A/N: I've been meaning to write this for a while. Enjoy it! ;) --Gerjo
Disclaimer: I do not own digimon at all. Good enough? :)

The Unwritten Rules

Evolution & Loading Data

Power. Absolute, sheer power. That's the feeling that you get. Well, it's a lot more than that, really. Let me explain.

You don't think it'll ever happen to you, but when it does, you're just... proud that it did. Evolution is just a way of life. It's practically the purpose of living itself.

Well, I'll tell you my experience. I was fighting a digimon, a Snimon to be exact, and I was losing. It felt like the next attack would delete me for sure. I just started thinking about the digimon that I'd known, the places I'd been, just waiting for it all to be over.

But then you get the feeling that you don't want your life to be over. You want it to go on forever. It's at that point that you get a feeling. You ask yourself: 'Is this it?' but you already know the answer: 'Yes.' It starts right in the middle of your body and that feeling of excitement just spreads out around your whole body. You feel paralysed, but not in a bad way, because you know that this was your ambition in life. It's at that point that you shout out the activation. The activation is different for all digimon, but it's essentially the same feeling. Although, it's not by your will that you say it. Some unknown force propels you to shout out those words with pride and anticipation.

It's only then that you physically start to change.

The first time it happens it feels like you're going to blow up, but you just never burst. The 'feeling' inside turns in to some sort of energy and starts to make you grow. You feel your legs get bigger, your torso get bigger, your muscles growing, and your voice changing. All by this energy. It actually feels like you're being blown up like a balloon. It also feels like it lasts about ten times longer than it actually does, too. When you stop growing, the feeling inside you doesn't stop. You come back down to earth with a new body, new name and new attributes, but it feels like you've been that way for years. Your opponent looks on scared senseless. You smile, because it's time to test out your new powers on the digimon that made you suffer before this enormous change happened. The 'feeling' inside you changes you in to a ruthless killer. Attacking is like a release. After you've pounded the living hell in to him, the final attack of revenge is most definitely the sweetest. The moment you hit him, it all just pieces together and feels right.

Although there's another satisfying bit to the process as well: The download.

You spot the floating, red data above you, and you know that it belongs to you. Somehow, I don't know how, but the data knows it too. You attract the data towards you, and thus turn it blue. Your whole body glows. You feel every single bit flowing in to your body. You feel more power coming to you. Slowly filling up and satisfying your needs. But it's not a reckless power, like the evolution. It's a power that stays with you once you've claimed it for yourself. It also helps you stay at a higher level for longer, too.

And then, as quick as it all started, it fades away again, and you're left in the same old body you were in before the whole thing started. But it's not a bitter feeling. You feel complete. And you can't wait until the next battle. But it doesn't matter that you're taking the risk of deletion every time you battle. Because that's the whole point of life...

To take risks and benefit from them.