Gravity pulled on you, like a leash attached to a collar that was your body. Ready to yank you into the fleshy abyss, a breath escaped from under the mask that had slipped onto your face. This was it. Your foot stretched out and you moved into a sitting position on the edge of the sideways doorway. It was then that weight settled around your shoulders, arms holding you in place and by the way they shook who it was. 

Kobeni: W-Wait you don't need to! We can just kill Denji and be done with this!

Kobeni looked up at you with a nervous smile and could feel her heart fall into the pits of her stomach as she finally got a good look at your face. A yellow and silver harlequin mask had seemingly melded onto your face, bright yellow irises showing signs of eyes inside empty black holes. A viscous blackish-blue liquid leaked from the eye sockets and from the lower lip of a pair of lips cracked in three places. Despite your face being set in place, your voice could still be heard clearly as if nothing had changed.

(Y/n): We can't just let this thing get what it wants! If it wants Denji's heart it is clearly up to something!

Kobeni: There's no point in dying! S-Someone hurry up and kill Denji!

Arai: This is getting really bad... Let's just feed him to the devil!

Your piercing gaze returned down to the fleshy maw and the massive mouthing seemingly staring up at you in mockery. Kobeni's arms had long since left and from what you could tell there was a commotion behind you. Upon turning around, you saw Denji getting dogpiled upon but the other! Himeno was holding Aki back, and Kobeni looked ready to carve him up and Power was... well being Power. You even tried to get involved to pry Arai off of Denji but found yourself frozen in place as it was Aki who broke free from the strange arms holding him in place and jumped forward to cover Denji just in time to be stabbed.

Kobeni: Eeeek!

Arai: Uh...

Denji: Huh?!

(Y/n): Aki why would you...

Aki: It's true he's a revolting son of a bitch... and no one would be sad to see him go... but he's looking to kill the gun devil. I can't kill the gun devil by myself... to kill it... I'm going to need all the devil hunters with a backbone I can in order to face it...! Even if it shortens my life... I'm not letting you kill Denji...!

What... What is that fool thinking?! Aki who just hours ago had been calling you three less than human was now throwing himself in front of a knife for Denji?! Why... it didn't make any sense to you! What was the point of trying to grasp human concepts if they were so confusing?! For a moment it seemed like you were stuck inside your own head. You could only silently watch everyone move about. Humans and devils working together... Why was it only now that it seemed so strange to you? Was it because of Aki's strange actions? Power was attempting to hold back the tide of blood gushing from Aki's side while Kobeni and Arai panicked. Even Himeno seemed to be losing her cool. And Denji was... gone? Huh, he must have jumped down to fight the devil. What are you even doing?

Your searing yellow irises lowered to gaze down at your fingers, and droplets of the strange liquid behind your mask seeped from your eyes and landed on your (E/c) skin. You looked human... but you weren't. You were a devil of some kind but everything you needed to know seemed to be held hostage by this or that. The roaring of grinding chains filled your ears as your gaze turned and looked down into the gaping maw of the Eternity devil, now being serrated and torn to pieces by Denji. But he was clearly losing too much blood. All of a sudden a strange feeling filled your chest. No this wasn't a filling feeling... it was more like your chest was caving in on itself. Your vision shook as your heart pounded in your ears. What is this...

???: It's the cocktail, flesh puppet~ Adrenaline... anger... hopelessness... FEAR. Don't you love human emotion~? Discovering new feelings at the worst possible times? It's just so... human~

The voice from before filled your head, the voice that held no shape or proper tone but formed words that banged against the insides of your ears like a war drum. Your lips pursed trying to respond but once more the cavalcade of emotions hindered you.

(Y/n): I-I'm...

???:  Your friends are terrified or clueless. And you are frozen in place like your strings are cut. Denji is dying... Aki is dying... all of them will see their flesh rendered from their bones and yet you stand here worthless.

(Y/n): I'm... I'm not...

Your visions rattled even more your hands shaking almost violently as you clenched them into fists. Your breath huffed out through your nose as your blood itself seemed to boil in your veins. The caved-in feeling that had plagued you felt like it was finally being filled in by molten metal. Your fingers unfurled from the fists they were in and reached up to your mask, caressing the porcelain-like material.

???: Speak up puppet~ I can't hear you over that thumping heart of yours~ 

Your fingers curled against the porcelain, gripping at your sealed lips as your muscles flared and your vision turned red for a moment. The corners of your lips began cracking as you increased the pressure your eyes nearly rolling back in pain as a guttural growl escaped from behind the mask. With each crack, the blackish-blue liquid from before began to shift. It soon dripped onto your fingers as a purely obsidian color before shifting entirely into a sanguine crimson. The drips soon turned to a steady pour, before a torrent, and as the makeshift jaw of the mask held onto its last legs, your right arm was coated in the substance. With one last huff, you heard a resounding crack as your voice cried out in pain.

