Everyone turned to the door to see Kyoko with a stoic look on her face and a piece of paper in her hands.
"I knew it!" Yolei cheered.
She shot out of her seat and raised her right arm. Davis flinched and put his hands up for defense.
"Wait! Don't! I take it back!" Davis pleaded.
"Nope. You would've slapped me if you were right. So take your slaps like a man."
"Please, I'll do anything!"
Yolei paused to think about what Davis said. She then had a sinister smirk that made Ken and Cody shiver.
"OK, I'll give you a choice. You can either take the ten slaps now or I can slap you 5 times whenever I want for as long as we are here."
As Davis mulled over his options, his friends chimed in for what he should do.
"Take the ten and be done with it. You don't want her to torture you," Ken said.
"She's going to mess with you, Davis. Don't let her have this type of power over you," Tai added.
"Davis, everyone here would take the ten. It'll hurt now, but it's better than being on edge," TK said.
After hearing everyone's thoughts on the matter, Davis made his decision.
"I'll do the five."
Everyone groaned as Davis and Yolei shook on it. But the second Davis let go of her hand, Yolei slapped him across the face. Davis slumped into his seat with a lost look in his eye while Yolei shook away the pain in her hand.
"That's one," she coldly said as she sat back down.
It was then Davis realized his mistake.
"Do you really think you can afford to do so? Have none of you accepted the reality of the situation?" She said as she moved to the table.
"Kyoko! Where the heck have you been!? We already started the meeting without you!" Taka exclaimed.
Kyoko didn't acknowledge him. Instead, she slid the piece of paper towards the middle of the table, allowing everyone to get a good look at it.
"What is it?" TK asked. It looked like a map that schools would hand out on the first day of school to new students to help them find their way around.
"It appears to be a map of Hope's Peak Academy," Kyoko answered, causing multiple raised eyebrows.
"Where did she find a map?" Cody asked.
"I don't know. It's too professional to be hand drawn, and there were no other signs of any teacher or faculty being there to hand it out," Izzy said.
"Do you think Monokuma left it out to mess with them?" Tai asked and Izzy shrugged.
"That or he could've forgotten about it."
"A map?" TK repeated.
"Wh-What the…? Where did you find this?" A bewildered Taka managed to ask.
"It doesn't matter where I found it," Kyoko said bluntly.
"It DOES matter! You're freaking us out right now!" Taka retorted and TK agreed with the moral compass. It's not a good look to be missing for quite some time and randomly show up with a map of the building you're trapped in.
"Do you think she's helping the mastermind?" Kari asked out loud.
"Not likely. In horror movies the killer is never the first person you suspect," Yolei answered.
"But this isn't a horror movie. She could very easily be the mastermind," Cody argued.
"Let's wait until we learn more about her but right now she's only raising suspicion about her," Joe said.
"Never mind that. What's it mean?" Junko asked, brushing aside Taka's concern.
"Just look at it," Kyoko said, pointing at the map. "The building we're in right now is laid out in precisely the same way as Hope's Peak Academy."
"You're saying that this really is Hope's Peak Academy?" TK clarified.
"Well, in terms of construction, yes. But it looks like it's had a number of strange… renovations done to it," Kyoko answered, raising more questions.
"What do you mean?" TK asked.
"I don't know all the details yet. All I found was details about the 1st floor," Kyoko told them.
"But then… this really is Hope's Peak. We didn't get kidnapped and taken to some other place," Chihiro said, looking a little pale, paler than normal.
"That's both a bad and good thing," Izzy said.
"What do you mean?" Mimi asked.
"It's good because people will at least know where to look when they realize they've gone missing, but…"
"But what, Izzy?" Matt asked.
"This means that the mastermind isn't working alone. There's no way they managed to knock all of them out, bolt up the windows, and set up that high level of security. And with the added knowledge of the extra renovation done to the school, they might have a team working for them."
"What if they had the help of a Digimon?" TK asked.
