Butter-Fly Effect

Mummymon would be the first to admit that he wasn't the most powerful Digimon in existence. Far from it, in fact. He got by all the way to Ultimate with nothing but sheer ingenuity, and didn't see any reason that he would ever Digivolve further, not helped by his terrible aim.

So he didn't even try to make waves and be powerful, instead moving into a small town on File Island. There weren't a lot of Digimon there- some Frigimon, and handful of Meramon, maybe a Leomon or two, with a Piximon and a Phantomon as the most powerful residents, and joint governors. But it was the largest settlement on the island, and that was enough for it to be jokingly referred to as File City.

"It's nice to have another Ultimate around here, yep yep!" The more vividly-colored of the two said, when he was introduced to them. Phantomon said nothing, instead turning to the piles of paperwork that littered his desk.

"Now, Piximon, you should know better than to converse with the citizens during work hours!" Their secretary, a Betamon, chided. Piximon laughed and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"I know, I'm sorry! But you just don't see that many of us around these days!"

It was in that moment that Mummymon realized he was going to love living there.

---

Life in File City was easy, for the most part. Mummymon spent the early days wandering around, and learning where everything was.

There were the residential buildings, of course. A small cluster that would fit the average-sized humanoid, with special perches on the rooftops for fliers. Not that they had any fliers but Piximon. The population didn't even reach fifty, and most of them had been in the town since its founding. Birds tended to prefer the savanna, and the only insects around lived wild.

There was a meat farm, just a small plot of land barely big enough for the current population, tended by a Meramon with a surprising green thumb. "Piximon used to help out here, before he Digivolved," The Champion confided, one day when Mummymon went to pick up his daily allotment of meat. "Then he declared himself in charge, being the first Ultimate, and Soulmon decided to copy him."

"...I can't really see it," The Ultimate admitted. Piximon and Phantomon, ambitious? Piximon was the most easygoing Digimon he knew, and Phantomon never said anything. Except for occasional mutters of 'analog' and 'machine' when he thought nobody was listening, but no one counted that.

Meramon just laughed. "Yes, the paperwork got to them eventually. We Champions and lower all got together, you see, and declared that they couldn't be in charge without something to prove it. They took it as a challenge, and here we are today."

Mummymon nodded, thanked Meramon for the story, and left to go visit the town store.

---

The last place in town, and the only one Mummymon did not frequent, was by far the largest one. The Green Gym, where Digimon looking to grow stronger could test their skills in safety, without risking themselves against the powerful insects that resided in the forest outside their home.

He wasn't much one for training, of course, but he eventually figured that it couldn't hurt to learn to aim, especially as he was friends with one of the instructors there- one of the Leomon, by far the most powerful Champion in the village, and very wise, having come from a tribe of travelling shamans and keepers of legends.

"I think we have some targets for ranged combat in the back," his friend stated, before shaking his head. "Sorry I can't be of more help to you, Mummymon, but..." He gestured to his sword, which he was rather well-known for. In swordplay, he far exceeded all of the other Digimon on the island, and they all knew it.

"It's not a problem, Leomon," He replied. "I'm not looking to grow stronger. I'm just looking for a bit of accuracy, is all."

"Perhaps, but it is better to have that strength and not need it, than to need it and never have it."

"I suppose you'd know all about that, being a Leomon in the east." He dodged the playful swipe of the other Digimon's claws with ease, ducking and running towards the place where the targets were presumably located.

Of course, his friend was right. He always was. But Mummymon was sure it would never become that important.

He was very wrong.

---

It all came crashing down on a bright day in midwinter. Phantomon had gone up Infinity Mountain for something he referred to as 'business', and Piximon had somehow cajoled Mummymon into taking the other Ultimate's place.

"Really, though, I don't see what kind of business he could have on that mountain!" The small winged puffball griped. "Nobody goes up that mountain without a good reason, and he didn't even give that! Just wrote a note and left! Who even does that!?"

"Phantomon, apparently," Betamon remarked, only to quickly wilt under their combined glares. "Sorry.... I'll be quiet now."

Well, with one of the chatterboxes silenced, there was at least some small amount of peace, and Mummymon leaned back, determined to enjoy it.

It didn't last long. At exactly seven seconds past noon, the farm Meramon rushed into the small building that called itself a government office. "Sirs! Sirs, you have to come quickly! You're the only Ultimates in town, and Phantomon-!"

"Shadow Scythe." Not many Digimon actually called their attacks anymore, not since the days of four evil Mega Digimon who did so specifically to induce despair in their opponents, two of which could control other Digimon to do the same. The memories had mostly faded by now from all except the oldest Digimon, but still. It just wasn't done.

Let alone by the normally-silent Phantomon, who floated behind the dissipating Meramon looking far too pleased with himself. "Thirteen down," He spoke in a whimsical, amused tone, his body glowing with a violet light as he grew and changed. "Thirty-five to go."

---

He wasn't sure how he'd survived that. Well, besides the very basics of what he remembered. Phantomon had Digivolved to Machinedramon and blasted the town, leaving nothing but Meramon's small shack, half a store, and roughly a tenth of the meat farm. Betamon had been an immediate casualty, speared by the new Mega's claws as he transformed.

The remnants had tried to fight him off, but... Right, Piximon had been blasted at point-blank range, Leomon had been stepped on, and the rest had been caught by the eventual explosion.

The rest... except for Mummymon, who had called up enough power at the last possible second to save himself, and destroyed the rampaging Digimon with his first attack at the Mega Level. Hang on Death.

And now there was nothing. He supposed he would remain in the ruins, but there wasn't much that a single Jijimon could do to fix up the place. So he stayed, and lived through the month wondering what would have happened to the island if he hadn't Digivolved, or to the town if he had done so sooner.

He was alone.

"I didn't expect to see you still here." Jijimon turned with surprise to see the speaker. A Tsunomon. "I knew you had survived, you weren't in Primary Village, but..." The blob that used to be his friend Leomon sighed. "I only really came back to see the damage."

"Just that?"

"Well, nobody else remembers, so... I was just going to get my stuff, really, except it's not here anymore. Why are you still here, anyway?"

Jijimon shrugged. The truth was, he wasn't sure either. "I didn't really have anywhere else to go," He admitted. "There's enough here to live off of, anyway."

Tsunomon, as it turned out, didn't have anywhere to go, either. So they both stayed, and that was that.

---

It was a deceptively normal evening when the air opened. When a rip appeared in the space before him and Tsunomon, three beings falling through.

A Parrotmon, which burst into data upon hitting the ground. A Greymon, which glowed and reverted to an Agumon, unconscious. And something he never thought he'd see, which he only knew existed because Tsunomon remembered the legends. A teenage human girl, who couldn't be more than fourteen.

And from there, everything started to change for the better.