Zhuqiamon grumbled as he stalked around his palace about annoying humans and digimon who kept coming by singing things called Christmas carols. He had no idea what they were, but they sounded utterly happy and that irritated him, seeing as he was having a very unhappy morning before they arrived, and he preferred to wallow in his misery until he deemed fit to come out of it. A smirk caused his beak to contort as he remembered sending a blast of flame at the last group, which had, pleasantly enough, contained the Tamers. Not that darned philosophical Leomon who used to come by all the time and try to make him see that not all humans could be as bad as he thought, but his partner came by so that gave him double satisfaction.

Besides, what was this Christmas, other than an opportunity for waste and an excuse for humans to eat things they knew they shouldn't and put themselves into that thing called debt to get each other presents. He snorted at the thought. Humans were stupid, unlike digimon, who simply destroyed each other and gained more power through digivolution, and ultimately ended up living comfortably through the labors of others, who in their turn would rise above their fellows. Settling into his throne (which was little more than a fancy nest that was sovereign-sized), he sighed contentedly. Maybe he'd take a trip to the human world and cause some sort of destruction so that the Tamers and a select group of unlucky humans wouldn't enjoy their snow filled morning? Perhaps he should go tonight and melt all the snow? He chuckled, but decided that he'd do it tomorrow morning, before the children woke up. He could almost taste their deliciously overwhelming disappointment. Let them wallow in misery as he himself did every day, he thought viciously. Everyone deserves to suffer the same way he had, except maybe Azulongmon and Fanglongmon, who had always been nice to him (excluding when Azulongmon intervened on the Tamers' behalf). With these pleasant thoughts, he drifted off, unaware that someone was planning to spoil his enjoyment of the negative side of the emotional scale.

VVV

"Alright, so you're past, you're present, and you're future," said GranDracmon. "Now, tell me you who are."

"Present," said Merukimon. Before the other two could correct him (or mess the arrangement up further), GranDracmon interrupted.

"No no no! You're playing Past! Good heavens mon, you're supposed to be an expert programmer, a valuable member of the mercenary society! Don't cause Kowloon Co.'s name to sink just because of your poor memorization skills. Or your poor parroting skills, whichever you prefer." SkullBaluchimon snickered until GranDracmon turned his attention on him. "Oh? Find that funny do you? Which ghost are you playing, hmm?"

"Umm... umm... present?" GranDracmon let him worry for a moment, then confirmed that he had actually (against the stunning odds) gotten it right.

"Now, I know Gaiomon has remembered who he is to play. So, you know who we're bringing Christmas cheer to... I hope."

"Yes boss! We're bringin' it to Zhuqiamon!"

"Very good Merukimon. Now I can only hope that you remember your lines along with your purpose. Anubismon was very kind in agreeing to help us project images of Zhuqiamon's life as you're playing your parts, so don't mess it up."

"Yes boss!" chorused Merukimon and SkullBaluchimon.

"Acknowledged, sir," said Gaiomon.

"Good. Now off you go, Merukimon!" Merukimon used a gate disk and disappeared in a flash of aquamarine light.

VVV

Zhuqiamon did not appreciate brightly flashing lights, especially when they woke him up from his sleep. A Merukimon dressed up as Elvis did nothing to improve his mood. "What do you want? It had better be good," he growled.

"Yo man, I'm the ghost of Christmas past!"

"Oh good, I get to destroy you." Before Zhuqiamon could say anything else, another voice cut in.

"You idiot, you might enjoy listening to rappers, but you're Past! You don't use words like 'yo'!"

"Oh yeah." Taking off his sunglasses, Merukimon gave him a lopsided grin. "I'm here to bring you the Christmas spirit!"

"Dressed in a sparkly white outfit that will definitely not protect you from the cold?" asked Zhuqiamon. "Or the heat?" he added, letting a little fire flicker around his feathers.

"Hey man, that's uncool."

"You don't use words like 'uncool'!" hissed the voice from before.