"That's a possibility, and with all the DigiDestined in the world, it's likely that could be it."
"You don't think it's Myotismon again?" Kari suggested.
"It couldn't be. We destroyed him for good," Ken said.
"But it wouldn't surprise me if it was. Remember when Arukenimon trapped us in that house of bug Digimon?" Yolei reminded everyone.
Everyone started panicking a little. One of their biggest adversaries possibly came back and not only kidnapped one of their friends but also a bunch of innocent kids and forced them into a killing game.
"Hey, let's not jump to conclusions. We haven't seen any signs of a Digimon being involved so let's calm down and see what happens next," Tai said to calm everyone.
"So stupid it's not even possible. This is where the country's future elite are supposed to come and learn?" Mondo growled, gripping his fists.
"But if this really is Hope's Peak, where are all the other students?" Hina asked, causing a few of them that they haven't run into any other students.
The whole time they've been there they haven't seen any signs of other students being in the same building. In fact, TK doesn't remember seeing any teachers. Not when they were walking in the halls earlier, not when he woke up in the classroom, and he definitely didn't see any teachers when he first arrived at the school. It's like a ghost town there.
"They might've been the mastermind's team," Mimi suggested.
"Maybe, but then you need to ask why they're doing this to TK's class. They're not the first batch of Ultimate students to go to Hope's Peak," Izzy said.
"Could they be targeting one of them?" Sora asked.
"If they are then why kidnap all of them?" Joe said.
"Maybe they have more than one target. This class has the ultimate pop sensation, the ultimate fashionista, and the ultimate affluent progeny. They probably have the most money out of all of them if the mastermind's looking for a ransom," Ken hypothesized.
"Hey, come on, guys. Let's just stop talking about all this… you know, negative stuff," Hiro said.
"Aren't you worried? Things aren't looking good," TK said, but Hiro didn't seem to bothered.
"Worried? What's there to be worried about?" Hiro asked. "I mean, this was all planned out, right? The people in charge of Hope's Peak put this all together, right?"
He started to laugh.
"Man, if I got stressed every time something like this happened, I'd have ectoplasm shooting out my mouth! Good things come to those who wait, right? So we just gotta chill and everything'll work itself out!"
"He hasn't been paying attention to anything that's been going on," Cody said.
"I don't think he's fully there yet. I'd give him a minute or two" Yolei joked.
Someone else started to laugh, but it was more feminine than Hiro's. Everyone turned to see where it was coming from when they saw that it was Celeste who was laughing.
"Wh-Why are you laughing? What's so funny!?" Toko asked worriedly, though she wasn't worried about Celeste, but was worried about herself and what the gambler might do to her.
"I am just happy, that is all. It seems splitting up to investigate was a good idea, after all," Celeste said in a cheerful tone, worrying everyone in the room.
"Haven't you b-been listening!? Looking around was a t-total waste of t-time! We d-didn't find a way out, didn't f-find who's behind this. We still have no idea what's g-going on!" Toko argued.
"Huh? Is it not crystal clear to you what is going on?" Celeste said sarcastically like she was surprised. "It is perfectly obvious that we have been imprisoned in some secret location, with no way out."
"There could still be a way out. No need to give up hope now," TK said.
"I hope you're right because it's not looking like it at the moment," Cody said.
"They just need to work together and I'm sure they'll break free," TK told him.
No one had a response to what Celeste had said, or didn't want to believe what Celeste said. Reality seemed to sink in that they really were trapped, well except for one but they decided it would be best for him to remain ignorant about their situation.
"You didn't h-have to go and s-say that. I w-was trying not to th-think about it," Toko said while gripping her head. "N-No way out… We're t-trapped here. What are w-we supposed to d-do…?"
Byakuya had an answer for her.
"It's very simple. If you want to leave, you just have to kill-"
"Don't even joke about that!" Junko interrupted him.
"What's wrong with him?" Mimi angrily asked.
