For my new readers, I want to say welcome! It would be best to read first "Destiny" and then "Fate." This is the third of a trilogy, so you will be confused otherwise. For my older readers, I want to say welcome back. I have a few notes to address before we get into the actual tale.

Okay, while I have many, many things to take care of first before I can begin this story properly, I decided to post this prologue now. That way, my readers can place this final story of my trilogy on story alert and be ready for the tale when I get the chance to write it.

Once this tale is past the prologue (and I have the first proper chapter in place), my editing of the previous stories ("Destiny" and "Fate") will be finished. You should go back and rereading them at that point. I will be doing some serious repairs and rewriting to make the quality of my stories better. Some details might change and new events might added, so you will do well to go back to refresh your memories of the previous components of the trilogy. All of the editing won't be in place until I get to the first proper chapter of this story, but I'll be working on it and they will make the trilogy better in the long run.

As it has in the past, italics represent the viewpoint of a mystery enemy. He will eventually be identified, but not for a little while. Underline print indicates Crest activation or other important mysterious events. And bold print (except for author notes at the beginning and end of chapters) will be flashbacks and/or dreams.

Some characters are my invention. You should recognize them by now if you've read my previous works. Any other new characters I create will be identified as my creations. As always, anything that was on the shows or was created by a mind besides my insane one belongs to someone else. I only own a handful of characters that sprouted out of my imagination, like Destiny, Fate, and Fatemon among others. I make no money off this. I love reviews, however, and consider that enough of a reward.

This prologue is set prior to my series and prior to Season 3 entirely, though you might spot something familiar from earlier in one of my stories. Keep that in mind when you read.

Predestination

They banished him from his palace and from every known world. They trapped him outside of the digital world. Outside the human world. Outside of that vague territory between the two that the infrastructure of humanity, the internet, occupied. Outside the Dark Area or Dark Ocean or any other location he had ever heard whispers of. He was stuck outside of time, space, and even reality.

They couldn't destroy him. He was too powerful for that. But they could trap him. They could trap him in this strange and inescapable realm that left him bodiless, formless, and little more than a shapeless evil. They could strip him of his home, his corrupted followers, and even reduce him to something similar to a malevolent ghost: unable to touch that he once possessed, but not quite gone. They could not truly destroy him, so they shoved him into an unknown space where he could not touch them. And, for them, that was enough.

Outside of any reality, floating in endless blackness, he wondered how he might return to power once more. Time was meaningless, as was distance, so he did not know how long or how far he drifted before he discovered that he wasn't alone in this empty space. Here, in this place between all universes, he was formless and he began to realize that he was not the only formless feature in this utter blackness. They had no real shape nor did they physically exist in any way that he could explain, but they seemed to filled the endless blackness once he realized became aware of them.

His mind chose to interpret these "things" as clear bubbles that floated and brushed against each other. Within, he could "see" smaller orbs that existed in these orbs. Closer examination and practice revealed to him that he could observe humans, digimon, and intriguing events in some of the orbs within the bubbles. After an indeterminable amount of time, he began to understand that what he was observing were innumerable realities containing untold numbers of human and digital worlds. Some bubbles held more orbs, indicating more worlds in that particular reality. Some bubbles were empty, indicating that any worlds there once might have been no longer existed. And a few held beings that he didn't recognize, but he wasn't concerned about them. He was more concerned with how he might use his discovery, the floating bubbles that crowded the emptiness, to re-enter any reality.

Further practice allowed him to focus more closely on specific worlds and to even move back through the timeline with his viewing to see past events. He watched his own reality (or one so similar to his own that it made no difference) for a time. He observed his own defeat and banishment, his enemies rejoicing, and even how they "made a better world" in his absence. But, no matter how he tried, he couldn't re-enter his reality. But he learned more, watching these various universes. He gained knowledge of lost and forgotten lore of thousands of digital worlds and an understanding of equally ancient and mysterious prophecies. And, by learning these forgotten stories, he gained a flicker of hope. There was one way, one possible way to escape this black area between realities.

He searched, testing each and every reality for weakness. He was trapped, but he was still powerful. If he could find the right reality, he could make his forming plan work. Finally, he found it. One bubble, brushing against another as they floated through the so-called emptiness, which appeared at first like any other was not nearly as impenetrable to his influence.

He pounced on this reality, focusing closely on the digital world within. He focused deeper and deeper until he found exactly what he needed. Raw data and innocent digi-eggs were easily found in this place and even easier to "alter" to fit his needs. At that stage, digimon are still so vulnerable and simple to mold. He had seen this particular group of beings in many realities, but this particular universe lacked them. So he would have to introduce them.

