Disclaimer: I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Fandom: Digimon Adventure 02
Title: Take Off The Collar: Chapter 8: Angel To Guard Me
Characters: Takeru
Word Count: chapter: 3,091||story: 18,980
Genre: Drama||Rated: PG
Challenge: This was written for the Adventue Calendar Challenge, day #5; Diversity Writing Challenge, section I, #18, a multichap with chapters over 2000 words; Monthly Restrict #2, one character cannot speak at all.
Notes: This takes place sometime after the defeat of BelialVamdemon. You can imagine the 02 epilogue or not, as you please.
Summary: [8/8 chapters, Takeru, 2014 Advent Calendar, Diversity Writing, & Monthly Restrict] Takeru wants a lot of things as he flees through the Digital World. His D-3, his D-Terminal, his Digimon partner, his friends. His voice.
Takeru relaxed for a few heartbeats, leaning his head back against the pole. The looks on the faces of all the other Chosen ranged from absolutely horrified to extremely ticked off, which about summed up his own impression of the situation.
Now if we just knew what else we could do about this! It couldn't be as hard as it had once been to defeat these two, could it? They weren't as highly evolved as they'd been, and there were plenty of Chosen to stand with them as well.
Dryamon rested a hand on his shoulder and he pulled away automatically only for a moment, before her grip tightened in warning. "So you know our secret. We didn't intend to keep it long, regardless. But this changes nothing." She released her hold only long enough to trace one finger up Takeru's cheek. "He still belongs to me, and you two," the other hand now gestured toward Ken and Daisuke, "still will surrender yourselves. I don't want to hurt him, but if you don't...I hear that humans heal from so many things, in time. I rather would like to see it for myself."
Before Ken or Daisuke could say a word, Taichi stepped forward, eyes blazing with righteous fury. "Why do you want them, when we were the ones who beat you the first time?" He jerked his head toward Yamato, whose eyes hadn't left Takeru for a single moment. "Or did you forget that?"
"As if I ever could," Faumon's blue eyes sparked with rage of his own. "But they were the ones who ruined my most glorious plan, and having them in my grip will be a sweet enough revenge on you anyway." He bared his teeth, and while he did not have Vamdemon's fangs, they did seem just a fraction sharper than they should have. "Of course, if you two wish to surrender to me as well, I will gladly accept that."
"Not a chance," Yamato snapped, still not bother to move his attention from his brother. "We're getting Takeru back and putting you all down for good!"
Dryamon laughed, head tilted back, completely amused. "And how do you expect to do that? You've never been able to do it before, and you've learned nothing new that would help you now!"
"We'll find a way!" Daisuke declared, fists clenched and fury bright. "You can't stop us!"
Again Dryamon's hand brushed across Takeru's cheek. "I wouldn't be so certain of that. I said it before. I don't want to hurt him, but so long as he's still alive, he can heal from it."
Takeru tensed, drawing in a long, deep breath, and shook his head. He wanted out of this and he wanted to make certain that these two never hurt anyone else, ever again. It didn't matter that he didn't know how. That was what he wanted. That was what he ached for in all of his deepest heart.
That was what he hoped for.
And the hopes of Takaishi Takeru had their own way of making miracles happen.
"Takeru!" The cry echoed from all around, in a voice that Takeru hadn't thought he would hear until he somehow made it back home. They wouldn't have brought him along, would they? It wasn't the best idea, not without him having his D-3.
And yet from above a light glowed, one that he'd seen far too many times to count, and one that fanned the flames of hope in his heart higher than they'd ever been before.
He jerked his head up, eyes going wide, wanting to see this for himself. From what he heard Dryamon and Faumon both saying - none of it even remotely polite - he knew that he was right, but he had to see it to truly believe it.
"Patamon evolve to...Angemon!" He caught only a brief glimpse of his small orange partner before the light swallowed the form up entirely, glistening white feathers circling all around.
He's here... If he could've spoken, he would've shouted Angemon's name to the highest heavens. As it was, his lips only formed the word, and he could feel the pressure on his throat that told him of how loudly he wanted to speak.
The light faded away, revealing Angemon in all of his glory. Takeru's heart skipped a beat or two out of nothing but joy.
Dryamon'd hand landed firmly on his shoulder once again, grip tightening until he gasped in pain. "I don't know how you got here, but you'd best stay back, for the boy's safety, Angemon."
"I've never backed away from evil when it threatened the world, and I'll certainly not back away from it if you threaten my partner!" Angemon declared. Takeru smiled through the pain of the grip. Some things simply never changed. "And if you two know what's good for you, then you'll leave him be, now!"
"That's not going to happen," Faumon declared, standing on Takeru's other side. "You don't really think we're ignorant enough to leave our hostage behind, do you?"
"I think you might be smart enough to know when you've been defeated," Angemon replied tartly. "Though given that you've done this in the first place, I might not be so certain of it."
Takeru soundlessly laughed. He still wasn't certain of how Patamon had evolved, but he wasn't going to ask questions. Now just wasn't the time. Instead, he wriggled in his chains, trying to find a way to get out of them. Despite all that Angemon said, it would be next to impossible for them to fight with him there.
