Simon Chapter 22—A fickle friend—
I then continued to Nakano. Even after what had happened with Arata, I was glad I'd get to see Yuuko again. She had been such a great friend… I was actually tempted now to ask if she would go on a date with me before I left. I kept going until I finally arrived and I entered Kyoko's office and found Yuuko and Kyoko there! When I came in, they looked up and I said: "Hi Kyoko and Yuuko. What was the big discovery?" "Ah, Simon. Yes, it was an important one—I'm lucky I came across it actually." Kyoko said. "…And? What was it?" Yuuko asked.
"Well first let me outline the situation: Because of Simon's success in befriending Magnamon and Gankoomon, the number of Royal Knights we need to defeat or befriend is down to six: Leopardmon, Crusadermon, Dynasmon, Examon, Craniamon and Kentaurosmon. Of them, we know where Examon and Kentaurosmon are. But the thing is, I've discovered a power source that the Royal Knights are using to strengthen Examon. You probably can guess by looking, but Examon is the most powerful of the Royal Knights and they're trying to make him even stronger for their attack on Earth." Kyoko said.
"That sounds bad… so where's the power source?" I asked. "Kowloon level 5—it's the highest part of Kowloon. If you go there and drain it all, Examon will become much weaker. Think of this as a case from me and Yuuko—we'll be sure to reward you for it." Kyoko said. "Sounds like a plan! I think I'll do that!" I said. Kyoko grinned and said: "Good. However, I must warn you: there is a Royal Knight there, guarding the supply." Yuuko's head then shot up and she said: "And that could be Crusadermon… and after all she did to me and Rie…" and then she went on: "Please let me go with Simon, Kyoko! I need to get back at her!" "Alright. The more the merrier, wouldn't you agree, Simon?" Kyoko asked. "Absolutely! With Yuuko on board, we'll succeed for sure!" I said. Kyoko smiled and said: "Great. Then you'd both best be off." "Alright! We'll be back!" I said.
Yuuko and I headed up to the fourth floor, where we approached a terminal there. Yuuko then said: "Okay, let's go! To Kowloon level 5!" "Well… can I have a chance to switch my Digimon out, Yuuko? I'll meet you there." I said. Yuuko then sighed and said: "Fine. Come as soon as you can, okay?" I nodded and she logged into Kowloon while I logged into the Digilab.
When I arrived, I greeted Mirei and switched out the Digimon in my phone so that Pepper, Jason, Zephyr, Sabrina, Daisy, Arthur, Scott, Larry and Eustace were in it (leaving Gil and Elena in the farm island) and then I logged out and logged into Kowloon level 5. When I arrived, I saw Yuuko standing by the entrance. I then approached her, but before I could say anything, Yuuko said: "You are so late… are you even taking this seriously?"
I was surprised at this behavior… it wasn't like Yuuko at all… nonetheless, I said: "I'm sorry, I just wanted to be as prepared as possible. It is an important mission after all." "You're darn right, it's important! This is my chance for revenge on Crusadermon! So you'd better be ready." Yuuko said. "I understand you being all fired up over this Yuuko—that Digimon has put you through a lot of pain after all—but don't tense up too much. That'll hinder your ability to focus." I said. Yuuko then frowned and said: "There you go, trying to worry about me again… just please don't put on this weird act of pretending we're friends now. I don't know what went on inside my heart, but… as far as I know, you and I aren't friends yet."
I could feel myself frowning when I heard this… how could she be… such a jerk… I then said: "Well I guess that's enough talk for now. Let's hit the road, eh?" "Yes, let's." Yuuko said back. We then traversed through Kowloon level 5. We came up on a fork in the road and took the left side… only once we stepped there, a big black puddle appeared at our feet! "Wah! What is…?!" I began, but then we were suddenly warped away!
When we came to a full stop, we were back at an earlier spot. "So it looks like Crusadermon booby-trapped the area…" I said. "I'd say so. Grr, that dirty—! I'm going to get her for this! Come on, Simon! We have to make our way through!" Yuuko said. I then followed Yuuko. We had a bit of a walk in store, as we encountered more of those black puddle traps (but at least they remained visible after we set them off) and had some battles along the way. We eventually made our way to an area further in… and there was what looked like an upward stream of data in the distance!
