I opened my eyes to a room that was plastered with white and yellow paper talismans. It was a containment seal, designed to drown out spiritual energy.
My head was pounding and I tried to reach up to rub my temples but my arms wouldn't move. I looked back a bit and my hands were chained behind my back and strapped tightly to a cold stone wall.
I was on my knees, lifted my head up slowly and directly across from me, strapped to the opposite wall in the same humiliating position was the Wielder. His face was a mess of bruises and he looked smaller without his serpent.
"Hey." I rasped, my voice sounding rough. "Where the hell are we?"
He didn't look up, he just stared at the floor.
"I'm asking you a question, you idiot!" I shouted, pulling against the chains.
The door at the far end of the room creaked open. I turned my head just in time to see the old man step inside. He wasn't alone, walking beside him was another man, tall and broad-shouldered, he was holding a tablet.
The old man smiled faintly.
"I see you're both awake."
"Sir." I said, to force my voice into a respectful tone. "You're Exorcists, right? Then there's clearly been a misunderstanding here. I'm not with him, he was sent to kill me. I'm an Exorcist too."
The man with the tablet looked up. "An unregistered Exorcist."
"Huh?" I blinked.
"When Mr. Kurosawa brought you into the temple." the man continued. "The barrier didn't recognize you."
He pointed at the Wielder without looking at him. "Just like it didn't recognize him. Which makes you an unregistered practitioner who nearly destroyed a city blocks last night."
I clenched my fists behind my back. "Yeah. For that, I apologize but I was only defending myself. This man was sent to kill me and that means he's somehow connected to the four incidents from two days ago."
The man was on me in an instant. His hand wrapped around my throat and slammed me back against the wall. "The only way you'd know about that information is if you were working with them."
"Come on, man." I wheezed, raising my chained hands slightly. "I already told you that I'm an Exorcist. Ask Miss Suzuki, she handled my paperwork and gave me the case."
"Suzuki?"
He let go of my throat, turning to Mr. Kurosawa. "How did Suzuki get access to that case?"
I coughed, leaning my head against the wall. "Your grip wasn't half bad but you messed up my suit even more."
He turned back to me. "You're an unregistered Exorcist who stole a classified case and went rogue."
"Stole? Suzuki said the higher-ups approved it."
Kurosawa stepped close to me. "Suzuki never had access to this case. She stole it and you're an accomplice. If I were you, I would settle down. You're going to be here for a very long time."
He turned to the Wielder. "As for you... you're going to answer every question we have."
They turned to leave, the door slamming shut behind them. I sat there, the reality of the situation crashing down on me. Suzuki lied?
"What?" I yelled at the closed door. "No! You've got it wrong!"
"Who are you talking to?" the Wielder suddenly spoke. "They're gone you idiot."
I looked at him. And he started to laugha. "You're a pathetic joke. You thought you were the hero, doing good? You're just a stray dog. And they'll execute you just like they'll execute me."
I leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes. Hours passed or maybe it was just minutes. The concept of time doesn't exist in a room designed to kill your spirit.
Suddenly, the door opened again. Two different men walked in, dressed in identical black suits.
One went to the Wielder, unchaining him to lead him away. The other came to me, unhooking the strap from the wall but keeping the chains on my wrists.
"Time to go." the guard said, pulling me upward.
As we walked through the corridors, they led us in different directions.
I took a deep breath and suddenly yanked the chain hard. The guard was caught off balance, pulled toward me and smashed my head into his face.
He dropped instantly. I turned and sprinted down the hall, took the first turn – bursting through a set of double doors that led to a balcony overlooking the main temple lobby.
Guards below saw me instantly. "Hey!" They were already streaming toward the balcony stairs. I didn't have time to fight them. I leaped over the railing, falling twenty feet and hitting the lobby floor in a roll.
Two guards at the main entrance moved to intercept me. The first man was too slow, I slammed a kick into his neck that sent him crashing into a pillar. The second guard threw a fist, which I ducked, spun around and looped my chains around his throat, pulling him into a choke.
"Stop!"
I instantly recognised the voice. I turned slowly. And standing near the center of the hall were Suzuki and Takeo. Mr. Kurosawa was there too and the girl with the purple hair had her laser cannon aimed directly at me.
Suzuki looked at me. "Kenichi, please. Don't make this worse."
I felt anger rising in me, everything I had felt before was nothing compared to this. Suzuki had lied to me. And now they wanted to kill me for it?
Suddenly, it happened again. I being pushed away from my own body. That dark consciousness I'd felt during the hotel fight was clawing its way to the surface again.
I heard a laugh escape me – a distorted sound that didn't belong to me. My fists began to spark with black flames.
And the chains on my wrists disintegrated.
I lifted my head, looking at them. Kurosawa moved instantly. He was suddenly inches from me, his fist aimed at my face but in this state, he looked... slow.
I leaped to the side, his fist hit the floor where I'd stood and erupted a massive crater.
I twisted midair and landed on the balcony railing, then the purple-haired girl fired. A beam hissed toward me. I ran along the narrow edge as the blast carved through the wall behind me.
When I skidded to a stop, I launched myself forward. And swung a flaming fist at Suzuki but Kurosawa was there again. He blocked the fist with his forearm, the impact creating a shockwave that shattered the windows of the lobby.
I struck again and a barrage followed. Kurosawa blocked, parried and began to counter, matching me blow for blow as the ground cratered beneath us. And the temple shook.
I saw Kurosawa's rhythm was getting slower. And a smirked, I couldn't hold crossed my face. I leaped down, landing fist into the old man's gut.
He coughed blood instantly. He should have been sent flying through the wall but instead, he gripped my arm with both hands and his eyes blazing.
Before I could pull away, he swung a kick that caught me flush on the neck. I was sent tumbling and skidded across the floor, my hand gouging a line into the floor as I tried to stop the momentum.
"Kenichi, please stop!" Suzuki shouted.
Her voice didn't quite reach me. I started walking toward him. The laser girl fired again from above. I focused every scrap of energy into my forearms, crossing them as the blast hit. The beam slammed into me and hurled me backward, through two reinforced walls into a dark storage room.
I stood up slowly, my body shaking. Whatever is inside me was fighting me for control and the physical toll was reaching its limit. I shot forward before the girl could recharge but Takeo and Kurosawa were already there, blocking my path.
I jumped back, trying to regain control. The dark consciousness was receding and my body wouldn't move.
Kurosawa closed the distance instantly, unleashing a barrage of punches that I couldn't dodge. I just stood there and took the weight of a master Exorcist's fury.
He landed the final blow to my gut. I vomited blood and collapsed instantly, the impact reopening my wound.
Kurosawa stood over me, his fist raised for the killing blow.
"Wait!" Suzuki and the girl with the cannon shouted, stepping in with their hands up to stop him.
But I didn't see the rest. I was going unconscious again and I couldn't stop myself. Everything went dark like it always does.