Weight of a Halo ---------------- A Digimon Short Story by April CK I skewed the official story a bit so that I could focus on the characters I wanted to. Digimon characters are all registered trademarks of at least Bandai, Inc. **** "ANGEMON!" T.K yells in concern. //Ow...// No need for introductions now huh? I'm Angemon. Or at least I was before I got slammed into...whatever this thing is that I'm embedded into. Concrete, definitely made of concrete. Why can't I ever get slammed into something soft? Geez. Just call me the giant winged bruise. I fall to the ground in a heap, too disoriented to even try landing on my feet. You know, just once I'd like to take off this stupid visor and see what I'm aiming at. Yea, yea. Angels aren't supposed to judge anything so I'm symbolically blind. But it can be such a pain - literally! - to rely on my hearing to figure out where things are around me sometimes. Ugh. "I'll be fine T.K..." So much for angels being honest. The pain isn't too bad though really, most of my back is numb. It'll hurt worse later. I am starting to get really tired of this routine though. Seems like no matter how many times we fight there is always something else waiting for us. No matter how many times I get up, I'll just get knocked down again. Somehow I manage to find the strength to get off the ground anyway. "Are you sure?" T.K asks softly while he does his best to help pull me up into a sitting position. I sigh. What am I supposed to say? The kid is only eight. Not like I'm older or anything - I have no idea how old I am - but I feel as if I can't flat out tell him I'd rather not be here. It'd hurt his feelings, he doesn't deserve that from me. He's counting on me. I'm supposed to help save the world here... "T.K! Get Back!" That has to be Matt, T.Ks older brother. He can be even more protective of the kid than I am. The whole group gets that way sometimes. Just because T.K is the youngest they tend to act like they all have to take care of him. And in a way that trait has carried over to the digimon... "You all right?" Garurumon asks me, trying to nudge me back up. Didn't I just answer that question? There's this prehistoric sounding squawk nearby and suddenly the air is a bit warmer. "Get up Angemon!" Birdramon tells me. "I'm fine, really..." I flex my wings a bit and managed to hover. Don't get me wrong - Biyomon, Gabumon and the rest have saved my proverbial tail plenty of times and I appreciate that. But sometimes I wonder if by being so protective, they're holding me back. Wouldn't I be stronger by now if I'd had to stand up for T.K and myself more often? It gets on my nerves more than I like to admit. Honestly though if the other humans are gonna look out for T.K. then what does he need me for? Why am I even with the group? Just so the other digimon can protect me? I'd really rather not slow the group down. They've got more important things to take care of. Maybe I should have stayed at Primary Village, at least there I could help Elecmon out. Who am I kidding? I AM strong! I do contribute to the group, I wiped out Devimon single-handedly for crying out loud! Okay...so the others might have worn him down a bit with all their various attacks but I'm the one who ended it. Doesn't that count for anything? Of course the act cost me...I had to revert all the way back to being a digiegg to recover. That's prolly why the group still treats me the way they do. Guess that's what T.K and I have to do then - we have to stand up for ourselves for a change. It's the only way we can get stronger, the only way the group will start seeing us as equals. I hover there for a moment more, listening. The battle has moved away from me now but I can still hear the digimon shouting their attacks. Sounds like they have VenomMyotismon surrounded. Sounds like that isn't making a difference. Maybe this is my chance. Maybe if I gather all the energy around me, I can take VenomMyotismon out. Just like before, against Devimon. Yea, right. Agumon is out there getting whipped. Agumon, who digivolves at least three times a day anymore. Even Tentomon and Palmon have more fighting experience than I do. They all have more fighting experience than I do. How could I even imagine that I'd still be stronger? VenomMyotismon is cackling evilly now which strikes a nerve with me. I am so sick of hearing evil creatures cackle evilly. I mean isn't that redundant, to cackle evilly when you're evil? Granted, it's better than Etemons singing but only just barely. I fly towards the sound, maybe I can at least get him to be quiet. "HAND OF FATE!" *SWAT* //Ow...