Chapter 20
#20 of Memories of a Forgotten Past
Chapter 20
Into the Darkness
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               What waited inside was armed infected that were once again no match for the team. Tearing through them like they were made of paper they just barely saw SkullRenamon rush through the door to the throne room up the grand staircase. Quickly they began their pursuit but more infected were pouring out of every room now. Looking back at the others Renamon and Rukan saw Narwith and Taka turn to fight off the coming attack.
               â€Go ahead and take her out. We will keep all the distractions away from you two as you finish up this mess,†Shouted Narwith as they were already in the thick of battle. Rukan smiled slightly before turning to Renamon and making their way to the door they threw it open. There the two of them saw SkullRenamon sitting on the arm of the throne with a grin.
               â€I see you’ve managed to get your body back Rukan… how unfortunate for Wrath. Though, knowing you, you didn’t kill him did you? Such a foolish boy. Always leaving things unfinished… I wonder how much you realize is unfinished in your past… think back Rukan… what is missing,†Asked the dark queen as she stood up cackling in front of the skeleton with the d infinity on its wrist.
               â€You’ve been acting alone all along,†Said Renamon as she trailed off upon seeing the bones that were once Tenshi. Her face showed her shock at the real enemy was now much clearer. Renamon clenched her fists tightly waiting for Rukan to make the move.
               â€You think I didn’t see all this from inside Wrath? Please… You’ll have to try harder than that monster,†Replied Rukan putting his hands on his hips as he grinned slightly.
               â€My boy you’ve only seen the beginning let’s see if you are actually worthy of the rest shall we,†Asked Skullrenamon as she got down into an attack position, a sinister looking grin on her face. In the blink of an eye she used her bone storm attack to form a pair of bone blades in her paws, â€Shall we waltz my dear?â€
               With that Rukan and Renamon rushed in. Rukan came at her with a powerful slash from the digicarbide blade while covering himself with the tonto. Renamon leapt into the air not bothering to shout her attack as Rukan seemed to know what she was doing. She spread eagle mid flight summoning up a storm of charged leaves like none she had ever done before.
               The Dark Queen blocked the blade with both of her own only to spin back and land a powerful kick into Rukan knocking them both out of the leaf storm. Rukan tumbled back from the hit as Renamon quickly appeared by his side lifting him to his feet.
               Skullrenamon didn’t give them a moment of rest as she rushed back at them in a relentless flurry of attacks. Renamon tried her best to dodge but found herself nicked by one of the bone blades and fell to the side as Rukan rather adeptly deflected the blows with a grin on his face. It was obvious that Skull couldn’t match him in his ability with blades but she was never one to play fair. Leaping back she slammed the hilts of the blades together and soon was holding a staff of bone with two sharp ends.
               Kneeling down for a moment Rukan pat Rena on the shoulder softly as encouragement and she was quickly back on her feet standing as a united front against the dark one. Skull’s attack came quickly with much more power behind it than her previous attacks. Rukan was having trouble blocking and soon had to deflect instead.
               Renamon seeing Skull’s focus mostly on Rukan took the opportunity and spun behind her tamer then leapt over his shoulders landing one foot on the bone staff while the other lifted to land a powerful kick into Skull’s face. Skullrenamon stumbled backwards using one of the many pillars in the room to prevent her from falling over. Removing her paw from her face showed another mark there from Rena’s claws.
               Rage filled the dark queen’s eyes as her face had once again been marred by the two. With a howl of rage she lifted her hand and a shower of sharpened bone fragments flew at the tamer and digimon. They both had to dive in opposite directions but while Rukan was rolling he palmed his tonto. Upon standing he whipped his arm out throwing the Tonto and stuck it neatly into the dark queen’s thigh.
               Her scream was loud enough to shake the room making Rukan and Rena cover their ears. The second of surprise gave Skull the chance to pull the blade free as her blood began to flow, bit of green corrupted data floating into the air. She made a break for her personal chambers and slammed the door behind her. Inside she knocked over a dresser to block the door from the inside.
               Running to her bed the dark queen smashed her paw through the headboard and pulled a lever opening the bed into a chute as she made her escape into the depths of the citadel. There was no escape from there but there she could win, she knew she could.