"Is that… the power source?" I asked. "It looks that way. You'd better watch out, Crusadermon! You're mine now!" Yuuko said. She then took off, but I stopped… Yuuko eventually turned around and said: "What is it?!" "…I understand how you feel Yuuko, but please don't let your heart turn to stone over this. You have a lot to offer everyone." I said. "Wha…what are you talking about?! She tormented me and Rie! Of course I'd be tense! Now get your head out of the clouds and let's go!" Yuuko said. "Hmph…" I said as I followed.
Eventually, we came up on the power source and saw it was guarded… but not by Crusadermon! The Digimon guarding it looked like a giant knight and walked on two legs. It had purple mail and wore blue greaves, a blue breastplate and blue forearm guards over the mail. It had black and red pauldrons with a yellow skull painted in the center over its shoulders and a blue tasset around its hips with a black, blue and red cloth draping over the front, which it had pinned by a skull-like pin. Oddly, its head was much smaller than the rest of its body—even with a blue-and-lavender helm on—and its mouth was protected by a guard that looked like teeth. It held a giant shield in its right hand that had red borderlines and was colored black with a yellow sword symbol in the center and a giant dual-edged spear in its left hand. It looked 8'9 tall.
When the Digimon saw us, it said: "Hmm? I didn't think I'd see any humans here… still, I'm glad I'm here then. Now I will serve an honorable purpose defending Examon and enforcing King Drasil's will." "Grr! You're kidding! It's just some other Digimon and not even Crusadermon?!" Yuuko said. "Is that what you were expecting…? Well too bad for you, Crusadermon is off wiping out more humans." The Digimon said. "…So who are you then?" I asked. "I am Craniamon, a Royal Knight loyal to my king." The Digimon replied. He then went on: "Now the time has come for you to leave. If you do not… you will not leave in one piece."
"You don't scare us! You might as well stand aside and save yourself your untimely demise now." Yuuko said. Craniamon shook his head as he said: "Stupid human… You're completely delusional. And even if you do win, I don't fear death. That's part of what made me a successful Royal Knight—I will do anything for the good of my king." "Hmph. You stubborn—" Yuuko began and then I said: "That's enough, Yuuko. He's not Crusadermon after all. Simmer down and screw your head back on." "What… what did you say?!" Yuuko asked.
For the first time ever, I ignored her and then I felt my phone vibrate. I checked it and it said: "Craniamon scan data: ERROR." It did say he was a vaccine Digimon though, so I called out Sabrina, Daisy and Arthur while Yuuko called out Machinedramon. Craniamon then said: "Let's begin then. Awesome quake 3!" and he made a giant boulder form in between our Digimon and then it shattered, raining down stone shards on our Digimon. Machinedramon took it pretty hard, while Sabrina, Daisy and Arthur basically shrugged it off. I then said: "Arthur, use guard charge field! Sabrina, use holy light 3! Daisy, use Gaia element 3!" and Arthur said: "Guard charge field!" and cast a spell that boosted our side's damage resistance to non-magic attacks. Sabrina then said: "Holy light 3!" and made a shining, exploding cross of light form where Craniamon was! Daisy then said: "Gaia element 3!" and she made a green sphere of energy engulf Craniamon. Yuuko then said: "Machinedramon, use attack charge field!" and Machinedramon said: "Attack charge field!" and he increased all of the Digimon on our side's damage output with non-magic attacks!
I then said: "Arthur, use judgement of the blade! Sabrina, use holy light 3 again!" and Arthur said: "Judgement of the blade!" and flew at Craniamon before he slashed at him with the blades on his arms, legs and tail. Arthur then flew back as Sabrina said: "Holy light 3!" and attacked Craniamon with it again. Yuuko then said: "Machinedramon, use nanomachine break 3!" and Machinedramon said: "Nanomachine break 3!" and shocked Craniamon with electricity. Craniamon then attacked with awesome quake 3 again and Daisy said: "Gaia element 3!" and engulfed Craniamon with a sphere of green energy again.
