Lar lurched forward with the chainsaw, its blades brushing past my cheek as I dodged the attack. Using the knitting bag, which seemed surprisingly heavy for something that just carried wool, I swung it. It connected with his chin causing him to stumble backwards.

Surprised, he lost his grip on the chainsaw and it fell, cutting into the linoleum between his feet. Sputtering to a halt, it stuck fast wedged deep into the floor. He growled as he tried to pull it out with both hands. His arm muscles strained as he tugged hard on the handle, working to get the floor to release his weapon.

While he was occupied I turned my attention to Sei.

The large cumbersome being grunted and ran towards me brandishing his axe. He lifted it above his head then brought it down with a mighty heave, narrowly missing me as I awkwardly leapt out of the way. It smashed into an antique wooden trunk, causing the lid to crack and he quickly jimmied it out and took another swing, missing me again and hitting the wall behind me. The impact sent a shower of splinters cascading to the floor.

Swearing in frustration, he turned leaving the axe where it was and charged at me, his face set in a full menacing grimace. I swung the knitting bag again and connected with his chest, but Sei batted it out of the way with his large hand and lurched forward tackling me and knocking me backwards.

I stumbled as I lost my footing, falling in a heap on the floor, the old body crumpling into the ground with Sei on top of me. He quickly got back to his feet and kicked me in the chest causing my heart to leap in my ribcage. I could already feel bruises forming and the pain was significant, more intense than any type of pain I had felt before. It was just my luck that I would be completely connected to Agatha’s nervous system just as I was getting my ass kicked.

As I lay there trying to will Agatha’s body to let me take full control, Sei’s large leather boot came down on my chest and held me to the floor. His sneering face peered at me from above.

He applied more pressure as he pushed the sole of his boot further down onto my chest. I could feel my ribs aching against the force and my lungs fought for breath.

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“You’re going to tell us what we need to know and then we’re gonna kill ‘ya nice and slow.” Sei spat as he leant over and put his face into very close proximity to mine.

I started to hyperventilate as I could feel my throat closing in panic and I reached up tugging at the sides of his boot in a redundant effort to get him to loosen his hold on me.

My vision started to go dark around the outside of my periphery and I wondered how I’d managed to get myself into yet another mess.

“So this is the great Captain Ariah O’Connoll, it wasn't so hard to defeat you. The stories of your abilities aren’t true.” He grunted and laughed, rasping as he did so.

I tried to move but his boot still held me firmly to the ground. Managing to turn my head slightly, I could see the discarded knitting bag next to me.

“Who said I was defeated?” I wheezed as I quickly reached across and grabbed a knitting needle from the bag and thrust it deep into Sei’s thigh. He screamed in pain removing his boot. Making the most of the opportunity to get out of his way, I rolled across the floor to the small table and grabbed onto it so I could use it to help me get to my feet. With what seemed like every muscle aching, I rose from the floor and stood hunched panting at the effort. Picking up the tea tray that was on the table, I flung it behind me catching Lar across the face while he was still trying to extract his chainsaw, giving me enough time to rub my finger and thumb together to create a small ball of static energy.

Hope grew in my stomach as I realised that my abilities were almost fully connected with Agatha’s body. Lar’s estimation of two hours was wrong thankfully, or a mere ploy to make me think I was weaker than I actually was.

I blew gently on the small ball on my fingertips and it grew into a basketball sized mass of blue throbbing energy, crackling with lightning. Lars and Sei scrambled towards me, pushing against each other in an attempt to get to me first. I threw the energy mass at them as hard as I could and Sei countered with a ball of his own. The two masses of energy collided in the air, erupting into a massive explosion. I murmured an incantation and quickly tried to cast a protection spell before I was thrown backwards.

But unfortunately, it was not quite quick enough, the spell hadn’t worked. Landing awkwardly against one of the cabinets from the force of the explosion, I felt my leg break, the pain that shot through me was unbearable…which meant full integration was finally complete, I could feel every part of Agatha’s body. Gasping, I tried to get up.

I saw stars and then…nothing.