Our tale begins on a cold winter's day. Snow had fallen heavily not too long ago, it still coated the ground of the city. Made roads icy and slippery. Caused cars to slow down, their bright lights seemed to add something to the roads. It covered the buildings from top to bottom, people had to work hard, shovelling the slushy-snow away from their drives.

It settled in the park, not a very big place and certainly it shouldn't have been honoured by that name. It was little more than a man-made river surrounded by a few trees. It was so cold, the river had frozen. So cold that most people had given up on it entirely, opting to stay inside where they could warm themselves before a nice fire, or often a nice heating system.

Not so these three. They crunched along the snowy path, coats drawn tight against the chilly wind.

Though the walked a little from each other, they were clearly knew each other well. You could tell by the little things, the tone in their chattering voices, the small gestures, the way they never got in each other's way. They trod the path in a way which suggested they knew it by heart, indeed, occasionally one would turn and walk backwards in order to look at another.

The one in the lead sighed, a barely-audible sound. Nevertheless, another of the three spoke up,

" You're not still thinking about that match, are you?"

The questioner fixed the sigher with a look. He was the tallest , his hair looked loose and un-cared for but it had an aura exceptional healthiness which betrayed this cunning illusion. He wasn't incredibly muscular or good looking but rather a lesser mixture of both attributes, homely and honest looking.

" I could have won. I had all the cards! I mean you saw for yourself, 8800 attack is nothing to sneeze at."

The lead-boy sighed again, " I almost had him this time-was so close to it."

He was the second tallest, slightly shorter than his friend. His face was quite handsome, in a strange way. His eyes were half-closed, but they had a piercing quality. He was less physical than his friend and his body showed it. He sported dark jeans and a red shirt, sleeveless. Normally this would be a very bad choice in the winter but he had adjusted to the current conditions by wearing a thick, warm coat.

" You saw it, Ruki, I had all the cards, he had one monster left. One! The prize was beaconing, I was about to win it all!"

Ruki let out a small sigh of his own. Neill was his friend but sometimes the other's drive to win was so infuriating. It was only a children's card game! That prize Neill was going on about had been a card. Apparently very rare and powerful.

A new voice joined in the conversation, " Dude it was only a card game!"

They both turned to see the final friend. Maero. His long hair bellowing back in a sudden gust, he was wearing jeans and a coat pulled tightly around himself.

Neill let out another long sigh, " I can see you just don't understand. Try to imagine a Halo tournament, you win almost all the games, you've trained for months, and if you win you get a free XBox 360. In the very last game, you almost win, but are beaten out by one point. What's more, you lost said point by being killed by a person you've known for years, a person you taught to play!"

Maero shrugged, " I'd be pretty happy someone I taught was that good, besides I already have an Xbox."

Neill snapped, " It's not a perfect metaphor!"

Ruki held up a hand, " I know you've been training for ages but aren't there other chances to win that card?"

Neill settled down a little, " Yes, you're right! I shouldn't give up now, I'll show that little worm how much he still has to learn!"

Maero smiled, " That's the spirit, we'll help you train."

Neill didn't seem to hear him, he was caught up by his rising excitement, " I'll need to find some strong people to duel though."

" what's wrong with us?" Asked Ruki.

Neill laughed a little, " I can take you both on at once. With half my life points. You two can't even scratch me."

Maero s murmured, " That's pretty mean, Neill. We can only be as good as we are."

" You're right," said Neill, " I'm sorry. I'm just so excited.

Ruki nodded, " Understandable."

It was then, that Maero tackled Neill to the frozen ground."

He spat snow, " what was that for?"

Maero's reply was lost in a mighty roar as what seemed like a burning orb of fire smashed into the path where Neill had been walking. The searing heat and the shock wave were enough to send Ruki tumbling to the ground beside them, " What the heck is that!" He cried.

Maero's voice answered, " I think it's a meteor!"

The heat cooled slightly, the three friends stood up cautiously.

" Wow." muttered Neill as he took in the slightly smouldering trees, the rapidly thawing snow, the small crater in the middle of the path.

" No way..." murmured Maero softly, " No way is anyone going to believe us."

Ruki kept his head, " Of course they will- we have the meteor right here."

In the silent aftermath of Ruki's comment, they could all hear the snow melting, the crackle of thawing ice, heated by a meteorite .