"I'm starting to think he's the mastermind. Setting up a death game would be something a rich asshole would do," Matt growled.
"I don't think it's him. The killer is rarely ever the jerk," Yolei said and everyone groaned.
"Yolei, this isn't a horror movie. It's TK's future," Kari told her.
"Everyone just calm down, please! We need to stop and think about what to do from here," Sayaka pleaded.
"There's gotta be something we can do," Leon begged.
"All we can do is adapt. Adapt to living our lives here from now on," Celeste answered the baseball player.
"Live here…? Are you saying we should just accept it?" Chihiro questioned tearfully.
"A lack of adaptability… is a lack of survivability," Celeste said. "Survival is not based on who is the strongest or smartest. It comes down to who can adapt."
TK knew that she was right, for the most part. Back in his first adventure in the Digital World, he knew that if they didn't adapt to how things work they wouldn't have survived. But he also knew that if it wasn't for his friends the world would be a much different place than it is today.
"I like to think we did a good job taking care of ourselves during our first trip to the Digital World," Tai said proudly.
"Given we were transported with whatever we were carrying at the team and lucked out on File Island a lot, we did great," Matt said sarcastically.
"Give me one example of us lucking out," Tai challenged the blond.
"The trolley car on our first night, the fridge full of eggs, and landing in the river after Kuwagamon knocked us off the cliff," Matt listed.
"None of us got seriously sick," Joe added.
"We didn't rip any of our clothes," Mimi said.
"I got sent to Primary Village and didn't have to fight a black gear Digimon," TK added to the growing list.
Tai defeatedly mumbled something under his breath and Sora spoke up to comfort him.
"We did great, and it's not bad to be lucky in those situations."
"Thanks, Sora," Tai said.
"As someone who has come out on top more than once, I have a suggestion," Celeste said, which got everyone's attention.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Mondo aggressively asked.
"We all understand that we are trapped here. Which means we will be spending the night," Celeste explained. "However, you all remember the rules regarding nighttime, right?"
Everyone nodded, signaling that they understood what the gambler said.
"So regarding this 'nighttime,' I think we need to add a rule of our own," Celeste proposed.
"What are you thinking?" TK asked.
"Going out at nighttime should be prohibited altogether. The school regulations do not actually tell us not to go out at night. I would like to make it official," Celeste suggested, which was met with some backlash.
"B-But why…?" Toko asked.
"The way things are now, every time night comes we will all start to get worried and anxious. We will all be afraid someone might try and come kill us," Celeste grimly explained.
"That's not a bad idea," Ken said.
"I wouldn't mind having a piece of mind as I go to sleep," Mimi said.
"But it's not one of the rules. They would all have to agree on it," Cody reminded them.
"What!?" Sayaka explained.
"If we have to worry about that night after night for who knows how long, it will wear us down in no time," Celeste continued after Sayaka's outburst.
"So you're suggesting we limit our activity at night as a kind of preventative measure," Sakura said, simplifying everything Celeste suggested.
Celeste nodded. "However, unlike the other rules, nobody can be forced to comply. We all have to agree to follow it."
"I see what you mean. But… I think I can agree to that," Junko said. "It's like the gothic lolita said. Without something like that, we're just gonna self-destruct."
"On behalf of all the men here, I agree to comply!" Taka said firmly.
"Hey, you can't just decide to speak for us!" Leon argued and TK agreed with the redhead, though he would have agreed to the terms, he would've liked to speak himself.
"And this is where the agreement falls apart," Matt said.
"I think they would've agreed to do it, Matt," TK told his brother.
"I'm not denying that, but now some of the guys might go out to spite Taka. I know I would," Matt said with Tai nodding in agreement.
"So everyone is in agreement? Good. Then if you will excuse me…" Celeste said before getting up from the table and heading towards the exit.
"Huh? Wait, where are you going?" Chihiro timidly asked.
"It is almost nighttime. I want to take a shower before it arrives. So… goodbye," Celeste left the dining hall with pure elegance, leaving everyone speechless.
