Chapter 38—Ariel's last stand—

(Back at the base, 18 hours later…)

Ariel was still patrolling the base, but had been worrying about Mark for a long time, as had the Digimon… eventually, when Ariel next passed the room they were in, she walked in and said: "Have you heard anything from Mark yet?" and the Digimon all turned around before Herbert shook his head and said: "No… still nothing…" "And he hasn't responded to any form of communication in the last 24 hours…" Sabrina said. Larry then shook his head before he said: "As much as it pains me to say it, I think it's safe to assume at this point that the unthinkable has happened—Mark has been defeated by the enemy and they have captured him."

And Ariel shut her eyes tightly before Lewis said: "And that means we're going to have to decide what to do in response—" and then Ariel opened her eyes before she said: "What do you mean?! There's only one thing we can do: we have to rescue Mark!" "If we did that it would mean that this base would be unprotected, but—" John began before Hugh said in a disgusted fashion: "Oh come on, John! How safe are we to begin with when we only have one guard here anyway?" "Yeah, and Mark was a good guy… it would be wrong to abandon him now." Tiffany said. "That's right! Friends don't sacrifice each other to protect themselves! They stay together!" Kayla said. "I agree. Besides, are you seriously implying we should let them keep him? We don't even know what they plan to do to him." Xavier said. "And if we did that, we'd basically be admitting that they've won! Even if Ariel could protect us from an army of them, we would never win if all we did was defend the base!" Josh said.

John shook his head before he said: "Calm down, everyone—I actually was about to argue Josh's same point—if we can't take any more of their strongholds, we would only have a stalemate at best and likely a temporary one. That's why I think we should send Ariel after him." "Yes, that is a fair point, I'll agree. A war fought without offense is unwinnable." Herbert said before he turned to Ariel and said: "Ariel, we're going to entrust this mission to you. Please go in there and rescue Mark!" and Ariel nodded before she said: "I will! You can count on me!" and Herbert said: "Good." and then he turned to Sabrina and said: "Irene, could you give Ariel the coordinates to the enemy's headquarters?" "Yes, Herbert." Sabrina said. She then sent a link with coordinates to Ariel before Ariel took out her digivice and said: "Yup, I've got 'em!" and Sabrina said: "Good. Just be sure to give it your all Ariel, no matter what—if you can't succeed where Mark failed, we're history."

"I won't lose! I'm going to save him and turn this around, I promise!" Ariel said before Herbert said: "Good. Then go out there and show them what you're made of!" and Ariel nodded before she said: "I will! Just give me a minute to restock my supplies and I'll be off!" "A fine idea! Good luck!" Larry said. Ariel then went to the vending machines, where she restocked her supplies and then she used the link and coordinates to teleport into the enemy base!

When Ariel and her Digimon arrived, they had to fight their way through a great deal of staff members, but they defeated all of them, although Diaboromon and Damien still remained at large… eventually, Ariel healed her Digimon and came up to a room that she entered… only to find Mark bound by chains to a plate on a wall—and he was unconscious…

"Wh-what happened here?!" MetalSeadramon said before Ariel ran up to it and said: "MARK!" and her Digimon came up behind her before Phoenixmon said: "It can't be… did they really…?" and then they heard a voice behind them chuckle and say: "No… he's not dead. This is cyberspace after all."

And then they all whirled around to see a Digimon… it was a very tall Digimon that had 2 legs and 2 arms, but it hunched forward and walked on its hands, making it look quadrupedal… it had greenish-tan skin and a blue shell around its torso (which was partially open on the sides) and massive blue-colored shoulder pads. It had a blue helmet on its head that covered everything except its mouth and eyes, with horns sticking out of the helmet horizontally. It had dirty blonde-colored hair and 4 maroon spikes on its back. Its hands and feet were also colored blue and its feet had 3 maroon toenails and its hands had 5 maroon claws. It looked 10'3 tall. Ariel then frowned at him before Megidramon said: "That creature… is this Infermon?!"

