A moment captured in the stillness time. A thing of beauty one might gleam in a museum. A painting of pure beauty captured in form by the greatest artists of the Renaissance. You hovered in the air, your body outstretched with your finger lightly pressing against the glass. It reminded you of a famous painting you couldn't quite recall as the calm expression on your face slowly began to morph into concern... then panic. This wasn't a strange painting of life through a glass. This was you flying backward after a car had rudely slammed into you. One moment you had been speaking with Denji and the next you, Denji, and another guy you couldn't quite remember had become victims of vehicular manslaughter... devilslaughter? Who knows. As for the glass, it was actually a windshield with a terrified-looking girl and a baffled blood fiend on the other side having committed the accident. Denji had gone skidding on the pavement ways down the road on the left while the other male had taken the blunt force trauma of a guard rail to the back of his head in the center. This left you flying backward in the remaining direction and sent your body clear through the window of a jewelry shop, right through the displayed rings and necklaces, and into the shop itself with a thump and the loud shattering of the window and several displays.

Your body crashing through the store window sent those few customers gathered inside into a panic with the patrons fleeing either through the front door running past you or out the back escape fearing a demonic attack. Your corpse thudded against the ground and rolled backward before resting on your back. Your first instinct was to get up simply but a pain shot through your stomach causing you to flop back onto the ground. Weakly lifting your head, you spotted a large shard of glass puncturing right through your stomach, and from the overall pain, it seemed to be deeply embedded in your intestines. 

(Y/n): That's... not good...

A pained grunt escaped from your lips as you managed to roll onto your hands and knees, picking yourself up by slapping your hand onto one of the few glass cases not completely shattered to support your weight. You let out a cough as your body leaned back against the case allowing your head to drift down to spot the large piece of glass punctured deeply into your stomach. You weren't well versed in anything remotely medical but your brain was telling you that this glass was making a big ouch and if you didn't remove it soon you would most certainly die. So with a highly trembling hand, you lifted your hand away from the glass to try and get a grip on the embedded shard but without your arm's full support your shoes slid forward on the glass-strew carpet and you landed on your bottom against the case with a painful thud.

(Y/n) Fuck! A-Ah fuck.... fuck...

Your teeth grit as each breath grows painful. This situation was deteriorating rapidly and you needed to try and act fast. So with an uncertain grip once on the glass, you let out a grunt as you began to pry the shard free. You will never know why it felt like your insides were clutching to the knife but you could only pull it a tiny bit. Your grip gave out as your now bloody hand slipped free from the glass and your head rolled back against the case. There was still a light ringing in your ears as you could hear a commotion outside. It was pretty obvious considering a major car accident happened but it still only managed to frustrate you at the lack of help you were receiving. A car door slammed shut outside and soon the door of the shop flung open to reveal an extremely anxious Kobeni. 

(Y/n): Ko...beni?

You were rather surprised to see her as the first to the store, expecting Aki or one of the others to check on you first, but that thought quickly left your mind as another shooting pain filled your body, your brain feeling like you were getting ripped in half.

Kobeni: (Y/n)! I-I'm so sorry! 

The skittish girl carefully walked over the shattered glass on the carpeted floor before kneeling next to your side, her hands flailing in front of you as she looked panicked, concerned, and on the verge of throwing up all at the same time. 

Kobeni: P-Power was driving a-and I just... Weh! I'm so sorry!!!

(Y/n): It's fine... J-Just... help me... out here.

Your hand weakly lifted up to point at the glass which Kobeni finally seemed to notice. 

Kobeni: Weeeeeeeh?! T-That must hurt so bad! I-I'm so-

Kobeni's hand made a motion toward the glass and some instinct in your mind refused to let her injure herself on the glass so your hand lifted with newfound strength and gripped around the piece.

(Y/n): Don't grab it... yourself... P-Please just... steady my hand.

