章 32: Chapter 26 - Loose Ends

Hmph. Well, I can't say that I expected that. I must commend you, Seiko. Without a doubt, you'll check if I'm dead or not. So I guess that I'll just have to stay disguised for a bit. At least until I recover. Welcome back, kid.

Hirota woke up with a shout, breathing heavily as he grabbed at his shirt. He held his head in pain.

"Ugh... What the hell happened...?"

He looked around, finding himself in an unfamiliar place.

"Where am I?"

Hirota stood up, dusting himself off. He scratched his head, still confused. He looked forwards, seeing a door in front of him. He went up to it and tried to open it but it was locked. He looked over to the side, seeing a crowbar on top of some crates.

"This will work I think..."

He grabbed the crowbar and used it to jarr the door open. As soon as he opened the door, a crab-like robot with one red eye jumped at him, attaching to his face. He would see a crate that had text on it reading, 'Boneworks.' Hirota screamed as he felt himself losing consciousness, getting more and more entranced within this headcrab. Just then, his arm moved by itself, grabbing the robot and crushing it with ease.

Hirota fell backwards, breathing heavily. He looked at his arm before suddenly gaining a flashing image of The Auditor smiling widely.

"Y-You!"

Hirota swiftly grabbed the sharp side of the crowbar, intending to kill himself with it. But before he could bring it close to his chest, an arm burst out of his chest, the dark red familiar flames surrounding it. It grabbed the crowbar, throwing it away swiftly with ease.

∆'Don't even think about it.'∆

Without warning, Hirota suddenly lost control of his body and stood up in an instant. He yelped and looked down at himself in confusion as his body began to move by himself. Before he could react, his arms suddenly moved and picked up the destroyed headcrab from the ground. He didn't even have a chance to scream before his arms forcefully placed it on his head. Shortly afterwards, he's suddenly plunged into a dark void, feeling like he was drowning…

Deimos slowly opened his eyes, the harsh heat of the sun beating down onto his grey skin. He groaned as he stood up, brushing some dust off his clothes.

"Ugh…where am I?"

He inspected the environment around him, it seemed nothing more than a desolate desert. Nothing in sight besides culminations of rocks and towering mountains. He swiftly began walking around, looking to see if there were any noticeable exits out of this desert. Just then however, he would turn a corner, and see an unspeakable being. One of bright light that shone brighter than the Sun and a heat more intense than the hottest star.

A Gate Guardian.