"Infermon? Yes, I did go by that name once… but not now. I'm Diaboromon now." the Digimon said. "You… what have you done to him?!" Ariel asked. "Me? I simply defeated all of his little Digimon. It was Damien who had him chained up there and shocked until he passed out—" Diaboromon began before Brakedramon said: "Shocked?! You used high voltage as a means of interrogating him? You resorted to torture?!" "No, it wasn't high voltage. But it was high enough to really take the fight out of him. It was actually pretty gratifying to watch, to be honest. After all the times he pushed me around… to see him become the hunted beast was most rewarding." Diaboromon said. "You… you heartless monster…" Ophanimon said before HerculesKabuterimon said: "I'll say! You have no right to resort to such cruelty!" "Yes… it is unbecoming of a Digimon to play a part in torture, no matter how much." PrinceMamemon said before GranDracmon said: "Agreed. I'm glad we're nothing like you."

"Then perhaps you'd care to be like him? I know I wouldn't mind showing all of you how weak you are… and your treating your tamer to that level of voltage too." Diaboromon said. "Try me! I'll never lose to a monster like you!" Ariel said before she turned to GranDracmon and said: "GranDracmon, go! For Mark!" and GranDracmon ran in as he said: "Leave him to me."

Ariel then went on: "GranDracmon, get him! Use plague bite!" and GranDracmon said: "Plague bite!" and he lunged at Diaboromon, grabbing him before he leaned down and bit him! Diaboromon looked sickened after the attack too… Diaboromon then said: "Predator's instinct!" and he boosted his damage output with any attack.

"GranDracmon, use gorgon's eye!" Ariel said before GranDracmon said: "Gorgon's eye!" and he looked at Diaboromon before a red light suddenly flashed from underneath his helmet and Diaboromon looked rattled… Diaboromon then said: "Falling star!" and he sent a black line into the air… and then the entire area above turned into a starry sky! Diaboromon then leapt up and eventually went so high, he was no longer visible… and soon a white streak through the sky came down! It descended very fast until soon it was getting close and Diaboromon was riding his meteor into GranDracmon! He steered it towards GranDracmon and then dismounted it before it crashed into him… and then Diaboromon recoiled from poison damage.

"GranDracmon, use gorgon's eye again!" Ariel said before GranDracmon said: "Gorgon's eye!" and another red light flashed from underneath his helmet before Diaboromon looked rattled again. "Falling star!" Diaboromon said before he sent a line up and turned the space above into a starry sky before he leapt up and rode a meteor down to GranDracmon and dismounted it before it hit. Ariel then had GranDracmon use another Gorgon's eye before Diaboromon used a falling star… and he went down!

"Great job setting the stage, GranDracmon! Now take a rest!" Ariel said before she called him back. Then she turned to Ophanimon and said: "Ophanimon, go for it!" and Ophanimon said: "I've got it, Ariel!" as she flew in. Ariel then went on: "Ophanimon, use Eden's javelin!" and Ophanimon said: "Eden's javelin!" and she conjured a spear in her left hand before she fired beam of light from it at Diaboromon! He took it really hard before he got up and said: "Thirst of the beast!" and cast a spell on himself to strengthen his next attack and restore his health after attacking.

"Ophanimon, use Eden's javelin again!" Ariel said before Ophanimon said: "Eden's javelin!" and she conjured another spear in her hand before she fired another beam of light from it at Diaboromon! Diaboromon just barely managed to get up before he said: "Piston punches!" and he hit Ophanimon with a strike of his palm before he did it again and Ophanimon looked pretty hurt while Diaboromon looked like he felt better after attacking too… Ariel then had Ophanimon use an Eden's javelin and Diaboromon just barely got up before he said: "Piston punches!" and he hit Ophanimon with a palm strike, followed by another. Ariel then had Ophanimon use another Eden's javelin… and that was all Diaboromon could take! He collapsed!

"Urgh… no… defeated again…" Diaboromon said, but Ariel immediately called GranDracmon out before she said: "Great work—you've earned this!" and she used an HP total recharge on him. Then—before GranDracmon could respond—she immediately turned around and ran up to Mark on the wall. Ariel then turned to Brakedramon and said: "Brakedramon, rip off these chains! Please!" and Brakedramon came up as he said: "Leave it to me! I'll have them off in no time!"

