*Had this chapter planned out but wanted to make up for a months lost time by getting these two out of the way in a day or two. This will conclude our journey into Ryan's mind. But it ends with a mystery to which only I know the answer to. Read till the end to find out. And no skipping.*
Ryan stood across from the digimon inhabiting his mind and who was also mimicking his image, somewhat disheartened to have learned of the darkness dwelling deep inside his heart and that it was what had drawn the creature to him in the first place. "If you think that for one second I'm going to go down without a fight you're wrong."
"Oh, I was counting on it. After all…" Dark Ryan disappeared mid-sentence and reappeared behind the real Ryan who turned around only to be backhanded across the face and sent to the ground with a sharp pain now radiating through his entire jaw. "…it's so much more fun when there's a fight. Even though I know you won't last that long, I'll have just enough time to thoroughly enjoy..." A swift kick to the gut knocks the air out of the boy who gasps in sheer agony. "…myself before finishing you off. And after I'm done with you, I'll finish what I started with Renamon."
A surge of adrenaline coursed its way through Ryan's veins, making his blood boil with anger. He had been possessed, used to almost destroy Renamon and was now faced with losing his own life at the hands of perhaps the most vile creature he had ever met. The last thread of patience he had left had just become undone. "Yeah, well you're forgetting just one thing."
"Am I? And what might that be?" Dark Ryan asked, laughing at the pitiful sight of the human cowering below him.
Without warning Ryan lunged upward and delivered a devastating uppercut to his doppelganger which sent him sailing into the building, creating a large gaping hole where a row of windows had once been. "That in my head, I make the rules! This is my world and you're not welcome in it! Now get out!"
Dark Ryan reappeared, standing in the middle of the massive breach in the structure. Cracking his neck he looks back down with his signature sinister grin still on his countenance. "Now things are getting interesting."
Back in the real world only several minutes had passed since Strabimon had used his powers on Ryan. Neither one of the three knew what else they could do except wait and see who would prevail in the end. But Renamon refused to sit idly by and do nothing while her friend faced the greatest challenge of his life. "Strabimon…" The wizard digimon looked at the vixen and could see the distress in her eyes. "…he's just a child. There has to be something we can do to help him."
"You're right. There is. I only neglected to mention it because it would involve the same risk the boy is facing right now and I did not want to endanger anyone else." Strabimon explained, only because he now understood that Renamon was willing to risk her life for Ryan. "I can send you into his subconscious but only for a finite amount of time. After that if your consciousness does not return to your vessel both you and the boy will be, and forgive me for putting it bluntly, nothing but empty shells."
"Renamon, are you sure you want to do this?" Yin asked, concerned for her safety as well as Ryan's. "You might not make it back."
"I failed to keep him safe back in the village; he almost died trying to get the first piece of map while protecting me…and now, it's my turn to save him." Renamon replied, never hesitating for one second with her response. She then sat next to the comatose boy and prepared herself for the transference.
"Good luck, Renamon. Both of you come back safely." Yin said, standing back so that he would not be caught in the crossfire of Strabimon's magic.
Renamon closed her eyes as Strabimon raised his paw and once more it became alight with energy which radiated over her entire body.
Dark Ryan leapt out of the gaping wound in the side of building and back into the school yard only a few feet away from Ryan who stood his ground. "I have to say I'm quite impressed. Perhaps human beings aren't the pathetic insects I always thought they were. But I'm afraid your pathetic attempt was all for naught. And now I'm going to finish this, once and for all!"
An aura of dark purple energy surrounded his entire body, both eyes began to glow with a blood red color and he slowly levitated into the air. Ryan started to back up, beginning to feel unsure if he would really be able to fight this creature. I can't do this. I thought I could but he's just too strong. I wish Renamon was here right now.
"Diamond Storm!" Both Ryan and his doppelganger look in the same direction while the latter is hit head on by the incoming attack.
"Renamon! Is it really you?" Ryan yells overjoyed to see her due to the dire situation he was in. I can't believe that actually worked.
With the beautiful grace and swift agility that only she could display, Renamon front flipped through the air and landed right in front of her bewildered companion. "Judging by the look on your face, I'd say you're happy to see me?"
"Uh…yeah. In case you hadn't noticed, my double mint twin over there is trying to kill me! And at a dream world version of my school no less!" Ryan exclaims turning his attention back towards his double, who had quickly recovered from the assault and looked extremely enraged. "Speaking of which, he doesn't look too happy. I think you might have pissed him off a little bit."
"I'm not sure how you got here, Renamon, but at least now I can kill two birds with one stone!"
"Alright, that does it! Just because you look like me doesn't give you the right to keep using clichés and catchphrases like I do!" Dumbfounded by his candor, Renamon quietly observed as Ryan continued to berate his doppleganger for stealing his thunder. "And another thing…"
Renamon tackled him to the ground as a ball of energy went whizzing past, missing them both by mere inches. "And what did you hope to accomplish by that, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Don't start with me. I've had a very stressful…however long it's been since I was possessed!" Ryan replied, frustrated by the fact that everything and everyone in the last few days seemed to be out to get him. "Now it's on like on like Donkey Kong! And seeing as how this is still my noggin we're in, I think I'll kick things off with this little number!" A suit of technologically enhanced battle armor instantly appeared on Ryan's body via a rainbow colored energy. "Now you've got to admit, that was awesome. I could get used to this."
Dark Ryan fired another blast of energy at the duo only for it to be blocked by an energy shield generated by the armor. "I see your imagination creation is just chock full of tricks!"
