Chapter 33—Old friend, new acquaintance—

Ariel, Xavier and I all kept travelling through the wilderness area and the temperatures continued to go up as we did—the clouds also began to part and the sun started to shine down as we got further in, too! It wasn't long before we came to the next area—it was an enormous lake with clear, blue skies and the sun was shining down hard!

As we stepped into the area, I smiled as I ran ahead and looked around. This area gave me the same nostalgic feelings of summer that I had experienced in the summery area of Ikaruga Server—it was like a place I would have gone to when I was younger. Soon I heard Ariel giggle before she said: "You sure like being out in the sun, don't you Mark?" "Of course! This place reminds me of old summer days, so pleasant and carefree. Summer is such a nostalgic time for me." I said. Ariel then came up next to me and said: "Yeah… I understand."

Then we both smiled before Xavier came up and said: "I can relate too… summer was always a time of the year where I felt free and relaxed after trying so hard at a year of school. It was always a great time to meet up with friends too." "That's right! There's no better time of year!" I said before Xavier and I laughed. Then he said: "Well I guess we'd better get back to business. The others are counting on us, after all." "A good point, Xavier. Where are we headed?" Ariel asked. Xavier then took out his digivice before pointed up and to the left as he said: "That way! So let's get to it!" and Ariel and I nodded as we went off.

As we started walking, we kept our eyes open for any staff members or wild Digimon, but we never saw any, so I turned to Ariel and said: "So how are you getting used to this, Ariel?" "Well it's a change of pace, but it's also fun. I never imagined I would be helping the international police hunt down criminals, or that I would be logged in for so long… it's fun, but I'm worried about what my parents will say when I get back…" Ariel replied. And then I looked down as I said: "Yeah, I know how you feel… but I'm sure it won't be the end of the world, right?" and Ariel smiled back before she said: "But it's also weird not knowing how long I've been here… I hope I'm not missing any events at school…" "Ah, like your volleyball games, right? I still hope I'll get to see another one." I said back.

Ariel was still smiling before I heard Xavier say: "Oh, so you both know each other?" and I turned to him before I said: "That's right. Ariel and I have known each other for a while. We originally met on the site." "Yup. Mark and I were assigned to the same server and we met early on." Ariel said. "Wow, that's really something… after our introduction in that meeting, I know Hugh and I came from the same server, but unlike you, we never met until recently. Still, that's interesting. It's nice to see that Digimon View brought so many people together." Xavier said.

And then we all nodded before we kept walking. And yet I couldn't help but notice something… it looked like Ariel was wearing something around her neck… some kind of necklace, but that wasn't all either—I also noticed her Digimon… I turned back around and saw that she had Ophanimon, HerculesKabuterimon, MetalSeadramon, Megidramon, Phoenixmon and Brakedramon… but now there were 2 new Digimon with her! One was like a little silver ball with 2 arms and 2 legs. It wore red boxing gloves with tan bands around each wrist and had red boots on its legs and the backs of its feet (but not the front). Its feet each had 3 short, pointy toenails and it looked 1'2 tall. And the other was a Matadormon!

I then turned around before I said: "Ariel… you have new Digimon with you!" and she smiled before she said: "So you've noticed… yes, the one with the colorful clothes is Matadormon…" as she put her hand on his shoulder and then went to the short Digimon and said: "And this little guy is Mamemon! Isn't he cute?" and I smiled before she went on: "I knew I'd need more Digimon in order to stand up to the staff members, so I digiconverted more. I'm happy they're a part of the team, though." and then Matadormon chuckled as Mamemon jumped up and down energetically before I said: "That's great. It looks like now we both have a full team of 8 Digimon too!"

But then Xavier said: "Heads up, Mark and Ariel!" and we turned around to see 5 Digimon approaching us! One was a Piedmon, the next was a tiny Digimon with a pale pink body. It had a ghost-like lower body, 2 wings, 2 arms, 2 ribbon-like ears, a ring around its neck and a heart on its chest. It looked very tiny at 1 foot tall. Then there was a Digimon that was very humanoid and walked on 2 legs… it wore white clothing and had a silver breastplate on its chest with 3 brown belt buckles around its stomach and silver bangles over its forearms… it also had silver bands bound around its biceps. It had a light blue cloth that was held in place by 2 brown belt buckles (which were diagonal, in an x-shape) which had a scabbard on its right and a quiver of arrows on its left. It also had silver bands around its calves and one band around the middle of each thigh. It had gold kneepads with feathery sides and red jewels on either side of the kneepad, which looked like eyes… it also wore silver boots with winged adornments around its ankles. It had white wings with red ends, but they were folded in a very strange-looking way that made them look more like a cape than wings. It held a sword in its left hand and had a gold shield bound to its right forearm. It had a white skullcap on its head with feathery sides and had red jewels like eyes near the sides, although its actual eyes were covered by a black visor… it had short blonde hair that was very spiky from the back of its head and looked 5'7 tall. And there was also a MagnaGarurumon.