Craniamon then said: "Grand rock 3!" and made a boulder appear where Machinedramon was and it burst—and Machinedramon went down from it! "What? No! I wasn't strong enough to…?!" Yuuko began and then Craniamon said: "My, my, how disappointing. That Digimon was weak. You haven't trained him well at all." Yuuko then grimaced at him before she called Machinedramon back. I then said: "Arthur, use attack charge field! Daisy, use thorn whip!" and Arthur boosted my Digimons' damage output with non-magic attacks! Daisy then said: "Thorn whip!" and lashed Craniamon with her whip before looking a little revitalized. Sabrina then said: "Holy light 3!" and attacked with it again.
Craniamon then said: "Acceleration boost!" and prepared to really strengthen his next attack. I thought no one would go down next turn, even with it, but just to be safe, I said: "Arthur, use weltgeist! Daisy, use thorn whip! Sabrina, use final heal on Daisy!" and Arthur said: "Weltgeist!" and assumed a defensive position before Daisy said: "Thorn whip!" and lashed Craniamon again. Sabrina then said: "Final heal!" and she restored Daisy completely!
Craniamon then positioned his dual-edged spear horizontally and said: "Waltz's end!" and started spinning around, bashing into my Digimon! Arthur wasn't affected (because of his weltgeist defense), but Daisy and Sabrina were hit surprisingly hard—Sabrina even went down from the attack! When Craniamon stopped, Arthur flew over to him and slashed at him with his arms before he flew back. "Ugh! I didn't expect a disadvantaged Digimon to do so much damage…" I said and then Craniamon said: "I didn't get to be a Royal Knight by being that weak."
I then called back Sabrina and sent in Eustace. I then said: "Eustace, heal Daisy with X-heal! Arthur, use guard charge field! Daisy, get 'em with thorn whip!" and Arthur said: "Guard charge field!" and increased everyone's damage resistance further. Daisy then said: "Thorn whip!" and lashed Craniamon again. Eustace then said: "X-heal!" and restored Daisy's health!
Craniamon then said: "Awesome quake 3!" and attacked my Digimon with it again. "Eustace, use mental charge field! Arthur and Daisy, attack with judgement of the blade and Gaia element 3!" I said. Eustace then said: "Mental charge field!" and boosted our side's damage output with magic attacks and our damage resistance to magic attacks. Arthur then said: "Judgement of the blade!" and slashed at Craniamon again before Daisy said: "Gaia element 3!" and engulfed him with a green sphere!
Craniamon then said: "Grand rock 3!" and he attacked Eustace with an exploding boulder again. "Arthur, use attack charge field! Daisy and Eustace, attack with thorn whip and arctic blizzard!" I said and Daisy said: "Thorn whip!" and lashed Craniamon again while restoring herself and Eustace said: "Arctic blizzard!" and went up to Craniamon and froze him in a block of ice with his freezing breath before he took his flail and shattered the ice with it, knocking Craniamon over!
Craniamon was starting to look beat at this stage and said: "Acceleration boost!" and prepared to really strengthen his next attack. "Arthur, use weltgeist! Daisy and Eustace, get ready to block!" I said. Arthur then said: "Weltgeist!" and assumed a defensive position, as did Daisy and Eustace. Craniamon then said: "Waltz's end!" and started to spin around and attack my Digimon all over again! Luckily things went a lot better this time though—nobody actually went down (although Eustace looked hurt) and Arthur struck back at Craniamon after it was over! "Eustace, give yourself an X-heal! Arthur, use guard charge field! Daisy, use thorn whip!" I said. And they all then did so.
Craniamon then said: "Acceleration boost!" and boosted himself again… I then said: "Arthur, use weltgeist! Eustace, heal Daisy with X-heal! Daisy, hit him with thorn whip!" and they did so. Craniamon then said: "Waltz's end!" and then I said: "Eustace and Daisy—block!" and they did so (although Eustace still went down) and Arthur struck back at Craniamon before I said: "Finish him off, Arthur—judgement of the blade!" and then Arthur slashed at him and knocked him over… and he wouldn't get up! We had won!
