Luis vs Himself

"Alright, then let's get this started, here and now," I reply.

"Follow me," my dad orders, and I do as I'm told. My dad leads me into his dingy wooden shack, down a flight of stairs, and into the cellar, where against the back wall, lays an iron bar cage with handcuffs dangling from it.

"What kind of kinky shit are you into, old man?!" I cry, causing my dad to snort.

"What we are going to do now is called the "Demon Binding Ritual." Essentially, the reason that you go berserk when entering your half demon powers, is because your demon instincts take over, and the urge to kill moves your body to destroy your enemies. But what happens when you don't have an opponent to kill? Your demon powers go inwards, and try to destroy yourself from the inside," my dad begins to explain.

"What's that mean?" I ask.

"The Demon Binding Ritual involves forcing you to enter your half demon form while you're bound and no enemies are around. This will force your demon half to attack your human half from the inside, and the two of you will have to fight," my dad explains. "Do you know how when you go berserk in your half demon form, it feels like you're partially awake, or watching a movie from your own eyes?"

"Yeah," I answer.

"Well be prepared to encounter your demon half inside that "movie theater"," my dad finishes, causing me to gulp.

"But how will this get me to control my half demon mode?" I ask.

"Because if you can subdue your demon half, then you make him…er…your bitch, and force him to lend you his strength, rather than allowing his strength to dominate you like you have been before," my dad explains.

"But how can I beat my demon half with my human half?! My demon half has all my crazy powers?!" I cry.

"That is for you to figure out, Luis," my dad replies with a smirk. "This is not my journey, not my story. This is your story. The only hint that I can give you is to not fight your demon half. Now, are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be…" I sigh.

I step inside the iron bar cage. My dad handcuffs my wrists, ankles, and neck to the bars, then steps outside and locks the cage.

"Your half demon form awakens from two triggers: A) You come in contact with the Cursed Power of a powerful demon, or B) Strong emotional backlash. We are going to use the former. I will activate my demon form and use it to stimulate yours, then flee, so that it is only you and your demon half around," my dad explains. "Ready?"

I face my dad with a confident scowl. "Ready!"

A rush of menacing Cursed Power bursts from my dad's body, and slowly…I feel myself begin to lose consciousness…

***

Upon resuming my full demon form (which I unlocked against Ace, not just my half demon form) I charge August, who -in response- sends an army of clones charging me back.

"Flesh Clones: Endless Stampede!"

I exchange blows with August's clones, using my Air Control to dodge and counter their attacks, with my katana and my Extend-o-Blade. Eventually, Winter's ice catches my foot, and my left leg gets ensnared in Winter's frost, forcing me to take a barrage of assaults from August's clones, before I successfully manage to slice through the final few for good.

"Extend-o-Blade!" I shout as I slash my katana outwards, extending my the blade of my katana in the process and sending it flying towards August and Winter, but before my blade can slash either opponents, when the extended blade of my katana touches Winter's icy aura , it freezes up instantly. As for August, he places all six hands to hands to his chest, which are bubbling with red Cursed Power. When he removes them, an extra layer of flesh was placed on top of the original layer, forcing a shield of thick hide that my katana isn't able to carve through.

"Woah, so you've gotten a new Cursed Ability now?" August marvels. "Too bad it's useless."

"You're just jealous that as a true half demon, I have access to two Cursed Abilities, while you're still stuck with one," I smirk, causing August to sneer at me.

"SAYS THE ONE WHO WAS UNABLE TO CONTROL HIS HALF DEMON POWERS!" August roars. "Get 'em, Winter!"

***

When I open my eyes again, I find myself…lying in my bedroom?

"Why…am I here…?" I ask myself as I slowly sit up in bed. Carefully, I swing my legs off of my bed and gingerly touch my feet to the floor, as if the ground is acidic.

"It…sure does look the same…" I say to myself as I peer around my bedroom. My eyes then widened. "The same as it did three years ago…before I became a Pro Slayer."