Neill was the first to actually see it, he carefully stuck his head over the lip of the crater and examined it. It was hard to see, a cloud of smoke was rising steadily off it. Without taking his eyes away, he asked, " Was there anything on the news about something like this?"

" No." answered Ruki quickly.

Nether of the others doubted his word-he tended to know that kind of thing.

" More importantly, " said Maero as he joined Neill in his observation, " Do we get a reward for finding this?"

" Doubt it," muttered Ruki, " but its worth a try anyway. Who do we call?"

As it turned out, none of them had a clue who to call. After some rather pointless bickering, it was decided that they would deposit the meteorite in a safe place for the day and come back for it tomorrow. All of them were tired and perhaps more importantly, cold. Moving the thing proved to be difficult, it was despite appearances red hot.

Neill looked at it, examining it, turning the problem around in his head, how do we move this thing?

Nothing presented itself. " Hey guys, why are we even trying to move it? Its not like anyone can steal it."

The others had to agree, no one was going to steal it, or even touch it until it cooled down. Which in weather like this, wouldn't take too long.

" We could come back in a few hours and try again." suggested Maero.

Ruki nodded, " Sounds good."

Neill had to agree it did.

" But should we really leave it all alone out here?"

" Come on, who's gonna steal something like this? Besides, no one comes out here nowadays."

Neill conceded, " OK we'll do it. "

They decided to come back later, maybe tomorrow. It didn't occur to anyone that if anyone had noticed the meteorite strike down, they would know where to find it. Hours past, no one come for it. No one had noticed it, impossible as it may have seemed, that small lump of rock had avoided the invisible web of sensors that surrounded the Earth. Night came upon the park, stealing all light and more importantly, the last of the heat that surrounding the new crater. Still no one came. Time past, midnight came. It brought no one visible. No one visible.

Darkness thickened around the crater like a living thing. It seemed to pulse with a terrible power of it's own. It moved, thick tentacles of blackness creeping down into the depression with intent. This was not the casual darkness humanity is used to. This was far older, this was the inky blackness, the void. This darkness had been here long before the world, and it would be here a long time after everything had ended. The dark stuff touched the meteorite, and if a person had been there, and if he had the talent, he might have heard a very faint echo in the air which suggested a sentence, a sentence which sounded like: " Got you."

As the dark tendrils curled around the lumpy meteorite, it began to glow with an inner fire of it's own. The stone turned first red then blue, but the darkness curled still tighter, and it seemed to become more solid as time past. At length, the shadows took on a vague shape, a torso and arms. They quickly became more exact, a hand reaching towards the burning stone, a red cape bellowing in the breeze, a hunched figure. The fire died. Nothing moved. Time seemed to stand still as the fate of this world hung in the balance.

The creature stood up. If anyone had observed him from afar, they would have seen an immaculately dressed count. For he did inspire that word, count. It was in the way he walked, the way he talked, the way he carried himself. If said observer were closer, they would have seen that something was not entirely right, his skin surely shouldn't be that pale. His shoes were a bit oversized, who wore a cape these days?

In fact, the observer would suddenly be getting a chilling feeling, a feeling that maybe, just maybe they had bit off more than they could chew.

They would be right.

Myotismon stood up to his full, impressive height. " I made it."

He turned back to the meteorite, except now it wasn't a meteorite, it had split into three small objects, they were no bigger than the palm of your hand, but they each contained such great power.

Myotismon turned towards them. He seemed to observe the three things for a little while, his head tilting back and forth as if he were in deep thought. At last, he said, " Sorry about this but I can't have any competition in this world, you'll have to go."

He laughed, a high cold sound, " Grisly Wing!"

Nothing happened. Myotismon frowned, but then he let out a small cry and collapsed to his knees trembling. To an observer, it might seem that he was visibly blurring, but that would just be their imagination, wouldn't it?

Whatever the case, Myotismon picked himself up and muttered, " I used up more power then I thought-I can barely maintain this form. If I don't feed soon, I'll have to revert."

another voice rang out. It was strange, quieter and yet it contained a strange menace, " I tried to warn you, the trip to the Real World should have been far too much for you to handle, you should have been destroyed seconds after starting your journey."

" It worked, I'm here now. I'm safe and that's all that matters."

" It is never that simple, there are rules. A force cannot go unopposed."