"All right, we've all had enough of this," Daisuke declared, taking a few steps forward. "You want a fight? Then we came here to fight!"
Seeing Angemon's evolution up close brought a sense of safety and warmth to Takeru. But seeing everyone else start to evolve to their highest forms brought a sense of this is going to be fantastic. He'd never really ached for battle the way Taichi or Daisuke did at times. But when it came down to it, he knew it needed to be done at times, and now was one of those times.
The fact this was going to get him away from two Digimon that ranked high on the short list of those he genuinely loathed was a bonus. A very sweet one at that.
"Holy Rod!" Angemon shot downward from above, aiming his staff for Dryamon. The former Piemon dodged out of the way, but only just barely, the staff striking across her shoulders and sending her spinning instead of into the controlled leap she wanted to make. She whirled to regain her balance, coming back up with her hair writhing as if it were a nest of snakes.
"I've wanted to destroy you for years, Angemon! The one thing he and I could never agree on was who would get the honor of being the one to reformat you into something more suitable," Dryamon hissed, eyes shimmering an unholy scarlet. "But I think right now, I just want you to die!"
Angemon stood between Dryamon and Takeru, staff at the ready, head held high. "If you think you can."
Takeru caught sight of a quick movement out of the corner of his eye and reacted on nothing but instinct, jerking one foot upward. He'd been chained to the pole only by his wrists, which left his feet free to move. Faumon learned how that was a bad idea as he stumbled over Takeru's outstretched leg.
"You little..." The affable tone he'd affected since finding Takeru vanished, and if the blond had ever once thought that he wasn't Vamdemon once learning of it, said doubt vanished now. "You'll be the first one that I feed from!"
Takeru just rolled his eyes, especially as Angemon loomed up behind the former vampire.
"Actually," another voice spoke, and Angewomon stood there, shoulders squared and head as high as Angemon's, "would you let me deal with him?"
There was no hint of the fear Takeru suspected that Angewomon might feel at yet another return of her former master. If it was there, she kept it tightly under control.
Angemon nodded calmly. "Of course." He turned his full attention back to Dryamon, just as that one's hair shot forward, half a dozen spears of darkness flying from the depths of the unruly mass. Angemon took to the higher skies, wings tucked in close to avoid being hit. Dryamon hung only a little behind him, rage fueling her every movement.
The only enemy Digimon on the battlefield who were still in condition to fight were Dryamon and Faumon. Those Digimon who could fly took to the air to support Angemon, save for Angewomon, while those who were ground-bound circled Faumon, ready to give the female angel any support she needed.
"Nothing you do can destroy us forever," Faumon hissed, keeping himself within range of Takeru. "We're just like you: Digimon. We always return."
Angewomon shrugged her shoulders. "It can take you a while to come back, and we'll always be ready to fight you when you do, no matter what form you take. You should know that by now."
"Then let's fight!" Faumon smiled, a quick slash of unholy delight across his features, and darted toward Angewomon with all due speed.
Something about this struck Takeru as wrong, the longer it drew on. This fight had to happen; Faumon and Dryamon weren't just going to release him and apologize, no matter how much he wished they would. But it didn't feel right at the same time.
They want this fight. Why? Somewhere, a piece was missing, the piece that would click this all into a coherent whole. Not having that rubbed a raw place in his mind.
They want to become Piemon and Vamdemon again. Koushirou said they were Perfect levels now. Evolving to Ultimate isn't easy. Not all of their group had done it, though from Koushirou's calculations, some of them were closer than others. Being bonded to humans made it a little easier, but for other Digimon, they needed either a boost from something else or to fight a lot.
Fighting...
Takeru's gaze flicked back and forth between the two battles going on. Dryamon and Faumon both darted and dodged this way and that, striking with whatever weapons and attacks they had, and when they were struck by any of their opponents, they didn't so much look upset, as they did hopeful.
The realization dawned like the rising sun. They want us to fight them. They can't evolve if we don't fight them.
It made so much sense that it sickened him. Of course they would want to fight. Of course they would want their enemies to fight them. It would give them exactly what they'd been aiming for all this time.
Fury lit his blood aflame. He stomped as hard as he could on the ground, wanting to get this through to the others. Faumon kept too close to him for Yamato or any of them to get to him, while Dryamon kept Angemon and the other fliers busy in the skies. He couldn't tell if they knew that he knew, but their tactics alone kept him from passing the word along. This was a message too complicated to try for lip reading as he had before.
He banged his head on the pole, more out of raw frustration than anything else. There had to be a way through all of this. but whatever it was, it was one he couldn't yet see, and he had no idea of how much longer it would take.
"Hey, watch it," Daisuke's voice came from behind him without warning. "If you give yourself a concussion, Angemon's never going to forgive us."
Takeru twisted his head around as much as his neck would allow to stare into Daisuke's face. What in the world was he doing here?
Not just him, but Ken as well, and Ken bent over his chained wrists, a faint clinking coming from the bonds. Takeru couldn't speak, but his eyes conveyed all of his confusion as they worked.