"Sorry. Anyway, we're going to go look at your past, uh huh huh!" Zhuqiamon stared for a moment, disturbed by how much Merukimon sounded like Etemon with that last bit. This silence allowed Merukimon to seemingly fling them into the past. Zhuqiamon squawked in shock, then remembered that sovereigns don't squawk, and ruffled his feathers, which had puffed up in surprise at the sudden change. They were in the forest level, at the time where he had been three separate entities. Sagittarimon (he was embarrassed to remember that part of him had been so idiotic and so annoyingly stupid at times), Pajiramon (who had been rather smug about being an ultimate while her two companions were still champion level), and Quetzalmon. The three were playing happily, talking and laughing. Zhuqiamon sniffed, momentarily forgetting he used to be them and deeming their behavior to be silly.

"That's you over there, bird butt," said Merukimon/Past cheerfully. "All three of those silly mons are you. I have to admit, I really like you better when you're three mons instead of one." Zhuqiamon growled something.

"What is the point of showing this to me?"

"This isn't all I'm going to show you though," said Merukimon, looking a little put out by the thought that Zhuqiamon thought he was only going to show him one thing and leave. "March on!" The image changed to the three digimon jogressing into Zhuqiamon.

"Vast improvement," muttered the bird.

"Not so," said Merukimon. "You know how Pajiramon was away for awhile? You might not fully remember it now, but she was in the human world and had a partner for a short while." Zhuqiamon recoiled at the thought of any part of him ever having had a partner. "However, her partner was a depressed fellow, and he didn't pay attention to her at all, unless it was to hurt her. Eventually, his actions made her believe that all of humanity was evil. When she jogressed with your other two parts, she carried this hatred into the new form. Your other two forms had no ill will towards the human race at all."

"And this is so important, why?" asked Zhuqiamon, feeling distinctly annoyed now.

"You will see." Merukimon and the image seemed to fade out, to be replaced by a forest village full of bustling digimon. In front of him, a SkullBaluchimon with Christmas bows tied to his ribs appeared. In truth, Anubismon had simply cloaked Merukimon and hurried him out of the vicinity of Zhuqiamon so he could use a gate disk and report to GranDracmon, and try and create a program that could keep Ghoulmon out of his head. He hadn't liked it one bit when Ghoulmon had taken control so that the whole act wouldn't be ruined.

"Let me guess, you're the ghost of Christmas present," said Zhuqiamon.

"Bingo, dude!" said SkullBaluchimon cheerfully. "I'm definitely Present. Now, we're gonna take a look at your old home. They know you're a sovereign now by the way." Zhuqiamon would have compressed his lips into a thin line if he had any. Instead, SkullBaluchimon just heard a beak grinding in irritation. "Riiiight... better get the tour started. First, off, these three buildings here are where you used to live." They were simple affairs, which would have suited his previous forms. "Those are your three moms and three dads," added SkullBaluchimon, indicating a group of digimon who were standing around the three houses, chatting quietly and leaving flowers in front of the abandoned, but decorated, houses.

"Why do they have coloured lights on them?" asked Zhuqiamon before he could prevent the question from being verbalized. SkullBaluchimon was pleased by the query however, and answered immediately.

"They're Christmas lights, one of the few decorations that go up. Wanna take a look inside? They've got some spectacular trees set up, and they've been using a couple of the piximon who like hibernating as angels for the Christmas tree. 'Course, a couple people just use Starmons, but it's quite fun to try and get a truly hibernating piximon instead of one that's just taking a quick nap." Zhuqiamon pretended to yawn, but was actually listening with some small measure of curiosity. He could not remember much from when he was three individuals, and hadn't celebrated Christmas or watched anyone who did, so he hadn't known this particular tidbit of information.

SkullBaluchimon pranced inside, the Christmas bows on his ribs waving around almost frantically, as Zhuqiamon followed his guide. The inside of the first house was decorated, and everything was perfectly clean and polished, though you could tell no one lived there. Zhuqiamon couldn't help himself, he asked who's house it had been. "Pajiramon's," said SkullBaluchimon. "She was the only one truly into polished wood and other such nonsense."