" I know."

" I am duty-bound to create a force mighty enough to fight you."

" You can't. At least not directly, you are not allowed to interfere with anything of more power then a Rookie. And even you cannot create a Digimon from scratch."

The voice echoed with laughter, " Create? I do not create. I salvage, I make whole what was once broken. I took bits and pieces, streams of data, memories, and I recreated a fallen warrior."

Myotismon mused for a second, " A fallen warrior? I've heard that before. Yes, I heard it from a Piximon... right before I destroyed him. But who he was referring to.... even you wouldn't bring her back."

" I would and I did."

" Are you crazy?! Her power.... impossible..."

" I thought you claimed that there was no one stronger than you."

Myotismon made a dismissive gesture, " I was not referring to strength, if strength alone were the trouble I would rule both worlds already. No, what she possessed was something else... "

He trailed off, lost in thought. At length, he said, " You were truly a fool to bring her back, you've set it all into motion again."

" I know. I had little choice in the matter, though I'm sure it is hard for you to imagine, I must abide by the rules, she was the only one with a hope of matching you."

Myotismon cursed, " Do you know what you've done?"

" Better than you, I left a loophole."

" what is it?"

"She is already making her approach to the world, she'll arrive helpless, weak. Destroy her then, absorb all of her data so she can never be revived. Then there will be no one to match you."

" I understand. Where can I find her?"

" That is something I cannot tell you but it shouldn't be very hard to find her."

Myotismon stood still for a minute, wanting to stay and argue, to berate his constant companion for putting all their years of work to waste, but he had far more pressing matters now. He vanished, or at least seemed to.

The place was still filled, a presence occupied it in a way nothing ever had before, a noise sounded. A soft sound made by a piece of the meteorite as it rattled, as if agitated by the turn of events.

The voice spoke again but this time it was gentle, full of reassurance and power, " Don't worry, young one, Myotismon is full of anger, he has a great power but he had only experienced the very tip of it. He has been weakened severely by travelling the worlds, he does not yet know it but he may never fully recover, and the thing I forgot to mention to him, she is not alone. And even if all else fails, if Myotismon absorbs her data, we have one hope left. You. So rest well, Chosen One, your time will cone soon enough, and upon your shoulders, and the shoulders of the others, will rest the fate of two worlds."

It seemed to get darker, and the voice to come from farther away, " The battle is over, the war has only just begun. Death and decay, hope and love, two sides of the same coin caught in their eternal fight. The fight that has been waged since the dawn of time, but now the final lines have been drawn, Darkness has the advantage but Light is not beaten yet, not when it's champion returns from the dead... I don't know what will happen now but I am sure that it will be better for all of us. So rest well , little one, your time is nearly here."

A single fiery trail blasted through the sky of the real world, at it's head, a lump of metal and rock strong enough to survive the massive strains of the Earth's atmosphere. And it acted like a sign, all across the planet , portals began to open, connecting two worlds long separated. Two new comets joined the first, their courses side by side. Together, they burned a blazing line across the sky.

This time, it didn't go unobserved, all across the world, scientists watched with interest.

The cold wind whipped past Myotismon, his cape fluttered wildly but he paid it no attention, the ultimate level Digimon had more important things to concern himself with. He watched as the three meteorites made their way across the sky, he needn't have bothered, they were clearly coming towards this very city-at great speed as well.

No matter. The moon light soothed him, comforting and embracing him, restoring his lost power. He could feel it filling him now, that vast ability that he had never really known about until it was gone. Visions of the past danced across his mind, old times long gone, friends, rivals, enemies. With a mental effort, Myotismon forced them back, he couldn't afford to be distracted, not now. Not when she was back. The effortless power he had known for years seemed to have deserted him, it's source now gone. If she was back, that meant the prophecy was once again valid. He would have to put an end to that now.

Myotismon laughed, feeling his power surge forth as the meteorites came closer. It would end now, in this place and at this time he would be victorious once more, he would drive her back and destroy her once and for all.

This was his night, the darkness protecting and cloaking him, the blackness serving to blind his foes, the coldness distracting them. It seemed as if the very weather worked alongside him.

There's no way I can lose, he thought.

The fiery rocks were almost upon him now, in a few seconds they would shot past the building he stood on and crash somewhere in the city.