And then Ariel got in front of Mark before Brakedramon stuck his arm in between Mark's feet and the chain and pulled until the chain broke! Then he reached for a chain over one of Mark's arms and pulled on it until it broke too! Brakedramon then went to the last chain and pulled on it until it broke off… and Mark fell forward! Ariel caught Mark in her arms before she got down on her knees and held him before her as she said: "Mark! Mark! Wake up!"

(Meanwhile…)

I felt myself starting to stir, with my body overwhelmed by pain from the shocks I had felt, although I still couldn't open my eyes… I could barely move and I heard someone yelling at me too… finally, I said: "Look, if you're going to shock me, just get on with it—" and then I could hear the voice more clearly… it said: "Mark! It's me, Ariel! Wake up!"

In utter disbelief at what I was hearing, I opened my eyes immediately—and saw Ariel holding me! "A-Ariel…! How did you…?!" I began before she hugged me and held me before her again as she said: "I'll explain later! Are you okay? Can you walk?" "I… think so…" I said as I stood and wobbled a little… but I still kept my balance. "Mark… what happened?!" Ariel asked. "After they captured me, they stole my digivice and hung me up there… and they tortured me with electric shocks. They wanted me to tell them the coordinates to the base…" I began before I smiled and said: "But I never did!"

Ariel looked down before she looked up again and said: "Oh Mark, I'm so sorry you had to endure that… they're definitely going to pay for this!" and I nodded before I said: "Yeah. I don't plan on letting that go unpunished…" and then I went on: "Still, it looks like you really pulled through there—you took on impossible odds, defeated their secret weapon and even rescued me! I guess we're even now, huh?" "You've still done more for me, Mark… I still have a little way to go before we're even. I'll repay you completely someday, but in the meantime, I hope this will do…" Ariel said…

And then she grabbed my head and kissed me! I put my hands behind her back as this went on for a few seconds before we heard a: "Hmph. You'd best get another room, lovebirds…" and then I looked up (and Ariel spun around too) to see Damien! He then went on: "You did very well, Ariel. I did not think it was possible for Diaboromon to lose. Especially after our success with—" and then Ariel frowned and said: "Surround Diaboromon! Now!"

And all of her Digimon formed a circle around Diaboromon before Damien said: "You… what are you doing?!" and Ariel came closer (and I followed) as she said: "You'd better listen up, because my patience is at its end: if you want Diaboromon to live, you'd better give me Mark's digivice back." "You want his digivice…? What makes you think I'm going to just hand it over?" Damien asked before Ariel said: "Don't kid yourself! With 8 Digimon attacking at full force at this range, he'd be vaporized well before your wormhole could suck him up! Even you must be able to see that!" Damien frowned before he said: "Hrr…" and then he went on: "I never thought you'd have it in you to blackmail… that's not very heroic." and then he went on: "Still, I suppose I'm out of options. Here…" and he tossed her a digivice! Ariel caught it before she gave it to me and said: "Check it." and I nodded and looked it over. It looked like my digivice, but… I wasn't convinced yet. I booted it up and checked the username… and saw it was mine!

I smiled widely before I said: "YES! This is it!" and then we heard an odd noise and looked up… Ariel's Digimon had already stepped away and a wormhole was sucking up Diaboromon. When Diaboromon was gone, Damien said: "You kept your word…" and then he went on: "One thing I love about dealing with naïve suckers like you is watching the mistakes you make. Now we still have a chance to triumph because you didn't follow through!" and then he went on: "Well now that you've conquered the HQ and all of the employees here, I have no choice but to surrender it to you. But we still have the lab! And it is there that your hopes will be crushed once and for all! I'll see you brats… soon."