// Who'd have guessed there was so much stuff made of concrete around here? "Guys! Gather round!" Izzy calls out. Great thinking. Lets all huddle together and make a nice easy target. Eesh. I'm still too dizzy to be certain of what direction Izzys voice came from so I stay put for the time being. At least the humans might have a plan now. So far their plans have a really good track record, most of what they've come up with has worked out for us. "ANGEMON!" T.K shouts. I think I'm suffering from deja vu... "ANGEWOMON!" Kari yells. I have no clue what Angewomon looks like. I know she used to be Gatomon but so far she always manages to digivolve when I'm already blinded. I wonder if she has to wear a visor too... Note to self: ask Gatomon about that sometime. "YOU HAFTA SHOOT MY BROTHER!!" Kari continues. Oh jeez. This is gonna be one of THOSE days... "What the..." Angewomon sounds startled by the unusual request, concerned. "Kari?" "YOU TOO ANGEMON! YOU GOTTA SHOOT MATT!" T.K has officially flipped. Certainly I can understand if always being watched out for got on his nerves but this is kinda extreme. Maybe if I just lay here awhile they'll leave me alone. "C'MON!" Tai encourages us. "IT'S THE ONLY WAY!" "YEA! WE HAVE TO TRY IT!" Matt adds. Matt and Tai are agreeing on something? I must've hit that wall harder than I thought... "I KNOW IT SOUNDS CRAZY." Kari says, her voice rasping a little from the strain of yelling so much. She's usually such a nice quiet kid. "BUT PLEASE TRUST US!" "WE DON"T HAVE MUCH TIME!" Izzy reminds everyone. Whatever distraction VenomMyotismon had found wouldn't last forever. The whole group below shouts their agreement up to us. "....okay...whatever..." Angewomon sounds resigned to the task. "I'm never gonna figure humans out." She mutters to herself. "Ditto that." I sigh, rolling off the ledge where I'd been and hovering once more. Something materialized in my right hand. I have no idea where it came from. I run my other hand over it to get an idea of what I was holding now, seemed to be some sort of spear. Apparently I am supposed to shoot Matt with this thing. Hope they realize what they're asking. Gah... Really, really wish I could take this visor off. What if I accidentally impale someone else with the spear? How many shots do I get? How the heck is Matt supposed to survive this? Even if he bugs me sometimes, I didn't want to kill the guy. "I'm not shooting if you're not." Angewomon grumbles. "On three, okay?" "I guess." "Good. Let's get this over with. THREE!" Voosh. Something cuts through the air, speeding downward. I assume Angewomon threw her spear - or whatever she had - I don't know. A fraction of a second later I focus in on Matts voice and send the spear hurtling towards him with all my might. I'm gonna be so embarrassed if I miss... The next few seconds seem to drag out forever. It gets all quiet. I listen as the spear whistles through the air. Matt and Tai both yelp as the whistling ends. Our shots must've been on target. Huh. Miracles do happen. Energy...huge amounts of sheer energy...radiates upwards from below. "oooooooooooooooo....aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...." Whatever is going on down there, the kids and digimon seem in awe of it. What did we just do? "Agumon!" "Gabumon!" Weird. Wasn't Gabumon in his Garurumon form about ten seconds ago? Agumon and Gabumon are announcing themselves, just the way they do before digivolving. So the energy must be from Tai and Matt. I still don't understand how this changes things. VenomMyotismon has already proven he can beat up our evolved forms as well. Agumon and Gabumon speak in unison. "...Warp Digivolve to!" "Warp digivolve? They've never done that before..." Angewomon seems to understand. Maybe she doesn't have a visor. "Interesting. They're going Mega." "Huh?" A much deeper voice comes from below. "WAR GREYMON!" An icy howl quickly follows. "METAL GARURUMON!" "Whoa...!" Tai exclaims. "Amazing! They've reached their Mega stages..." Izzy commented. Mega? ...I'm not even up to Ultimate yet.... I hang my head. Gah, those two are always raising the bar. How is anybody supposed to keep up? One thing is for sure though, I am not ever gonna let ANYBODY shoot T.K. Even if that's what it would take for me to gain my Mega level - I'd rather not digivolve that way. "FINISH HIM!" Matt yells. "EVERYONE ATTACK TOGETHER!" VenomMyotismon spends the next few moments cackling evilly and swatting off the various attacks of the other digimon. At the very least, Birdramon is thwacked into the ground. I'm sure of it. I heard her crash. I hang back from the fight. Do I really need any more bruises today? I don't think so... Oh what the heck, might as well try. No pain, no gain right? "HAND OF--" *SWAT* //Ow...