And finally, there was one that walked on 2 legs but it had 2 purple wings on its back as well. It had purple arms and legs and wore white armor over its chest, forearms, hips, legs and had 3 layers of white armor over its shoulders—they also had jagged, gold points coming out of them. There were gold points around the bottom of its chest armor and the top of the hip armor as well, a gold collar on the chest armor and it had gold links over its chest armor, making its torso look like a face with teeth. It had circular gold ring armor with red slits around its knees and sharp-looking gold toes—it even had a white helm with horizontal horns that curved forward. It looked 6'2 tall.

I then felt my digivice vibrate and I checked it. It said: "Left to right: Piedmon scan data: 10%, MarineAngemon scan data: 5%, Valkyrimon scan data: ERROR, MagnaGarurumon scan data: 10%, Dynasmon scan data: 5%". From having fought them, I knew Piedmon was a darkness Digimon and that MagnaGarurumon was a machine Digimon, but it also said that MarineAngemon was a water Digimon, Valkyrimon was an air Digimon and that Dynasmon was a fire Digimon.

Xavier then said: "Go, Puppetmon!" and he called one out. I then turned to Sakuyamon and said: "Sakuyamon, you're up! Go get 'em!" and she ran in as she said: "Leave it to me, Mark!" and Ariel said: "Go for it, Brakedramon! You can do it!" and he moved in as he said: "Leave it to me, Ariel—I've got 'em!" and then I said: "Sakuyamon, protect yourself! Use saint's spotlight!" and Sakuyamon said: "Saint's spotlight!" and a ray of sunshine shined down even harder on her from above. MarineAngemon then said: "Whirlpool!" and she created a swirling whirlpool underneath Puppetmon! It sucked him in and spat him out a second later before Valkyrimon said: "Fenrir sword!" and he drew his sword and slashed at Brakedramon with it—he took it a little hard too! Xavier then said: "Puppetmon, get MarineAngemon! Use timber!" and Puppetmon said: "Timber!" and he conjured a tree in front of MarineAngemon before he hit it with his hammer… and then it started to fall! It fell on MarineAngemon before it vanished a second later, but she looked like she had taken it extra hard! Piedmon then said: "Trump sword!" and he slashed at Puppetmon with his swords! Puppetmon recovered as Dynasmon said: "Napalm dunk!" before he hit Sakuyamon with an uppercut, knocking her into the air! Then a red substance appeared in his other hand as he leapt up into the air after her… and he swung his hand around, causing the substance to multiply around him rapidly! He then grabbed Sakuyamon and slammed her onto the ground before he ran off and it rained napalm on her. As she was getting up, MagnaGarurumon followed up and said: "Piston punches!" and he flew at Sakuyamon before he punched her! Then he did it again before he flew back. Ariel then said: "Let's get this started off right, Brakedramon! Here!" and she used an attack booster on him, raising his damage output with physical attacks!

Piedmon then said: "Trump sword!" and he slashed at Puppetmon with his swords again before MagnaGarurumon said: "Piston punches!" and he punched Sakuyamon twice and Valkyrimon said: "Lightning strikes twice!" and the sky turned purple and filled with dark, stormy clouds before Brakedramon got zapped by a lightning bolt! Then a second one zapped him again! The sky returned to being sunny again before I said: "Sakuyamon, get them! Use almighty sun!" and Sakuyamon said: "Almighty sun!" and she sent a yellow line up into the air… before it suddenly turned into a giant, yellow-orange sun! The sun then came down as Piedmon, MarineAngemon, Valkyrimon, MagnaGarurumon and Dynasmon started to tremble from the heat before the sun flashed and it disappeared. Xavier then followed up and said: "Puppetmon, Keep going! Use timber on MarineAngemon!" and Puppetmon said: "Timber!" and conjured another tree in front of her before he hit it with his hammer and it fell on her again before it disappeared. MarineAngemon was starting to look worn out now and when she got up, she said: "Ocean love!" and a blue aura surrounded her side and bubbles came up before it disappeared… and all of the Digimon on her side started to look like they felt a lot better! "So… she's a healer…" Xavier said as I said: "And that should make her our first target! We need to do something about her soon!" and we all nodded and Dynasmon said: "Napalm dunk!" and he hit Sakuyamon up high with an uppercut before he knocked her down and let napalm rain down on her. Ariel then said: "Brakedramon, keep the pressure up! Use destroyed rush on MarineAngemon!" and Brakedramon said: "Destroyed rush!" and he went into high gear and ran right up to MarineAngemon before he swiped his arms at her too fast and too many times for my eye to track… it didn't seem like too much time before he ran back to our side.