And then he created a wormhole beneath himself and was sucked up by it before he was gone! Ariel then turned to me and said: "Well, all's well that ends well! I'm going to send a message to the others to let them know you're okay before I get them onboard to hack the computers here!" and I smiled and nodded before I said: "That works for me! Go for it!" and Ariel nodded before she sent the message… then went over to the computer in this room and used her contagion remote to allow the Digimon to hack into the computers in the HQ. Ariel and I had to wait a while, but that gave us some more time to bond. This went on until she eventually got another message from the Digimon at the base… Ariel read it before she looked up and said: "The HQ has been completely taken over and the enemy's lost access! Now we just need to go back!" and I smiled and nodded before we used our digivices to return to the base!

When we returned, we headed back to the room the Digimon were working in and when we arrived, they cheered and Sabrina said: "Welcome back, Mark. I'm glad you're okay—we were really worried about you." and I nodded before I said: "Thanks, Irene. I'm glad to be back—believe me." "So what happened, Mark? It sounds like you were captured…" Xavier asked before Herbert said: "Yes—tell us everything."

I then filled them in on how I had gotten to Diaboromon and Damien, but lost and how my digivice had been stolen, how I had been tortured and about Ariel's rescue (and getting my digivice back). By the end of it, everyone looked shocked and Tiffany said: "So they tortured you?! That's so mean… it's unforgivable!" "Yes… I'm sorry that you had to undergo that, Mark… we never wanted something like that to happen…" Sabrina said before I said: "Yeah, I didn't either…" and then she went on: "But there's still something I'm a little anxious about…" and I said: "I think I see where this is going. You want to know if I told them the coordinates to the base, right?" "Yes. I know they were torturing you, so I guess I'm not in a position to say anything, but… I hope you didn't give them out!" Sabrina said. I grinned as I said: "You don't have to worry, Irene—I never did!"

And then Herbert, Lewis, John, Larry and Sabrina all gave a sigh of relief before Herbert said: "Thank heavens… that means that—for the time being—we're still relatively safe." and then he went on: "Thank you, Mark. I'm grateful that you didn't give out that information, even though you were suffering immensely." "Of course! It hurt more than anything I had ever known, I can tell you that, but I could never betray you!" I said.

They all smiled before Lewis said: "Well I'm just relieved that we got a member of our team back—and the fact that we captured another enemy stronghold is even better!" "Right. Now the enemy has only one stronghold left. Once we capture it, victory will be assured." John said. "Of course, we're still going to have to capture it before they find and invade this base—that much hasn't changed. Whoever makes the first move successfully will be the winner." Larry said. "Speaking of which, what are we going to do next?" Ariel asked.

And then Herbert turned to Ariel and said: "After having seen enough of your teamwork, we have come to conclude one thing: you and Mark are the greatest of combinations. Accidents may happen if we dispatch you individually, but together you both are unstoppable… or at least, that's what we believe." and then I smiled as he went on: "That's why we believe it's crucial for the next mission to dispatch you both together, but… it would be hugely risky to leave the base unguarded… that's why we wanted to take a few days to see if you could try to develop a program with the intention of returning us to being human, so we could use our digivices. If only we could return to being human, the base would be safe again and we could proceed with the plan without fear."

Ariel and I looked at each other before we turned back to them and I said: "I'm not so sure that's the correct course of action… the enemy's currently knocked off balance and there's no risk Diaboromon may have digivolved if we were to launch a raid now and they would be using the time to recover just as much as we would… but on the other hand, it's also true that the last time we rushed in, we regretted it immensely…" and then I went on: "Okay, I guess this is the best way to do it." "Yeah. I had the same feeling as well, but… I think it'll work." Ariel said. Then she went on: "But how are we supposed to develop a program? We don't know how…" "We'll be showing you the basics on the first day and we'll let you both work independently on the following days. By the end, we'll see what you have—if it works, that's perfect, but if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. Either way, we'll launch our raid thereafter, regardless. Because as you say, we can't afford to waste too much time." Sabrina said. And then Herbert nodded before he said: "Right. Of course, before you can do any of that, your Digimon are going to need to rest, so they can be ready to defend the base… or make the raid. So go on and head back to your Digihomes first."

