Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Crossroads

by StoriesandGlories

This story examines the events of both Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth games by telling the adventures of Simon, a tamer from the west, and Keisuke, a tamer from Japan, in Tokyo as the story unfolds. Both stories are occurring in real time with each other. Rated T for swearing and mild violence. I do not own Digimon. I am not affiliated with anyone who makes the Digimon video games.

11. Keisuke: What's in a name?

Keisuke Chapter 6—What's in a name?—

Once I had Bukamon, Tanemon, Nyaromon and Koromon with me, I went to Kowloon to train them. I trained for a while and then went back to the Digilab to check if they could digivolve. When I looked, I found that all three of them could! I got started immediately and began by digivolving Bukamon into an Otamamon. Otamamon was a Digimon that looked like an amphibian Digimon, much like a newt. He was colored a blue-purple color and had four legs and a body shaped like a drop of water, along with a tail that had an end that looked like a whitish leaf. He was very short and looked one foot tall. When the process ended, I smiled and said: "Great job, Otamamon!" and Otamamon clapped his front legs together before he said: "Yeah! Yeah! I digivolved again!" and we laughed before he went off to the side.

Next, I chose to digivolve Tanemon into a Renamon. Renamon was a fox Digimon, but strangely enough walked on two legs. She had yellow-orange fur and a white underbelly. She had two arms that had long purple gloves with a yin-yang symbol on it and that had a string that bound her paws so that they looked like hands. She had two ears, two eyes and a pointed black nose. For a rookie Digimon, Renamon was extremely tall, standing at 5'2. I smiled when I saw it happen and said: "Congratulations, Renamon! Your training paid off." Renamon smiled and said: "Thank you, Keisuke. It'll take some getting used to, being this tall though… before I digivolved, I was down by your ankles… now I can almost look you in the eye!" "That's true. You've really grown." I said back. Renamon then smiled and said: "But to be honest, I kind of like it too. I'm ready!" and she went over with Otamamon.

I then proceeded to digivolve Nyaromon next. I digivolved her into a Digimon called 'Salamon'. Salamon was a kitten Digimon with a tan body who walked on four legs and had a pretty big head with two eyes and a mouth. Yet oddly enough, Salamon's ears were big, floppy-looking ones. She looked about 1'4 tall. When the process ended, I said: "Nice work, Salamon. You're coming along nicely." Salamon smiled and said: "Thank you, Keisuke. It's been a lot of fun so far! I'm looking forward to having more fun with everyone too!" and she went off with Otamamon and Renamon.

Finally, I chose to digivolve Koromon. I chose for him to digivolve into a Digimon called 'Dracomon'. It was a little dragon that walked on two legs and had teal skin with a white underbelly and long, white toenails and claws. He had a white jaw and red-orange horns, eyes and wings. He also had a teal tail too. He looked 2'5 tall. When he was done digivolving, I said: "And that's everyone! Now you're all up to the rookie level! Alright!" and Dracomon said: "Yeah! One more accomplishment under my belt! I like it!" and then he went over with everyone else.

I then took them to see Lunamon and BlackAgumon on the farm island. When we arrived, I saw Lunamon lying on the beach, relaxing and BlackAgumon throwing rocks into the water, seemingly trying to skip them. I then said: "Lunamon, BlackAgumon!" and then Lunamon got up and BlackAgumon turned around and Lunamon said: "Oh, Keisuke!" and BlackAgumon said: "Alright! I was wondering when you'd come back!" and they came on over.

When they arrived, Lunamon looked impressed and said: "Wow! You've been hard at work, I see! Congratulations, everyone!" Even BlackAgumon smiled and Salamon said: "Thank you, Lunamon. How nice!" "Yeah! I'm glad we're all such good friends!" Otamamon said. I smiled before I said: "Thank you, Lunamon. I wanted to show them off before I head back and call it a day. You're all coming along great and I can't wait for tomorrow." Everyone was excited before I left the Digilab and called it a day.