Piedmon attacked Puppetmon with another trump sword… but Puppetmon jumped away before he could hit him! Dynasmon then said: "Wyvern's breath!" and he conjured a giant, phantasmal, purple-and-white dragon behind him and sent it flying at Puppetmon! Puppetmon took the hit hard, but then Dynasmon fell into a kneeling position, looking exhausted… Xavier then said: "Puppetmon, get rid of MarineAngemon! Use timber!" and Puppetmon attacked with it… but she still got up! Ariel then said: "Brakedramon, take MarineAngemon out! Destroyed rush!" and Brakedramon said: "Destroyed rush!" and he zoomed right up to MarineAngemon and hit her rapidly before he came back and MarineAngemon just barely got up before I said: "Sakuyamon, finish her off! Almighty sun!" and then Sakuyamon said: "Almighty sun!" and she sent another yellow line into the sky that turned into a giant sun that came down before it flashed and disappeared… and that did it! MarineAngemon was down! MagnaGarurumon frowned before he said: "Machinegun destroyer!" and he started firing missiles, bullets and lasers at Sakuyamon, but she evaded them all! "Fenrir sword!" Valkyrimon said before he leapt at Brakedramon and slashed at him.

Before anything else could happen, Xavier said: "Great work, Puppetmon! Now it's time to withdraw!" and he called Puppetmon back before he said: "Go, Creepymon!" and he called out one before Piedmon said: "Tigerclaw!" and he ran up to Sakuyamon and swiped at her with one of his swords! He then ran back as Valkyrimon said: "Fenrir sword!" and attacked Brakedramon with it. I then said: "Awesome job, Sakuyamon! Now come back here!" and she ran back as I said: "Mastemon, go for it!" and she flew in before MagnaGarurumon said: "Piston punches!" and he attacked Mastemon with it… although Dynasmon still looked too tired to move. "Brakedramon, use mudslide!" Ariel said before Brakedramon said: "Mudslide!" and a massive torrent of mud, bark, dirt, rocks and debris appeared and came flying at Piedmon, Valkyrimon, MagnaGarurumon and Dynasmon! It slammed into them (and MagnaGarurumon took it really hard) before they got up.

Dynasmon then rose and said: "Napalm dunk!" and he attacked Mastemon with it before Piedmon attacked her with trump sword. I then said: "Mastemon, get them with chaos degradation!" and Mastemon said: "Chaos degradation!" and in one of her hands a baby blue-colored light emerged, and in her other hand a pink light emerged. Mastemon then brought them together and the result was not a purple-like light, but instead a small swirling ball that looked more like a tiny black hole… Mastemon then sent it at Piedmon, Valkyrimon, MagnaGarurumon and Dynasmon and when it made contact with them, it swirled into a giant black hole that hurt them all before it disappeared! It looked like it worked well, too! "Brakedramon, go on and join in! Use mudslide on them!" Ariel said and Brakedramon said: "Mudslide!" and attacked with another torrent of earth. Valkyrimon attacked him with another Fenrir sword before MagnaGarurumon hit Mastemon with piston punches and Xavier said: "Creepymon, get Valkyrimon! Use flame inferno!" and Creepymon said: "Flame inferno!" and he conjured a red orb of fire above Valkyrimon and it bathed him in a downpour of fire! Valkyrimon got up, but looked badly hurt. From there, all it took was an almighty sun from Mastemon, a flame inferno from Creepymon (aimed at Valkyrimon) and a mudslide from Brakedramon before we knocked out everyone except Dynasmon!

Dynasmon started to look panicked as Xavier said: "Great work, Creepymon! Now come on back!" and he called Creepymon back as he said: "Let's finish this, Plesiomon!" and he called one in before I said: "You too, Mastemon! That was some fine work!" and she came back before I said: "Dianamon, let's finish the job!" and Ariel said: "Way to go, Brakedramon! Come back—you've earned it!" and he did so before she said: "Get him, MetalSeadramon!" and MetalSeadramon floated in. And we had no trouble finishing off Dynasmon with our water attacks the next turn! After he collapsed, he, Piedmon, MarineAngemon, Valkyrimon and MagnaGarurumon all got up and ran away!