And then Ariel and I nodded before we left the conference room. When we were back out in the halls, I turned to Ariel and said: "I can't thank you enough for saving me, Ariel—you really swooped in and proved what a heroine you are, just like you always wanted to be." and Ariel smiled warmly before she said: "Thanks! I definitely feel much closer after doing something like that!" "Oh absolutely! Taking on a whole fortress's worth of people, defeating their secret weapon and conquering it all like that—it's spectacular! You really proved it today!" I said back. And then Ariel smiled before I went on: "But still, what really impressed me is that you succeeded where I failed… you defeated Diaboromon when I lost against him." "Mark—" Ariel suddenly said and (seeing my mistake) I said: "But don't worry, Ariel—I didn't mean it that way. I'm actually impressed and happy to see you surpass me. After having known you for all this time, I'm proud of who you've become while we've played this game."

And then Ariel smiled warmly before she said: "Mark…" and then she went on: "Thank you. That makes me happy… and for what it's worth, I'm proud of who you are, too." and then we hugged each other before we let go and she said: "Well I'd better get back to my Digihome and rest up my Digimon, but I'll be back, all ready to save our world!" and I smiled and said: "I'm rarin' to go to make that happen too! See you soon!"

And then Ariel returned to her Digihome, while I returned to mine. When I arrived, I suddenly remembered something: I had my digivice back, but… I didn't know if Damien had done something to my Digimon while he had stolen it… I felt a chill go down my spine as I anxiously checked it… and I saw my Digimon were all there! I called them out before I saw them (looking just as weak as they were before), but when they saw me, their heads shot up and they said: "MARK!" and they all came up to me before Hudiemon hugged me and said: "I'm so happy you're okay! We were worried sick!" and I nodded and said: "Yeah… but never mind that. What about all of you? Damien didn't do anything to you, did he?" "No, nothing. I'm sure he must have had something planned, but… we were just sitting in there for an uninterrupted period of time." BanchoLeomon said. And then I smiled widely before I said: "Oh thank heavens!" and then I went on: "I'm so glad you're all okay, even after that brute Diaboromon hurt you like that…" and then Dianamon said: "That is our line… what happened after we lost, Mark?"

And then I retold the whole thing to them before they all looked downcast and Gryphonmon said: "So they tortured you…" and then he scrunched up his claws before he said: "I can't believe it! If I ever find that Damien—" and then ShineGreymon said: "I feel the same, Gryphonmon—he's going down if I ever see him again!" and then Sakuyamon said: "I feel the same, but… I guess this is really no time for rage… not after how we did…" and Mastemon looked down before she said: "Yeah… we didn't do so well…" and Rosemon said: "Yes… I feel the same."

And then she approached me as she said: "I'm sorry, Mark… I wanted to protect you, but… I failed you…" and then I shook my head as I said: "You can't blame yourselves for that! He was powered up on a grand scale and had attacks no one was ready for—" but then Rosemon said: "No! Making excuses like that won't make me any stronger!" and then I was stunned as she went on: "I have to accept that I failed first—that's how I'm going to give myself the motivation to do better. But I won't let this loss be in vain—I'm going to become stronger so I'll never let you down again!"

I was a little surprised before I said: "…What's gotten into you, Rosemon? I haven't seen you this fired up before…" "Yes… I'm sorry. I should have been this serious from the start, but… you're important to me, Mark. That's why I feel so bad about losing… I was your Digimon and you are my tamer, but also my dear friend. You helped my dreams come true, you helped me feel confident in myself and you gave me so many wonderful friends… you did so much for me and made my life so much better. That's why I always wanted to repay you and be a good Digimon… and why I'm so determined to do better. After all you've done for me, I am determined to return the favor and protect you. Even if I must take risks with my own safety, I'll keep you safe no matter what price I have to pay!" Rosemon said. I was smiling now as I said: "Rosemon—" but then she suddenly said: "Oh!" and there was a flash of light!

