Simon Chapter 6—Leapfrogging—
I had to say, I was excited at Kyoko's claim that the next case was 'a big one'! I hurried back to Broadway and entered Kyoko's office and when she looked up, I said: "Hi Kyoko! I'm all ready for the next case!" Kyoko then grinned and said: "I'm glad to hear that. Yes, this case was from a subcontractor to Kamishiro. Apparently, there have been some… concerns rising over a group of trouble makers in EDEN making mischief. They attack other users, steal Digimon, or even account data… they're a nasty bunch. Our client doesn't know much, but they do have a name… it's 'Demons'. That's what they have reason to believe this group is called."
"Demons? Tch, fitting name…" I said. "Exactly. They wanted us to find some members of this group and get them to say something incriminating that they could use, so needless to say, you're going to be wearing a wire for this case." Kyoko said. "Wow, so I guess that makes me an informant…" I said. "Exactly. Don't worry, I believe you can do it with your wits and Digimon. Just get the wire on and go to Kowloon level 2—that's where they are." Kyoko said. Kowloon level 2… that was a higher floor of Kowloon I had passed through with Nokia, before we had gotten to the floor where we had fought Jimiken! It helped that I knew where I was going at least.
"Alright then, leave it to me!" I said. "Good. Then off you go, Simon!" Kyoko said. I then went off to another room and put the wire on and then went up to the fourth floor to log into Kowloon. But then I thought of something… my Digimon were going to be out when I was going to be talking to the Demons and I was sure they'd be surprised by what kind of things I'd have to say in the course of the discussion and I didn't want them to blow my cover… I then went to the Digilab instead to explain it to them. Once I arrived, I called them all out and explained the situation to them on the farm island before we left for Kowloon level 2.
When I arrived, I logged into Kowloon level 2 directly and called out Armadillomon, Renamon and Growlmon and we went further in. As I walked through the area, I noticed some people around who had weird masks on… they were white, with black lips, a black left eye and a purple star around the right eye. As I went in, I eventually went down a passageway and I saw someone with one of those masks in the middle of the road ahead! I walked up to him and as soon as he saw me, he said: "Hey, what are you doing here?" "I'm looking for a group of people called the 'Demons'." I said back. "Gah! You must be another Zaxon dog trying to hunt us down before we can grow! Well you don't fool me! I'll show you who the real predator is!" the guy said. So the Demons had a relationship to Zaxon... Jimiken must be with these boneheads somehow…
Nonetheless, I said: "Wait! That's not true! I only wanted to—" I began, but then the guy called out three Digimon—one was a Digimon like a white snake with a head almost like an Egyptian, mammalian creature. It had gold patterns and stripes on its body and two stubby arms. It also had a gold tip on its tail, a gold ring around its neck and a red earring in its right ear. It looked short at 1'9 tall.
Another was a small red-and-gray bug Digimon that walked on two legs (and had a third behind and in between them) and had two arms with long gray pincers at the ends, a gray underbelly, two red wings with gray spikes all over them, two big yellow-green eyes and two orange ribbon-like ears. It looked 2'8 tall.
The last one was a small, humanoid, floating plant Digimon with two stubby arms and two stubby feet. It had a green torso and its arms and feet were green to match. Its head was rounded and colored pink, and it had two black eyes and a black oval-shaped mouth. There was a yellow sapling that was growing out of its head that was spinning and (somehow) keeping it aloft. It looked exactly the same height as the snake-like Digimon at 1'9 tall.
I then felt my phone vibrate and it said: "Left to right: Kudamon scan data: 20%, Tentomon scan data: 20%, Lalamon scan data: 20%." It also said Kudamon and Tentomon were vaccine Digimon, meaning that data Digimon had a big advantage here! I then called back Armadillomon and called in Patamon before I said: "Renamon, give them a diamond storm! Growlmon, get ready to block!" and Growlmon started watching the other tamer's Digimon closely as Renamon said: "Diamond storm!" and conjured several small, glowing shards and sent them flying into all of the Demons tamer's Digimon at once—Kudamon and Tentomon took it pretty hard too! The tamer then said: "Kudamon, hit Growlmon with a blinding ray! Lalamon, seed blast!" and Kudamon said: "Blinding ray!" as he created a flash of light where Growlmon was—luckily Growlmon saw it coming and assumed a defensive position when the light subsided, he looked like he didn't take it too hard. Lalamon then said: "Seed blast!" and she started spitting seeds at all of my Digimon, firing two at each. Growlmon blocked this too, although it might as well have bounced off of him for all the good it did—it didn't look like it did much of anything, really. Patamon then said: "Mental charge!" and cast a spell on Renamon that strengthened her damage output with magic, as well as her damage resistance to magic.