I creep around my house, which -just as my bedroom- looks the same as it did three years ago. That is…except for one major detail; that other than myself, my house is completely empty! Not Gabby, not my mom, not Mr. Kittles, certainly not my dad, no one by me is in the house. I bet I'd be hard pressed to find so much as a rogue fly buzzing about, or a stray bug crawling across the walls.

"Well…nothing to do here," I say as I make my way to the front door. But when I open the door and step outside, I find myself…FALLING?!

"WAAAHHH!!!" I cry as I flail my arms through the air, desperate to grab onto something, until my hangs eventually latch onto a telephone pole, which I hold on to tightly.

"What…WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" I cry. Because looking around, my house, my street, my neighborhood, everything looks the same, except for the fact that it's been tilted sideways?! As if you took a picture and rotated it on its side, like the world is standing vertically instead of horizontal, and now I'm trying to stand on this vertical world.

"What is this place?!" I ask as I frantically look around.

"What is this place? What do you mean?!" A voice asks. I turn to where I hear the voice, and who I see, casually standing in front of me on the sidewalk, as if the entire world hasn't been flipping on its side is…me. Well…not me exactly, but a younger me. A ten or eleven year old me, by the looks of things. "We're in your inner mind!"

"W-who are you?" I ask.

"Why, I'm you, of course!" The little me cheerfully answers, causing me to breathe out a sigh of relief.

"Well you must be the human half of me, or something," I reply.

But when I look up to face the little me again…he's gone. Instead, a rush of pain floods my entire body, and I peer down at my chest to see a small, clawed arm sticking out of a bloody hole in my chest.

"Y-you…" I stammer as blood begins trickling out from the concerns of my mouth. I strain my neck over my shoulder at the little me, who -rather than looking human- now has pale blue skin, and resembles me in my full demon form.

The little me smiles, revealing his jagged, pointed fangs. "I'm your demon half," the little me sneers, as he rips his claw out of my chest, causing a rush of blood to squirt from the vicious hole.

"Wh-what happens to my real body when you injure me in here?" I ask.

"The wounds I deal to you body in your mind, will reflect themselves on your corporeal body completely," my demon-half answers.

"And what happens when I injure you?" I ask.

"Nothing," my demon-half answers. "BECAUSE YOU WON'T GET THE CHANCE TO."

My demon-half launches its clawed fist towards me with his glowing blue veins. towards me. In response, I bring my arms up in a cross to block, but when I try to reinforce them with Cursed Power…nothing happens.

"Wh-what?! Come on!" I cry

My demon-half's fist slams into my chest and causes me to fly backwards, my back slamming into the street behind me (since the roads are now kinda like the walls in this limbo), and spit up a glob of blood. My back then begins sliding down the street, but luckily, I find a foothold in the form of a garbage can on the sidewalk, which -like everything else in this world- is somehow defying gravity by remaining vertical.

"Why can't I use Cursed Power in here?!" I cry.

"Because your strength comes from me!" My demon-half cackles as he charges towards me again, slashing me with his demon claws and knocking me off of my garbage can foothold, and sending me flying into the abyss. "THINK ABOUT IT!" My demon-half shouts as he flies towards me, somehow able to navigate through this world perfectly. "Remember when I first took control of our body?! After that spell was finished, you taught yourself the abilities that I used, with your wind!" My demon-half kicks me in the gut with his demon talons, sending me flailing even further into the abyss with a grunt of pain. "When you slashed through King's Black Prism, your veins glowed blue for the first time. That was my power, not yours! The only reason that Nick even sought after you was because of me!" My demon-half thrusts his claws forwards, firing off an emission of dark blue Cursed Power, which explodes into my chest, sending me flying even further downwards, until my back slams into something in a cloud of dust. "Everything we've accomplished, everything we've been through, all of the friends we've made…they were because of me, not you," my demon-half says as he lands before me. "You're nothing without me."