Damage

Summary: Apocryphos corners Allen in his cell to become 'one' with him, but what if Tyki Mikk and Rhode Camelot showed up just a little too late to stop the independent Innocence from causing too much damage? One-shot.

Note: Inspired by episode 11. Similar but different ending. After writing totally thought of a million different ways to continue it, but I'm going to leave it as it is...for now.

X

Pain. Pain. Pain.

That was the only thing Allen Walker could feel as he screamed his head off, thrashing to no avail, the Cardinal that he thought he had accidentally killed with Crown Clown when he thought he was going to kill Link still cornering him into his cell. How could he still move? His Innocence had pierced through his skull. Even Kanda wouldn't have survived that, surely—

Images flickered through his mind, of his Master, Cross Marian, and the Cardinal. The Cardinal...had pointed Judgement on him and…

And shot him. After being questioned about the heart.

Allen could barely breathe, his darkened skin sweaty and feverish, his eyes turning glassy white as his throat turned hoarse, his energy weaning to nothing, his body going slack against the strong grip, his Innocence glowing and feathering outwards, his muscles throbbing in agony, yet he couldn't move anymore.

He felt like he was going to be devoured. He could hear Timcanpy growling in the background but the golem couldn't break free from Link's binds. His mind was growing hazy, his pulse faint as he felt the Cardinal grow ever closer…

But he felt the sealing spell around the room suddenly get disabled, the sound of a door being slammed open, a cloaked figure leaping over his head, followed by numerous butterflies.

"Stuck in a pinch, boy?" the familiar voice of Tyki Mikk filled the room, landing just behind the Cardinal and lighting his hand up in Dark Matter, smashing it into the seemingly inhuman male and sent him flying across the room, causing Allen to fall to the ground, leaning against the wall. Tyki was then quick to move, grabbing the Cardinal by the face and then slamming him into the floor, cracking it. A smirk crossed his lips, his eyes darkening. "It was worth sending you back to the Order…"

Tyki then clenched his fists, a wide grin replacing his face.

"Seven thousand years…" his hair shadowed his eyes and stigmata. "After seven thousand years...we finally found you!"
In his cloak, a few muffled noises were heard as Rhode, in her stuffed doll form, managed to pop out, looking around the room.

"Ah!" she then popped into her usual form, getting caught in Tyki's cloak as she called to the white-haired boy across the room. "Allen!"

Allen was still leaning against the wall, breathing heavily as his feathered Innocence slowly receded back inside him. He barely registered Rhode's voice, let alone when she rushed over to him and embraced him, pulling him close. The only thing that was going through his mind was the death of Cross.

"Are you okay, Allen?" Rhode's voice came out soft and sweet, her arms gently around him as she tried to calm him down. "It'll be fine now…"

Glassy eyes slowly moved to look at Rhode, his breathing eventually becoming stable. His shocked hues fluttered closed, his head leaning against Rhode's shoulder as he passed out, going limp against her.

'The boy isn't saying anything to us at all…' Tyki thought, watching the scene closely. 'He must be quite panicked.'

Tyki's attention was then brought to the Cardinal, who had suddenly started to move, Rhode not really paying attention as she tried to shake Allen awake, her heart clenching when she got no response.

"Tyki," she called out. "I know we've been looking for Apocryphos all this time...but Allen...Allen is…"

"I get it, Rhode," Tyki responded. "But we won't be able to get out of here that easily with Allen unconscious. Bear with me here."

"The Noah, huh?" the Cardinal— Apocryphos spoke, his head turning as his neck and then snapping it into place. "Seriously...it's not like this is your friend's house. I don't want you coming in so casually."

"We've finally encountered him…" Rhode spoke, still never leaving Allen's side, her arms holding his unconscious form. "A clue about the Heart, which we've been seeking for seven thousand years."

"A clue?" Apocryphos sounded amused, Tyki's expression moving to the sudden blast of Innocence that destroyed his butterflies. "Nay. To the Noah, my existence is...equal to that of a grim reaper."

It was then Tyki charged at him, quick dodging out the way of Apocryphos and appearing behind him, slamming his hand down onto the back of his neck, knocking him down.
"Oops," Tyki laughed, closing his eyes. "What a stupid grim reaper. You fell for the bait and were lured out, you know."

Apocryphos rose to his feet and engaged Tyki in physical combat once again, the Noah of Pleasure having an obvious upper hand in speed, his hands being covered in balls of dark matter as he shot them at the being, then kicked him across the face, stunning him. He gathered a lot of power in his hand and then launched it, certain he hit Apocryphos head in, the blast causing smoke and debris to go flying.

When the smoke cleared, Tyki took note that Apocryphos was nowhere in sight, only to feel a rumbling under his feet and the being jumping up behind him, kicking him and sending him flying into a wall, before rushing over and pinning him there so he couldn't move, piercing both hands with Innocence and trapping him.