"It is not nonsense," snapped Zhuqiamon, unsure why he did so. SkullBaluchimon just smiled and shrugged. They walked through a wall into another house, with lots of stone and glass in it. "Who's is this? Quetzalmon's?"

"Bingo," said SkullBaluchimon. Zhuqiamon felt a sort of stirring in the back of his mind, but dismissed any thoughts on what it might be. He'd find out sooner or later. Then they went back through Pajiramon's house to Saggitarimon's house, which was full of dart boards and things like that.

"Obsessed with darts?"

"Close, he was always trying to improve his rather bad aim." Zhuqiamon grunted, his wings twitching as he felt he himself should be throwing something at those targets. And he'd nail those bulls eyes dammit! He was wrapped in those thoughts when SkullBaluchimon grinned at him again and said it was time for him to go.

"Where?"

"Eh, where us friendly Christmas ghosts go during the times when we aren't helping grouches like you. The candy store." And with that, SkullBaluchimon disappeared before Zhuqiamon could nail him with an attack. A Gaiomon appeared in his place, and thankfully, he looked normal. He bowed to Zhuqiamon, which made the bird digimon feel a little better about not being in control of his evening activities.

"Lord Zhuqiamon. I am here to show you what your future will be like unless you completely let go of your hatred of humans."

"I thought this was about making me understand Christmas," said Zhuqiamon, raising an eyebrow.

"Partly. The main goal is to make you a better person." Zhuqiamon's eyebrows really went up then, but Gaiomon didn't notice, he was too intent on watching the scene unfolding in front of them. Zhuqiamon recoiled before he could stop himself, staring in horror at what was in front of him. "Your hatred grew as all the bad things that happened to certain partners reached your ears. You didn't pay attention to the good things, and eventually your hatred overwhelmed you and you helped the D-reaper to evolve. It didn't eradicate you because you were the only one ensuring that it stayed in its evolved state." The digital world and the human world had obviously collided, with the ruins of human cities mixing with the ruins of places built by digital hands. The other four sovereigns lay dying amid the carnage, and the Tamers lay there too, beside their partners. The Beelzemon who had once been in his service was being speared by the D-reaper now that it had finished using him to kill the human half of the Tamers. Their partners were beat up, and the D-reaper used Zhuqiamon's own attacks to destroy their fragile rookie bodies.

Zhuqiamon hadn't yet realized, but the grief-stricken keening wail he was hearing was coming from himself. Gaiomon calmly watched, knowing that inside the sovereign, the three beings that formed Zhuqiamon's collective consciousness were struggling with what they were seeing and trying to deny it. "Unless you realize that partnership with humans is the next great step in our evolution line, the future you see here will befall the worlds, and everyone except for you and the D-reaper shall die. Combined, you shall continue to eradicate any form of life that happens to evolve." Zhuqiamon only half-heard the dragon digimon as he continued staring, watching the four sovereings dissolve. Azulongmon went first, and he was the one who had obviously been attacked the most ferociously. The other two went at the same time, and then Fanglongmon, with holes puncturing his massive golden frame.

"No..." Zhuqiamon whispered. He did not hold a particular feeling of comradeship for Baihumon and Ebonwumon, but Fanglongmon and Azulongmon had taken care of him when he had first jogressed, helping him adjust to his new body and role. Seeing them die was worse than anything he could have imagined. Suddenly, they were back in his throne room, and Gaiomon was looking at him calmly again.

"Look inside yourself Zhuqiamon," he said softly. "Look inside yourself, and you will find the way to change the future from what you saw." With that, Gaiomon vanished, leaving Zhuqiamon to think about this. After a couple of silent moments in which the atmosphere in the throne room became very tense, he called his Devas.

VVV

Gaiomon appeared in front of GranDracmon, and he bowed. "The mission is accomplished GranDracmon. He showed a lot more grief than I had expected."

