Welcome back! Another chapter hot off the presses! It's still warm, in fact!
Before we dive in... lets look at some reviews!
Animan10: Yeah... stuff gets intense in both games around this time. Hehehe, did Kimeramon's return surprise you? Not gonna lie, When I did the digivolution scenes, that theme would somewhat regularly pop into my head. And yes, that is a very fun fact/
whwsms: thanks for your continued viewing, my friend. I really do appreciate it!
WilliamZ0: It's just how it seemed, I didn't mean to offend. Yeah, she is frequently used... but with something like this, I couldn't think of too many other people who be regular; due to Mikoto's abilities with hacking due to her ability, she struck me as a natural to include. Plus... I haven't seriously used her in anything other than a side role for a while. Accelerator is fun to use... but his ability has the nice tendency to break everything; he's too strong. That being said, I'm glad you enjoy how I have her here! There are many questions, yes... you'll see...
Mr. X: Yup... one more stage to go. Yes, the second match is inbound... and you'll see what happens... As for Machina Revolution, we're not done with them yet! And actually, no; I haven't... I really do need to...
MrQuestionMark: Glad you could get into the intensity! Yeah... Samson and Touma's interaction is fun... my mind-set for Samson is that he means well, but is inherently broken as a person, only able to see things from his point of view, so even something like being used isn't a set-back. Thus, Touma arrives to deal with his broken mentality, as he slips further down the rabbit hole. But, as said above... Machina Revolution isn't finished yet...!
Guest (1): Glad your still having fun! We'll be touching on some of your questions today... say, since I've come to recognize your reviewing style, how about giving yourself a unique name?
wiliamsusanto: Well... you're about to find out!
With that done... remember; while most of the story is kind of its own beast, this is the one exception that appears on the surface to take place in another... but there is a reason for that, I assure you! As well as a... fun surprise... fufufufu...
Enjoy!
"Are… you sure he is going to show?" Keisuke crossed his arms momentarily.
"He messaged me, saying he's on the way. Something about feeding his roommates." The one who responded was the other Mishima sibling, Erika. She had appeared in person rather than just being a voice behind a computer, and the two were standing in the entrance to another Kamishiro location: the Avalon Server. Unlike Under Zero, this location was more for administration and corporate purposes by Kamishiro's higher ups. Although its layout was very similar to Under Zero, the Avalon Server was much more colorful in its presentation, giving a more upbeat tone, which made sense considering who used it.
It also held a secret exclusive room that only the acting CEO of Kamishiro could gain access. The one currently filling that role due to circumstances involving an Eater attack during the EDEN 2.0 demonstration, an incident that ultimately resulted in the entire acting board of directors being removed from service, was none other than one Kishibe Rie.
"…Yeah, he has some… unusual roommates from how he described them…" Keisuke commented.
A few moments passed before the sound of running footsteps could be heard moving toward them.
"S-sorry… fixing dinner was a pain… had to choose between beef, chicken, or pasta…" Touma breathed out when he caught up to the two Hudie hackers.
"…Then what was the problem?" Erika asked.
"Index wanted all three, and I had to fight with her to back down, not to mention cooking it…" Touma sighed.
"A-all three!?" Erika stammered. "The thought of that… makes me sick…"
"Don't mind her so much… she doesn't eat a lot…" Keisuke commented. "…Though that does sound like more than a bit much…"
"That's just Index for you… the human garbage disposal…" Touma crossed his arms. "So… what exactly are we doing here? You mentioned some payback but said you've give me the details later."
A few days had gone by, and the events of the Under Zero invasion by Eaters had gone public. Numerous new victims of EDEN Syndrome had come out of it, notably one Imai Chitose. Kamishiro inevitably blamed it all on the Hackers involved, without a single mention of the Eaters that someone high up in Kamishiro let out into the server.
However, to a select few, who was truly responsible was easy to figure out. Erika happened to be one of those few due to her own association with Kamishiro. The likely culprit was none other than Kishibe Rie herself.
The two hacker's reason for being there? Some good old-fashioned revenge. They knew she was responsible, but that was pointless unless they had some proof.
"So we're raiding her personal data archives then… find something incriminating, and turn it over to whoever needs to see it?" Touma asked.
"Specifically… data related to Kamishiro and illegal dealings." Erika stated. "A job we had some time ago involved raiding a police server and locating some specific data… while I think it ended up deleted from their server, I believe a copy may very well still exist here in Kamishiro's own private sectors."
"So find it and turn it over to the police, and then let the law handle them for all the trouble they caused…" Touma mused. "…Sounds good to me. Legal system can probably do more damage than we can… though I'd still like to throw a punch or two at this woman…"
"…Be sure to let me in on that. We can take turns holding her down while the other slugs her." Erika was very blunt about her opinion on the spiky-haired teen's suggestion.
"Eh… Erika's anger data is raising…" Wormmon appeared next to the two hackers.
"…You can still tell her emotions that easily, huh?" Touma blinked.
"That's right… because Erika and I are connected! Two minds as one for double the power!" Wormmon cheerfully stated.
