Missing (Part 4)

Missing (Part 4) is the forty-first episode of Tales of Dikuda. It is also the fifth episode of the fourth season. Additionally it is the last of a four part series based on the old, original concept of Disorder: Missing.

Summary
While tracking down a portal abuser who endangers more than just one world, Loco and Gwady find themselves in the most unlikeliest of places, which is tied to the blonde detective's past.

Episode in Detail


Despite what Gwady thought, Loco is still awake when the rat leaves, and her disappearance causes the detective to become suspicious. Though with her clothing still damp and dressed in a bathrobe, Loco is unable to trail the rat and forced to instead stay at the hotel room. As she is stuck, she instead contemplates what Gwady might be doing, her thoughts going wild, even suspecting her to be up to something, maybe even involved in the crimes she is trying to solve. While her thoughts keep going on, she dozes off.

The next noon, Loco is woken up by Gwady, who dodges her attempts at finding out where the rat disappeared to, instead pointing out that it's getting late and that they have a meeting coming up. Begrudgingly she admits to herself that Gwady is right and gets ready to leave for the meeting.

When they leave the hotel Loco's attention is caught by a red blur turning a corner. Unable to verify what it was due to a lack of time, they instead head to Hydra Investigations International. Before they reach the front entrance they hear a scream from a nearby ally, causing them to instead make a dash for it to see what is going on. To their shock they find Pey on the ground, bleeding after having been stabbed in the stomach.

Loco, trying to save her friend from death, is told that Ranza was the one to stab Pey, using a poisoned blade. The dying woman in the detective's arms uses the little time left, to reveal that Ranza is the one that murdered the rest of the group. It is also revealed that Ranza is the portal abuser they are tracking, as she got her hands on a teleportation device from some scientists and is now threatening the safety of the very reality they're in.

Loco, surprised by the amount of knowledge Pey has about this subject, asks her how she came to know all this, and Pey tells her about how she got a visit by Falehi, who not just told her that Loco was still alive, but also gave her the necessary information to assemble the box of files for the detective. Even knowing that Falehi was involved in what happened, doesn't make it easier for Loco to bear the burden of her friend dying in her arms.

Gwady, after having heard the story, is hell-bent on delivering punishment to Ranza. Unable to call the police to inform them of the crime that happened, Loco and Gwady disappear from the alley to avoid trouble, heading for where they were supposed to meet up with Ranza. While they do, Loco gives the rat the box of evidence, which the woman dissolves into energy and absorbs. Gwady states how she wants to punish Ranza, then walks past the detective.

Approaching the meeting point, Gwady slows down and, unbeknownst to Loco, connects to Yavei, asking her to create a field that will block portal usage once provided with a signal from Gwady. Yavei agrees and the rat catches up with Loco again, pretending to consider going to the H.I.I. headquarters in order to use the restroom. The impatient detective gives her the directions needed and watches the rat disappear, wondering if she just set herself up for a trap. She still isn't sure if Gwady isn't involved in the mess and secretly working together with Ranza. Instead of heading to the headquarters though, Gwady sticks around and hides from view.

Almost on time for the meeting, Ranza shows up, dressed in a red cloak, and initiates a conversation with Loco, during which she reveals her reasoning for murdering their friends and her motivation to keep going with the portal abuse: Their friends had been in the way as she wanted to allow the woman to return, since she knew that Loco was still alive, after having received said information from a certain Dr. Pertinax. While Loco doesn't recognise the name, the hiding Gwady does.

Ranza seems surprised and in disbelief when the detective tells her that she will arrest her regardless. Not wanting to surrender, Ranza tries an escape via the use of a portal, but the field sprung by Yavei prevents her from opening one. Backed into a corner, the woman then pulls out a knife. When Loco tries to calm the situation down, a scuffle breaks out between them, during which the detective is pushed back and is forced to watch Ranza put a gun against her own head and kill herself.

Ranza then finds herself surrounded by blackness, along with the people she murdered such a long time ago. They all seem to be confused about what happened and how they got there in the first place. Yavei joins them and explains to them that they "have a lot of work to do." She takes note that one of the people is missing, intending to inform Falehi about it later.

Meanwhile Loco and Gwady head home to Dikuda, via the warehouse where they ended up once stepping through the portal. The rat is concerned about Loco being way to calm given what happened, though she lets her be, instead of speaking up. The two find a portal with the guild's logo on it, and use it to get back to Dikuda, ending in the same room, where they found the original portal.

Gwady returns the box of evidence to Loco and the two part ways. Even though the detective tries to find out what the rat is planning, assuming it has something to do with "this Bayroff person" that was previously mentioned, Gwady leaves her with no answers to her questions. Loco decides to head home then.

Later that evening, LingDang returns to Su HowYu's mansion, finding it eerily abandoned by everyone. Though she doesn't initially suspect anything and goes about her day, she is soon surprised by someone forcefully entering the house: YiFung. The enraged woman asks her about Bayroff's whereabouts, though given the fact that there is a spell on LingDang, she can't answer the questions. YiFung instead searches the house up and down for a clue, only to end up empty handed. The woman promises LingDang to find a way to lift the spell on her, then leaves the mansion.

It is then that Bayroff talks to LingDang, having watched the previous happenings through the girl's eyes. He states that he is sorry for having gotten her into this mess and is willing to let her leave unharmed, even wanting to remove the spell he put on her. Though LingDang stops him, as she is scared of ending up alone again and with no one to turn to. She tells Bayroff that she will stick with him, even if they can't meet up as much anymore.

Characters
The following characters appear in this episode (in order):


 * Gwadeweido
 * Loco Wish
 * Esperanza "Ranza" Castillo
 * Pey Marvelous
 * Falehi
 * Sheenyai Yavei
 * Dr. Isabella Pertinax (mentioned)
 * Fleur Bandemer
 * Seretia Wolf
 * Hambellit Tashapiathacho
 * Tong Eian
 * Graze Walker
 * Melissa Regina (mentioned)
 * Bayroff
 * LingDang
 * Hwong YiFung
 * Su HowYu (mentioned)
 * Kuraz Ryahno (mentioned)

Trivia

 * This image expresses that Pey's soul is under Falehi's care.


 * Ranza finding herself with the people she murdered with everyone confused about what happened, as well as all of them seeming to just have come to at the same time, despite it having been years, shows that time and spare are an illusion


 * The original text of this episode had originally been written a while ago and underwent heavy adjustment to fit into Tales of Dikuda.

Links

 * Official link to the post on tumblr.