The Digital world is a place of possibilities exceeding human imagining, yet seemingly dependent upon it. Its creation may well be the accumulation of information – data- from the human world spanning back from time immemorial to the present day. If that holds true it should be no surprise then, that a number of creatures that inhabit the digital world derive their forms from a variety of things we humans would take as familial. Everything from animals; cats, dogs and the like, to household objects; such as a candle, or even the forms of gods, angels and demons. The ebb and flow of data throughout the world has woven a tapestry that looks much like our own, a place with hills and valleys, mountains, deserts and the like. Within this digital world, there are some ethereal traces of its synthetic matrix such as the faint markings of a circuit board shimmering in the sky, a pixelated effect which comes over the water now and again, the immaterial interior of what would look like a solid tree or rock and more. Beyond that, there are also times that something insanely mundane in our world seems wholly out of place in the digital world such as a building or sign post jutting out from an otherwise natural looking landscape.

The digital world would not be much at all, however, without something inhabiting it. Digimon, digital monsters, are to be found abundantly. Like files in a computer, they can easily be classed as Data, Virus or Vaccine and from thereon, their maturity determines their form. Among what little else we do know of them is that they are very much sentient creatures capable of independent thought. The nature of digimon themselves varies as much as the many types that inhabit the world, some are prone to fight while others are stoic or passive. There isn't one, however, who's not willing to fight if the need should arise, and fight they have.

Even in the distant past of the Digital world, there was a time when the most highly evolved digimon nearly brought it to ruin. Records of this time do exist; fragmented within the digital world itself, buried in the code that drives digital life, in ancient ruins, and in a few who still remember. Mega Evolution is the final stage for almost all digimon. It is a form many seek, but few find. It is both a blessing and a curse. The power of a single Mega is enough to make anything from a Fresh to Ultimate digimon quake or bow in terror. Many of them are capable of great destruction, and once they ran rampant upon the still-fledgeling world.

A world has rules, however. A world has laws and a foundation to build upon. Yggdrasil is that law which governs it. Yggdrasil is that foundation on which it is built. In its greatest time of need, it called out to the world, and the Twelve who became known as the Royal Knights arose to bring order to the chaos. It was the single greatest war of angel and demon digimon ever seen, but hardly the last struggle it would have to contend with.

A new order had been established, the way of life maintained. Death was never the end for a digimon, it was always a promise of something new. A digimon who's life had ended would find their data reset, reconfigured into an egg, a literal cycle of rebirth, each time ending differently somehow. If they no longer recycled into an egg, their data would be spread to the digital winds and they would join the worlds' pulse waiting to be born again. The only barrier to that was when a vicious digimon would steal the data of another to better themselves, yet even that was still the promise they would live on in some manner of speaking. And it would always be that way until humankind breached the barrier between worlds and suddenly those who had accidentally created, were in touch with their creation. New laws were learned that could possibly tear both worlds apart.

The appearance of Gizumon was a turning point in the history of the Digital World, and the harbinger of true death. A synthetic digimon, artificial, manufactured by Dr. Akihiro Kurata, it was capable of permanently deleting digimon. It appeared along with a bunch of humans in uniforms, exterminating countless digimon. It was that dark day that tipped the scales, and set the hearts of digimon against humans. And so, it set into motion, a series of events.

A lone digimon traveled through a barren stretch of land stretching from sparse grasslands to an even more desolate mountain range spiking out of the distance. He was a small black devil digimon with a classically spear-like tail and the visage of horns which made him seem more like a jester than a devil. He also had a white face, gloves and a red scarf... he was an Impmon. Not a very remarkable Impmon, but for the fact that he had survived the Gizumon attack only a few days prior. His eyes held a fierce tenacity, a purpose that only he knew, and it was there before him in those mountains if he could make it.

A harsh wind blew at his back and his steps faltered. He cursed under his breath and proceeded forward, with night fast approaching. The desert-like area was growing frigid as the sun faded from view behind the mountains' foreboding spires.

'Gotta keep going... can't be weak.' the digimon thought. He scanned the landscape for shelter, but none was to be found. Sighing, he trudged on, weariness creeping into his steps. Cold and tired, he eventually stumbled over a small rectangular object jutting out of the ground.

"Ouch!" his face slammed against the unforgiving earth. The Impmon shook his head and got back to his feet, looking around for whatever had tripped him. Anger was the first feeling to surface, until he saw what looked like a hatch, partly buried buy the sands. "Nyeeh...?"