The next day, I went back to Hudie's office and checked the BBS to see if there were any cases… but none had come in. It looked like I had some free time for now… All the same, I decided to check with Erika to see if there was anything I could do around the office. I went to her office and knocked on the door before Erika said: "Come in." and I entered. She was typing on her whale-like keyboard and then turned around before she said: "What is it?" "The BBS is blank right now, Erika. Is there anything I can do around the office?" I asked. "That's not your job, Keisuke. The rest of the staff are responsible for that. If you need something to do, train your Digimon or work on your hacking." Erika said.

I was a little disappointed by this answer and then Erika turned around and said: "Is there anything else?" I felt like leaving without having something to follow up with after asking something that should have been so self-explanatory would make me look stupid, so I wanted to say something, but… I wasn't sure what. I thought it over, then something came to mind…

"Well I guess there's one thing—" I said and Erika said: "Okay… what?" "What does 'Hudie' stand for, Erika?" I asked. "It doesn't stand for anything… it's a word, but not in Japanese. More specifically, it's the Chinese word for butterfly." Erika answered. "Oh…" I said, but then to my surprise, Erika actually went on: "So I'm sure you're wondering how that factors into why it's the team name, right?" "Yes, I am." I said. Erika then turned around and said: "It's connected to a story that I like, the 'butterfly dream'. In this story, a man falls asleep one night and dreams that he is a butterfly, flying through the air and then he wakes up. When he does, he is no longer sure if he was a human who was dreaming of being a butterfly, or if he is a butterfly who is now dreaming about being a human. Hudie was named after this as a form of juxtaposing the similar situation that's now present with EDEN."

I wasn't following, and it seemed Erika saw that, because she went on: "We treat cyberspace as an extension of reality in our day-to-day life. We don't even know which is the 'real' reality anymore. Some people are just ordinary people on Earth, but in cyberspace, they're special. Just look at the accomplished hackers. Which reality do you think is more real to them?" "That… seems awfully abstract… start talking like that, and people will call EDEN a fantasy and an escape from people's lives." I said. "Don't you think that's the appeal of EDEN? A place where people don't have to adhere to the way the world works?" Erika asked. "But no matter what, you can't escape the way the world works… everyone always has to log out to attend to things and obligations that they can't escape from… after all, nobody lives in EDEN, they just go in and out. Nope, no matter what, life follows specific rules that cyberspace can't change." I said.

Erika then smiled for a second before she said: "…You're a very interesting thinker, I see. You might be fun to debate, or to discuss new ideas with. I'm a little impressed." I suddenly grinned back and said: "Thanks Erika." Just then though, I heard my phone ring. I wasn't expecting any calls, but I said: "Whoops… I'll be back." And then I walked out and answered it. I said: "Hello?" and I heard the caller's voice… it was K! Now that was a blast from the past… he said: "Hello again. I see you've made some new friends in Hudie. That's excellent."

My eyes drooped as I heard this and I felt annoyed. I then responded by saying: "Oh, it's you… I'm kind of in the middle of something right now. What do you want?" "My, my, what a change in attitude! You doubt me so soon?" K asked. "You told me to target Youji, I caught him, and he was innocent of any involvement you claimed. What would you think of that and your credibility if you were me, K?" I answered. He then said: "Oh, but it is not what it seems. I merely made an error and I am very sorry. I can offer you some consolation though—I have actually discovered the real hacker this time." I didn't answer and he went on: "The hacker's name is Tooru Kayaba. He abuses personal information flowing into the darkness through account raiding to extort money from people and businesses."

"…I don't know why I'm doing this…" I said, and K said: "Hmm?" "Alright, I'll note this for now. But remember this: I'm not going to give you any more chances to get this right if you blow it again." I said. It sounded like K was starting to say something, but I didn't care… I pulled the phone away from my ear and hung up.

I then went back into Erika's office and Erika said: "Oh, you're back… who was the call from?" "It was some bozo making a nuisance call." I said back. Erika's eyelids then drooped and she said: "…Well I guess that'll teach you to check the number before you answer your phone…" and I said: "Definitely."