When I could see again, I saw Rosemon was still there, but… she was a little different… the flower growing out of her head, the garment over her torso and her gloves were all colored white now, the thorns wrapped around her arms were black and her cape was colored pink and she had 7 pink ball-like charms like the one that she had pinned in front of her neck on her cape floating around her and her hair was colored light brown now. I was a little surprised before Rosemon said: "Wh-what happened…?" and I said: "I… don't know. You still look like a Rosemon, but… you look a little different…" "Different? Different how?" Rosemon said before she looked down and around before she said: "Okay, so some minor color changes and these charms are floating around me now, but… everything otherwise looks normal."

"Wait a minute… is that… Burst Mode digivolution?" Mastemon said before I turned to her and I said: "Burst Mode digivolution? What are you talking about?" "I don't know much about it, but… it's a form of digivolution that doesn't change a Digimon's appearance much, but gives them much greater power. Unlike regular digivolution—which can be done by any Digimon below ultra level—only a select few Digimon have Burst Mode digivolutions." Mastemon said. "Hmm… interesting. I'll look it up…" I said.

And then I checked my digivice and read up on it. I looked up before I said: "Alright, what Mastemon said just about sums it up—Burst Mode digivolution changes a Digimon's appearance in minor ways, really powers them up and is limited to a few digivolution lines. It also says it changes their signature attacks so they're much stronger. But I did read something interesting too…" "Something interesting? Like what?" Rosemon asked. "It's what causes Burst Mode digivolution to occur… apparently, it only happens when the Digimon has a bond with their tamer that couldn't be better." I said.

And Rosemon smiled before she said: "So I have a bond with you that can't be better, huh? I like the sound of that! I'll prove my loyalty to you too! Just you wait and see!" and I smiled at her before I turned back to everyone and said: "I'm happy to have friends like all of you. I know we're going to take down the enemy's last stronghold in triumph this time!" and everyone cheered before I went on: "…But before we can do that, you'd better all take a rest and get back up to full strength. Make sure you get enough too—every little bit of strength you can recover will go a long way!" "That sounds good to me! I'll be as good as new momentarily!" ShineGreymon said before he leapt into his hammock and dozed off. I chuckled before everyone else got into their hammocks and rested too.

When they were all awake, we left the Digihome and then met Ariel outside before we went to all the Digimon and Herbert, Lewis, John, Larry and Sabrina taught us the basics of programs (while poor Josh, Xavier, Hugh, Kayla and Tiffany had nothing to do…) for the rest of the day. The next day, Ariel and I went off to a side room and worked for the next day and a half on trying to create a program that could return the Digimon to being human…

Eventually I sighed and turned to Ariel before I said: "Well I still haven't found a solution… any luck?" "No… this just isn't working…" Ariel said before she went on: "Still, it's no surprise—we're high schoolers, not programmers. I don't think it was reasonable of them to ask this, but… I guess that shows how desperate they are…" and then I nodded and said: "Yeah… still though…" and then Ariel turned to me and I said: "I think we might be going about our objective the wrong way right now—"

And then Ariel said: "I agree… but what are you suggesting is the right way?" "It has to be something we could do… something we know, and that would be Digimon…" I said before I went on: "After all, the reason we're doing this—as Herbert said—is because it would be too risky to 'leave the base unguarded'. As long as we could come up with a short-term solution to make guarding the base feasible, we don't need to worry about returning them to being human right now… I almost think it would be a better idea to try to flaunt their Digimon-liness and make them digivolve all at once…"

And then Ariel's eyes widened as she said: "You know Mark, you might be right! We understand how to digivolve our Digimon and make them grow… all we'd need is a way to artificially boost their experience drastically…" and then she went on: "I think we should pursue this idea immediately. It's something we could do and we're making absolutely no headway doing it their way." and I nodded before I said: "Yeah. At least we have a chance of succeeding this way… let's do it."

And then we smiled before we started working on a program to make a Digimon digivolve completely… and we made a prototype within a day! By the end of it, Ariel and I were really excited before she said: "Ooh! I can't believe it! We actually made a prototype!" "Yeah, but that brings us to the hard part: we have to test it to see if it works…" I said. Then I turned to my Digimon and said: "Hudiemon, I know this is brazen of me, but could you please try it?" and Hudiemon looked shocked before she said: "Me?! Why do I have to be the guinea pig?!" "Because you're the only Digimon here who's not fully digivolved. Besides, if you do fully digivolve, we can always de-digivolve you back into a Hudiemon again and if it doesn't do anything, then we'll know." I said back. "What if it does something else?" Hudiemon asked. "It shouldn't. But please, Hudiemon—we need you to do this." I said back.