Tentomon then said: "Super shocker!" and zapped Growlmon with a blast of electricity, which he defended against too. I then said: "Renamon, time for another diamond storm! Growlmon, prepare to block!" Renamon then said: "Diamond storm!" and sent more glowing shards at the other tamer's Digimon.
The other tamer said: "Tentomon, zap Renamon with a ripping net! Lalamon, hit Patamon with a venom trap!" and Tentomon said: "Ripping net!" as he flew up to Renamon fast (and as he did, his arms began to crackle with electricity) before he swiped at her with his claws. When he did, Renamon fell back and looked like she was in pain… Lalamon then said: "Venom trap!" and flew over to Patamon and lunged at him and when she hit him, he looked like he was feeling ill… Patamon then said: "Air shot!" and spat up a bubble of air at Tentomon (which he took pretty hard), but then Patamon suddenly looked like he was in pain as he said: "Ugh…" looks like he's suffering from poison… Kudamon then said: "Holy light!" and hit Growlmon with an exploding, shining cross, but Growlmon assumed a defensive position before it hit, so he didn't take it too hard.
I then said: "Renamon, hit Kudamon with a Gaia element!" and Renamon stood up, but then fell into a kneeling position and held her one arm with her other and her eyes were shut… "Renamon?" I asked. "Gahahahaha! You don't know about the paralysis status condition, boy? It makes actions attempted by a Digimon fail!" The Demons tamer said. He then went on: "Lalamon, Seed blast! Kudamon, give Growlmon a blinding ray—but then I said: "Growlmon, block it out!" Kudamon then attacked Growlmon and Lalamon then followed through and spat seeds at everyone.
I then went on: "Patamon, Attack Tentomon! Use sonic void!" and Patamon said: "Sonic void!" as caused a ball of air to emerge where Tentomon was and explode. Tentomon then retaliated by trying to use a ripping net on him, but luckily Patamon evaded the attack! "Renamon, try again! Hit Tentomon with Gaia element!" I said. Renamon then rose and said: "Gaia element!" and made a green sphere engulf Tentomon—when it disappeared, Tentomon was down and on his side! He had been defeated!
"What?! How dare you! Kudamon, attack Patamon!" the tamer said and Kudamon said: "Blinding ray!" and he created a flash of light where Patamon was. When the light subsided, Patamon was looking beat… I'll have to end this fast! I then said: "Time to fight back, everyone! Growlmon, scorch Lalamon with exhaust flame! Patamon, Renamon, use sonic void and Gaia element on Kudamon!" Growlmon then said: "Exhaust flame!" and spat up smoky, black flames at Lalamon that squarely knocked her out. Patamon then said: "Sonic void!" and Renamon said: "Gaia element!" and they attacked Kudamon together and knocked him out! After he called his Digimon back, the Demons tamer backed up and said: "Daaah! You'll pay for this!" "Wait!" I said, but he just ran further in…
Losing him was disappointing, but at least now I had confirmed the existence of the Demons! I went further in and eventually came across two men in suits, slacks and ties… but they were wearing gas masks for some weird reason… they didn't look like that member of the Demons, so I wasn't expecting interacting with them would serve any purpose…
I then tried to go by them, but soon one of them turned to me and said: "You! Are you one of those brats from Hudie?!" "What? No, I wanted to find someone from the Demons." I said back. The man appeared to be staring me down (although I wasn't sure with that gas mask covering his face…) and the other one turned to him and said: "I think he's telling the truth. He doesn't have one of those jackets that they have…"
The first man with the gas mask then said: "Hmm… that is true." He then turned to me and said: "Fair enough. Go on then. Sorry about the misunderstanding." "Okay, thank you…" I said. I then went right by them. Hudie? I hadn't heard of anyone from that group before… it looked like there were multiple hacker teams in Kowloon right now that were fighting with each other… I'd better be careful.