But then something surprising happened: I heard Wormmon speak! She said: "Hey Erika, how much longer do I have to stand here doing nothing?" and then Erika said: "Don't worry—I'm almost done." She then turned around to her screen and I couldn't help moving in to look as I said: "Is that Wormmon?" I then saw Wormmon in a window on the screen and she looked at me and said: "Oh hey, Keisuke! Long time, no see!" Erika then turned to me and said: "I've been conducting scans on Wormmon to see what I can learn from them. The results have been really remarkable actually…" and I said: "How so?"

"Well based on what I can see, Digimon are actually closer to being organic lifeforms than programs. They can reproduce by laying eggs, grow by digivolving, learn and consume foods too. They're actually not that different than us in many senses…" Erika said and Wormmon jumped up and said: "That's right!" before Erika said: "Hold still, Wormmon…" and sighed before she said: "Now I'll have to start this scan over…" "Oops… sorry, Erika." Wormmon said. "Just keep still a little longer, okay? I said I was almost done." Erika said. She then scanned Wormmon a bit more before she said: "Okay, I'm done." And Wormmon said: "Great! *Whew*, I'm hungry! How about some lunch, Erika?" "Alright sure. I'll send some digital meat your way—" Erika began, but then her phone rang. She then said: "Hold on, Wormmon." And she checked the number before she picked it up and said: "Hello?"

When I saw this, I decided to respect Erika's privacy and leave. I stepped out of her office and went to a cubicle and collapsed in the chair. I guess I'll be training my Digimon again for a while. I thought about who I wanted to take with me for a bit, but then I felt someone put their hand on my shoulder! I whirled around and saw it was Erika before she said: "No need to be so jumpy. It's Hudie's office, isn't it? Who did you think was here?"

"Can't you at least see as to how that would startle someone…? Say you're there next time, okay?" I said. "Jeez…" Erika said before she went on: "That call was from my brother. He said a new case for all of us came in and that we all have to meet in my office. He and Chitose are probably going to be back in 20 minutes, so you're off the hook for now, but don't be late—come on over on the double when it's time." "Okay, no problem." I said back.

Since it was only 20 minutes, I guess there's not going to be enough time to do any real training… instead, I went to the Digilab and I added Salamon, Dracomon, BlackAgumon and Lunamon to my phone (leaving Renamon and Otamamon together in the farm island) before I left and sat at the computer in the cubicle I had logged in from. I wasn't sure what to do, so I thought I should learn something, but what? As I thought it over, I decided to research Kowloon and who was in it, to familiarize myself with hacker teams we may encounter. Time dwindled down before I noticed it was 5 minutes before and I went back to Erika's office. I knocked on the door and said: "Erika? It's me. I'm ready for the meeting." "Then come in." Erika said. I then did so and she said: "It looks like you're here a little early… not that that's a bad thing, of course. Well, take a seat and we'll wait for Ryuji and Chitose." I nodded and sat down. A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door, and I heard Ryuji say: "We're back, Erika." Erika then got up and opened the door, and Ryuji and Chitose came in.

Ryuji then said: "We're all ready to start. Where's Keisuke?" Erika then pointed to me and said: "He's on the floor, over there." Ryuji and Chitose then turned to me and Chitose said: "Heh-heh! You came prepared for this one I see, Keisuke! Excellent work!" "Thank you, Chitose." I said back. "Well that's convenient—as long as we're already in the same place, it'll save us a step. Let's get started." Ryuji said.