Hudiemon sighed before she said: "Alright, alright…" and I smiled and said: "Thank you, Hudiemon. I really appreciate your bravery and your support." and then I went on: "Ariel, I'll need a copy of the prototype. I'll test it on Hudiemon in my Digihome and report back." and Ariel nodded before she said: "Okay. Let me make one up…" and then she used the computer until she created a bottle with the program in it and said: "That should do it. Thank you for helping, Mark, Hudiemon." and I nodded before I entered my Digihome. When we arrived, I walked up to Hudiemon and gave her the bottle as I said: "You'll need to drink the entire thing for it to work, so go ahead and chug it down." and Hudiemon sighed as she said: "Alright…"

And then she went across from us before she drank the entire bottle before I took it from her and I asked: "How do you feel, Hudiemon?" "Actually, I feel… really good… my body feels healthier and stronger now!" Hudiemon said before she said: "Ah… now I feel power welling up in me… here it comes…!" and then there was a flash of light!

When we could see again, there was a Rosemon where she had been standing! She looked around before I said: "How do you feel now?" "I still feel good, but… I must be a little shorter—" she said back before she looked down and said: "Oh no! Not again!" and Rosemon suddenly grinned and said: "Well, well! Isn't this interesting!" and then the Rosemon across from us said: "Okay Mark, it worked! Now change me back before ShineGreymon and Gryphonmon tease me again!" and ShineGreymon and Gryphonmon looked at each other before I said: "No problem. I'll head over to the house and this'll be undone, lickety-split."

And then I hurried in before I booted up the computer and then used it to de-digivolve her back into Hudiemon. By the time I walked back out, she was back to normal and she said: "Whew! Finally, I'm back to being myself!" and I smiled before I said: "That's right. I must thank you for that, Hudiemon—you made a great revelation in digivolution possible! Now we can safely proceed with our attack on the lab, thanks to you!" and then I went on: "But still… I can't believe it! It works! IT ACTUALLY WORKS!" and I laughed before I went on: "This is so exciting! I'm so happy Ariel and I developed this!" "It is no small feat… not only is it tremendously useful, but it is something no one has developed before you and Ariel… you're both a lot better at this than you gave yourselves credit for." Mastemon said.

And then I smiled before I said: "Thanks Mastemon! And speaking of which, we'd better report back to Ariel before—" and then Gryphonmon said: "Wait a minute!" and then we all turned to him and ShineGreymon before they approached Hudiemon (and she looked a little nervous) before Gryphonmon said: "Hudiemon… I'm sorry ShineGreymon and I made you feel that way. We were only trying to play around last time and didn't mean to hurt your feelings." "Yeah. We never wanted to upset you. We're really sorry. We won't do that again." ShineGreymon said. Hudiemon was smiling now as she said: "Guys…" and then she hugged them before she said: "Thank you! I didn't think you'd say that, but you're really good friends!" and then Gryphonmon and ShineGreymon smiled before Gryphonmon said: "Good. I prefer that assessment any day." "Yeah, me too! One step forward!" ShineGreymon said. And then we all smiled before I said: "I'm glad that's been worked out. And as long as it has, we'd better hurry back to Ariel—she's still waiting." and we all left the Digihome.

When we were back in the room with Ariel, she turned to me and said: "And so, Mark?" and I smiled before I said: "It worked! Hudiemon digivolved into a mega Digimon!" and then Ariel smiled widely as she said: "Really? Yahoo! That's great! We have a working program then!" and then she went on: "Then let's get it to the Digimon! We may not have been able to give them what they asked for, but at least we can give them something!" and I nodded before I said: "Very true, Ariel! And then we can go to the lab and crush the developers once and for all!" and Ariel nodded before she prepared 10 bottles of the digivolving program before we took them next door…