When they were all gone, I grinned and said: "Aw yeah! That was some excellent work all around!" and Ariel smiled before she said: "Absolutely! Everyone did a great job!" and even Xavier said: "Yes… it was a great effort and we pulled it off well!" and then Ariel and I turned to our Digimon and healed them up. When I turned around, I saw Ariel was done… and so was Xavier. "Ah, I see you're quick to heal your Digimon after a battle too, eh, Xavier?" I said before he turned to me and said: "Of course. My Digimon are depending on me to keep them in good health. I can't let them down." and then he went on: "But it looks like you and Ariel are equally quick as well—we must have all finished at the same time." "Of course! I could never let my Digimon down!" Ariel said. "I agree; they're my precious partners and I won't be getting far without them in top condition!" I said. We all smiled before Ariel said: "Well now that our Digimon are in good shape, I guess we'd better get back to our mission… let's see…" and then she checked her digivice before she said: "It looks like it'll still be a while yet. But that doesn't mean we can't do it! Let's go!" and I smiled as Xavier and I nodded and we continued down our route.

We kept going as we kept our eyes open for more Digimon, but we never saw any… we kept traveling around the open, beautiful lake until soon I heard Mamemon say: "Ariel, hold on!" and then I turned around (and I saw Ariel do the same) before she said: "What is it, Mamemon?" "Xavier's stopped. Don't take off without him!" Mamemon replied. I then said: "What…?" before we looked up… and saw him staring at a pink flower growing in a patch by some nearby foliage.

Ariel and I then exchanged glances before we approached him and I said: "Xavier? Is everything alright?" and then he looked up and turned to me before he said: "Oh… I'm sorry. Yes, everything's fine." "You were looking at that flower, weren't you? I didn't know you liked flowers." Ariel said before Xavier laughed and said: "Oh no, not particularly. I was only looking at it because it brought back memories of my childhood." "Xavier?" I said before he went on: "The truth is, when I was still a kid, I had a friend who loved flowers… so I went out into the woods and picked her one that looked like this one to give her for her birthday. It took me a long time to find it, but I stuck with it and didn't leave until I had it and gave it to her early… it brought back memories."

And Ariel giggled before she said: "You gave her a flower for her birthday when you were a kid? That's sweet. You were making a real impression from an early age, weren't you?" and Xavier chuckled before he said: "It may sound silly, but I wasn't actually trying to woo her or anything like that… I only was trying to get her something I thought she would like based on what I knew about her. Besides, it was her birthday, so I was determined to pull through for that occasion. Even though I was going into the woods when I was only partially familiar with them, I knew it was important to honor my friend on her special day." And then I smiled before I said: "That's impressive, Xavier. It looks like you've always known what's important, even from an early age." and Xavier smiled before he said: "Everyone always says that, but that's a reputation I'm proud to have." and we all smiled before we kept going.

We kept following our route to our destination and eventually we encountered some more staff members from Digimon View. After we drove them off, we healed our Digimon and kept going, keeping our eyes peeled for more of them… but luckily, we never found any more of them. Finally, we relaxed a little and as we kept going, I eventually noticed something about Ariel's necklace… it was bound around something in the middle… and it was that charm I had given her in Sunset Shores in Ikaruga Server!

I then paused (and it seemed Ariel and Xavier noticed, because they turned around) and then Ariel said: "Mark? What is it?" and I smiled and said: "Ariel… is that the necklace you said you were going to make?" and then she smiled before she looked down and said: "Yes! I see you noticed!" and then she looked back up at me and said: "I'm sorry I didn't say anything before, but between when we were brought here—and with us being dispatched and constantly split into teams—I never really had a good chance to do it." And then I smiled and said: "I understand—it's been really busy and fast-paced ever since we started this up." and then I went on: "But I'm so happy to see that! It looks great too—you did a good job designing it."

And Ariel smiled before Xavier said: "You've really been through a lot together, haven't you?" and then we both looked up before he went on: "But I also noticed something I'm curious about… I've noticed you both let your Digimon walk behind you instead of storing them in your digivice and calling them out in battle. Why is that?" "Well to be honest, Mark's been doing it since before I knew him… and when I saw him doing it and asked about it, he said he was doing it to connect with his Digimon. That got me thinking—since the Digimon were our special friends and I could bond with them and understand them more if I had them out with me, I thought I would try to do what Mark did so I could get closer to my Digimon." Ariel replied.