"I wouldn't exactly say double…" Erika trailed off.
"T-that's mean!" Wormmon whined.
"…I recall you saying that before…" Touma stated. "Can… I ask how? Or is that… sensitive information?"
"…Tell me your secret and I'll tell you mine." The sullen girl replied. "Pay back for what happened in Under Zero can't be your only reason; you had no personal investment. I invited you for this based on a hunch, and I'm after some answers."
"So you told me to come just to hound me for information yourself, huh?" Touma sighed. "…Fair enough I guess. Sure, I'm just as pissed about the whole Under Zero thing like everyone else, but I didn't really know too many people that well; anyone I did know who was lost was just an acquaintance at best."
"So why did you decide to tag along?" Keisuke asked.
"Well, for one: pissed. I was angry at the time over the whole thing and wanted to slug someone, so someone giving me the opportunity to do just that was exactly what I was after." Touma replied. "…And you were asking for help. I don't know you two that well, but I can tell you're good people put into a bad situation… especially considering that unlike me, you both lost someone you cared about… in a situation like that, I'm more than happy to lend a hand."
"Is that so…?" Erika crossed her arms.
"Yeah," Touma nodded. "Plus, if information hunting is what we're doing, then I might be able to grab something I need myself."
"Eh? What would Kamishiro have that you'd be interested in?" Keisuke asked.
"Let's just say… some outside factions have been watching the whole ordeal with Machina Revolution rather closely… and while we have information out that it was them just simply working with Kamishiro, some evidence of some kind involving their dealings would do wonders for calming these factions down from accusing each other of nefarious deeds…" Touma answered.
"…Even that hacker group was on Kamishiro payroll? I heard about the Demons possibly being related, but I thought that was just hearsay…" Keisuke commented.
"So just being a good samaritan coupled with some personal anger toward the situation… and a convenient method to calm down the powers that be… I suppose that checks out." Erika stated. "…But…"
"Why do I feel like I'm not going to enjoy this incoming question…!?" Touma stated.
"…Does one of these sides have to do with… magic?" The sullen girl asked.
Touma stayed quiet for a moment.
"…I'm guessing that trying to tell you "That's silly," or something similar probably isn't going to dissuade you." The unlucky Kamijou finally replied.
"The fact you said that more or less sealed it." Erika stated. "The few times you and Keisuke crossed paths, I was running support or otherwise observing… and I've seen a few things. Digimon suddenly digivolving for no reason is one thing, but fire and lightning from seemingly normal people is another. I know Esper abilities are applicable online, but considering the circumstances…"
"Yeah… alright, you caught it." Touma exhaled. "What do you want to know?"
"Machina Revolution… what are they? Really?" Erika asked with a stern expression. Touma took some time to choose his words carefully before responding to her.
"…They are a magic cabal; a large organization of mages come together for a shared goal." Touma replied. "They might not all have the exact same desires or motivations, but their goal is the same. From what I can tell, their goal is to "create paradise," whatever that means. Moreover, EDEN appears to be part of it somehow. Those attacks you saw coming from them… that was magic. I don't know why magic works in EDEN, but it's probably similar to why Esper powers do."
"I see…" Erika responded rather calmly, especially considering what she was being told.
"That's about it when it comes to them specifically… their stunts of using magic in EDEN and causing a uproar apparently pissed off some people on the magic side of the world when they learned about it, and are hounding the science side for answers, accusing the whole side of doing it purposefully. As for why that's bad, it involves some politics between the sides that I'm not sure I fully understand. Let's just say that magic and science mixing is bad and leave it at that." Touma finished.
"…This magic stuff sounds confusing, and all you did was give us the basics…" Keisuke stated.
"Believe me; I agree. I had all this stuff dropped on my head out of the blue way back when…" Touma rubbed his neck.
"Kamijou Touma… are you a magician?" Erika asked with just a hint of curiosity in her voice.
"Nope… my right hand just happens to negate magic, and somehow it decides to come with me here in EDEN… there is some back story… but if we keep talking like this we're never going to get anywhere. I can talk in detail when we're not illegally in a private company's server, alright?"
"I thought you wanted to know about the connection between me and Wormmon?" Erika asked.
"I do… but I also want to get this done too." Touma replied.
"…Just one more question." Erika stated. The unlucky Kamijou sighed.
"Fine… what is it?" Touma put his hands into his coat pockets. Then, Erika asked the question.
A questioned that earned her concerned looks from her two companions.
"…Can magic fix me?" Erika asked.
Touma blinked.
"Fix… you?" He tilted his head and frowned. "You… seem fine to me… is something wrong…?"
"It will require a bit of storytelling… but perhaps it would be best if we walked and talked instead. You do have a point about us needed to get this done." The sullen girl replied.
"Erika… are you sure?" Keisuke asked.
"Of course… it is my story to tell. I'm counting on you to trust me." Erika replied. After a moment, the Hudie hacker nodded before leading the group through the server.