The hatch proved to be an overhead access to the interior of a small elevator curiously below ground. Impmon had never seen one, and to him it appeared to be a strange box-like room with shiny flooring, a bunch of buttons, and a strange door. Curious as he was, the idea of coming out of the growing cold was all that he needed to decide to crash in for the night. That, and he lost his balance the way he was looking in and tumbled into the elevator. "Guh!"

'Well, better than freezing to death in that wasteland...' Impmon thought and inspected his surroundings. Like any kid, his first instinct was to press all the buttons, though the topmost ones were slightly out of reach without standing on the hand rail or getting on his clawed toes. The effect it had, however, was to make various buzzing sounds and dings, the door opened and closed a few times and a curiously calm melody began to play. "Huh...?" The door open once more revealed nothing but a wall of tightly packed dirt and he sighed at his luck. He pressed a few more buttons to amuse himself, but nothing fruitful came of it. In any event, the music didn't seem to have an off switch and he was tired enough that the music soon lulled him to sleep. How he would get out of this box would have to wait for morning.

Something cold landed on the tip of the young devils' nose. With a small whine, the imp cracked his eyes open, another flake of snow joining a few others in landing on his dark form. He looked up at the ceiling of the elevator, the hatch he'd come through was open and there was no doubt what had happened. "Stupid snow."

He opened the elevator door as if something new would greet him, but there was only the earth. Banging his gloved fist against it, the earth surprisingly gave way, piling on top of him "Auuuhg! Curses...!"

Now stuck partly under earth and fresh snow, he could at least see the incline would lead him back up to the surface. From there, he crawled out of the hole only to discover the land had become even more unforgiving while he slumbered. White covered the ground as far as his eye could see. He pulled his scarf a little tighter around himself and used his special "night of Fire" to try and warm himself, but without any kindling, the blaze went out quickly. His stomach wasn't doing him any favors either as he hadn't eaten in quite some time. There was nothing left for him to do but press forward.

Step by step he trudged forward. He cursed his weakness as he went, stumbling more than he'd like. To his dismay the mountains didn't look any closer. Then again, the mountain before him had three spikes, not seven, right? His vision started to blur and the white landscape grew steadily whiter until a pitch black came over him.

A series of symbols flew before his mind in the dark to the point he wasn't sure if he was dreaming or not. They were digital code, he knew that much. His code? It seemed like it was unraveling. There was a deep misery welling inside of him and yet he wanted nothing more to keep together, to pull the fragmenting code back together. '...No...' Just when all seemed lost in this digital limbo, there was warmth.

Before his eyes opened, Impmon was aware of the crackling of a nearby flame. It was warm and welcoming, though it seemed to shift positions as he was coming to. "Uhhhg... what even just..." the strange vision or dream even now was fading from conscious memory.

"Ahh, you're awake? I honestly didn't think you'd make it through for a while there." Came the voice of another digimon. It turned out to be a Candlemon. Like its name suggested, the digimon was in the shape of a candlestick in a golden holder. It was a curious looking digimon given that both the wax part of its body and the flame had faces, with wide red eyes on the candle, and blue ones seen in the flame. And right now, both sets of eyes were fixed on the disoriented imp. "Bet you're hungry."

It quickly dawned on Impmon that he'd been saved, and the Candlemon now offered him food in the form of some baked yams. It was also apparent he was now in a reasonably sized cave and the warmth that had moved around him was the Candlemon. The exhaustion he'd faced should have made him grateful, but instead he was angry. "I didn't ask you to save me or nothin!" he said and swatted a hot baked potato away, burning his hand in the process. 'Crap.'

Only one set of eyes went to the fallen potato, then back at Impmon with an unreadable expression. "Well, no, you're right. Still, I saw you laying there in the snow, I thought you were a rock or something until this... this glow started comin' over you. So I thought, 'is that the light of evolution?' but no, I think you were about to reset. But when I got closer, the light faded. So, I couldn't just leave you, right?" It spoke with a slightly high pitched tone that was childlike to the point of androgyny. The candle regained the potato and offered it again after dusting it off.

Impmon yanked it from the candle and gave it a suspicious glare while doing so. His hand was once again in pain from the sudden influx of heat, and he visibly winced in spite of himself. Candlemon waited patiently for its guest to act, and he bit into the potato as recklessly as he'd acquired it. Tears rolled down his cheeks, though whether they were pain or gratitude would have been hard to tell. He continued to eat in silence, his host gathering up a few sticks and starting a proper fire in the meantime.

"You know, if you had evolved, you probably would have been fine in the snow." His waxy companion now offered. "If I'm not mistaken, you Impmon have a chance of becoming IceDevimon."

"Well aren't you a smarty smart... uh... smarty pants?" Impmon snapped back, though he was happy to have a full stomach.