"We're getting you out of here, that's what we're doing," Daisuke murmured, watching out for Faumon as he did. "Once they can't threaten you anymore, this whole thing is done!"
Takeru shook his head harder than ever before. They had to not fight, that was the key to all of this! Not that he was going to stay here, but...but this was all too confusing and he didn't like it at all. In all truth, he couldn't imagine anything about this that he had liked since the first moment Dryamon descended.
"What do you mean?" Ken asked, peeking up at him for a bare moment before going back to picking the locks. Takeru wondered where Ken had learned how to do that, and also wondered if it were something that he probably shouldn't ask questions about. Ken knew a lot of things. It wasn't always a good idea to find out why.
Takeru frowned, wanting to figure out some way to get across what he had in mind. If he had his D-Terminal...that was it! He skimmed over both Ken and Daisuke, until he saw a familiar bulge in Daisuke's jacket, and nodded his head toward it. Daisuke glanced at where his eyes rested, then pulled it out.
"My D-Terminal? Or yours? Miyako has yours right now. Angemon has your D-3. I think that's how he was able to evolve when you didn't have it." Daisuke shrugged. "I didn't ask." Not that Takeru blamed him. There hadn't been time to quiz anyone about what was going on. He intended to get right to that as soon as all of this mess ended.
Takeru bobbed his head toward the D-Terminal in answer to Daisuke's question. It didn't matter which one he had, so long as he had something he could type on. He'd never gone so long without at least trying to write something during the course of a day and he'd had no idea of how much he missed it.
A moment later, the cuffs popped off, and he pulled his wrists around, rubbing at them to get the circulation going again. He tugged automatically at the collar, making a face. Ken started toward it, but Takeru shook his head, holding his hand out for the D-Terminal. He wasn't sure what they knew or didn't know, so he had a lot to cover and the sooner he got started, the better.
The battle still raged on, and Ken and Daisuke urged him away from where Faumon danced the dance of charge and retreat with Angewomon, Armadimon, WereGarurumon, Metal Greymon, and Zudomon. Takeru typed one-handed, holding the D-Terminal in the other, almost dropping it when Yamato wrapped his arms around him in a warm welcome.
"I've been worried about you. Mom and Dad have been too," his brother murmured, and Takeru could feel Yamato shaking just a little, as he hadn't since Takeru was a child himself. "Are you all right?"
Takeru nodded; the only thing that wasn't right was the collar, and he could get that fixed up soon enough now that he was free. He looked back at the D-Terminal and decided this was enough, flipping it around for everyone else to see.
We need to stop fighting them! They want to evolve back to Piemon and Vamdemon, and the more we fight them, the easier that will be for them. The easiest way to defeat them now is just to leave them be. It wasn't much, but it got the message across, and that was all he'd wanted.
Taichi moved up behind Yamato, peering over his shoulder to see what Takeru wrote. He blinked a few times. "Are you sure about this?" Takeru nodded without hesitation. He hadn't heard it from them, but it was the only thing that made complete sense out of everything they'd done.
Taichi nodded himself, then tilted his head back and yelled at the top of his lungs. "That's enough! We've got Takeru, let's get out of here!"
On the heels of his words came others, ones that sent chills throughout Takeru and everyone else there.
Too late.
"Dryamon evolve to...Piemon!"
A sphere of dark shadows enveloped Dryamon almost at the same moment Takeru saw where she hung in the sky, battered from Angemon's strikes, but with a thrill of victory in her voice all the same. The last word, the last name, came spoke in a voice that all of them had hoped never to hear again, and as the shadows faded, a shape appeared that matched it.
Piemon, lord of the Dark Masters, stood on thin air, laughing with all of his might.
Swifter than any of them could react, he dropped down to where Faumon still stood, surrounded by the ground bound Digimon, and picked him up by the shoulders. "We've put in enough playtime with all of you. But you'll see us again, you may count on that."
Faumon began to say something but whatever he had in mind never was heard as Piemon pulled him out of sight.
For a few heartbeats, everyone remained still. The fliers landed one by one, looking at each other and their partners. Takeru remained tense as the moments slipped away, before he began to accept that they were gone, and he was still with his friends and family.
Angemon's arms around him were warm and strong and Takeru leaned into the embrace, breathing softly. The rest of the Chosen circled around, babbling happily about his return and how much they'd missed him and how much trouble the return of Piemon could cause for them all.
Takeru felt his head being tilted back and saw Angemon staring at the collar, displeasure in what could be seen of his features. After all these years, he'd learned to read that face quite well.
"Can we get that off you?" Angemon asked, and Takeru nodded without hesitation. He gestured from Angemon to all the other Digimon, not wanting to let go of Angemon long enough to use a D-Terminal to put everything into words. "One of us can do it?" Besides, Angemon knew him well enough to figure out what he wanted to say.
That got another nod, and Angemon smiled, resting one finger on it for a heartbeat before he slid it underneath, and jerked upwards. The collar fell away from Takeru's neck, snapped in half.
And he could speak again.
The End