               Rukan and Renamon rushed to the door putting their shoulders into it but finding that they couldn’t take it down. With a frown Rukan took a step back before holding his D infinity in one hand and shouting, â€DIGITIZE!†The light enveloped him again and when it settled he was back in his Renomon form.
               With the added power they were able to take down the door but as they smashed through the wood the doors to the throne room were thrown open. The two turned to see Narwith, Taka and Datamon stumbling back as a creature that looked like a vampire mixed with a seraphim stepped into the room chuckling. Rukan felt a stirring inside at the sight of the creature.
               Rukan looked into the room seeing the chute and frowned deeply. She was going to escape if he didn’t go after her but they definitely needed help. It was then that Renamon pushed him into the room and stood between him and the door shouting, â€Go! End this!â€
               There was no time to question the choice. Rukan leaned over the wreckage to kiss Renamon softly on the cheek. â€for good luck,†Said the demihumon as he paused for a moment to look into her eyes. She didn’t let him get away that easy however. She pulled him close and kissed him softly on the lips replying, â€for luck…â€
               Leaping through the hole in the bed Rukan pulled his arms in close as he slid down the chute. The light was fading quickly but the light from his D infinity lit the way for him. The ride was over almost as quickly as it started. He was flung from the slide landing on what felt like uncertain ground. Moving his D infinity down he saw he was standing on a giant chain link, the only other light cast from far below him. So far that it was just a twinkling in the distance.
               Bone spurs flew at him from the left making him lose his balance as he dodged. He felt backwards grabbing the edge of the chain and holding tightly as the bones whizzed over his head. He held for a few more moments before finally pulling himself back up. He couldn’t see a thing in the darkness.
               â€Step into my parlor said the spider to the fly… foolish boy… You face me in my own lair now,†Shouted Skullrenamon as she cackled. Rukan lifted a paw and a charged leaf appeared in his palm. It then shot in the direction of the cackling. All he saw was a purple streak as she had dodged the attack.
               â€This is a very special room my dear… this is a room of memories… What’s that I hear… rain? You’re not afraid of the rain are you,†cackled Skullrenamon even as Rukan felt the first few drops on his face. The darkness began to fade as Rukan saw the room below them light up like a Tokyo night. The sounds of a struggle below could be heard but he didn’t have a chance to look.
               The chains could be seen now as SkullRenamon stood on the platform they suspended over the floor far below on the pit in the center of that. Rukan quickly ran down his chain as the rain began to fall harder and lightning flashed lighting the room a bit brighter. He began an assault on her as she just chuckled backing away and fizzled slightly around the edges with each attack.
               â€You don’t get it boy. Here… I AM GOD,†Exclaimed the dark queen as she disappeared and appeared again next to a control panel. Hitting a few buttons before Rukan to reach her. She activated some sort of array sending out seven beams of light and dropping the chains that held the platform up.
               The Renomon was forced to run for one of the chains as the control platform fell to plug the hole below. Hanging desperately above the ground far below, Rukan felt his heart beating fast with fear. He couldn’t even land an easy hit on her and now he was nothing but a sitting duck. Looking up he saw her literally walking down the chain like it was the ground.
               â€You think the rules of your world operate the same here? I control this world… the closer to the core I get the more my power grows. You may have injured me on the surface but down here you have no chance at winning. Oh dear I wonder what is unfolding down there. Looks like a… street fight,†Skullrenamon cackled as she crouched just outside of Rukan’s reach looking straight down at the ground.
               Rukan’s heart froze as he heard the distant chanting, the sound of men shouting bets and money exchanging hands. The rain was loosening his grip and his mind shattering as he knew what was unfolding below him. He looked up at Skullrenamon with eyes the pleaded for her to stop this before he knew what was going to happen happened.
               The response he got from the queen was claws in the back of his hands making him howl in pain as she tore him free of the chain and threw him into a freefall with a cackle. Rukan fell grasping for some sort of purchase but when he couldn’t find any he began to panic. He saw the ground getting closer and closer but then a building shot up from the ground catching him almost like it were made of the same material as a trampoline. He stood up quickly looking up to where Skullrenamon was perched on the chain above.
