"'We seven will dig graves for every human being.' And 'Dark Angel, Gatekeeper, Sniper, Gourmet, Game Master, Doctor, and Seaman…'" Murota sat in the waiting room with bandages wrapped around his head. Sayomi and the others stood around him listening. "That's all I heard that wasn't just cackles and rants of pure malevolence. Don't ask more of me. I don't wanna die."

"Seven short descriptions…" Kido mused. "Nicknames, maybe?"

"Probably," Genkai agreed. "I'm sure they reflect their abilities. I thought you'd go charging after him, Yusuke. Dare I hope that you've matured?"

Yusuke brought his hand up to cover his mouth as he thought back. "The thing is… I looked into his eyes and… froze!" He turned to Genkai with a frown. "This guy's a nasty sucker… A spider lurking in his trap, waiting for you to blunder in. Then he'll wrap you up, poison you, and suck you dry."

"That sounds about right," Sayomi pitched in. "I suddenly felt cold. I wanted to be as far away from him as possible."

"Very good," Genkai commended. "I felt the same way. He won't spring his trap until the last minute… and won't use his ability until he moves in for the kill. The fact that he wasn't the one who 'shot' Murota is also pertinent."

What…? Sayomi's eyes widened at Genkai's claim. Yusuke blinked curiously at his teacher.

"The projectile came from straight ahead. Turning towards us was his signal to the shooter," Genkai explained.

"So what hit me?" Murota asked.

"This." Genkai held up a small white object. "A piece of an eraser."

"Eraser?!" Yusuke glared at the tiny bullet.

"He cracked my skull with that?!" Murota yelled in disbelief.

"I feel the shooter's chi enveloping it," Genkai continued. "That made it as hard as a BB shot. I watched its trajectory, but the sniper was over 500 M away. I couldn't see his face, but he's clearly quite powerful."

"Um… How good is your vision, Master Genkai?" Sayomi asked curiously.

"120/20," Genkai answered bluntly.

"Huh…" Sayomi blinked. I don't know what those numbers mean, but it must be really good if she can see up to 500 M away…

Suddenly, a familiar sensation ran through everyone at once.

"Someone just enlarged his territory!" Yanagisawa warned.

"Who'd do that in a hospital?!" Kido asked angrily.

"The Doctor!" Genkai deduced.

"Stay alert, everyone! Be ready for anything!" Yusuke ordered.

Everyone formed a circle, facing back-to-back. Sayomi scanned the area of elderly, sick and wounded. They were unaware of the potential danger. This is insane… I thought doctors were supposed to be healers!

"Ow!" Murota flinched.

"Ouch!" Yanagisawa glanced down and he started to sweat. "What the…" On his hand was a large insect. It was fat with wings and it pricked his skin with a syringe-shaped nose.

"Ah!" Murota screamed.

"What is this thing?!" Yanagisawa panicked.

"Yana!" Kido yelled.

"Kill it!" Sayomi growled.

"Yow!" Yanagisawa smacked the bug on his hand. The insect vanished, but his skin quickly became covered in spots. They continued to spread up his arm at an alarming rate. "Ah… Aaah!"

"Waah!" Murota dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around himself. Yanagisawa followed soon after.

"Yana! Murota!" Yusuke called, turning to see his friends in pain.

"What kinda bugs were those?" Sayomi wondered aloud. "I've never seen any like them before."

"S-so cold…" Murota muttered as he started shivering.

"Hurts… All over!" Yanagisawa clutched his chest tightly.

"They're burning up!" Kido panicked as he felt Murota's forehead.

"Must be some kinda fever!" Yusuke concluded.

"Yes," Genkai agreed. "But not from the Demon Plane! Must be something cooked up by the Doctor! And there's bound to be more!"

The group looked up to see themselves hemmed in by the flying insects.

"They're everywhere!" Kido froze. "We're surrounded!"

"You folks okay?"

Everyone turned to the nurse walking towards them from the hallway. Sayomi's eyes widened when she saw the insects hovering around her shoulders. Oh no…

"Gack!" Yusuke and Kido reeled at the sight.

"Does anyone need a doctor?" The young lady asked.

"They're landing on you!" Yusuke pointed frantically.

"Shake 'em off!" Kido warned.

"Huh?" The nurse looked down at her shoulder curiously. "Shake off what? You sure you're okay?"

"Yes! Just stay back!" Yusuke yelled. He clenched his teeth and said, "She can't see 'em! She didn't know she was bringing 'em right up to us!"

Genkai finished. "We have to find the Doctor… and fast!"

"Then let's do it!" Yusuke agreed. He dashed passed the nurse with Genkai, Kido, and Sayomi on his heels. "Take care of those guys, nurse!"

"Hey, you hooligans! No running in the halls!"