"The old sour-pot was upset over the vision of the future?" asked Merukimon, surprised.

"Everyone has something they are afraid of," said GranDracmon. "His fears came true in the vision of the future."

"What are you afraid of, boss?"

"I'm afraid that I'm going to die with you two chunnering on about something that is totally pointless," said GranDracmon drily to SkullBaluchimon and Merukimon. "Come, Gaiomon. Let us all sleep so that we can wake up bright and early to open our own Christmas presents."

VVV

The next morning, Azulongmon and his fellow sovereigns gathered as they did every year to celebrate Christmas. However, this time, Zhuqiamon attended, and they each found a small present from him. No one commented, but they each handed him the presents they had been waiting for him to accept. And this time, he took them.

VVV

In the human world, the Tamers and their families had gathered at Rika's house, seeing as it was the largest, and were all opening their Christmas presents when seventeen small fireballs appeared above the Tamer's and their partner's hands. When the fire disappeared, small packs of cards dropped into the human's hands, and into the digimon's hands fell a variety of things. MarineAngemon found himself with a packet of his favorite candy, gobstoppers. Guardramon found a small disk that would update his systems and allow him to become Andromon whenever he wished. Guilmon found a bag that would constantly refill with bread whenever he was in the digital world (it said so on the note). Renamon found a small flute made of gold (to match her fur, the note said). Cyberdramon found a small memory stick that he only had to insert into a digital wall for drones to be created for him to fight. Lopmon was given back the ability to become Antylamon, with the only difference being that she could do this whenever she wanted.

Terriermon found himself with a bag like Guilmon's, except that his would refill with all sorts of pastry. It was what Impmon got that finally told them who the gifts were from. The small purple digimon received the toy gun that he thought had been destroyed by the D-reaper, as well as a memory stick that he could plug into the ground anywhere in the digital world for a mansion to appear for them to stay in whenever they needed it. The note with the memory stick said that it was an apology for having his servant trick Impmon into fighting the others. A small part of the fireball had touched a bit of Impmon's fur, unnoticed. It left it a little singed, then floated over to Jeri and joined with the rest of the fireball still floating over her hands. With a flash, it became a digiegg, and everyone immediately knew that it was Leomon. With the egg appeared a small blue card.

All those unable to biomerge found such a card in their card packets, along with cards depicting the sovereings and the devas. Each packet also carried a resurrection card. The Tamers had to explain who the gifts were from to their parents, and then they all went to go to the portal that they had found in Guilmon's shed once again.

VVV

When they finally reached Zhuqiamon's palace, the bird sovereign was sleeping, his eyes closed as his chest rose and fell. Before they could say anything, a new Makuramon landed in front of them. "My Lord, they have arrived." One of Zhuqiamon's eyes cracked open.

"Thank you Makuramon, you may go join the other Devas for that Christmas meal of yours."

"Thank you my Lord." Makuramon ran out of the room, leaving the Tamers and their families alone with the sovereign.

"So, I suppose you're going to ask why I sent you the presents."

"Yeah," said Takato, rubbing the back of his head. "I thought you didn't like Christmas, seeing as your reaction..." The boy trailed off, not wanting to anger the digimon. Zhuqiamon sighed.

"Let us just say that last night my sleep was rudely interrupted by three digimon insisting they were ghosts of Christmas. The one who claimed he was Future showed me something that changed my view of you Tamers at least. I am still forming an opinion on the rest of the humans I have heard about." The Tamers looked at each other and grinned.

"Hey, can't you digimon manipulate your data or somethin'?" asked Kazu.

"Yes, why?" asked Zhuqiamon.

"How 'bout you make yourself look like a human and come join us for Christmas!" Zhuqiamon was startled by the answer, and almost said no automatically. However, he paused, then drifted from his nest to the floor and made himself look like a human wearing Zhuqiamon's mask.

"Very well." They left, and Anubismon smirked before going to report to GranDracmon that the mission had been a complete success. Next year, they'd tackle Yggdrasil.

Fin.