The Digital Portal blazed blue against the strange, off-color sky of a place that was definitely not earth- or the Digital Wor

A Prologue To

The Crest Of Courage

His Master's Voice

The Digital Portal blazed blue against the strange, off-color sky of a place that was definitely not earth- or the Digital World, for that matter. A black-garbed figure with wild hair stepped out of the portal, as it closed with startling suddenness behind him. Where am I? he wondered. The towering waves of a strange, yet strangely familiar ocean pounded against the shore. Far, far in the distance, a lighthouse sent a beam of light sweeping across the water. If it could really be called that. What kind of lighthouse shines dark light? the stranger wondered. Then a cave set into the cliff behind him caught his eye. Oh, no, he thought. I recognize this place- I've been here before! The Dark Ocean.

Suddenly, the beam of nonlight coming from the lighthouse grew in intensity. Sweeping, pulsing wildly as if in anticipation, the beam settled, unmoving on a single spot in the water. Slowly, the waves calmed and the Dark Ocean became still. The stranger shivered within his robes. He knew something terrible was about to happen. No good could come from a place so steeped in darkness, so pervasively evil, as this ocean. Why am I here? the stranger thought. The program was set to trigger the Portal in the Digital World- not here! Oh, God, of all places not here… An enormous, scaly dorsal ridge began to emerge above the water's oily surface. Slowly, slowly, the gargantuan bulk of something that seemed truly too massive to comprehend followed. The stranger's eyes widened in fear.

"The Master, the Master!" whispered the voices of countless small, cowering creatures that lay huddled within the cave. Shivering, the stranger turned about, thinking that the cave might indeed be a good place to hide- but turned quickly back around when he saw hundreds of glowing red eyes staring back at him. I'd rather face whatever that thing is than try to hide in there! the stranger thought. The beast in front of the black-garbed stranger seemed to swell before him. The stranger's eyes widened in mounting horror as it stood fully revealed, a terrible creature with a rocky, iron hard carapace to which barnacles and seaweed clung. It stood upright on its two hind legs, and its forearms ended in pincers the size of the stranger's entire body. The serrated ridge on its back looked razor-sharp, as did the foot-long blades that lined each of its monstrous limbs. "The Master!" the voices within the cave rose to eerie climax, the wailing pitch of their voices unnerving the stranger even more.

Then the monster shifted, its blood-red gaze settling on the lone figure silhouetted against the cliff face. And then the stranger began to scream. No, not that! Anything but that! The stranger began to run. His black robes in disarray, he fled before the monstrous apparition, running alongside the cliff, desperate to escape. A violent, pulsing beam of nonlight bigger than anything the stranger had ever seen slammed into the cliff side ahead, vaporizing the cave and its occupants, and throwing the stranger to the ground. The terrified wails of the creatures trapped beneath the tons of solid rock gradually faded around the stranger as he lay on his back, dazed.

A tiny Digimon no larger than a small dog ran to his side. "Are you all right, Master?" The voice seemed to come from a great distance away. The stranger struggled to maintain consciousness. Slowly, the blur of the tiny Digimon's face swam into focus. "Masenkomon…" the stranger gasped out. He struggled painfully to his feet, his head seeming to explode with agony. "Master?" Masenkomon said again. "Masenkomon-" The stranger said. "You've got to digivolve!" A skeletal hand emerged from beneath the dark, dark robes. The stranger held the Digivice in his hand. Masenkomon  stood upright, waiting for the Digivice to flare to life, for the changes to begin- but nothing happened. The stranger stared in horror at the Dark Digivice- how could it have just stopped working? Without Masenkomon digivolving, the stranger knew he didn't stand a chance… The monster began to advance, a rhythmic, deep rumbling seeming to come from somewhere deep within it. It's laughing at me, the stranger realized. At how truly helpless I've become.

"Sam Ichijouji," it rumbled. "Even the power of your Dark Digivice can't help you here. You're pathetic- powerless!"  Sam was desperate. He thrust a bony white hand from within the confines of his black robes, and sent a tiny, glittering object spinning toward the terror that grew ever closer. The beast swatted the Dark Ring aside effortlessly. Its terrible, ominous laughter filled the air around Sam. His arms fell to his sides in despair. "Did you actually think you could conquer the world?" the creature roared. "You have meddled with the powers of darkness- and now you shall pay the ultimate price!" Sam shivered in terror.

Suddenly, without warning, Masenkomon leapt in front of Sam. His arms spread wide, he attacked the titanic monster that was bearing down on him. "DISTORTION WAVE!" he bellowed. The beam of energy struck home- and the monster laughed. Masenkomon's strongest attack had had no effect! Horrified, Sam thrust out the Crest of Shadows as if it were a talisman that could save him from terrible creature that now stood less than fifty feet away. "No! You can't do this!" Sam shouted. "Nega Blast!" the beast bellowed. The force of the deadly beam threw Masenkomon back against the cliff wall, where he lay, motionless. The beast pointed a single finger straight at Sam, and the dark energy began to gather around its pointed tip. "Prepare to die, Sam Ichijouji!" the monster roared. "I am the Digimon Emperor!" Sam shouted, in a final moment of defiance. "You were the Digimon Emperor." And the nightmare beast fired the terrible dark energy straight at Sam. As the deadly beam of nonlight streaked toward him, Sam screamed. In a final act of desperation, he turned and began to run- but it was far too late. As the titanic blast struck home, Sam thought fleetingly of Masenkomon. He didn't deserve this, Sam thought. It was all my fault. And then Sam Ichijouji knew no more.

Masenkomon awoke to a universe of pain. It was amazing he was still alive. The Dark Ocean had somehow disappeared, and he was back in the Digital World. Even through the haze of agony, Masenkomon reflexively checked to make sure Sam was all right- but then, of course he wasn't. "Master?" Masenkomon croaked- but the body of Sam Ichijouji was nowhere to be found. Only the black robes he had worn as the Digimon Emperor remained.

Masenkomon remained in the same place for weeks, his body gradually recovering form the terrible blast that should have ended his life. And through it all, he was terribly lonely- more lonely than he had ever been before in his short life. In the depths of Sam's dark robes, he discovered two tiny objects- the Dark Digivice and the Crest of Shadows. Over a period of several months, he learned to use them without Sam's help. And in the midst of his unchecked usage of the power of evil contained within these two objects, he discovered a special ability- unlike other Digimon, he had the power to alter his appearance. Not subtly, over time, as the Mutamon could change their exoskeletons- but in an instant, as normally only a digivice could induce. Masenkomon reveled in his newfound power, a power that could allow him to become anything he desired at a moment's notice, be it the smallest insect or the largest of Digimon the world had ever seen.

Eventually, Masenkomon realized that Sam wasn't coming back- and he vowed revenge. After all, who was Sam to abandon him- and more importantly, what was that thing he suspected had taken Sam from him? With the answers to these questions now the sole purpose of Masenkomon's being, he began a journey that would perhaps never end. He vowed to find Sam, to find the hideous beast that had attacked them, no matter what it took. Even if he had to conquer the entire Digital World to do it.