He held up his hand, channelling his power into it, " Crimson Lightening!"

with a grunt, he swung the blood-coloured whip at the oncoming meteorite. The red whip struck the oncoming rock with a sharp hiss and sliced through it cleanly, momentum forced the two pieces on past Myotismon, except there were three pieces now, a single strangely egg-shaped object continued on course.

He grinned, " Grisly Wing!"

A swarm of bats flew from his cloak and shot towards the Digi-Egg. They would devour it and return it's Data to Myotismon. Except something got in the way, with a roar a huge wall of blue flesh blocked the bats from their intended target.

Myotismon took a step back, taking in the full view of the huge creature which had risen to defend his defenceless enemy . Absorbed in his attack, he had not realized that the Digi-Egg had flown past the building and over some kind of dock. From that dock, a giant Digimon rose to confront him. Long and serpentine, it towered above the buildings, like some ancient creature just woken from a slumber of centuries, it bellowed at him. Showing rows of needle-teeth. It's scales were a light blue colour, it's head a shade of gold. It glared at Myotismon as if to challenge him.

He threw back his head and roared in frustration, he couldn't afford this, his powers were still at an all-time low.

Seadrmon roared again. But Myotismon's attention was drawn to a far smaller figure standing upon the giant's head. Arms crossed, clothes soggy and wet. A human.

That explained it. No true Digimon would allow a human to stand on them like that. They were clearly partners. That just made his job even harder. Partnered Digimon were notoriously strong and brave-when their partner was threatened.

Still, he should have the power to destroy it, he was an ultimate, it was a champion. He should have no trouble winning.

" Crimson Lightening!"

Seadramon threw back his head, " Ice Blast!"

He exhaled shards of pointed ice, the two attacks met in an explosion of power, white light shone over the city and the battle begun.

__

" Neill, you got to see this!"

Neill yawned, having just been woken up by Ruki's phone call, he was in no mood to talk. " what is it?"

" You wouldn't believe me if I told you, just turn on the news!"

Neill heard a strange emotion in his friend's voice and decided to go with it, " What channel?"

" ANY CHANNEL!"

Neill ducked back, startled by Ruki's yell.

Quickly dawning clothes and dashing out of his darkened bed-room, Neill made his way down to the main room, turning on the TV without a thought.

The face of a startled man appeared on the screen, he was pale and shaken but nevertheless he spoke without a single stutter, " This is channel four live from the docks, where something strange is happening."

The picture paned out, showing the dock where normal many ships could be found, fishermen mostly taking advantage of the city's close proximity to the sea. Not now. Neill blinked and looked again but the screen hadn't changed.

As if to confirm that he had not gone crazy, the reporter started to speak again, " You're eyes aren't playing tricks on you, that is some kind of sea monster, scientists are speculating that it is a missing link from the dinosaur age. If this proves to be the case, many things may be learned from closely examining this creature. "

The reporter continued to prattle on. No one paid him any heed, all attention was reserved for the huge sea-snake that coiled and uncoiled in the dock, it seemed to be constricting something.

The reporter spotted it as well, " My god, is that a person it's wrapping around?"

He spoke to the camera-man, " Can we zoom in?"

Evidently, they could. The camera's view changed. Now it was clear that the serpent was indeed coiled around a man-sized object that appeared to be struggling weakly. " Someone call an ambulance!"

The shout was taken up by everyone present, " Someone do something, it's caught a person!"

The crowd rushed to get away from the waterline, who knew what it would attack next?

The serpent roared in pain, there was a shout from the crowd. Someone had a gun! They scattered to reveal a very frightened policeman, standing with weapon drawn and aimed at the monster's head. He fired again and the creature reeled back. It's coils loosened and released their prisoner, he fell limply into the water with a splash. More shots rang out and the serpent dived, water submerging it completely.

People mulled around uncertainly, what should be done now? There was a person in that water, someone should fetch him out, but who would dare do that when the creature could still be lurking just below the waves?

Someone managed to get one of the smaller fishing boats into the water and sailed as quickly as they could towards where the figure had fallen. A mall dingy was lowered, weary eyes kept trained on the water as strong hands gripped the man and hauled him onto the boat. As soon as he touched the bottom, the man exploded in a cloud of bats. Screams rang out and even Neill, who was no where near the dock found himself taking a step back.