It was a bit of a maze, but with several firewalls evident of a high security placement being the main method of deterring trespassers. There were even digimon, seeming under "employment" of some kind to guard the area, though Keisuke did his best to keep them at bay. His team had digivolved; his Golemon had become Volcamon: a humanoid strongly resembling an American football player with a volcano on its back. His Seadramon had become MegaSeadramon, a sea serpent just like before, but trading its blue color scheme for red, as well as gaining more fins and a metallic helmet with a silver horn extending from it. Even his MegaKabuterimon had ascended to a mega level to become Hercules Kabuterimon, a large golden insect greatly resembling a Hercules beetle.
As they walked, Keisuke fought, all the while Erika talked. She had a condition related to brain damage from a car accident when she was younger that unfortunately took the lives of her and Ryuji's parents. The two siblings survived, but the one who truly came out unscathed was unfortunately the brother.
After the incident, Erika's brain would regularly overload on information it had, the damage she sustained making it difficult to process all her sensory input to the point of affecting her motor control. If left alone, it would even begin to mess with her internal biological systems, which would inevitably lead to death.
Then Kamishiro came in. Out of nowhere, they offered a solution: offload some of the information in her brain to a digital space to reduce the strain on her mind, and hook her up to a digital server to allow normal brain function. The method involved digitizing her memories and storing them, though recently it was revealed that Kishibe Rie had forced Ryuji into doing work for Kamishiro in exchange for this treatment.
However, it was just a stopgap measure. Her injury wouldn't heal naturally due to its severity, or at least not enough in time to change her fate. Offloading her memories helped significantly, but other information gathered naturally outside of her memories in addition to natural brain development would bring about the problem once again, and other parts of her mind were far from safe to attempt to digitize and remove.
Eventually, even if she regularly digitized her memories, she would still die. She likely wouldn't even make it to eighteen years of age.
"So… when you said that your situation and Accelerator's were similar…" Touma trailed off.
"That's right," Erika answered. "To be honest, I thought Kamishiro was the only one capable of doing it like this… but I suppose Academy City is supposedly the most advanced place on the planet…"
"I'm guessing that when you say Wormmon and you are connected… it's that he is actually hooked up to your memory server too?" Touma asked. Erika nodded. "I see… have you tried to go to Academy City?"
"…Too expensive for us. Just getting inside would need a small fortune… let alone paying for an advanced medical procedure…" Erika frowned. "…And after losing Chitose, Ryuji is off god knows where and won't answer me when I call…"
It was pretty easy to figure out how Ryuji was feeling after hearing that. The man had suffered a tragic loss of his parents, his best friend, and considering his eventual loss of his sister…
Nothing more needed to be said as to how lonely he must have felt.
"…So, can magic fix me…?" Erika asked again.
"I… I want to say yes, but…" Touma replied. "Magic is… well; magic. I might interact with it, but that's not the same as fully understanding it…"
"…I see." Erika replied.
"I don't have an answer for you… but…" Touma paused for a moment before shaking his head. "…After a story like that, I can't exactly back down. I'll try to figure something out for you… for all of you guys, so you all can get over this."
"All of us, huh…?" The sullen girl stated. "…I suppose it would do more than just cheer up Onii-san, huh…"
"Think how Keisuke is feeling; he knows all of this already, right?" Touma replied. "I'm sure he'd be absolutely ecstatic to hear about it, eh?"
"…Why specifically Keisuke?" Erika glared at the unlucky Kamijou.
"If you have to ask that question, then you already know why." Touma replied. "Besides, you two are already on a first name basis; it's hard not to connect the dots."
"I-I am right here, you know that!?" Keisuke suddenly turned around and shouted.
"Oh hey, you got back from the fight; how'd it go?" Touma smiled and waved.
"…Bringing you was a mistake." Erika stated coldly.
"Well I'm already here, so let's finish this up, alright?" Touma replied with a grin.
"…I think I see the access point up ahead." Keisuke stated, eager to change the topic.
True to his word though, they had reached the end of the first floor. The access point lead them to a small circular room. It was mostly blue with several small cubes floating around aimlessly.
"Guessing this is some kind of a safe zone?" Touma asked.
"Something similar. I've been here once before, but never went on ahead." Keisuke answered.
"Yeah… this is our second time hacking into the Avalon Server…" Wormmon stated.
"Second time huh… the hacking world sure does take you to some strange places…" Touma stated as he looked around.
"Wormmon," Erika called out to her partner. "The next step is important: this area is close to Kamishiro's personal terminals in their headquarters. Go to Kishibe's office from here and steal the password to the secret room from her computer."
"…This is sounding more illegal by the second…" Touma commented.
"Quit complaining; the password is changed every day, so we need to steal it from her terminal to gain access." Erika shot back, crossing her arms in the process.
"Understood! Leave it to me!" Wormmon replied confidently before wiggling off to the edge of the room, looking for a way out.
"Will he be ok?" Touma asked.
"He'll be fine. He's gotten a lot more reliable since we started sharing our memories… he used to be such a klutz…" Erika actually smiled when she was finished speaking.