I then headed further in, until I came up a path that led to a dead end. But there was good news as well—there were three Demons here! I then approached them and said: "Hey there!" and then the three Demon members turned around—they all had those masks on and two of them were teenagers wearing casual clothing while the third was a man wearing a suit, slacks and a tie like those weirdos who were wearing the gas masks… he just had a Demons mask on instead. One of the teenagers then said: "Eh? What do you want?!" "You guys are Demons aren't ya?" I asked. "What if we are?" The other teenager asked. "I thought your team sounded pretty cool and… I was interested in joining up." I said.
They all then looked more relaxed before the man in the suit and tie came up and said: "That's good to hear. Well then, I trust you have some wares for trade?" "Huh?" I said. The man then shook his head as he said: "Um… are you the type to seek membership in a group without knowing anything about them?" "I guess you could say that. Sorry, I just thought that a team with a name like 'Demons' sounded so wicked cool!" I said back.
"Jeez… well fine, I'll explain it: when I say 'wares', I'm actually talking about accounts. We of the Demons do a lot of things, including account raiding. So that being said, it's about time for you to show me the goods, wouldn't you say?" the man asked. "I don't have any on me right now… but just give me some time! I'll be back!" I said back. "Alright then. In that case, we'll let that be your initiation into the Demons. Bring me some accounts, and we'll take you as an honorary member. And hey—I'll even give you some help." The man said. Suddenly I felt uneasy as he turned to one of the teens and said: "Go with him and help him steal an account—just don't help him too much." "Yes sir, Mephisto!" the teen said.
Now this was a nasty predicament… this guy was going to watch me now and was expecting me to steal an account… if I didn't, my cover would be blown… this wasn't going to be as easy as I thought… I was going to have to think of a way to lose this guy! I had no idea if this Mephisto was doing this on purpose, suspecting me of being a liar and trying to cover his bases, or if he was merely trying to ensure he would get a new member. Either way, he was smarter than I gave him credit for… the teen then put his hand on my shoulder and said: "Come on—I'll show you the ropes." And I followed him…
We went through Kowloon, but the number of people here had decreased for some reason… what was going on? Soon though, we came up on an arch and the guy said: "Oh this is a good source of cover! Let's wait here and watch for a sucker to come up!" I nodded and we got behind it. I saw someone in the distance coming up… it was Keisuke! I knew I was going to have to make my move soon… if I didn't, this guy would try to set me up to steal Keisuke's account! I then turned and said: "Hey uh… do you hear something?" The guy then said: "Huh? No, not really. Why?" "Well I thought I heard something coming up… could you go check?" I said. "HUH? Why? Why can't you?" The guy said. "It might be a Digimon, and mine are already hurt…" I said. "Oh my god…" the guy said. He then went on: "Fine, just this once. You'd better thank me for this later, newbie!" He then looked around the corner and he said: "There's nothing here. Don't be so—"
But then I shoved him out! "HEY!" he said as he was thrust out into the open! I then yelled: "Stop, thief!" and ran after him. As I ran out, I saw Keisuke looking up—it was working! Keisuke then said: "Simon? What's going on?" I then turned to Keisuke and said: "Keisuke! Am I ever glad to see you! This guy stole my wallet!" The guy then said: "What? What do you—" and then I said: "Please, Keisuke! Help me get it back!" Keisuke then nodded and said: "Alright!" and he called out a humanoid creature that had two arms and stood upright, but that wore a pale pink dress on its body, so I couldn't see its legs… It had a yellow crescent moon on the front of its dress and x-shaped pink ribbons that were connected to a silver medal with a white moon against a dark gray backdrop on its chest. It had four big ears, two were on the side of its head and were larger and floppy while two were on the top, and red eyes with a curved line of skin protruding out of its forehead. It looked 2 feet tall, as well as a Renamon and an amphibian Digimon, much like a newt. It 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. It was very short and looked one foot tall. I then called out Growlmon, Renamon and Agumon.
The other tamer looked furious said: "So this was your plan, huh? Grr, I'll make you pay for this!" and then he called out a small, bee-like Digimon that was exceptionally cute… it had a yellow-orange body, brown stripes, three legs, four clear wings, two blue antennae and three silver barbs around its backside, complete with a silver stinger. It looked 1'5 tall. The other was a Solarmon, but we beat them down easily.