And then Xavier smiled before he said: "So you learned that behavior from Mark… but looking at the 2 of you, that's not all, is it? It seems like you must have learned a lot from each other too." and then Ariel and I smiled before I said: "Well that's true—before I came here, I wasn't really the type to jump in and save people—I usually left that to authority figures. But ever since we met, I've really discovered how much I enjoy helping people." "And you taught me how much I enjoy sharing my interests with my friends, Mark…" Ariel said. We then smiled at each other before Xavier chuckled softly and then he said: "How inspiring…" and then he went on: "Well thank you for telling me about your friendship. I suppose we'd better get moving though—it wouldn't be difficult for a staff member of a pack of Digimon to find us when we're stopped." and then we all nodded before we headed off.

Eventually, we knew we had arrived at our destination when Ariel paused to check her digivice and then said: "It looks like we're here! Get your contagion remotes, everyone!" and we took ours out before we installed the malware. When we finished, Xavier said: "Well that's done. Now we'll need to contact the other teams." and I said: "No problem! I'll handle that!" and I texted the other teams to let them know we had installed our malware. Then I switched to checking my contagion remote and checked how the other teams were doing and said: "Okay, it looks like Tiffany and Hugh have already finished… Josh and Kayla are still working on it, though." "Well let's see… since they're headed to the closest spot to the next area, then I guess we'd better head there too, so we'll hopefully arrive at the same time." Ariel said. "An excellent point, Ariel. Let's go!" Xavier said.

And then we headed to where Josh and Kayla were going. Luckily (from checking our contagion remotes) we saw they ended up arriving and installing the malware before we got there, so it looked like we were all going to arrive within quick succession! When we did arrive, Josh, Kayla, Hugh and Tiffany all were there and then Josh said: "Alright! Looks like everyone's here—and only one more area to go! Now let's get to our Digihomes before we get into the last teams!" and we all nodded before we went to our Digihomes.

When my Digimon and I arrived on the shore, Dianamon nodded and said: "From warmth to warmth… this isn't nearly as much of a contrast coming from the outside area as last time." "Yeah! We're finally in warmer territory! I love it!" ShineGreymon said as we all laughed before Rosemon said: "And it won't be long before we head off to the beginning of Amaterasu Server… or in our case, our final destination in this mission." "Oh that's right! We are going backwards through Amaterasu Server, aren't we?" Hudiemon said before Sakuyamon said: "But it's strange though… the Digimon have all been at the same level of strength throughout… and they're all strong. It's nothing like when we went through Ikaruga Server…" "Yes, that's perfectly true…" Gryphonmon said before BanchoLeomon turned to Rosemon and said: "And your journey through Amaterasu Server wasn't anything like this, was it, Rosemon?" and Rosemon shook her head before Mastemon said: "It's probably the developers upping their defenses, now that they know there are still enemies of theirs' on the loose… I'm not sure how they could throw it all together so fast though… and if all these mega Digimon have been moved in, what happened to the younger Digimon that were originally there?"

"All good points everyone… but for now, our priority is getting you all rested. So go on ahead—we can think about this later." I said before BanchoLeomon said: "Right you are, Mark!" and then my Digimon all went to their hammocks and rested. When they woke up and came over, I smiled and said: "Alright, looks like this is it—we're off to install the final wave of malware! You all ready?" and then my Digimon cheered before I smiled and we left the Digihome.

When we arrived, some of the others were there, while others hadn't made it yet… we simply waited until everyone was back and then Hugh said: "Alright, now that we're all here, all that's left to do is get into our final teams." "Exactly! And I'll read them off! Stand by!" Kayla said before she went on: "Mark and Tiffany…" and we got together as she went on: "Josh, Hugh and Ariel…" and they all got into a team before Kayla turned to Xavier and said: "And that just leaves you and me, Xavier!" and then she went on: "Alright, now all that leaves is to head off to the last area! Let's do it!" and we all nodded as we headed off.

And then Tiffany and I proceeded on our route and I smiled before I said: "Alright, it looks like I'm with you! Let's go finish this up!" "Yeah… now we can finally finish this mission we were given… and help everyone on Earth." Tiffany said. And I grinned as I said: "Right you are!" and then we headed further south into Amaterasu Server… to the last area.