Kobeni blinked in response as if stunned by your action but the cowardly girl knew that you needed the glass pulled free in order to begin healing. So with a calming breath, the girl's trembling fingers carefully latched over yours. Her fingers were warm against your cool ones and gently pulled your hand allowing what was left of your grip strength to cling to the shard tightly enough that the blood in the palm of your hand had no effect in forcing your hand free. With a dramatic grunt of pain, the large shard pulled free of your abdomen and fell to the carpet with a gentle thud.

Kobeni: O-Ok the glass is out! But... Why... aren't you h-healing? 

(Y/n): I'm fine I just... need a second...

Kobeni: No (Y-Y/) you're not healing... a-at all! This is bad! 

Your brain scrambled to try and get the girl to calm down but even could could feel that the wound was not healing like it was supposed to. With your arm still stunted from the previous fight, it was likely this might take a while to heal too but the difference was that was your arm that was patched up and not a hole several inches deep in your intestines.

Kobeni: What do we do?!

Your gaze drifted to the floor, your (E/c) absentmindedly searching for something before familiar trembling hands captured the side of your face and forced you to look back into Kobeni's chocolate brown eyes. 

Kobeni: H-Hey stay with me! What do fiends need to heal? I-Is it... blood?

You couldn't respond even if you wanted to say no, not wanting to know where the train of thought was going in Kobeni's head as she carefully pulled her hands from your face. Kobeni picked up a much smaller piece of glass compared to the one that had punctured into your abdomen and gritted her teeth before making a cut on her palm. A familiar sanguine fluid pooled in her palm as Kobeni clearly panicked at the sight of her own blood but quickly pressed it against your mouth.

Kobeni: I will feel r-really bad if you die from my car s-so... please heal!

Kobeni's blood pressed against your lips and slipped onto your tongue. You never thought you would be in a position to describe the taste of blood but it was either this or slowly die on the floor of this random jewelry store. It tasted like... well... blood. A metallic taste filled your mouth but perhaps it was the fact you are a fiend but you could pick up on the slight pain and discomfort in Kobeni's mind in between her natural nature of panicking and being terrified. But the introduction of Kobeni's blood did manage to at the very least stop the flow of blood from your wound. Your own hand lifted and carefully cupped the back of Kobeni's pursing your lips forward against the cut in an almost kissing motion as your eyes locked with Kobeni's for a moment. The sanguine fluid seemed to be working the more fo it Kobeni fed to you as the wound finally began sealing itself and before long the only remnant of damage was the obvious gash in your clothes... along with the blood all over you but as a devil hunter that's pretty much part of the job. A soft gasp escaped from Kobeni's lips as she lightly pressed her hand against your lips more. This sensation was strange and you didn't quite understand why your body desired more. 

???: What a pathetic sight.

A chill ran down your spine as Kobeni stumbled forward in a panic, turning to sit next to you as a strange figure stood in the doorway of the shop. The figure wore only dark clothing, black clothes, and gloves as his black dress shoes crunched a piece of glass. The only thing the figure wore that was different was a jester's mask pulled into an inhumane smile with various reds, blacks, and golds making up the colors of the stranger's mask.

???: By all means... don't stop your romantic event for me.

Now that you clearly looked at the figure you could tell it was a male form vaguely familiar to you but the figure fired off all of the parts of panic and terror in your mind. You couldn't explain it but you were genuinely terrified. Your eyes glance at Kobeni only to see her on the verge of a panic attack, her hands gripped so tightly to your arm that she could turn off circulation to your fingers. And it's voice... it wasn't right. It didn't fit but sounded perfect at the same time. It sounded like you were being spoken to by an opera singer's sing-song tone but it was filtered through a broken radio. This thing... whatever it was... was just... wrong.

(Y/n): Where... are the others?

???: They are preoccupied. Escaping from certain death does that I suppose.

Your heart thumped in your chest with adrenaline as you found yourself on your feet in an instant glaring at the figure who had yet to move since the first initial step.

(Y/n): What have you done to them, asshole?!

???: Asshole? My you have gotten vulgar... and that crevice in your face... hah...

The figure moved so quickly that you seemingly blinked and actually missed it. He stood before you now, fingers pressed against your face as if examining you like an old photo album.

(Y/n): W-What...

