7.
"Takeru!"
He does turn, he regrets it immediately, and he's faced with a man, a man with blue eyes and arms that could snap him like a twig. He never had that fear with Angemon before. He's never had that fear with his friends, but it's easy now. The wind lifts his hair and brings the scar on his face into full view. Takeru knows he should run, but his legs are rooted to the spot.
"Hi Takeru." The deep voice is layered with that childish innocence, the thing which he knew Patamon best for. But it's like curdled milk. That's what breaks the spell, and sends the chill down his spine.
Ken moves over. He's still shaking and as he steps in front of Takeru, Takeru can make out the angry red lines on his neck. "Why… why are you doing this?"
"I'm not doing anything," the Digimon says, all innocence. "But I will. You know that, don't you Ken? All you wanted was a world that acknowledged you. A world that listened to what you had to say." The man floats down from where he was framed by the moon, landing on the ground with a pleasant tapping sound. His bat and angel wings flap and make no wind. "You couldn't get that in the human world, no matter what you did. Not even getting rid of your own brother saw to that, now did it?"
Ken flinches. The creature with Angemon's voice smiles. "Oh yes, I know. When you put that thing on me, I heard everything. And you know what? I kind of liked it." He steps forward. Ken steps back. This time, Takeru acts and drags Ken back with him. "It's why it's in me now, much easier to keep a hold of. Did you know those pretty bracelets can be used to find you? Shame you came back here. Now we all know where you are."
"Patamon, stop." Takeru channels his brother, channels the ice his brother uses with every fiber of his being. As he speaks, there is a low growling noise from the earth below. It's like a choir of rage. "This is wrong. We aren't supposed to hurt people like this."
"Yes we are." The blue eyes turn on him now. The demon licks his lips. "Piemon did it, would have been worse. But we sealed him away, didn't we Takeru? We killed Devimon together, didn't we Takeru? He's bad, Takeru. He's evil. But I'll be good for you, Takeru, so we have to stop him. I'll give you the easy answer. See… look at his neck. It sure looks like it hurts, huh?"
Ken's fingers are crawling to it and Takeru grabs them. He doesn't knwow why, but he has to.
The demon laughs. "He's fighting it, Takeru. He's fighting the thing in there. But it'll come out. We're not all good, right? You're always so angry. You don't ever wanna say it but you're just so mad. So let him go, Takeru. We take out the source of the bad being loose and he'll stay like this, all gentle and good forever. And I'll go back to normal too!"
Another step forward. The monster could snatch Ken. His hand is outstretched to do so.
"Okay, Takeru?" The words are honey sweet. "You trust me, right?"
Takeru's foot hits one of the televisions, nearly smashes it. He slips his D-3 out and before he can let go of Ken, they're gone.
A/N: I've lost my alerts! Again! I'm cursed! Oh well. I hope this chapter is a bit easier to follow. Enjoy guys!