Everyone else then sat down and Ryuji turned to me before he said: "Now then, as I was saying to Erika, a new case has come in from Zaxon." He then turned back to face all of us and he went on: "They've looked into it, and they found that Youji was actually reporting to another hacker to deal in accounts… and so were many others." "That's interesting. Does this top dog hacker have a name?" Erika asked. "Yes. His name is… is…" Ryuji said, but then he paused. It looked like he was looking at Erika's screen…

Finally, he said: "Erika… what IS that?" and then Erika hastily turned around. We all looked and saw the window with Wormmon was still open on the screen. She must have forgotten to close it… Erika then turned back to us, but before she could say anything, Wormmon said: "I'm Wormmon! Nice to meet ya!" Chitose then grinned and he said: "Oh-ho! A Digimon! I thought you weren't interested in them, Erika?" Erika then said: "She's my Digimon. Keisuke and I met her in Kowloon when we were investigating, and I picked her up." Wormmon then looked confused and said: "Picked me up? You were the one who said you wanted to take care of me, Erika. Don't you remember?" Erika then turned around (looking embarrassed) and said: "W-Wormmon!" and Chitose and I laughed before Ryuji grinned and said: "Alright then, no problem. It'll be good to have another Digimon on the team."

Erika turned back to us and Ryuji then went on: "Now then, as I was saying, we do have a name of the hacker. His name is Mephisto—and Zaxon wants us to recover all the accounts he stole." "That may be tricky. I can't help but think that an account broker at that level would be a dangerous opponent." I said. "Dangerous or not, we have to try. The good news is that Zaxon knows exactly how many are missing. The bad news is that Zaxon has no clue where to start looking. That being said, we're going to need to dig up information on this Mephisto… as a team." Ryuji said. He then went on: "Chitose, Erika, you both look up info on the net and in the real world." "Leave it to me." Erika answered. "You can count on me! This is my specialty, after all!" Chitose answered. "Good. I'll go gather information from hackers in Kowloon." Ryuji said. He then turned to me and said: "Keisuke, you come too." "Yes sir!" I said. "Good. Once one of us gets news about Mephisto, contact everyone else to make our move. Alright, let's get started!" Ryuji said. He then got up to leave (as did Chitose and I) while Erika turned to face her computer again.

Chitose then went down the hall while Ryuji said: "As I mentioned, our job is going to be to dig up information on Mephisto in Kowloon. That means we're going to have to ask other hacker teams." "Right. Now let's see…" I said as I paused to think about what I had read, before I said: "I did some research before you came, and I guess some of the teams we could ask would be Black Silver or the Nakano Stripes…" and Ryuji grinned before he said: "You've been doing your homework I see. Yes, either one of those would be ideal. Black Silver tends to loiter at the Digimarket, but the Nakano Stripes are wanderers, so they'll be harder to track down… still, at least we have a lead on one. Let's go to the Digimarket." "You bet!" I said.

We then logged in and went to the Digimarket. Black Silver was actually a team of old men, so they would be easy to spot. I saw the same salesman from last time was here too (and he passed me a very sharp glance as soon as he saw me) before Ryuji and I went around. We found some old men who were Black Silver members, but they didn't know anything, or at least… they didn't claim they did. Ryuji and I then went to Under Kowloon level 2, where we were in luck—Nakano Stripes members were everywhere! The Nakano Stripes was a team of young women who were mostly from Nakano, but unfortunately, most of them were very hostile and the ones who we did get to talk to didn't know anything more than the Black Silver members did…

Ryuji and I then eventually headed back to the entrance and Ryuji looked disappointed as he said: "So it looks like neither Black Silver, nor the Nakano Stripes knew anything…" "Cheer up! We'll find something eventually. Not everything we do is easy after all." I said. Ryuji then grinned, but then his phone rang all of a sudden. "Hold on…" Ryuji said as he checked it and then he picked it up and said: "Hello, Chitose. What is it?" and then he listened for a while before he suddenly grinned again and said: "That may work… alright, we're on our way. Good job." And he hung up moments later.

"Chitose called? What was that about?" I asked. "He has a lead… let's go back to the office and we'll discuss it further." Ryuji said. I nodded and we logged out. Once we got back, Ryuji and I went to a cubicle where Chitose was and he said: "Hey, welcome back!" "Hello, Chitose. Could you reiterate what you found?" Ryuji asked.