"Hehe! If you must know, I'm something of an expert on Digimon evolution. I've studied the possibilities documented from around the digital world. I once got to visit The Archives." it said with more than a little pride. "I know I'm only a rookie, but one day, I'd like to be... well... if I'm right, a Royal Knight."

"Bah, what's so special about that?" Impmon asked. He now got a look at the interior of the cave, the mouth of which looked out onto the snow field. It was about what you'd expect for a cave, it was round and uneven with stalactites and stalagmites littered around. An area of level floor was cleared in the center of the cave where the fire Candlemon started was now burning brightly with welcomed precious heat.

"What's so special? Well, the Royal Knights are in touch with Yggdrasil and serve him, that's what! They preserve the order of the digital world!" Candlemon smiled proudly, "isn't that great?"

Impmon snorted with disdain, "Protect the digital world? My frozen ass they protect the digital world! Where were they when the Gizumon attacked?!" he grumbled, "A mon has to look out for number one if they wanna' survive!" he trembled with rage at the thought of what he'd been through, something no other digimon could possibly understand, so he thought.

Candlemon frowned and sat down on a rock formation at the edge of the small camp. "Well... actually, I did hear about that. That's kind of why..." it paused, "See, if I was a Knight, then I'd make sure I'd protect everyone I could. The Gizumon aren't invincible. Some digimon managed to fight back you know?"

Impmon was quiet once more, staring down at his big clawed feet. 'Oh. Not a bad thought... but it still won't bring back...' "Tch... You're a hopeless goodie good aren'tcha?"

The waxy one shrugged and stared down the dark end of the cave where a tunnel led deeper into the mountains. "So, what do you want to be?"

Without hesitation, Impmon grinned widely and replied, "Strong! I wanna' hit Mega level if I can... Nah, strike that, I will be a Mega, the best damn Mega of all! Stronger than any other Mega, nobody's gonna' be able to push me around no more! No one! You wanna' be a Royal Knigt? I'll trample you to pieces when I become a Mega!" and now he laughed with a hollow pride that reverberated throughout the cave.

The patient paraffin companion listened and nodded at that. "Sure. Maybe we can be rivals then? I know what you can become, do you?" Despite the burning effigy which could have indicated a temper, this flame driven digimon seemed quite calm and relaxed in spite of the insults to both its hospitality and seeming threats against it. Truly it was a patient kindness the Impmon clearly did not deserve, but had somehow garnered.

Impmon was taken aback by his hosts' actions. At this point he had expected to have pushed enough buttons that he would have run away, but the candle stayed as though they had grown up together since being freshly hatched. "Uh well I..."

"You could be a Demon Lord. Not just that, one of the Seven." Candlemon went on with his knowing pride. "In fact, the very Mega that runs this territory – Beelzemon." It made a look up at the ceiling of the cave, presumably in the direction of Beelzemon's throne room.

'Beelzemon... I could actually become that?' "IceDevimon to Beelzemon? Hah... you really think I could be one?"

"Maybe. If you're strong enough. Hey! Can you show me your power?" Candlemon asked with an impish grin of his own. It was full of unabashed curiosity.

"O.. of course I'm strong..." Impmon bluffed. The fire in the center was snuffed out and he used his Summon: Flame to reignite it with explosive results. Candlemon laughed at the scattered twigs as the mini devil took on yet another scratch. He stamped a foot, "Hey! I did what you asked!"

"Ah, ah, so you did." Candlemons' two faces smiled and he regathered what was left of the lumber. "Well, you're in luck then. If you really do want to be stronger, there's no better place than the Spikethorn mountains."

"So, the stories about only tough digimon being here is true?" Impmon asked, settling down to lick his wounds so to speak. It was why he'd come, the rumor that only a strong digimon could live on the mountains meant that maybe, just maybe, he could evolve. If he was only stronger then...

"Yeah."

"Then what's a rookie like you doin' here?" he asked with the same suspicious tone he held a little while ago, though it seemed like they'd been friends forever. Friends? Not a term easy to fall into his vocabulary, but someone to talk to, a companion like this, it just seemed... nice. He couldn't say so out loud, no Impmon worth their salt would admit to having a friend, would they?

"Oh, I'm pretty tough for a rookie. You are too, to have survived in the ice like ya' did. But see, Lord Beelzemon only has three rules for living in his domain, ya' know? Well, maybe ya' don't. You did come to the mountains through the Phantom Plains, and that's the worst way to get here... seriously, the place'll mess with your head and there's no shelter for miles and -"

"Get on with it!" he bellowed annoyed.