"Don't think I'm like the other half-baked Innocence you've destroyed before," Apocryphos sneered, making Tyki's hands bleed by further forcing Innocence through them.
"Bastard…" Tyki growled, only to pause when he recognised Crown Clown fly by him and knock the independent Innocence off him. "Boy?!"

"Allen! Allen, don't attack him, it's dangerous!" Rhode didn't know what to do. Allen was still unconscious in her arms, but Crown Clown had activated on its own accord. "Allen, can you hear me?! Allen!"

"Even when he's not conscious, Allen Walker can be a pain," Apocryphos growled out, getting back to his feet. "I suppose I should deal with him first."

Rhode's eyes widened as she let go of Allen, standing in front of him defensively, sharp candles surrounding her.

"Like hell I'm going to let you near him!" she shouted. "Allen is...Allen is precious to me! You're not hurting him anymore!"

"Rhode! Be careful-!" Tyki tried to warn her, but Apocryphos was already in front of her, punching her gut with a fist infused with Innocence, causing her to choke up blood and collapse on her knees. "RHODE!"

Binding tags appeared around Apocryphos out of nowhere, causing Tyki to glance to the side to see that the Inspector had regained consciousness, though he couldn't see a thing.

"Tim...I'll release you…" he then started muttering incantations, Apocryphos cursing him as he tried to break free. "Run! Allen Walker!"

Tyki grit his teeth, fighting against the Innocence that pinned him to the wall, breaking free at the cost of injuring his hands, watching as Timcanpy swallowed Rhode and Allen whole and was boosted through the ceiling from the Inspectors technique, the Noah of Pleasure only just managing to grab onto Tim's tail.

When the busted outside, Tyki had to use all his strength to stop himself in the air, stopping Timcanpy from falling.

"Jeez! That scared me!" he then quick ran across the air, pulling the oversized golem with him. "Hey, you two! Are you okay?"

Though he didn't get a response as he got them on the land of the south coast, moving around and pulling an unconscious Allen and Rhode out of Tim's mouth. He checked the extent of Rhode's injuries, deciding that she was just unconscious, but one look at Allen confirmed that there was something seriously wrong.

The boy hadn't turned back white yet. His skin was still ashen and as he pushed back white locks, he saw the familiar stigmata crossing his own head on Allen's.

"Damn it boy…" his fingers pressed against the stigmata, feeling how they burned. "You're so close to awakening, but…"

He examined Allen's breathing, the deep pants indicating that he was still fighting, but the shock Apocryphos put on him by trying to consume him must have had a physical and mental toll.

"All...en…" Tyki looked to the side to see Rhode slowly crawling over, albeit in pain. "Tyki...we need to get him out of here...A-Apocryphos...he's...coming…"

"How do you plan on doing that, Rhode?" Tyki asked, his fingers never leaving Allen's forehead. "You're injured to the point you can't move and the boy is exhausted. We're going to be surrounded."

"My doors…" she breathed, reaching over and grabbing Allen's normal hand. "We can...go through my doors…"

"Rhode, that's reckless," Tyki argued. "You don't have the energy to do that-"

"It's either that or we all get killed by the Order!" she argued, shooting Tyki a dark look. "I won't let them hurt Allen anymore!"

Tyki bit his lip, knowing how stubborn Rhode could be. He could have left the boy here and ran with Rhode herself, but that would have defeated the purpose of him coming. Quickly, so that Allen couldn't be detected, he grabbed his red arm and wrapped it tightly in dark matter, the Innocence no longer being sensed.

He watched as Rhode opened her doors, kicking Timcanpy through it, then carried Rhode through and settled her down. When he returned for Allen and picked him up for Allen, he had to dodge out the way of a sudden attack.

Lenalee Lee stood in front of him, looking furious.

"I knew Allen wasn't betraying us!" she cried, watching Tyki hold the unconscious Allen closer, taking a defensive stance. "You Noah scum, let him go!"

"You'll find that I'm actually saving him you stupid-" before he could defend himself, candles shot out from the door and headed straight for the female Exorcist, Rhode hissing loudly in response.

"Hurry up Tyki! I can't keep this open forever!"

Without another word, he jumped through the doors, watching as the closed behind him, Lenalee screaming loudly.

"Allen! WAKE UP!"

Tyki laid Allen down in Rhode's dimension, letting out a sigh as he looked at Rhode.

"I suppose that kind of works out...we kind of made it look like we kidnapped him- Rhode?"

But Rhode was fast asleep, curled up next to Allen, holding onto his hand tightly. Tyki could see the affection, but brushed it to the side as he looked at his bleeding hands.

Now that they had gotten Allen Walker out of there, what exactly would the Millennium Earl do? And more importantly, was the boy ever going to be the same, or had the damage been rooted too deeply?