"I'd be glad to! Ultimately, I dug up a suspicious-yet-useful sounding piece of information… what I heard was that the hacker team known as the 'Steam Dealers' has suddenly gained a lot of money and influence from 'doing business' lately—" Chitose began and Ryuji said: "And you think that's connected to doing business with Mephisto in account dealing?" "As sad as it is, account dealing is one of the fastest ways to make money these days. It's also one of the least honest ways, but… some people aren't concerned with making an honest living nowadays." Chitose answered.

"I'll admit it sounds plausible… alright, I'll go get Erika to get us the URL to their server—" Ryuji began, and then Chitose said: "Heh-heh! I thought you'd say that! That's why I asked Erika to scrounge up their server's URL! And she's already found it! Since she gave it to me, I'll send it to you as well!" and he sent it to me and Ryuji before Ryuji said: "Excellent, Chitose. Okay, let's log in!" and we all went to cubicles and logged into the Steam Dealers' base…

When we arrived, we looked around… there wasn't anybody in this area… what luck! Ryuji then whispered: "Looks like we got lucky… now let's move and stay on the lookout for Steam Dealers—", but then Chitose whispered sharply: "Oh shoot—duck!" and then we turned and saw a guy on a walkway above us! It seemed he didn't see us though, so we quickly ducked down. Chitose then whispered: "How are we going to sneak around now?" "It may be unavoidable for us to get caught… we'll just have to do our best until we do—" Ryuji whispered, but then I whispered: "No… it doesn't have to be that way." "Keisuke?" Chitose asked. I then grabbed onto them and said: "I'm going to use a hacking skill to sneak right up on them. I'll drop it when we reach our target. Just whatever happens, don't let go!" and then I activated the stealth hide hacking skill I had studied… it was a skill that turned us invisible and concealed our account information. It required a virus type Digimon to use, but since I had BlackAgumon, that wasn't a problem!

We then turned invisible, and I heard Chitose whisper: "Wh—whoa!" and Ryuji whisper: "Outstanding Keisuke! That'll work perfectly. Now let's go." We then started sneaking around their server. We eventually made it to a dead end with three members… they dressed very formally and all wore suits, ties and slacks… but also all had gas masks on for some crazy reason… they had to be some of the weirdest people I had ever seen…

Nonetheless, it looked like we had reached some people we could gather some information from. I dropped the stealth hide and we suddenly were visible again. One of the Steam Dealers immediately said: "What the—hey, where did you come from?!" and the other two whirled around and another said: "What the—intruders?!" and the last one said: "Hey, how did you get in here? And who are you anyway?!" "Just some visitors. Do you greet everyone who comes here this way?" I asked.

"We certainly are hospitable to our guests… which doesn't include you. Why don't you tell us what you're doing breaking into our server, hmm? And how you got in while you're at it?" a Steam Dealer said. "An excellent suggestion! I think I'll take you up on that. Well, the reason we came in was because we wanted to ask what you know about a hacker named 'Mephisto'." Chitose said. "Wh-where did you hear that name?!" one of the Steam Dealers asked. Chitose then grinned and said: "Ha! Looks like you ARE connected to him!" Another Steam Dealer said to the first one: "Watch what you say! You're a loose cannon!" He then turned to us and said: "Well you're certainly one to give incomplete answers… but as long as that's so, I don't see any reason fit why we shouldn't be allowed to do the same in kind. Now beat it before we clean you up with the rest of the garbage!"

"The rest of the garbage? You don't keep a clean base?" I teased. The same Steam Dealer then demonstrated through his body language that he was annoyed and said: "Ugh, can't you smell it?! The foul air in cyberspace. That's why we wear these gas masks! We'll remove them once the air is cleaner." "Are you hypersensitive to odors or something? I almost never smell anything in cyberspace…" I said. Another Steam Dealer then said: "Oh, so you can't smell the stench, huh? Well maybe it's just you then, heh-heh…"