"Eheh, sorry... I get sidetracked. So uh, right, the rules? 1. Don't pick a fight with anyone weaker than yourself. (That's why no Champions or Ultimates will hurt us)" he whispered the last part. "2. Don't start a fight unless ya' finish it, and 3. Don't be weak. Other than that? You can do whatever you please. Oh, and anyone breaks a rule? Better hope Lord Beelzemon doesn't find out, they say he punishes anyone who breaks a rule in his domain, and he doesn't care what stage you're in."

Impmon nodded at that. "I want to get stronger." he openly admitted. He considered what to do next, the earnest expression of the Candlemon throwing him off. "Well, I was just gonna' start bustin' heads around here, but you can show me around if ya' want. Not like I got anythin' better to do. So yeah. You're my guide now. Got it?"

"Sure, sure." There was a mocking quality to the Candlemon's tone, the unspoken agreement between them seemed to be set. "This way, let me show you..."

The Spikethorn mountains were more than they appeared at first. From a distance, they were little more than jagged spires, and when you got to the foot of the mountain, a seemingly impenetrable fortress of sheer cliffs. But there were holes, cracks, and hidden paths into and out of the mountains. Candlemon had lived there long enough to learn a good deal of them. The interior ring of the mountains, however, was nothing like the outside.

From a high up precipice one could look down at a lush and green valley with a beautiful placid lake fed by a waterfall. Pine trees flourished in the valley and it couldn't seem more peaceful. One could see small structures dotting the landscape where digimon probably lived. Most of them were set far apart, but they were definite signs of life. Raising up from the valley was a large rocky dais that contrasted the lush landscape below. It was a shelf where countless battles had been fought. The ground was pitted and scarred with evidence of digimons' attacks with splintered rocks and craters everywhere. Impmon thought he saw a couple fighting in the distance but it was too hard to make out which ones they werem just the barest flashes of yellow and orange with a spark of light here or there. As the eye followed the bowl of the basin up the wall, the mountain started resembling the outside more and more, with its sheer walls, but some roads and paths had been carved or naturally existed between caves. Perhaps the most unnatural accessory to the steepest of these cliffs was a clear glass elevator. It didn't go all the way to the top, but it did lead to another cliff shelf near the middle of the mountains. Impmon was definitely in awe.

A digimon could easily get lost in the mountains, and in silence, Impmon thanked his luck for befriending candlemon. If he had to find his way on his own, he knew that snow field would have been his resting place. The truth of that thought strengthened his resolve to become stronger. He had come here for that reason. If Candlemon tried to press him on why he wanted to be strong, he just claimed he wanted to be so strong that no one would ever be able to beat him. The truth was he was scared, scared of dying. Seeing Gizumon mow down so many digimon that day set that fear deep inside him. 'I will not be weak.' became his mantra. One does not simply become strong over night though.

It would be weeks before Impmon could even navigate the tunnels that ran through the mountains by himself. It would be months before he knew of all the different Digimon who lived there and who was friendly and who was not. That was something Impmon quickly learned, the etiquette of the mountain digimon. Some said "hello" with their fists or a well aimed fireball, this was mostly the rookies on his level which did so. It was territorial posturing and would have set Impmon's mountain home as little more than a blackened heap of rubble resting under the hook of a ledge but for Candlemon helping him around. As he'd said, Champions wouldn't harm them, though they loved to mock the rookies relentlessly. Ultimates, the few he'd seen however, were serene in their strength, walking abroad in confident strides and hardly noticing anyone below them. It did seem strange to Impmon that Lord Beelzemon - famed for his lust for battle – would rule such a peaceful land. It was a far cry from the crags he initially saw.

Candlemon and Impmon had begun sparring on the rock shelf Impmon observed the first day he'd come to the mountains. It had become a regular thing for them now that Impmon no longer needed to lean on Candlemon for everything. Every digimon trained in their own way, as they had observed an Ogremon pulverizing rocks, a Gesomon running laps around the lake from dusk til dawn and so on. They decided to try in direct combat until they had worn themselves out. Sometimes an Elecmon would join them in a two on one spar, and he was surprisingly tough. He also disappeared quickly when they had finished. It was one of these days, when Impmon and Candlemon were catching their breath, that they caught sight of the Digital Lord.

One of the resident Ultimates they had seen only a handfull of times crossed the rocky shelf beyond the pair. As the two rookies caught their breaths, they noticed he had come alone. It was rare enough to see an ultimate that the sight of this alone could have been noteworthy to the remembrance of this day, but then they noticed an entryway splitting from the side of the mountain.