He could not physically touch them since he had no true shape in his current prison, but corruption in all forms was a skill he still possessed. And what is reprogramming but another type of corruption? Changing the original code to something new, whether better or worse. He poured his dark influence on his chosen mode of release.

Seven digi-eggs, isolated and out of harm's reach, were re-written with his new coding. He influenced them as much as he could while trapped outside the universe, crafting a dark and dangerous force he embedded deeply into their very data. Even the innocent vaccines, intended to become angelic digimon, would be turned to his purpose by the power he bound into their very core. He did have quite a talent for turning digimon into more useful mindsets, after all. Even angels must fall when his evil power encountered such a being. And, once they had reached their full potential, he would be free of this endless blackness.

Normally, they were supposed to ensure a prophecy came to fruition. It was what they did almost every single time. Sometimes, however, they had a slightly different duty. They were provided with a "false prophecy," one that they could feel that "They" didn't want to come to pass and they had to prevent it. In a way, it was still the same job. The only difference was that, instead of make sure something happened, they made sure something didn't happen.

This was one of those cases. In this reality, a specific group was not supposed to rise to power and they had to prevent it.

"And moving one egg is all we need to do?" Fate asked suspiciously. "Are you sure you aren't just getting lazy?"

Under her hood, she smiled, "I'm sure. It's all a question of nature versus nurture. If this little guy stayed where he was, he'd grow up in a very malevolent environment. He'd be raised to be a monster like the rest." She shifted the light green-spotted egg in her arms. "Since they need all members of the Demon Lords in order to reach their full potential, the loss of one is enough to change things."

"Well, not to sound cruel or anything, Dee," commented the shorter cloaked figure, "but why move the egg? Wouldn't just killing off one when they hatch work just as well?"

She sighed, "No, it won't. Even if you destroy one, the power of their Dark Crest will still remain. It is in their very data and would simply be absorbed by some other digimon. No, killing him wouldn't solve anything and isn't it better to give him a chance? He could live a completely different life, despite what he could have become."

"So you're giving him a chance to actually be useful to the worlds rather than a threat," smirked the virus. "You have far too much faith in the guy before he even hatches. He may not turn into what he's supposed to, but I think that his base programming will come out eventually."

Destiny stopped and stared, "You know, as well as I do, that even the tiniest thing can change the course of history. Why is it so hard to believe that a single digimon can become more than he is supposed to have been? Given the right chance, anything can occur and anyone can be saved."

"Fine, fine," he surrendered. "Let's drop the little bundle of joy off. Maybe he'll get killed off quickly and this thing won't come back and bite us.

"Fate," she groaned. "He deserves to have a life and be happy. He deserves to be more than just another piece of the puzzle."

"Like us?" sighed the digimon. "We're not more than that."

"We will be… someday."

He couldn't stop his plan from unraveling. He couldn't prevent one of his carefully-crafted digi-eggs from being removed from the group. His influence on this reality was not strong enough. He couldn't touch them; he could only corrupt and darken what he found. How dare those two destroy his work like that?

He watched the human girl and digimon transport the digi-egg a great distance from the others, taking it to a forest and placing it in a small glade out of sight. Something about the pair was strange to him. Shortly after the digi-egg was placed, the pair vanished from sight.

Only because he was looking for it, he saw a tiny flash of light shoot out of the bubble of the reality and strike another bubble. His mystery interferers could travel between realities and exist outside of time and space as he currently did, it appeared. And, by watching closely, he also began to realize they were moving up and down the timelines as well. He couldn't touch them and, he grudgingly admitted, that he couldn't prevent them from interfering with his plans from that point on. He watched them ruining other beings' plans with expert skill. And he began to see a connection between their efforts and prophecies he'd learned by observing the realties. They were making those prophecies happen. Likely, they knew such all prophecies and would work to keep him from his goal just as relentlessly as they worked to make those prophecies occur.

But he could wait. If they ever stopped, if they no longer existed outside of time anymore, he could try again. His plan could be salvaged; the power he wrote into those seven digimon's data was still in place. Even the missing member of the group still had that dark force embedded within, guaranteeing that he would fulfill his true purpose someday. The simple act of separation would not keep the power out of reach. You can't fight against what you are meant to be. You can't fight your destiny. And all seven were destined to become monsters, beings of evil that would serve his purpose perfectly.

Once the girl and her partner were no longer a factor, he would act.

And that should set the stage for my third portion of the trilogy. Granted, at least some of the problems that the tamers and digimon will run into have been revealed now. But the one behind it all is still a mystery.

As stated before, I have to edit the earlier stories quite a bit before I can start on this tale proper. But feel free to review, make predictions about what I have planned, and to set your Story Alert so that you'll be ready when this story gets off the ground.