"Whether you're hypersensitive or not, we don't have any intention of leaving here empty-handed. Why don't we see who can clean who up?" Ryuji asked. One of the Steam Dealers then said: "So the last team standing wins then, hm? Well fine!" he then turned to the other Steam Dealers and said: "Let's take out the garbage!" They then called out their Digimon. I didn't recognize all of them, but most of them that I did recognize were vaccine Digimon, so I called out Dracomon, Lunamon and Salamon, while Ryuji called out his Digimon and Chitose called out his. Ryuji then said: "We'll each take on an opponent in one-on-one confrontations until one side has lost all of their Digimon. Let's show them what we can do!" I nodded and Ryuji and Chitose took the tamers on either side on, while I approached the Steam Dealer in the middle. The Steam Dealer across from me called out three Digimon… one looked like a normal Agumon-family Digimon… except its entire body was made of colorful Legos! It walked on two legs, had two arms and looked a little taller than a normal Agumon at 2'10 tall.

The next was a dinosaur-like Digimon, with some similarities to an archaeopteryx and it walked on two legs. It had two arms and long, silver toenails and claws. It had one horn on the top of its head that was colored yellow-orange and a rhombus on its forehead of the same color. It had red stripes around its shoulders and purple skin with wings off of its arms… it looked 3'5 tall.

The last one was a humanoid golem-like creature that was colored gray and looked like it was made of rocks. It walked on two legs, had two arms and two eyes. It was about 3'2 tall.

I then felt my phone vibrate and it said: "Left to right: ToyAgumon scan data: 20%, Monodramon scan data: 20%, Gotsumon scan data: 20%.". Since it said that Gotsumon was a data Digimon, I said: "Salamon, get ready to block! Dracomon, hit ToyAgumon with a baby breath!" and Dracomon said: "Baby breath!" and spat a fireball at ToyAgumon, which it took a little hard. The Steam Dealer then said: "Gotsumon, slug that Dracomon with a rock fist! ToyAgumon, give the Lunamon a taste of your plastic blaze!" and ToyAgumon said: "Plastic blaze!" and spat a block of flame at Lunamon that hit her and made her flinch before it bounced off and burned away… the Gotsumon then said: "Rock fist!" and punched Dracomon with his fist.

But then something odd happened: when Dracomon recovered, he looked mad and roared out! "Dracomon?" I asked. "OH NO! I didn't think it would set off his support skill!" The Steam Dealer said. "What are you talking about?" I asked. "You don't even know what support skills are…? Argh, how could I be threatened by such a blatant newbie?!" the Steam Dealer said, sounding truly annoyed. He then said: "Monodramon, hit Salamon! Heavy strike!" and then Monodramon said: "Heavy strike!" and ran at Salamon and swung his wing at her, but Salamon assumed a defensive position before he hit her, so she didn't take it too hard.

"Lunamon, hit ToyAgumon with tearing shot!" I said. Lunamon then said: "Tearing shot!" and sent a big bubble of water at ToyAgumon, but before I saw what happened, I checked my phone for information about support skills—I wanted to know what this guy was talking about! It turned out that support skills were innate traits that all Digimon possessed that affected how they (and their friends) battled at all times. Dracomon's support skill was one that made so that—once in a very rare while—whenever Dracomon or one of his friends was hit, they'd get a huge power up to their damage output with attacks that weren't magic, while their damage resistance to non-magic attacks went way down… since Dracomon had an advantage over two of the three Digimon the Steam Dealer was using, I could see why he felt threatened by it.

The Steam Dealer said: "Gotsumon, Monodramon, knock out the Dracomon! Rock fist and knuckle beater!" and Gotsumon said: "Rock fist!" and slugged Dracomon again (which he took harder this time) while Monodramon said: "Knuckle beater!" and he leapt at Dracomon and punched him when he came down. I decided to take advantage of the extra damage that Dracomon could now do and I said: "Dracomon, smack Monodramon! Heavy strike! Salamon, you back him up! Holy light!" and Dracomon said: "Heavy strike!" and ran at Monodramon before swiping at him with his claws. Monodramon took the hit really hard and fell straight down, and as he was getting up, Salamon said: "Holy light!" and struck Monodramon with an exploding, shining cross and then he was down for good this time!