               She frowned and growled as he was saved at the last moment as the scene was still building itself from the boy’s memory. She landed and the lightning flashed again. Rukan’s heart froze as she was not Skullrenamon when his eyes focused but the man he killed on the night that started everything. He was conflicted as to what he should do next as the building shrunk back into the ground and Rukan found himself standing in the middle of a ring of men shouting for his victory or defeat.
               â€No… this isn’t real. It’s impossible,†said Rukan as he began to step away from the man only to be pushed back into the ring by the onlookers.
               The man laughed but it was the voice of Skullrenamon that came out of him as he spoke, â€Don’t be a fool boy. I told you I have absolute power… but perhaps you should see what else happened this night… You only know but a fraction of the story.â€
               The world shifted violently enough to make Rukan wretch as it felt like he was spinning. Suddenly the world stopped and he stood alone in a cramped office. A young man was desperately hitting his computer as he held a familiar blue card in his hand. The sound of shouts came from behind the door and in a desperate moment he pasted the front of a nearby card to the blue card and tossed it aside.
               Rukan looked instantly to the card seeing it had the picture of a shademon on it. His heart stopped as he had almost forgotten about Michi. His heart shattered again as tears flowed freely from his eyes. Silently he wept for the loss of two of his few friends. He watched through wet eyes as the man pulled another blue card out of his pocket desperately swiping it through the watch like device on his wrist.
               Skullrenamon showed herself then holding the man that Rukan now recognized as Tenshi. She looked over her shoulder to see the card on the ground and frowned slightly, â€You made another one? Why? After the last one I thought you would have learned by now that the only one that works is the one that brought me here.â€
               She heard the pounding at the door and frowned picking the card up and tossing it out a nearby window, â€They are on to us aren’t they?â€
               Tenshi spoke in a high pitched and worried tone, â€How can you be so calm about this!? They are going to find you!â€
               Skull laughed softly shaking her head slowly, â€And what then? They can’t hurt me. I’ll take care of it.â€
               â€No. You can’t hurt them Skully… I have almost finished the portal here. I just need a few more minutes,†Replied Tenshi as he hit a few buttons on the computer. A scream from outside made him look away for a moment only to have a white gate appear behind him.
               Skullrenamon gripped him by the back of the shirt and tugged him through the portal before he could react. The gate closed behind them and the men of HYPNOS burst into the room with surprised looks on their faces. There was no one there to find.
               Rukan held his gut again as the world moved again in time with the falling card. He saw it picked up by a wandering policeman. He chuckled and put it into his pocket but quickly had to answer his radio. Someone had been found dead in the area and they needed backup to take care of the one that found the body.
               The Hisashi’s heart sank as he had a feeling he knew where they were going next. The world followed the policeman to a shantytown surprising Rukan but when he saw Michiko screaming and crying while reaching out to the old man lying on the ground motionless. The detectives were inspecting the remaining fish on the burner and confirmed it to be the poisonous fugu.
               The policeman went to the crying girl and handed over the card being careful to keep it dry. It was small but the man was trying to make the pain less in any way he could. The small gesture was all he could do to prevent himself from breaking down for the little girl that had just lost her world.
They didn’t stay here long as their final destination had Rukan facing the man he killed that night once again. He got back into a fighting stance even as tears rolled down his face. He knew she was trying to break him but he wasn’t about to let her know it was working. He wavered only slightly as he held his ground in front of the man as he reached into his jacket and pulled a weapon. Rukan refused to let it happen again.
Rushing forward the Hisashi threw his arms in front of him to stop his sister from diving in the way. She just passed right through him only to be stabbed with the blade once again. He howled and fell to his knees covering his face as it was simply too much for him to take. All the things he had lost in life all shown before him.
The scene froze then and Skullrenamon turned back to normal looking about confused. She didn’t say anything for the time being just watched as Rukan broke down crying into his hands. It was the platform lifting itself as a surge of energy from the core lifted it and kept it aloft.
Rukan snapped out of it as he had to save himself grabbing up his blades and getting to his feet as he felt power coursing through him. Opening his eyes they began to glow with white fire and his voice echoed in the hall, â€You are not the only one with power here oh queen! You may have no moments where you lost everything you cared about yet so let this be your waking nightmare!â€
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