However…
"AHHHHHH! It's a traaaaap!" Wormmon could be heard screaming from across the room. "Eeeek! S-security Digimon are heading this way!? What did I do wroooong!?"
The group was silent for a moment.
"…Used to be a klutz, huh?" Touma deadpanned.
"W-well… I didn't expect it to be easy…" Erika replied.
"I think we should move on ahead before we start having second thoughts…" Keisuke commented.
The group pushed on ahead, hoping that Wormmon would avoid death and deliver the password they do desperately needed. There were only two more floors ahead of them, but at the last portion of the final floor, they reached a dead end.
"…So this must be it, I guess? A secret room would be hidden… so it'd make sense to not have it openly visible…" Touma questioned.
"More or less; hidden from view until the password is entered." Erika answered. She then opened up the chat line on her console. "Wormmon… did you get the password?"
For a moment, there was only heavy breathing on the line.
"I… got… it…!" Wormmon's voice came through, though the little guy was clearly exhausted.
"…Why are you so out of breath? Was it really that much of a challenge?" Erika asked.
"You don't have any idea how many traps and security walls I had to bypass… but it worked out in the end!" Wormmon was starting to sound cheerful again.
"…How many of them did you set off on accident?" Touma asked.
"D-don't ask me that! It's really embarrassing, ok!?" Wormmon whined. It was clear he went through quite the ordeal.
"…Can we get the password?" Keisuke asked.
"Oh! Sure! Hold on!" Wormmon joyfully replied. After a few moments, all three received a message of some kind. "Ok! Password sent!"
All three opened up their console to check what was sent to them and promptly froze in place. It wasn't because of some kind of virus however…
…It was the password itself that gave these three pause.
"… The password is… Rie*total_goddess…" Keisuke spoke aloud.
"…I didn't think it was possible for her to make me want to punch her more, but here she goes and does it." Touma replied. "If this is today's, what are some of the others?"
"It goes on a cycle from the looks of it… yesterday's was… hmm?" The little Wormmon trailed off. "…Erika, what's sex?"
The normally sullen girl flushed bright red almost instantly… as did everyone else on the line.
"…What?" Erika asked.
"Sex… yesterday's password has this word in it, but I don't recognize it." Wormmon replied, completely unabashed due to not knowing what the word he was throwing around meant.
"…Forget it. Get back here; I need you here when we head inside." Erika stated.
"But I want to know! Your offhand memories don't refer to it, so I'd have to go digging to find out… so what is it?" Wormmon asked again.
"If you go digging for that, I will beat you!" Erika somehow turned a darker shade of red, shouting angrily. However, shortly after she managed to calm down. "…I'll… tell you later… s-so just get back here…"
"Ok then! Be back soon!" Wormmon replied before cutting the line. A few minutes went by before then the little digimon returned. With everyone present and accounted for, Erika entered in the password. As she did, a bright white light appeared at the dead end, eventually taking the shape of a doorway. One at a time, the group stepped through into the secret room.
…It was pink.
It was very, very pink. It had a pink loveseat, a large pink bed with pink curtains. Even the ground and the walls of the circular room were pink. The only other colors present where white and gold, but they were completely eclipsed by all of the pink in the room.
Other than that, it seemed very much akin to a women's bedroom. A small bookshelf, a dresser, a make-up table, and several mirrors. Many pictures were hung around the room… and they were all pictures of Rie herself.
"…This… is making my head hurt." Erika groaned.
"I think it's a perfect fit for a girl…" Touma began. "…If they were… a three year old or something…"
"She certainly has… unique… tastes…" Keisuke commented.
"Yeah that's… definitely a word…" The spiky-haired teen shook his head. "So this is her super-secret information storage place?"
"…Unfortunately," Erika sighed. "Alright… search the room. We're after the crime data… but if you find anything that might be related to Kamishiro's dealings with Hackers, let us know. Kamijou needs that for his own dealings."
Thus, the group began to search around the room. There was a book on the bed, but it didn't have any information related to either party's needs, so they quickly discarded it. Much of the room didn't have any information related to what they were looking for, and by process of elimination, only two places were left.
The make-up table and the dresser.
"…Why does this reek of some kind of cheap perfume…" Touma commented. "…Better question, why does anyone need perfume in cyber space? Or make-up for that matter? At least the furniture serves SOME purpose, but this seems like a waste of memory…"
"I'm getting the vibe that Rie is more than a tad eccentric…" Keisuke replied.
"…Well, maybe the drawers have something..." Touma went digging, doing his best to ignore the strong sent coming from the table. All that was inside was make-up cases and different scents of perfume. Growing irritated, Touma began to throw out different objects behind him as he dug through.
However, one of the makeup cases broke apart completely after hitting the ground, revealing what seemed like a small notebook.
"…Hey, Kamijou-san. You might have found something." Keisuke stated as he picked up the book.
"Actually hid it inside object data…? Clever…" Erika commented. "Though its durability was lacking…"
"Hey, don't complain when you get good fortune. I'll take it as a personal offense if you do." Touma stated. "Well, what is it?" Keisuke opened up the notebook and began thumbing through slowly.