"S-So I guess it's pretty obvious where we go from here. We'll be spending the night, it looks like," Hifumi said, breaking the silence.
"This kinda reminds me of our first night in the Digital World," Mimi said.
"Yeah, being trapped and not knowing if we'll ever get back home," TK agreed with her.
"At least you get your own room and a bed. How many times did that happen on our adventure?" Tai joked.
"Adaptability…" Sakura repeated what Celeste said earlier.
"So, Mr. Chairman… what next? One person already left," Junko said to the moral compass.
"U-Umm…" Taka shook his head and cleared his throat to regain his composure. "Well then, what say we call an end to today's meeting!? Like she said, it's almost nighttime anyway. We can reconvene first thing tomorrow morning!"
"Do we really have to say the night here…?" Chihiro worriedly asked.
"We don't have a choice. We can't go for long without getting sleep," Junko stated.
"So we have to just give…" Mondo sighed.
"That's all f-fine and good for today, but what do we d-do tomorrow?" Toko asked.
"Our only option is to split up and look around again, and let everyone know if we find anything," Sakura answered the author.
It wasn't what she or anyone in the room wanted to hear, but what other option did they have? Until someone realizes they're missing, all they can do is look for a way out or any clues of who trapped them in Hope's Peak.
"They just need to take it one day at a time. It's what we did," Tai said.
"But they know they have a way out by…" Joe trailed off, not wanting to finish his sentence.
"Don't even suggest that, Joe! They wouldn't even think about doing that!" Mimi reprimanded him.
"But remember what Byakuya said earlier before TK got knocked out? Don't you think at least one of them thought about it?" Ken asked.
"They're teenagers, Ken! They wouldn't do that!" Yolei argued.
"And a middle schooler wouldn't try to take over another world and enslave its inhabitants!" Ken shot back.
Everyone froze as they stared at Ken in disbelief. They never forgot Ken's time as the emperor but never brought it up out of respect for him after he turned over a new leaf.
Ken sighed as he stared at the screen.
"I know you don't want to believe it, but we can't deny it happening."
No one said a word as they allowed the video to keep playing.
"Yeah, okay. Let's do that…!" Hina reluctantly agreed.
"Then we're done for today? Good, I'm exhausted," Junko left with a yawn and was followed by a few of the other students.
"TK… Are you ready to call it a day?" Sayaka asked.
"Yeah, might as well," TK answered.
The two left and separated to their assigned rooms. After entering his room, TK quickly looked over the room that he'll be staying in for the foreseeable future. He wasn't as worried as the others because he knew that when his friends realize he was missing they'll come and rescue them. He can already picture Greymon and Garurumon breaking down the front entrance.
"I'll give it a day, Teeks. Maybe less than that with Matt," Tai said.
"You kidding, Matt would've had those doors ripped to shreds the moment he realized something was wrong," Sora laughed.
"I should take a shower before they shut off the water," TK moved to, what he assumed to be his bathroom door, but when he turned the doorknob the door wouldn't open. He started to jiggle the doorknob more but no matter how much he tried the door would open.
"I thought they said only the girl's bathrooms had locks?"
"Why would yours have a lock, TK? Is there something you're not telling us?" Yolei teased.
"Not that I know of," TK replied.
Yolei snickered as Izzy studied the door.
"But it doesn't make sense for his door to be locked. He's the only one who could get into his room, so there's no way anyone would be in there," Izzy pointed out.
"Maybe it's the mastermind's way of messing with them and pushing them to do what they want," Cody suggested.
"If that's the case, then the mastermind is more of a psychopath than we thought," Joe said.
"Bzzt! Wrong! Not locked!"
TK jumped when Monokuma appeared out of nowhere.
"How!?" Yolei exclaimed.
"So not only do they not have a lot of privacy, but that bear can just pop into their rooms whenever it wants!" Mimi yelled.
"I hate that bear," Matt grumbled.