Metal spike toed boots appeared at the entrance, and as the digimon came into the sunlight they got a look at the Lord of their domain. Beelzemon stood over eight feet tall, humanoid, clad in leather, toting demonic twin pistols, a third eye in the center of his face which was shielded by an imposing purple mask, and short spiky yellow hair trailing out the back. He had a tail that was coated in metal armor. One look at him, and you could tell the pride and power he carried in equal measure.

"... Lord Beelzemon-sama..." Candlemon whispered quietly. Beelzemon's third eye seemed to shift to where the pair were sitting behind a stalagmite. He took no more note of them than that.

The sky overhead was cloudy with a reddish-gold hue, as if signaling a shift in the world where the two digimon faced each other. "You've been practicing?" the Mega asked in a calm, rich tone that carried a weight to it that made Impmon realize just how great the rift was between Rookie and Mega.

"My Master." The ultimate bowed. As one of the more human digimon, he had the appearance of a face painted white with deep black around his eyes and extending downward. His hair was gold and he could have been considered handsome by all rights. Regal in appearance, he had white shining armor trimmed with gold and inlaid with blue gems underneath which his clothing was largely a deep red, but a majestic cape and hat topped off his appearance in a royal purple. He brandished a gilded sword in one hand that seemed alight with fire. He now faced his the Mega, sword at the ready.

A spar had begun between these two, nay, more of a dance. A tune that they had danced to a thousand times as the rock shelf became a battlefield. Without another word a clawed hand jutted forward sharply, narrowly avoiding the tip of a purple wizard's hat. Following a few more similar swings, the clawed hand continued its path straight into a pointed rock formation behind the fleeing target and with a great clash of sound and whirl of dust, the tower of rock collapsed like a game of Jenga. The owner of the claws smiled in satisfaction at his strength and moved with the momentum, grabbing a chunk of rock and hurtling it squarely at the Mystimon, who stood a few yards away having evaded him.

His fiery sword cleaved the rock in two, and the digimon stood silent, facing one another in earnest. One false move, and it could be over for Mistymon. He was only an Ultimate after all. The two sized each other up, but Beelzemon showed no signs of further attack. Mistymon, however, was fully focused to the task at hand. He lightly tested the ground with a foot, a simple lunge would be too predictable and the ground he'd landed on was soft and gravely, bad for traction he desperately needed. A faint attack perhaps? His options weighed, the sword mage lept into the fray, swinging his sword in an underhanded arch that hit the ground and threw dust and gravel everywhere. This was quickly followed with a series of more traditional one-handed lunges he hoped would meet its mark.

The leather clad digi-lord was pleased with the underhanded trick, attempting to blind him, but it didn't quite have the force necessary to carry the dust high enough. He might not be the largest Mega on the planet, but his imposing height was just too great in this case. The Digital Lord was sharp on the uptake and agile, practically dancing out of the way of the sword thrusts. He knew this foe all too well. "You're slipping, Mistymon!" he grumbled. In a blur, he shot forward, grabbing the enemy digimon by the throat and hefted off the ground. The Mistymon, choking, but not gasping or pleading for his life was quickly slammed him into the ground harshly as Beelzemon then drew his guns. "DOUBLE IMPACT!"

Mistymon quickly rolled aside as a few rounds were unloaded into the rocky cliff where his head had been only a moment ago. The two of them continued trading blows for what seemed like hours, with the two rookies staring on in awe. Neither of them gave an inch, but it was clearly a lopsided battle. While the regal mage gave everything he had with every ounce of strength in his being, Beelzemon dodged his attacks and used few movements to counter many. This had to be more than the difference between an Ultimate and a Mega. The Mistymon found himself once again in a barrage of bullets and sought shelter behind one of the large rocks that jutted out of the landscape like clawed fingers.

The gunfire quickly died, and for a moment there was quiet. At first, the noble digimon was unsure of the sudden truce. "It's over, Mistimon." Beelzemon announced with finality. "Better luck next time." He turned his back on the battle mage and headed casually back into the mountainside from where he came.

Bewildered at this turn of events, Mistymon leaned on his sword, happy to catch his breath but wondering why the battle had ceased so. Looking down, he then saw the rookies. 'Ah.' "You were... watching the whole time?" he said in a soft tone, trying to recompose himself.

"That... was... so... COOL!" Candlemon cried when he was finally able to register what happened. If the battle had gone on a moment longer, Beelzemon could easily have shot them both as the Ultimate hid by the same stalagmite they had come to use for thin shelter. "Do you do that all the time? That was freakin' Beelzemon!"

Impmon, for his part, just stared after the Mega long after he disappeared into the cliff side. "I wanna' be that guy..."