"…I think this is what you're looking for, Kamijou-san." The Hudie hacker reported. "It has a lot of details about hacker groups… Zaxon… Demons… Machina Revolution is in here too. Even has comments about what she needed them to do as well as details about meetings with them… apparently Kishibe saw Machina Revolution performing magic and got interested, and ended up sponsoring them and their campaigns…"
"Great; that should clear things up." Touma stated. "I just need to get this to Stiyl sometime soon. Hope it's enough; don't need another war just because some magicians went a little bonkers on the internet."
Keisuke handed the book over to Touma. As solid as the information that it contained was, it didn't have anything related to Kamishiro's dark underbelly, so that left only one place left to check.
The dresser.
Moreover, it was full off…
"…" Keisuke couldn't bring himself to speak.
"…Why are you holding women's underwear?" Erika asked, a very clear force of contempt leaking out of every syllable. Keisuke reflexively dropped it and tried to speak, but nothing but a flood of random letters could escape his lips as he cowered in fear.
"I-I'm sensing a lot of anger data…!" Wormmon cowered in just as much fear. She appeared to stomp towards the duo, as they were both checking the dresser, but an unusual question seemed to derail the girl's fury.
"…Why does she even have underwear in cyber space?" Touma asked. "I mean… can we actually take off our clothes in EDEN? Isn't it all just part of our avatar when it gets scanned in…?"
Erika paused, seemingly pondering this new information.
"…So then why would she have a drawer full of it…?" She asked openly before walking over to the drawer itself and began digging through it with gusto.
In the end, she pulled out something resembling a data file.
"…Is that…?" Keisuke blinked.
"The crimes data...!" Erika stated. "I already checked it… it has all kinds of dirt on her and Kamishiro… plus a few things on Kishibe Rie personally…"
"Too bad you won't be leaving with it."
The appearance of another person was quite the shock. Light steps could be heard slowly making their way into the hidden room from behind. It didn't take long for the surprise guest to make herself known.
"My… what an unexpected surprise!" A woman spoke in an upbeat tone, as if she was trying to sound younger than she actually was.
"Kishibe… Rie…!" Erika called out in surprise.
"That's my name… Mishima Erika." The woman in question spoke. "…And what's this? Going through my private undie drawer? How shameful!" Despite her contemptful words, she kept up the playful tone.
"Why do you even have an undie drawer? You don't even need one on EDEN! The only reason you'd have one would be for someone to purposefully find them! What the hell are you thinking!?" Touma shouted.
"…I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't spoil all the secrets of a young woman, Kamijou-kun." Rie frowned.
"You've got to be kidding me- …wait, how do you know my name!?" Touma grew nervous; he was more than sure that he had never met this woman in his life. How did she know her?
"…Wormmon. You know what to do, right?" Erika whispered.
"You got it! Leave it to me; be careful!" Wormmon cheerfully replied before wiggling away on his little feet. The sensual woman barely acknowledged the little digimon's existence, instead choosing to focus on the three teenagers before her.
"Oh I know you quite well. But don't feel singled out; I know Erika-chan very well too!" Rie replied. "It's too bad that big brother Ryuji isn't here… it must have been scary without him keeping you all nice and safe like he always does, hmm…?"
"…You're going to pay for that…!" Erika grit her teeth. "You're going to pay… for Ryuji and Chitose! Do you hear me!?"
"Aww, he got one of his friends mixed in with it too? Looks like you're not the only one relying on others to live." Rie replied. "…So, I assume you're here for revenge? Is that really your place…? After all; you're the cause of all of his suffering… unavoidable death is such a pain, wouldn't you agree?"
Erika suddenly backed off with her eyes wide. Rie laughed lightly; accusing Erika of being the source of her own brother's depression and desperation tore her heart asunder, and she absolutely loved it. She opened up her mouth to speak again, but someone else shouted over her.
"Hey! Shut the hell up you son of a bitch" Touma shouted. "Arguing fault when there is nothing either of them could have done… you don't have the right! Shut the fuck up before I beat your teeth in and make you, do you hear me!?"
"…Ah yes, then there is you. The one with the least reason to be here." Rie frowned. "I was actually looking forward to tearing the dying princess apart… but you just had to speak up, didn't you?"
"…This woman is pissing me off." Touma glared at the green-haired woman. "Hey; what do you say before we throw her to the wolves he rough her up a little bit? I don't know about you, but one punch won't be enough for me to calm down after hearing this crap pour from that disgusting mouth of hers."
"Do you even need to ask?" Keisuke stepped forward, looking ready for a fight himself.
"…You might be right." Erika spoke up. "All of this… never would have happened to Ryuji if it wasn't for me…"
"Erika-"
"But… did you think that even for a second that I'd just sit here and let you get away with manipulating him like that!?" Erika shot out next. "I'm going to bring you crashing to the ground, even if it's the last thing I'll do!"
