Mako continued to struggle on the ground as the purplish-black aura continued to swirl around his body. The aura wasn't causing him any pain but rather causing him the greatest amount of agony by accessing the deepest fears that he had kept hidden in the back of his head.
The aura was bringing out all of those fears and making them a reality for Mako, making him experience them again and again.
The scene in front of Mako quickly transformed and suddenly he was standing in the middle of a dark alley that somehow looked familiar. After looking around for a couple of seconds, Mako realized where he was; this was the alley in which he defeated a couple of gang members who were after two girls who had just left the nearby bar.
As soon as Mako came to the realization, he suddenly heard a painful shriek behind him.