(Y/n): HAAAAAH!

The others gathered in the room had watched the sickening display with hesitation and yet a growing curiosity. Kobeni and Himeno were simply frozen in place from panic, not knowing what to do or if you were dangerous. Power and Aki were much less frozen in panic and moreso curiosity. Aki was incapacitated and barely clinging to consciousness while Power was stuck making sure the human that made her food didn't die. Though she could tell by the smell now pungent in the air that you had seriously injured yourself doing whatever it was that you were doing. 

(Y/n): I'm...

Your voice came out and sounded gurgled and distorted and the liquid drenched over your arm began to contort. It spread to your shoulder and formed a casing around your arm before extending out and coming to a long point. Your arm had seemingly morphed into a dark red blade with a serrated edge leading to a deadly point. You couldn't help but shudder in pain, turning to look over your shoulder at the others. Kobeni let out a gasp as Himeno's eye widened. Power seemed weirdly excited and Arai and Aki were simply stunned. Your mask was now coated in red and blackish-blue, mixing to form the obsidian color from before while your piercing yellow irises were now a deep red. Your mask was nearly ripped in two, the bottom half of the mask hanging by a thread as the mask you once wore was a jagged mess of a broken face. But somehow despite that, you managed to speak.

(Y/n): I'm not human. I don't understand most emotions or actions... 

Taking a step forward, your knee nearly buckled as you looked out into the bloody void that Denji had been tearing apart. You took a breath and looked back at the group once more.

(Y/n): But I won't let you die here.

And with that, you took your own step off the edge and plummeted into the same maw as Denji, ready to rip and tear at whatever you could to free the others from this eternity.

Three Days. Three days of blood and guts. Pain and suffering. Your bladed arm had grown dull from perpetually slashing over and over. Your clothing was in tatters from the repeated bites and scratches at you. Standing in a pool of blood back to back with Denji, you didn't even know what was yours, his, or the devils. If it wasn't for this fountain you had sprouted, you and Denji might have died. Somewhere in the conflict, your jaw broke for the last time, leaving you with half a mask left as your arms sagged at your side. Yet somehow your breathing and voice persisted as you huffed out in exhaustion.

Denji: Hah! I've never taken a dip in a pool of blood before! You alright, (Y/n)?

(Y/n): I think my arm's about to fall off... If I have to rip out any more teeth from my skin I think I'll explode.

The eternity devil had reached the end of his rope as well as from the bloody pool, an organ lifted up.

Eternity Devil: This is my core... take it... I can't stand the pain! I'm sorry... Please hurry up and kill me, I can't take the pain!

Denji: What?! It's over already?! 

(Y/n): Denji... let me have the core.

Denji: Huh? We have it right here, let's just kill the fucker and be done with it.

(Y/n): I... I can't really explain it... but if I take this devil's core I might be able to grow stronger.

Denji: Ah... 

The chainsaw-headed Denji seemed to ponder for a moment, clearly battling over the idea before gazing at the core once more.

Denji: I won't question you. I really should but as someone who has fought alongside me, I will trust you. Don't make me regret it though, horny devil.

(Y/n): Is that really going to be my nickname...

You lifted your nears and trudged closer to the core. With a slow breath, you quickly sliced the core free from the devil's flesh, letting it rest in your unmorphed hand as your weaponized arm fell useless to your side.

(Y/n): How...

???: Good little flesh puppet~ I suppose harsh words are needed every now and then~ now merge with the core and boost your power. This pathetic state and broken face are a blemish on me. 

(Y/n): How do I merge...

Your hand seemed to move on its own and the core of the creature pressed against your chest. 

(Y/n): This seems like a really bad idea-

The core of the eternity devil suctioned to your chest and caused you to cough out. If it hadn't been for the pool of flesh, you more than likely would have collapsed but you managed to stay standing on your exhausted legs. The core burrowed its way into your chest before the sensation around you paused for a moment. Then came the flashes. The core almost acted like a key in your head. You could see images flashing and crawling into your head. It felt like lightning danced through every wrinkle as you cried out in pain. Pure anguish coursed through you as a rush of emotions coursing through you. A chair. A gun. Darkness. Voices. People with blurry faces. Images like old polaroids consumed your head. Wait... polaroid? What was that? Why... did you know that? More memories and words rushed into your head like a flood as Denji took the chance to retract his chainsaws and start shaking your convulsing form.

Denji: Oi! (Y/n)?! You alright?

???: I was hoping to avoid him but... hah... oh well~

(Y/n): I'm... better than alright? I think... I'm...

The voice from before sounded so much more defined. It had a flourish of almost aristocracy and seemed overbearing in a way but what captured your attention was the new puppetmaster at your strings. A deep voice boomed in your head next. You could practically taste the pride that rattled through it as it portrayed itself like a god of war sacking a helpless homeland. 

???: It's soooo good to be back~ Alright you sack of flesh, let's take back what's ours!