"My… so hostile… and those big strong men you got with you are looking to man-handle me… ah… it's too bad." Rie replied. "I wanted this to go on for a little longer… but I'm just a tad curious about that little digimon who escaped… so, since you all are pressuring me…!"
The form of Kishibe Rie changed instantly. There wasn't even a flash of light to disguise it.
In her absence, there stood a tall but sleek digimon, covered in slender pink and gold armor, looking very reminiscent of a knight.
"…You!" Touma shouted.
"That's right… long time no see, Kamijou-kun." Crusadermon stated with confidence. "Did you miss me?"
"A human… turning into a digimon… what…?" Erika spoke in utter disbelief.
"You're the one who attacked me and Hamazura in that Digital Shift!" Touma spat. "Was that your doing too!?"
"Guilty as charged, I'm afraid… you sure caught me off guard with that power you had hidden away… but I haven't just been sitting on my hands either." The pink knight replied. "I noticed something… no matter how bad things got in Under Zero… you never unleashed it once… you can't use that power on your own, can you?"
Touma clicked his teeth as he clenched his fists.
"…What is she talking about?" Keisuke asked.
"It's not a good time to be asking questions…!" Touma replied.
"Ah… but now all of you have seen my true form… something that no one else has yet to see… what to do about this…" Crusadermon mused openly.
"…You have no intention of letting us leave here alive, do you?" Erika questioned.
"Give the girl a piece of candy; for being so sheltered you are rather quick witted, aren't you? Saves me the trouble of explaining what's going to happen to you." Crusadermon replied.
"Not a chance in hell! DoruGreymon!" Touma shouted. At his command, the new and improved beast digimon manifested and charged right at the pink knight, intending to run her through with his horn.
However, Crusadermon gracefully dodged to the side and kicked DoruGreymon across his rather large head, sending him rolling toward the south side of the circular room.
"An ultimate level, huh? Not bad… but still no comparison to me." She boasted.
"Yeah? Well how about this!?" Keisuke shouted. The pink knight turned her attention toward the Hudie hacker before suddenly being blindsided by HerculesKabuterimon, who slammed its own massive body into Crusadermon's own. At point blank, the golden beetle began to glow bright yellow before discharging its own signature technique, Giga Blaster, and sending the knight digimon flying with a massive wave of electricity.
Though caught off guard, Crusadermon managed to grind to a halt, appearing none too pleased.
"You… that actually HURT!" Crusadermon raced forward and slammed her gauntlet into HerculesKabuterimon's stomach, unleashing her Fist of Athena at close range. The resulting explosion sent the golden beetle flying into the air.
A massive tail suddenly slammed into the knight digimon's side, it eventually being revealed to be none other than DoruGreymon unleashing the attack. However, she was able to grab ahold of the beast digimon's tail and slow herself down, before abruptly lifting up the massive digimon and hurling him into the air. DoruGreymon retaliated while airborne with a Metal Meteor attack, although Crusadermon unleashed her own Spiral Masquerade, using the golden streamers on her body to slice the flaming piece of iron to pieces before it could do damage.
Using his surprisingly effective wings, DoruGreymon lowered himself to the ground, still staring down the knightly digimon. HerculesKabuterimon landed a fair distance behind Crusadermon, and still looked more than ready for a fight.
"…I think this thing is a bit tough for just two digimon to handle." Touma commented.
"I suppose so…" Keisuke nodded in agreement. MegaSeadramon and Volcamon manifested and took positions on Crusadermon's left and right flanks, respectively.
In response, the knight digimon let out a chuckle.
"Three ultimates and only a single mega… you are underestimating me, aren't you? Or is this simply the best you got?" Crusadermon mocked. "Though I must admit, for those working with what you have, you are doing a passable job at entertaining me. You even managed to hit me a few times… that electric attack strung…"
Despite the verbal berating that the pink knight was giving them, both Keisuke and Touma remained strong.
"I suppose this is commendable… you managed to inflict damage onto one of Yggdrasil's Royal Knights… as a reward, I'll start taking you seriously…"
She looked like she was ready for a second round when she suddenly paused.
"…Huh? W-what the hell!?" Crusadermon spoke in shock as a console screen opened up forcefully on her right.
Touma and Keisuke exchanged looks, but Erika only smirked.
"What…? The police are on their way? Here!?" Crusadermon spat in anger.
"…That's right; your secret is out, miss Royal Knight." Erika replied. "You didn't even notice I didn't have it anymore, did you?"
"W-what…!?" Crusadermon shifted toward the normally sullen girl. There was one important thing missing from her person.
The Cyber Crime Data that she had fished out of the dresser that used to be in her hand.
"What did you…!? No… that Wormmon!?" Crusadermon cursed. "Where did he-"
"Right to a certain detective's desk; a particular one who's been looking into Kamishiro for a long time… does Detective Matayoshi ring any bells?" Erika spoke confidently. "Is it really safe for you to keep fighting like this? You might be powerful here, but your physical body is another story, isn't it?"
Crusadermon let out a low growl.
"Insolent little brat…! I won't let you interfere with my plan…! I will have your head for this, do you hear me!?" Crusadermon shouted loud before dashing into the secret room's edge, vanishing into it.