"Oh, I can out imagine you any day of the week. And now I'm going to kick your butt and send you packing." A black and crimson colored helmet appeared over his head, completing the rest of his armor. "Wait here, Renamon. This shouldn't take too long."
A pair of devil wings sprouted from Dark Ryan's back. "Let's take this battle into the air! Oh, I forgot, you have a fear of heights don't you?"
"Do you really have a fear of heights or is he lying?" Renamon asked, raising her brow while all Ryan could do was blush in embarassment.
"No, I do. And I don't understand why because I've never even been on a plane, which is the epitome of height itself, but everytime I'm too high up I start to feel nauseous and..." The realization that he was rambling on had finally started to sink in. "...nevermind. Fear of heights or not, let's do this!"
A jetpack appeared on the back of Ryan's suit of armor. The dual exhausts exploded with bright orange flames which propelled him into the air at near supersonic speed. He began his pursuit of the creature impersonating him, both flying straight into the sky until they could no longer see the landscape below. And, despite the fact that none of their surroundings actually existed, the weather conditions began to take a turn for the worse. The clouds around them began to fade from a bright white to a dark grey. Lightning bolts whizzed passed them accompanied by the roar of thunder and icy cold rain.
Ryan took aim and fired a series of laser shots at his nemesis only to have them bounce off him harmlessly."You're a fool, boy! I'm more powerful than you could ever possibly imagine! In the real world or here in your mind, I am unbeatable!"
The creature focused all of his powers into an energy sphere, took aim and fired but missed his intended target. Ryan watched as the attack kept going until it collided with what appeared to be a wall in the sky. What just happened? That blast shouldn't have impacted like that...unless...of course!
"Well? What are you waiting for?" The creature attempted to egg Ryan on, knowing that there was no chance he could be defeated, but instead watched as the armor clad human quickly turned around and began flying back towards the ground. "Running so soon? What's the matter? Is the height getting to be too much for you? Or have you realized you cannot defeat me?"
"Neither! Why don't you follow me and find out if you've got the guts!" Ryan yelled before going supersonic leaving behind an enraged duplicate of himself.
Seconds later, he lands on the ground a few yards away from Renamon who had remained in the exact same spot that he had left her. "You were right. That didn't take long."
"We don't have time for jokes. I've got an idea. When I tell you, I need you to aim your diamond storm attack at me. And we don't have time to argue about it so just trust me." Out of the darkness above he appeared. Using the last few seconds he had left, Ryan created a pulse rifle which took the place of his right arm. "Now!"
Renamon leapt into the air and gathered a massive amount of energy before unleashing her attack. "Diamond Storm!"
The back of the suit of armor opened up and absorbed the diamonds, converting them all into an energy based ammunition. "That little toy of yours is hardly enough to destroy me!" Dark Ryan Proclaimed in an overly brash and cocky manner.
"I know that! But I never said I was using it on you in the first place!" Ryan takes aim at the sky above causing his carbon copy to change his confident demeanor to one of surprise. "Next time you decide to vacation into someone's grapefruit, just remember that this one has no vacancy!"
A single charged shot from the weapon was able to penetrate the protective layer over Ryan's subconscious, creating a space vacuum which began pulling all three of them in. Ryan grabbed ahold of Renamon and fired a grappling hook across the field which pierced the brick and mortar of the wall lining the entire school yard before latching itself down, which kept them from being pulled in.
"You may have won this battle but I will win the war! I'll soon plunge both of your worlds into darkness and there will be nothing either one of you can do to stop me! Nothing!" The two of them watched as he disappeared into the portal. After the protective coating healed itself, the adverse weather then subsided bringing back the original peace and serenity it had almost destroyed completely. And with their enemy out of the picture, Ryan's armor dissipated from his astral form.
"We did it. He's gone." All of Ryan's muscles had relaxed to the point where all he could was collapse to a knee in order to regain some of his lost strength.
"Ryan, would you care to explain to me what you just did and where he went?" Renamon asked, extremely curious about the events that had just transpired.
"After I followed him he attacked me with this big ball of energy, which I have to admit was kind of cool, and it hit some sort of invisible barrier. And that's when I realized it was the shell that seperates my consciousness from my subconscious. So I broke it and regained full control of my mind." Ryan had a hard time believing the detail he had explained everything in yet was still impressed with himself. "Anyways, I...Whoa! Renamon, what's happening to you?"
Renamon raised both paws up in front of her face and saw that she was slowly starting to become translucent. "Strabimon warned me that this would happen if I stayed in here for too long. My consciousness is starting to fade from existence. I need to return to my body before I disappear entirely."
"Don't worry. I won't let that happen. Just hang on." Ryan concentrated hard and managed to conjure up a digital gateway leading back to the waking world. "This will take us both back to where we belong. Go, I'll be right behind you."
Renamon did not wish to leave without him but, being that she was getting fainter with every passing second, leapt into it before losing the rest of her tangibility. And just as he was about to join her a familiar voice caused him to stop dead in his tracks. Ryan…Ryan…why are you leaving so soon? We haven't even gotten to know each other yet.
Ryan took several deep breaths and turned around, expecting to see either his double again or something else entirely but was met with the sight of a disappearing landscape instead due to the fact that he was about to regain consciousness. "Must've just beem my imagination playing tricks on me." He backed up, ran and jumped into the gateway which immediately closed behind him just as the last of the dream world faded to black.
Too bad. I guess this is good-bye for now, Ryan. But we'll be seeing each other again very soon. I'm sure of it. After all...we're inseprerable.