"Oh, Crap!"
"Jeez, talk about an overreaction. It's like you just saw a ghost or somethin'!" Monokuma giggled, but then had a quizzical look on his face. "Like… some kind of… robot bear… ghost."
"What are you doing here!? Better question, how did you get in here!?" TK exclaimed. He didn't hear his front door open like Monokuma just popped into existence.
"Takeru Takaishi, this is super duper majorly bad! So bad it's almost magical! Ultra magical awful awful attack!" Monokuma exclaimed, ignoring all of TK's questions.
"Just get on with it!" Matt yelled.
"I feel like Monokuma is also torturing us as well," Sora sighed.
"It wouldn't surprise me with what we've seen," Tai said.
"In point of fact, I acknowledge that the bathroom in your room has a problem with the doorframe!" Monokuma said in a calm manner.
"Wait, so the reason it won't open isn't because it's locked? The door just… doesn't fit?" TK said as he looked at his bathroom door.
"Lucky me," TK said sarcastically.
"Look on the bright side, you could use it as a lock," Kari told him.
"I guess, but it's just an inconvenience to have."
"Didn't you see the notice? What, can't you read?" Monokuma asked, mildly annoyed thinking that the blond boy in front of him disregarded his note. "The bathroom in the boys' rooms don't have locks! I mean, a lock on a boy's bathroom is kinda pointless, don't you think?"
'Not really, I don't want anyone walking in on me when I'm using the bathroom,' TK thought to himself.
"Well, it's not that it's pointless, I guess. But I'm no expert on the birds and the bees and all that," Monokuma said, all sweaty with the top of his head turning a shade of red.
"What the f–!" Matt started, but a glare from Sora stopped him in his tracks.
"Great, so not only is he holding them captive, but he's also a pervert," Mimi whined.
"At least he's not as bad as Hifumi," Yolei said.
He then sighed, regaining his composure. "Anyway, there's a little trick to opening this particular ill-fitting door. And that's what I'm here to teach you!"
"Okay, ready?" Monokuma didn't wait for TK to give a response as he went ahead on giving his instructions. "So you just gotta turn the doorknob, then lift up while you pull! Go ahead, give it a try!"
TK did what Monokuma instructed and, lo and behold, his bathroom door opened without any problems.
"Puhuhu… See? It opened right up!" Monokuma started giggling to himself like he just heard a funny joke. "Isn't that crazy, though? Your door's the only one that doesn't quite fit right! You're supposed to be the Ultimate Lucky Student, right? But it looks like you're not lucky at all!"
Monokuma stopped laughing all of a sudden as he held a neutral look on his face. "Anyway, I suddenly don't feel like being here anymore. Bye!"
Monokuma suddenly disappeared, leaving TK bewildered at what he had seen.
"Once again, how?" Yolei said in disbelief.
"I'm starting to believe Monokuma is a Digimon," Izzy said.
"How did he…?" TK didn't get to finish his thought as the bell rang. The monitor in his room turned on to show Monokuma sitting in a chair holding a drink.
"Mm, ahem, this is a school announcement. It is now 10 p.m. As such, it is officially nighttime. Soon the doors to the dining hall will be locked, and entry at that point is strictly prohibited. Okay then… sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite…"
"I guess I'll have to take a shower in the morning then," TK said to himself as he got ready for bed. He placed his hat and vest on the dresser close to his bed before getting underneath the covers.
"We all promised we would be in our rooms at this time," TK said to himself as he yawned and rested his head on his pillow.
'I'm so exhausted that I feel like I played basketball all day or the first night I spent in the Digital World,' TK thought as he drifted off to sleep.
"I guess we now wait and see if everyone holds up their end of the deal," Tai said.
"I have no doubts about them doing it on the first two nights, but how long will it last?" Izzy asked.
"Well, that won't matter because you guys are gonna come and bust us out in no time," TK said confidently.
"I hope so," Matt mumbled.