"You guys… know a detective? Who was looking into this?" Touma asked.
"Detective Matayoshi… is something of a family friend." Erika commented. "…We don't have much time. I tipped Matayoshi off so that he would be ready the moment he got the information. I want to see Kishibe Rie cry with my own two eyes!"
"Hold on, where are we going!?" Keisuke asked.
"The Metropolitan Building in Shinjuku, right here in Tokyo. That's where her body is right now." Erika quickly answered. Keisuke simply nodded in agreement, not bothering to ask how she knew. Knowing Erika, it was likely something very complicated and debatably illegal anyway.
"I see…" Touma crossed his arms. "…I guess this is where we have to part ways then. I'm in Academy City; getting out would take hours let alone making it over…"
"That's right… sorry about this. Making sure she is caught is top priority." Keisuke replied.
"It's fine… I understand; this is your fight after all, not mine. I'm just the third wheel." Touma nodded. "…Though I think I'll hang back a bit. After all the shit she caused, trashing her secret room sounds like a good way to calm down."
"…Guess so!" Keisuke nodded with a smile. "Stay safe, log out as soon as you're done, alright?"
"You got it… and Erika-san," Touma called out. "I meant what I said; I'll figure something out. Don't worry about a thing and just leave it to me, alright? Go make sure Kishibe pays for what she did and take care of your brother until then, ok?"
Erika didn't verbally respond, simply nodding for a reason. Keisuke's three digimon returned to his Digivice before the two left the room.
Now left to his lonesome with his partner digimon, Touma turned to face the rest of the room. Some things were crushed, but most of it was still intact.
"…So where do you want to start?" Touma asked, with DoruGreymon grinning in response.
Both of them were feeling extra malicious today.
-Tokyo, Metropolitan Building-
"You've got to be fucking kidding me… that worm had the data the whole time!?" Rie cursed as she stood up. She got onto her feet so quickly, the chair she used fell backward.
She had her own private office at the Metropolitan Building, mostly because of the company's dealings with the city's government due to EDEN's heavy presence there. She ran to her door and out into the hall, running toward the stairs. Even if her true form was that of a digimon, it was a form she could not use while in the human world outside of a digital shift.
She ran to the stairs, thinking that the police would likely have called ahead and stopped them from running to aid in her arrest, but that was when the unthinkable happened.
The downward stairs was replaced by a mass of digital chaos, just like a digital shift. Only the stairs upward was left unharmed. She looked back and saw that the rest of the floor ad been similarly affected; her own office was inaccessible, and the elevator she had previously disregarded was completely erased as well.
She then discovered that she wasn't alone.
"You didn't really think that you were the only one capable of manipulating digital waves, did you?"
Rie's heart sunk as she took the stairs. The voice came from all directions, but that wasn't the reason why she ran.
Kamishiro, to the best of her knowledge, was the only organization with the capability of causing digital shifts, but right now, she was trapped in one of someone else's design. Transforming into a digimon held little significance at the moment, as she had no idea where her current assailant was.
On the upper floor, the stairs up were gone, which would force her to race across the floor to find another set, but something she saw unsettled her.
She saw someone floating amidst the digital chaos that took the place of the stairs.
It looked like a man, but he vanished just as quickly as Rie saw him. Considering the situation she was in with police on the way, she pressed ahead.
She came to a section where the ground had vanished, and she had to cut through a conference room to reach the other side, but while she did so, she had another sighting.
This time, a woman.
Rie ran, her mind racing even faster than before. Just who the hell was stalking her!? Were these random people behind this!? She found the next set, fortunately leading up, but once more she found a person.
A child.
At this point Kishibe Rie was done and ascended into her Crusadermon form, unleashing an attack upon the child, but just as it would land, the adolescent vanished without a trace.
Rie took the stairs up, unsure of what could have changed due to the shift and not eager to find out by breaking the walls or the ceiling. Once more she had to traverse the next floor, which she did much more quickly due to her form as a digimon, but this did not stop her from another sighting.
An adult.
She didn't even bother attacking, as whoever it was would likely vanish before anything landed. She arrived at the next set of stairs, only to find them completely destroyed, but the elevators appeared to be functional. The moment it opened however, she saw someone else waiting for her.
A saint.
"D-don't screw with me!" Crusadermon/Rie fired her Fist of Athena into the elevator, blowing it apart instantly. The elevator fell due to the sudden shock, and the digimon/human hybrid climbed up quickly, taking the very first door she found out. However, as she exited she looked down, checking to see if she had done in her foe. She saw someone, but this time too it was different.
A sinner.
Rie roared out loudly before firing three rounds downward, causing the entire elevator shaft to go up in flames. Afterward, she wasted no time in exiting the flaming shaft. She was now close to the rooftop. She cursed; whoever was doing this was leading her here. However, despite the outside world appearing rather normal, she maintained her form as a digimon with little difficulty, so the digital shift must have been persisting. She pressed on to the helipad on the roof before she saw one final person standing right in the middle.