After we defeated the tamer, he said: "You brat…! I don't know what you're doing, but I'll get you for that!" and he ran away further backwards into Kowloon, back to the entrance… "Get back here!" Keisuke yelled and he started to run before I put my hand on his shoulder and said: "Don't worry about chasing him—you've done enough. That was great." "WHAT? I thought you said he stole your wallet?" Keisuke said. "I'm sorry about that Keisuke—the truth is, I'm trying to find a group of tamers called the 'Demons'. I already gathered all of the information I needed to know from them, but in order to get it, I had to claim that I wanted to join them and their leader sent that idiot with me to make sure I would steal an account to join. But now that you've gotten rid of him, I'll help you with whatever it is you're doing here to repay you for it." I said.
"Jeez… I had no idea I was getting myself caught in your web of lies… I'm not even sure if I should believe you…" Keisuke said before he went on: "But as long as you're offering to help, I suppose I'll take you up on your offer. Have you seen someone named 'Mephisto', Simon?" My eyes then widened and I said: "MEPHISTO? Yes! He was the leader of the Demons that I talked to!" "WHAT? Then you've got to take me to him!" Keisuke said. "You don't have to tell me twice! I said I'd help you with what you're doing after all! Follow me!" I said.
I then took Keisuke back up through Kowloon to that dead end again. When I arrived, I saw Mephisto was still there, and this time he was unprotected! I then pointed to Mephisto and said: "There he is." Keisuke then nodded and I then went up to him, with Keisuke following. It seemed Mephisto heard us though, because he then turned around and said: "Oh, it's you. I trust you have an account for me this time?" but then he eyed Keisuke and said: "Wait a minute—that brat from before?! You two… you were working together?!"
"Not exactly. My friend here helped me, so now I'm returning the favor." I said back. Keisuke then stepped forward and said: "Mephisto! Give me the rest of the accounts you stole!" I couldn't see his face with that mask in the way, but Mephisto looked visibly annoyed and said: "You don't seriously expect me to hand them over just like that, do you?!" "Don't be delusional! If you couldn't defeat me before when it was one-on-one, what chance do you have now?!" Keisuke asked. "I had guards stationed all over! They could have worn you down to the point where victory is within reach—I'm not surrendering now!" Mephisto said. I then turned to Keisuke and said: "Come on! He's no match for the two of us!" "Yeah!" Keisuke said.
Mephisto then called out a Growlmon, but it looked visibly tired. Looks like this one's going to be in the bag! I then called out Agumon, Armadillomon and my own Growlmon, while Keisuke called out 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, its ears were big, floppy-looking ones. It looked about 1'4 tall. He also called out a Digimon that looked almost exactly like Agumon, except it was colored black instead of orange… it was reptilian, very humanoid and walked on two legs and had two claws. It stood upright, like a human. It looked about 2'8. And he also called out his Otamamon again.
Mephisto then said: "Growlmon! Attack Otamamon! Exhaust flame!" and his Growlmon said: "Exhaust flame!" and spat a stream of black, smoky flames at Otamamon, but he just barely recovered from it. I then said: "Agumon, get him with heavy strike! Growlmon, hit him with a Wolkenapalm 2!" and Agumon said: "Heavy strike!" as he ran up to Mephisto's Growlmon and struck him with his claws. Growlmon then said: "Wolkenapalm 2!" and caused a fiery explosion to engulf Mephisto's Growlmon. Keisuke then said: "Salamon, use grand cross! Otamamon, hit him with hydro water!" and the kitten Digimon said: "Grand cross!" and caused a shining cross of light to explode at where Mephisto's Growlmon was standing. Otamamon said: "Hydro water!" and blasted Mephisto's Growlmon with a forceful stream of water.
"Grr! Growlmon, use meteor fall!" Mephisto said. His Growlmon then said: "Meteor fall!" and he made a red-hot rock fall from above! It hit all of our Digimon moments later, and it looked like Keisuke's Otamamon was down after that hit… "Aah… sorry, Keisuke." His Otamamon said. Keisuke shook his head and said: "Don't be. You've done great." And called him back. Keisuke then called in a Renamon.