"Ngh… to have broken through my defense… very well. Now you must do away with me, the loser." Craniamon said. "Craniamon…" I said and he looked up as I said: "It doesn't have to be this way. We don't want to fight Digimon. Please stop this unnecessary bloodshed and fight with us." "Fight with you…? Nonsense. King Drasil has said humans are our enemy. To help you would be to betray my king. I cannot do that—" Craniamon began, but then I said: "The Eaters are the enemy! They were the ones that did all the damage to your world. You don't have to see everything in such black-and-white terms. We can get along."
"I'll do whatever my king says… and he told me to destroy your species. So I cannot help you. If you are speaking honestly, I admire your seeming-kindness, but I can't betray my king. If you intend to do away with me, do it now." Craniamon said. I looked down before I said: "…As you wish." And then I turned to Arthur and Daisy as I said: "Finish him off." And they attacked him until he faded away…
Yuuko then went up to the power source and brought up a screen of data (and I did so in suit) and we hacked it and shut it down. Yuuko then said: "There. Now Examon won't have much longer at full strength… and then we can bring him down." "Yup. It looks that way. Well, mission complete. Let's head back to Kyoko." I said. Yuuko nodded and we went back and logged out and went back to Kyoko's office. When we entered, Kyoko looked up and said: "Ah, there you are. So how did it go? Did you disrupt the power source?"
We then recounted all that had happened to Kyoko and then she looked focused before she said: "Hmm… so Crusadermon wasn't there after all… to think it was Craniamon instead…" I expected Yuuko was going to say something after Kyoko said this, but she actually looked lost in thought as Kyoko went on: "Still, that may be for the best. We were able to do away with another one of our enemies this way—and Examon will soon follow as a result. Good work, you two." "Thanks, Kyoko." I said.
Then I went on: "So now that Examon is weakened, I guess the next step will be finishing him off, huh?" "Absolutely. We'll need to get in contact with Nokia—not just to see if she can help, but also so Omnimon can contact the other Royal Knights on our side as well." Kyoko said. "Alright then. I'll go call her now. See you, Kyoko, Yuuko." I said.
I then headed for the door, but as soon as I was halfway there, I heard Yuuko say: "Um…" and then I turned around and said: "Yes? What is it?" and she said: "I… I'm really sorry about all of those nasty things I said in Kowloon, Simon. I was so tense, I don't know what came over me…"
Suddenly, I felt overwhelmingly annoyed and I closed my eyes as I could feel myself grimacing. We had been friends for so long, I had trusted her… I had even started to develop feelings for her… and she had gone and turned on me. I felt betrayed and angry and couldn't say anything… "Um… Simon?" Yuuko said. Finally, I opened my eyes and said: "Go home, Yuuko."
"Huh?!" Yuuko said. I didn't respond though and then she went on: "Well… at least let me give you your reward for the case—" and then I said: "That's fine, keep it. I don't want it." "Wh-what?!" Yuuko said. "Well I'd be happy to accept Simon's reward for the agency, if he's relinquishing his prize." Kyoko said. "Oh… of course. Here…" Yuuko said as she gave it to Kyoko. She then backed away slowly as she said: "E-excuse me…" and then she ran out the door.
Kyoko then looked at me and said: "Well that certainly could have gone better. What in the world happened back there? You seemed so excited to go before…" "Kyoko…" I said and then she said: "Well?" I then sighed and said: "Okay, it's like this…" and then I explained that I liked Yuuko, that I wanted to ask her on a date when we were done and about all of the things she had said and done when we were in Kowloon together.
By the end of it, Kyoko looked focused and said: "Hmm… so you liked her…" then she went on: "I see. That must have been very hard for you then. I'm sorry, Simon." And then she continued: "However, I'm still going to expect you to not do something like that in front of a client again. We are a business and as an employee, you have a big effect on the Kuremi Detective Agency. So no more of that, okay Simon?" "I understand. I'll be more careful next time." I said. "Good. However, I also want you to know I'm not entirely without sympathy for you—that was a difficult situation and with your feelings, I can understand it a little. Just please don't let it hurt you too much for too long." Kyoko said. I smiled and said: "Thanks, Kyoko. You really are kind. I'm lucky I have you as a boss." Kyoko then smiled and said: "I'm glad to hear that. And now that you've gotten out of the dumps, you'd better call Nokia." "Right." I said.