This one however had no intention of running away.
Long silver hair.
A twisted silver staff in the human's right hand.
The human spoke only once before chaos erupted.
"I believe I made myself clear… that there was to be consequences if you attempted to bring harm to Kamijou Touma."
-Avalon Server-
"…And that is that." Touma dusted off his hands, despite actually not needing to, as he walked out of the secret room and back into the Avalon Server. He had a rather satisfied look on his face; whatever he did inside appeared to have left him very content with the day's events.
DoruGreymon had safely withdrawn to his partner's Digivice, and with little else to keep him in place, Touma made his way for the server's logout point.
Just as he reached there however, someone else appeared. At first, he thought he had been caught trespassing in a server that he should not have been in, but he calmed down rather quickly after seeing who it was.
"…Tsuchimikado? What are you doing here?" The unlucky Kamijou asked.
"Looking for you, nya!" The blond spy replied. "Heard that there was some kind of ruckus going on over in Tokyo involving the acting head of Kamishiro… so I figured I'd check some of their private servers and see if a certain someone was causing trouble for them, nya."
"Cut the crap, you knew I was here, didn't you?" Touma sighed. "…Though I wonder how you got in…"
"When I do work for people in the wonderful online lands, I keep the keys to a few places and make some shortcuts. I'd go into more detail, but the higher-end stuff would probably go over your head." Tsuchimikado stated.
"I'll… just take your word for it." Touma nodded. "Actually, this might be a good thing. Do you have Stiyl as contact? I've sent him a few requests but he keeps turning them down."
"Nya… so that's how it is, huh?" Tsuchimikado replied. "Yeah, I got him as a contact. Am I giving him a message or delivery?"
"Delivery; he'll definitely want to see this." Touma fished out the digital notebook.
"What's this…? A database…?" Tsuchimikado opened it up and began thumbing through it.
"Yup… has all details related to Kamishiro's dealings with hacker groups… including Machina Revolution." The spiky-haired teen stated. "Lots of details; they've been the ones supporting them since they started pulling their stunts here in EDEN; it's pretty convincing evidence that all of this was just a cabal and a business organization, not a deep involvement in either side trying to tip the balance scale."
"Yeah, seems fairly in depth… damn… but with how things are looking now, Machina Revolution will have to act without that kind of support…" Tsuchimikado commented as he closed it. "Although I'm here to come and get ahold of you in relation to them to be honest, nya."
"Are they… even still active? I saw Samson get run through by Stiyl… I know it's just here on EDEN, but…" Touma trailed off, not really sure how to describe how he was feeling about it all.
"…Caught onto that, did you?" Tsuchimikado replied in a rather serious tone. "Yeah, he's alive… he's more than a bit of an odd one right now because… well…"
"Something wrong?" Touma questioned.
"…I'll just cut to it; Samson Ainsworth is a victim of EDEN Syndrome."
"…What?" Touma shook his head. "But I saw him here in EDEN! Multiple times in fact… unless… did Stiyl cause it?"
"Nah… he's actually been like this for some time; few months in fact." Tsuchimikado replied. "We're looking into the details… but his body his comatose, just like the rest of the EDEN Syndrome patients… but at the same time, is alive and well here on EDEN. It's the craziest thing…"
"…I wonder if Aiba-san would know anything…" Touma commented. "So what's the damage this time?"
"I just got a job to take down their boss once and for all." Tsuchimikado replied. "Don't know what they are planning now, but the powers that be have finally had enough of them it looks like, nya"
"What has them so scared?" Touma crossed his arms.
"No idea… but I think it's that Kimeramon situation…" The blond spy replied. "It being made by magic is one thing, but one of those monsters turning back into it… I don't think they really get the whole situation with Eaters, but them hearing about a dead monster of some kind resurrect itself due to its creation as a magical beast probably got their attention."
"So take them down to avoid using it… man; this whole thing sounds like a train wreck…" Touma shook his head.
"What say you? I've been contracted to head down and deal with him; I can just say I couldn't find you if you don't want to be involved anymore, nya," Tsuchimikado commented.
Touma closed his eyes for a moment, thinking.
"…He's leading an entire group to force a supposed utopia down the collective people's throats… but more importantly, Samson pissed me off." Touma stated. "Part of me wants to wash my hands with him and walk away, but that kind of ending doesn't sound appealing to me… let's do it."
Tsuchimikado smirked.
"You got it," The blond spy nodded. "Let me drop this off and then we'll get this done. One more step and this whole shit storm is over. Let's get this over with, alright!?"
The final battle was before the unlucky Kamijou before he was truly done with the magic cabal run by Samson Ainsworth…
…But was it truly the final battle? Only time would tell…
And now we've reached the bottom... next we step back into the chase of a certain magic cabal... but did the appearance of a Certain Someone throw you for a loop? I sure hope so!
Please, review at your leisure; I still enjoy feedback.
Have a good day, my friends!
Sincerely,
ArmoredCoreNineBall, your friendly (not)robotic (not)overlord (possibly)person who occasionally writes things.