Keisuke then said: "Renamon, get ready to block! BlackAgumon, use guard charge on yourself!" and Keisuke's black-colored Agumon then said: "Guard charge!" and cast a spell on himself that boosted his damage resistance against non-magic attacks. Armadillomon then said: "Diamond shell!" and rolled up to Mephisto's Growlmon, before he smacked into him and rolled on back. Mephisto then said: "Growlmon, hit Agumon with Exhaust flame!" and Growlmon said: "Exhaust flame!" and burned Agumon. "Agumon, don't let up! Give him another heavy strike! Armadillomon, treat him to a dose of shock!" I said, and Agumon struck Mephisto's Growlmon, while Armadillomon said: "Shock!" and leapt at Growlmon, striking him with his claws, which caused him to fall to his knees, looking dazed! "Urgh! You conniving brat…!" Mephisto said before I said: "It serves you right anyway."
Keisuke then said: "BlackAgumon, use destruction cannon! Renamon, attack with Gaia element!" BlackAgumon then lobbed a blob of darkness at Mephisto's Growlmon before his Renamon said: "Gaia element!" and attacked Mephisto's Growlmon with it! I then said: "Get rid of him Growlmon! Comet hammer 2!" and Growlmon said: "Comet hammer 2!" and sent rocks falling from above crashing down onto Mephisto's Growlmon, who was still up… "It's still going huh? Looks like it's time for us to turn up the heat. Salamon—puppy howl!" Keisuke said. His Salamon then said: "Puppy howl!" and started to shriek loudly, sending sound waves at Mephisto's Growlmon that knocked him over! We did it!
Keisuke then approached Mephisto and said: "You lost. Now hand over the accounts now—or I'll make you regret it!" "Tch… you can't keep the upper hand for long…" Mephisto said. He then approached Keisuke and Keisuke checked his phone as he said: "Hmph. That's all of them this time. Good boy—" but then Mephisto started sprinting away! "Keisuke, he's escaping!" I said as I tried to tackle him down, but missed and crashed on the floor. Mephisto then laughed and said: "You both still have a long way to go—hahahahahaha!"
I then got up and said: "So what do we do? Should we give chase?" "No. I only needed to recover the accounts he stole, and he handed them all over for real this time. There's no need." Keisuke said. He then went on: "Thanks for helping me back there. I was contemplating asking one of my teammates for help, but I'm glad you were willing to do it." "I was just returning the favor. I should be thanking you for helping me lose that Demon!" I said.
Keisuke then crossed his arms before he said: "Yeah, I got swept up in those elaborate lies you were telling… I'm just glad it turned out okay. You might be a little odd, but you're alright." I laughed before I said: "Thanks, I guess. Well, do you need help getting back, Keisuke?" "No thanks. The tamers have largely vanished out there. I should be okay from here." He replied. "Alright then. I guess I'd better be going too…" I began and then I went on: "But if you ever need help, feel free to drop by the Kuremi Detective Agency in Nakano! We'd love to help out anytime!"
Keisuke then looked shocked before I said: "…What's the matter?" and then he recovered and said: "N-nothing…" he then went on: "By the way, if you ever need help with something, you can let me know too. Ask us at Hudie, and we'll be glad to lend a hand!" "Hudie, huh? Okay, I'll remember that name." I said back. Keisuke then said: "Well, I'd best be off. See you around, Simon." I nodded and we went our separate ways. When I made it back to the entrance, I logged out of Kowloon and returned to Nakano Broadway. I then went down to the first floor and went back to Kyoko's office. When I arrived, I opened the door and Kyoko looked up as I said: "Hi Kyoko. I've returned from Kowloon." "Ah, Simon. It looks like that took a while… did everything go okay?" Kyoko asked. "It sure did! I ran into some unexpected hurdles to jump, but everything worked out." I said. "Unexpected hurdles? Like what?" Kyoko asked.
I then recounted the whole thing to her and she said: "That was lucky your acquaintance came by then… but the important thing is that you got Mephisto to admit that the Demons are behind the account raiding on tape. That means this case is as good as solved. You'd best take the wire off and arrange a time to meet with the client, then return it and offer your report to them." "Yes ma'am!" I said. Kyoko then grinned and said: "Excellent. Go for it then, Simon!"
I then went off again and removed the wire before I contacted the client, who could luckily meet later today. When the time was approaching, I went to the meeting place and turned in the wire and told him about Mephisto and the Demons' activities. The subcontractor was impressed and he told me that I could expect them to crack down on the Demons to improve the security of EDEN and its users. A little later, he thanked me again and we parted ways. The day was wrapping up, and I was plenty pleased with it—I had just solved my first big case after working with Kyoko! Hopefully there will be more of them before my time working in Japan will end…