// "You have got to quit doing that." Sounds like T.K is beside me again. "I don't believe that doesn't hurt." He's right. I can't argue that much. Wonder if its safe to become Patamon yet... "TERRAFORCE!" The ground shook. VenomMyotismon began screaming in agony. I grabbed T.K and darted away from the sound. I knew that if the other digimon had been slammed into half as much concrete as I had today then there was going to be a lot of debris falling to the ground soon. Sure enough, stuff starts crumbling all around us. I can hear it. Pebbles are already bouncing off me. "Hang on T.K..." We soar upwards, managing to get out of there before the larger rocks start falling. I wouldn't mind staying at this height but if there was ever a time I couldn't afford to be swatted, it was now. So I glide back down again and set T.K on the ground. "Thanks Angemon!" T.K half-hugs my kneecap. "Flying is fun! Angels are so lucky..." //They are?// "Uhm...no problem T.K..." Maybe some angels are lucky. I've seen an angel just once myself and that one was in a painting. The painting is back at the illusionary hotel trap that Devimon had set for us when he'd been around. That angel hadn't worn a visor... Okay, I know. Quit whining about the visor. If it really bugs me that much I should just take the thing off. Right. I totally agree. But...there's a catch. I'm not an angel remember? Even though everyone calls me an angel, I'm a digimon. A bunch of computer codes stuck together or something like that. And if the progam, my program, says that I'm supposed to be blinded then there's a possibility that taking off the visor won't change anything. So even if I thought I could get the visor off without leaving a few facial scars then there's no guarantee my vision would be restored. The area is filled with the sounds of rocks crumbling, falling and impacting the ground. I don't hear VenomMyotismon anymore. Maybe the battle is finally over. I want to ask but I don't, for T.Ks sake as much as my own. I don't think T.K knows that I'm blind in this stage and I don't want to know how he'd react to the news either. "Oh no!" I think that was Joe. "How can anybody get up after taking a hit like that?" Soras voice. Evil laughter drowns out the sounds of the kids panicking. So much for the battle being over. "What IS that thing....?" Tai asks. "Foolish brats!" Bellows the monster. "You cannot defeat me! Nyyyyya!" Now hangon just a second... That doesn't sound like VenomMyotismon at all. Come to think of it, he's still cackling evilly. I've never known a digimon who could gloat verbally and cackle evilly at the same time. So does this mean another bad digimon has shown up or what? I'm confused... "War Greymon!" Tai doesn't sound confused. "Right! Metal Garurumon, pass me the ball!" What the heck are they talking about? "Catch!" Metal Garurumon sounds smug. Something large creaks and flys through the air. "SHOOT!" I have no idea why every single one of the digidestined kids just yelled that. "TERRAFORCE!" By now I'm fairly convinced that Terraforce has got to be a pretty strange attack. VenomMyotismon screams in agony again but this time his scream is cut off rather abruptly. I can feel his presence fading away. My automatic reaction is to relax a little bit. A cool breeze comes out of nowhere. //Oops. I didn't mean to relax this much...// I blink a few times and let the scene around me come into focus. Wow...we digimon sure know how to make a mark on the world. It looks like an entire city block has been reduced to rubble. I hope no one was hurt. At least I don't see anymore bad digimon around, that other one I heard must have run off. "Tokomon!" T.K grins as he picks me up and hugs me. "We did it!" I smile. "I knew we could." Out of the corner of my eyes I notice that the fog is clearing. But something seems wrong with the sky...there's upside down mountain peaks up there... Maybe the visor wasn't such a bad idea. The good news is that I doubt I'll have to say goodbye to T.K anytime soon. The others are noticing the sky as well now. It's the Digiworld we can see up there. Obviously when we were wiping out evil we missed a spot. There's only one thing to do... ...Here we go again... Fin.