro overcome his fear can he avoid being affected by it.

"Huh? Why?" Akiko Narumi asked.

"It's just looking for something, it's not like it's necessary for Ouya-san to get involved. Besides, we might not even run into Sonozaki Ryubei," Shotaro said nonchalantly.

Then, Shotaro suddenly turned to look at Kirihiko Sudo, lowered his voice, and asked, "Kirihiko, you used to live at the Sonozaki family's house for a while, right? Do you know what this is?"

"I don't know, I've never heard of it," Sudo Kirihiko said, shrugging.

"You're really useless," Shotaro muttered under his breath.

"Please! I'm just an outsider after all. How could Sonozaki Ryubei possibly tell me something so confidential?" Sudo Kirihiko retorted.

……

The Sonozaki family.

As Sonozaki Ryubei fed Mikk the food she had specially prepared for it, she smiled and said, "The day when Wakana becomes the Earth's shrine maiden is almost here. Now, all that's missing is the 'Evil Tail.' After you finish eating, please go and search for it with all your might, Mikk."

"Meow~" Mick meowed, seemingly in response to Sonozaki Ryubei.

"Hahaha." Sonozaki Ryubei laughed and reached out to stroke Mick's fur.

On the other side, at the Hoshiguri Valley excavation site.

Kyoko, along with Shotaro Hidari, Kirihiko Sudo, and Akiko Narumi, followed a crack into the underground ruins.

There were no cracks here originally, but an earthquake happened a few days ago.

The earthquake created a fissure that led directly underground, which was discovered by Kyoko Todoroki. She then led Shotaro Hidari and the others to sneak into the ruins from there.

"I'm going first." Kyoko Todoroki grabbed the rope, passed by Shotaro Hidari, and quickly descended into the ruins.

"Wow~ That's amazing, her speed is incredible." Shotaro exclaimed, looking at Kyoko Todoroki who had already rappelled down into the ruins.

What a fiery and energetic woman!

"Oh oh~~"

At that moment, a panicked scream suddenly came from above Shotaro's head. Narumi Akiko, fully armed, slid down from above and crashed into Shotaro, and they both fell into the underground ruins.

"Ouch! That hurts! Ugh, seriously!" Shotaro, who had been used as a human cushion, gasped, quickly lifting Narumi Akiko off him and getting up from the ground. He said angrily, "I told you to wait up there! Kirihiko and I are enough here!"

"What?! Have you forgotten my super intuition, Director?!" Akiko Narumi protested.

"Only a fool would remember something like that!"

While the two were arguing, Sudo Kirihiko, who was bringing up the rear, also descended down the rope.

"Snapped!"

Hyouko flung down the whip, making a hollow snap.

"Whoa!" This startled Shotaro Hidari and Akiko Narumi.

Kyoko Todoroki glared at Shotaro Hidari and Akiko Narumi, saying, "This is a sacred excavation site!"

"Yes..." The two exchanged a glance and answered honestly.

"Let's go." Kyoko Todoroki glanced at Kirihiko Sudo, who had just landed, and waved.

After saying that, Kyoko Todoroki took the lead and walked ahead, leading Shotaro Hidari and the others to the scene.

"I never imagined that the Sonozaki family mansion would have such a spacious area," Shotaro remarked, looking at the vast, empty space before him.

Sudo Kirihiko looked at the underground ruins and felt that they looked somewhat familiar.

"Could this be... the Well of Earth?"

Sudo Kirihiko's heart jumped. This was the location of the Earth Well, which meant they were very likely to encounter Sonozaki Ryubei here.

Although he had never seen Sonozaki Ryubei make a move, the sense of pressure he felt from Sonozaki Ryubei was undeniable.

"Phew..." Sudo Kirihiko let out a breath, not telling Shotaro about the Earth Well.

Their priority now is to find Evil Tail; there's no need to complicate things further.

The longer they wait, the greater the chance they will encounter Sonozaki Ryubei.

"But what exactly is Evil Tail?" Akiko Narumi asked curiously.

"The literal translation of 'Evil Tail' is 'the tail of the devil.' Although it's a phrase that's been used in the titles of fables or project names for a long time, what exactly does it mean?" Kyoko Todoroki walked ahead, holding a flashlight, and asked with a look of anticipation.

"If it weren't for Sonozaki, Philip would have found it immediately," Shotaro sighed.

"Ms. Kyoko Todoroki, do you have a general target area?" Kirihiko Sudo asked.

"No." Kyoko Todoroki shook her head.

"Huh? This place is so big, when will we ever get there?" Shotaro said with a headache.

"Now's the time to..." Narumi Akiko grinned, pulled a pair of slippers strapped to the detector from her bag, and said in a Doraemon-like tone, "Detection slippers!"

"..." Kyoko Todoroki glanced at Akiko Narumi and said helplessly, "Can you be serious for once?"

"I'm never not serious." Akiko Narumi took the probing slippers in her hand and began to probe around.

"Ah~! It's over there~!" Akiko Narumi exclaimed as she looked at the homing slippers that had turned around, and immediately ran in the direction the homing slippers were pointing.

"Where are you going?!" Kyoko Todoroki asked, quickly chasing after him.

"Hey! Akiko!" Shotaro Hidari looked like he had a headache.

"Well, we don't really have a clear scope right now anyway." Sudo Kirihiko patted Hidari Shotaro on the shoulder and smiled.

"That's true, but using slippers or something is just too unreliable," Shotaro retorted.

Following behind Akiko Narumi and Kyoko Todoroki, the two soon arrived at an excavation site where a collapse had occurred.

"This is... the old excavation site?" Kyoko Todoroki asked in surprise, looking at the collapsed excavation site. "Did it collapse because of an earthquake or something?"

"It smells good!" Akiko Narumi suddenly exclaimed.

"Huh?" Shotaro looked at Akiko Narumi with a puzzled expression.

Akiko Narumi sniffed, holding up her slipper detector, and said, "Let these slippers dig out whether there's anything buried here!"

After she finished speaking, the detector on Akiko Narumi's body started beeping, and the pair of green slippers in her hands began to clink together.

"Oh! This is it!" Akiko Narumi turned around, looked at Shotaro Hidari and Kirihiko Sudo, and said, "Let's dig here quickly! Shotaro, Kirihiko-kun!"

"What kind of stupid thing is this!" Shotaro Sato didn't bother with Akiko Narumi's antics.

"Dig quickly!" Kyoko Todoroki immediately moved closer to Shotaro Hidari, shining her flashlight at him, and said.

"Huh?!"

"Go ahead and dig," Sudo Kirihiko said with a smile.

"Sigh! Really." Shotaro sighed and went with Kirihiko Sudo to the place designated by Akiko Narumi and began to dig.

Soon, Shotaro discovered something.

"Huh? Hey, there seems to be something!" Shotaro wiped the dirt off and took out a wooden box with the words "Evil tail" clearly written on it.

"Evil Tail, that's it!" Kyoko Todoroki exclaimed excitedly.

"No way!" Shotaro Satoshi was dumbfounded.

They actually found it! This is unbelievable!

"Look! Aren't I amazing?! See!" Akiko Narumi said with a grin.

Shotaro tilted his head, completely unable to refute it.

"Now that we've found it, let's leave quickly. This place gives me a bad feeling," Sudo Kirihiko urged.

Before Sudo Kirihiko could finish speaking, Mick, transformed into a saber-toothed tiger hybrid, suddenly jumped out and blocked their way.

(End of this chapter)