The swarm of nocturnal mammals clawed at the men in the dingy, biting and drawing blood, The serpent burst from the ocean with a roar as water fell from it like rain.

The bats scattered as the serpent rushed the dingy. The men were all laying on the deck. None of them moved and several had blood gushing from deep wounds.

The bats converged and formed a humanoid shape, vanishing beneath a red cloak word by a man. He somehow managed to support himself in the air, he turned with a scream that even the camera could pick up and a whip of red energy shot from his hand, wrapping around the creature's head. With a roar the man somehow mustered the muscle strength to haul the serpent from the water and smash it into the docks.

People panicked and screamed, running in all directions. The creature opened it's mouth and spat pointy shards of ice at it's foe, the man vanished in a swarm of bats, the mammals scattered before the ice could reach them. Reforming, the man once more launched his red whip, it wrapped around the creature's mouth-stopping it repeating it's last attack.

Smirking, he made a motion and a..thing shot out of his hand and struck the serpent, who writhed as if in pain.

The place was empty now, except for a kid. A teen he stood horror-struck and watching the battle, some kind of device was clutched in his hand.

The man noticed him and smirked again. He said something that the camera couldn't pick up and shot another of his red whips at the boy. He seemed transfixed, unable to move. The creature tried to roar, and moved! Finding the strength within, it thrust it's head between the boy's body and the oncoming attack, taking the blow right above the eye. The serpent found itself flying and crashing to the ground, stopping just inches from the boy.

The whip securing it's mouth vanished.

The reporter found his voice again, "..I.. have no idea what's happening.... the creature just put itself in the way of that attack.....why?"

The man laughed, a triumphant sound. He raised his fist to use another attack. The creature heaved and tried to rise but was unable to.

The boy panicked rushing to the serpent's side and trying to rouse him.

The man sent forth his wrath-like attack again, it rushed towards his fallen foe.

The boy looked up at it but still refused to budge.

" what's he doing? Why wont he run?!"

The attack came at them faster and faster, powered by it's dark master it came rushing towards the two of them.

The boy cried out in terror, " Seadramon!"

The device in his hand started to glow. The light built up quickly, starting as a soft glow and within seconds becoming a blinding light. The creature roared and began to glow. Then a voice rang out, resounding and inhuman.

" Seadramon digivolve to Mega Seadramon!"

The light covering the creatures exploded outwards, and it had changed, much larger now and with a red colouring, Neill didn't get a good look at it, because it roared and managed to rise again, " Mega Ice Blast!"

From it's mouth, the creature fired a huge blast of water, freezing in seconds it struck the oncoming attack and consumed it. The man burst into a swarm of bats but the attack slammed into them before they could scatter. They fell to the ground frozen solid.

The creature roared in triumph, " Lightening Javelin!"

Several bolts of lightening leapt from a horn on it's head and struck the bats, shattering and killing them.

There was quiet. The creature dissolved in white light, getting smaller and weaker, it shrunk down and down.

The reporter was breathing heavily, doubtless even now going over the fight in his head. " I'm not really sure what happened... .that thing just killed a man... I think..."

The boy took off, running into the nearest ally. No one tried to stop him.

Neil sat back exhausted despite not actually doing anything. He slowly realized that he had not put the phone done-and that Ruki was still connected. " Did you see that?" He asked his friend.

" Yeah, we all did. Maero and me. Unbelievable."

Neill nodded, " what the hell was that?"

Ruki struggled for a logical explanation, " Some kind of missing link?"

" That can breath ice and shot thunder?"

" OK then... I have no idea... certainly not natural but what else could it be?"

" A government experiment that got loose?" Maero's voice came through the phone line.

Ruki snorted, " I very much doubt it."

Maero bristled, " Well do you have any other explanation for it being able to do all that stuff? Growing and changing colour not to mention it's attacks?"

Ruki sighed, " We don't have that kind of technology! It's impossible."

" Well maybe it IS possible but no one knows, has anyone ever actually tried?"
" No-"

" Then how do you know it's impossible?"

" It just is."

" Prove it!"

Ruki sighed audibly, " Look there's no point in discussing this over the phone-I'd rather do it in person. I'll met you both by the meteor in the morning?"

After agreeing to this, they hung up.

Neill sighed and put the phone back, he slowly made his way back to bed but he had a feeling he wouldn't get any real sleep tonight-not after watching that.