"Argh! ToyAgumon and Gotsumon, get rid of Dracomon, quick! Comet hammer and plastic blaze!" and then Gotsumon said: "Comet hammer!" and made rocks start to fall on Dracomon, while ToyAgumon said: "Plastic blaze!" and spat another block of fire at Dracomon. Dracomon's power really had gone up, but he was also looking tired, so I made a quick decision and said: "Block the attacks, Dracomon!" and he assumed a defensive position. He took the attacks, and luckily was still standing at the end. I then said: "Lunamon, Salamon, help him! Use heal!" and Lunamon and Salamon then said: "Heal!" and each cast a spell on Dracomon that restored his health!

I couldn't see the look on the Steam Dealer's face with that gas mask in the way, although I was sure it must have been priceless, because he backed away and said: "WHAT? No… you're kidding…" and then I said: "Dracomon, hit ToyAgumon! Wolkenapalm!" and Dracomon said: "Wolkenapalm!" and caused a fiery explosion to occur where ToyAgumon was and ToyAgumon said: "Yowch!" before he got up… but just barely. The Steam Dealer then said: "Attack Dracomon with a comet hammer, Gotsumon! ToyAgumon, hit Salamon with plastic blaze!" and then his Digimon did so. I then said: "Salamon, heal yourself! Lunamon, finish ToyAgumon off!" and Salamon healed herself while Lunamon said: "Tearing shot!" and sent a big bubble at ToyAgumon that thoroughly knocked him out!

The Steam Dealer was really looking desperate now and had Gotsumon use a spell that boosted his damage resistance to non-magic attacks. I then decided to toy with him a little as I said: "Lunamon, use idle bubble!" and Lunamon said: "Idle bubble!" as she sent a smaller bubble flying at Gotsumon that hit him… and then he fell on the ground, sound asleep… I then had Dracomon and Salamon attack him and then the Steam Dealer shook his head and said: "I may be daring, but even I can see when the writing's on the wall… I concede." I then grinned and said: "Great! Way to go, everyone!" and Dracomon, Lunamon and Salamon all celebrated. The Steam Dealer then backed away and I looked around and saw Ryuji and Chitose had also finished their matches too.

I then said: "Looks like you're already finished up, Ryuji and Chitose?" "Yes. We finished a while ago." Ryuji said. "And so?" I asked. "A flawless victory! We all won our matches, so it's a 3-0 victory, no next round needed!" Chitose said. "That's great!" I said. Ryuji then approached the Steam Dealers and said: "You lost. So tell us what you know about Mephisto—NOW." One of the Steam Dealers said: "…We communicate by sending a signal to a certain bulletin board. Then they tell us where the deal will take place—" and Ryuji said: "And who is this 'they'? Is it Mephisto?" and the Steam Dealer said: "Ulp… yes."

"Then call him and arrange a meeting this second. Or else we'll be the ones taking out the garbage." Ryuji said. The Steam Dealer sighed and said: "Alright, alright…! I'll arrange it!" He then started texting on his phone before he said: "They're going to meet you at the furthest point in Kowloon level 1 at 11 in the morning tomorrow! Now get out!" I then smiled and said: "Certainly. And thank you—you've been very helpful." We all then went back and logged out.

When we returned to Hudie's office, Chitose said: "Ha ha! Looks like that was a successful run! A job well done everyone!" and Ryuji nodded and said: "Right." He then turned to me and said: "Keisuke, you head into Kowloon to meet with Mephisto tomorrow. Until then, you have some time to use for cases or training your Digimon, so use it wisely." "Understood. I won't let you down, Ryuji!" I said. I then turned around, but then Ryuji said: "Oh Keisuke?" and I turned around and said: "Yes?" and Ryuji said: "I'll send you the number of accounts Mephisto stole that Zaxon quoted for reference—just in case it comes in handy." I then felt my phone vibrate and I smiled and said: "I'm sure it will! Thank you, Ryuji."

I then went and checked the BBS, but I didn't see any cases, so I went to Under Kowloon, training my Digimon and rotating them out to give them all a chance to get stronger, for the rest of the day…