???: Perfection... You were perfect and yet now you stand here... revolting. You threw it all away! You threw away perfection!

The figure's finger clenched tightly to your face like he was going to rip your jaw clean from your head as his gloved fingers cratched at the crevice in your face.

???: You revolted against the very concept of perfection. Was it out of boredom? Perhaps to spite your very nature? Or... did you just want to see what it was like inside of one of these disgusting creatures? Hah... You can't answer me, can you?

(Y/n): Fuck... off.

???: Tsk... You're in this thing to spite me, aren't you? I hate you. I hate everything about you but at the same time... I don't think our passion has ever been kindled so intensely like this. A one-sided affair... you always did find new ways to piss me off.

(Y/n): What the... fuck are you talking about? You're deranged.

Those fingers once more clung to your face, threatening to simply peel your face away with a simple flourish. A bloodlust you had never felt like a searing heat disguised itself behind the jester's mask before those fingers slowly slipped free of your face and the figure brushed past you to get a closer look at the still petrified Kobeni.

???: I still don't see your interest in them. Simple disgusting creatures. But now watching you wear one's face... I can't stand it. Should I just rip her face right off-

The figure's question was quickly received and answered as you managed the strength to deliver a quick one that was quickly blocked. the figure didn't even flinch before lowering his arm to straighten up his attire and brush back past you toward the door. You glanced over your shoulder stiffly to look at Kobeni but she had apparently passed out from the oppressive feeling of fear.

???: Haah~ You're so close. Trapped beneath the ice. If you want to break through then find me on this battlefield. Humanity is chaos but in this disgusting display, I will leave a path for you.

(Y/n): I don't want anything to do with you! And what do you mean battlefield?! At least make some sense if you're going to be so fucking weird! 

???: Don't worry about that coward. She doesn't have a role to play for a while so you can follow that little destiny you cobbled together.

(Y/n): I said I-

???: You want an answer right? What you are... who you are... I know them. Perhaps even better than you ever could. All you need to do is focus on tracking me down during this fight.

You opened your lips to speak but the figure was gone in an instant once more. The oppressive feeling of wrongness left with them as you quickly sprinted outside. You had expected to see the others engaged in battle but there was no one. Literally no one. The usually busy and crowded street was completely silent except for the usual sounds of city life off in the distance.

You glanced both ways but only spotted one person standing looking into a store window.

(Y/n): H-Hey! Have you seen a couple of people?! They look kind of weird but I swear they are good... people?

You questioned softly as the figure turned to reveal a woman but... Her eyes were impossibly wide and her mouth seemed... strange. She looked like a puppet that had lost her strings. Before you could do anything else you froze up against watching the strange figure from before turning the corner directly behind the strange woman. 

(Y/n) H-Hey asshole! I'm not done with you! W-Wait sorry I'm not talking to you, ma'am!

Well, the woman really seemed to take offense to your words as her right and left arms morphed into very sharp points, throwing you off even more as she charged directly at you.

(Y/n): H-Hey Kobeni we-

You turned to see she was gone too. What? Where could she... Your mind snapped to the figure from before and perhaps it was the lingering sensation of the skittish girl's blood or your own natural instinct but your gaze shaped instantly as you glared in the direction where the figure had turned past the strange puppet. He had to be the culprit. He was doing this. He must be some sort of fiend and now he has taken Kobeni and the others! That must be it! Your teeth grit behind your sealed lips as your fist clenched tightly. 

(Y/n): I'm going to break your face the moment I catch you asshole. Just count on it! 

And with that, you charged the puppet in a bid to get past her and down the street before the weirdo got too far. Little did you know that this situation was already too far gone? This wasn't normal by any means.  No, you didn't warp to a new dimension or reality. But as your friends and comrades battled assasin's and bounty hunters, you were now following the path of a creature designed for little more than the torture of the human mind. A figure by all accounts shouldn't existed but has been tethered to you in a way you couldn't imagine. And now you were a piece in a chest board trapped in a battle beyond your understanding for forces you didn't know... And you will soon need to realize that your life and everything you know will never be anything close to normal again...