Ignoring her orders, Sayomi and the others punched and swiped through the disease carrying insects. She glared and clenched her teeth as she killed each bug. Why did it have to be more bugs? Weren't there enough outside as it is?!

"This hospital must be fulla doctors!" Kido yelled.

"Then we knock 'em all out!" Yusuke countered. "I'm afraid it's the only way."

"Just don't kill anyone," Genkai cautioned.

"Right," Sayomi agreed. "At least they're just humans."

Kido looked at the three with a panicked expression.

"This is a big hospital!" Yusuke warned. "We'd better split up!"

"Is that really a good idea against this Doctor guy?!" Kido asked.

"Again, no choice," Genkai reminded the boy. "Make some noise if you find him!"

"I'll check the first floor!" Kido volunteered.

"I'll do the second!" Yusuke said.

"I'll be around!" Sayomi smirked.

"It could be he doesn't work here!" Yusuke warned.

"Ask the nurses if they've noticed anyone unfamiliar!" Genkai advised.

As they split up, Sayomi used her aura to become shadow and she made her way into the ventilation system. In the vents, she listened to every word spoken in the halls. She made her way to the very top of the building and scanned each floor on her way down. All I'm picking up are talks about health problems. Then there was the floor with all the crying human infants. And there's a strong odor that keeps assaulting my senses. How big is this guy's territory?

"Eeeek!"

Someone screamed! Sayomi quickly made her way back down to the first floor.

"Omigosh, what's happened here?! Who did this, Doctor?"

Sayomi materialized just down the hall from where she heard the scream. As she neared the room, she heard a man say, "A strange man was here, and when I arrived he ran that way! Call security! Tell them they can still catch him!"

Sayomi clicked her tongue and ran into the room. She stopped at the doorway when she saw Kido lying face-down with blood spilling from his wrist. "Kido!"

"You know this young man?" The man kneeling next to Kido wore a long white coat and a pair of glasses.

"Yes! He's my friend. What happened to him?!" She ran to kneel beside the young psychic and saw his eyes were wide open. "Kido…?"

"Kido!"

Sayomi looked up to see a large crowd of men and women dressed similarly to the man in front of her. Then she saw her charge make his way through. "Yusuke!"

"Sayomi!" Yusuke quickly made his way to her side to check on Kido.

"So you know this boy, too?!" A frantic doctor asked. "He'll be okay, we found him in time!"

"Hey!" Another physician yelled into the hallway. "Would someone please call the police?!"

"The attacker's posing as a doctor!"

"Alert all floors! He may still be in the hospital!"

"If he's not one of the regular doctors here…" Yusuke glared as he scanned the room of doctors. "Then he's not one of these guys! But this just happened, so he can't be far!"

"I came as soon as I heard the scream," Sayomi told the boy. "When I got here, the doctor who found him said the imposter had just run away."

"Why didn't you go after him?!" Yusuke yelled.

"I was worried about Kido, Yusuke!" Sayomi snapped. "I couldn't just leave him!"

"There's plenty of doctors here!" Yusuke argued. "You probably could've caught him by now!" He growled and turned to Kido. "Tell me where he went, Kido! And what did he look like?!"

"He can't answer you! He's paralyzed from shock!" A doctor informed Yusuke.

"Aw, cripes!" Yusuke looked down at the boy. "Kido, hang on! We'll get this guy! Stay put, okay?!"

Before Yusuke and Sayomi could take off, Kido froze them in place. Sayomi looked down and noticed he was laying on their shadows. He's opened his territory!

"Why don't you want us to go?! Are you saying…" Yusuke stared down at Kido in disbelief. "You want us to stay with you?! We would, but we gotta try to catch this guy!"

Sayomi stared down at Kido and bit her lip. He doesn't want us to go? There has to be a reason… He knows everyone is in danger, so why would he try to keep us from catching the guy? Unless… She scanned the room of doctors but she couldn't pinpoint who exactly it could be. They all look the same to me. And didn't that first guy say he ran away?

"What the…?"

A doctor's voice snapped Sayomi from her thoughts. She looked down and her eyes widened. He's moving his shadow...!

Kido's shadow hand traced letters on the floor with his own blood. He started with the letter K and began to spell out a word.

"Kamiya?!" Yusuke read aloud. "Is that the guy's name?!"

Kido fainted, unable to answer Yusuke's question.

"Gah!"

Sayomi and Yusuke looked up just as two doctors were attacked. Sayomi recognized the first doctor who had seen the "imposter". He was crouched down, smirking as his colleagues fell to the floor in their own blood. So it was him!

Kamiya glared up at them and said, "Slight change of plan. Everyone in this hospital's going to die!"

"It's you! You're the Doctor!" Yusuke yelled. He and Sayomi quickly jumped out of the way as he attacked.

"Shah!" The Doctor swung his arm like a knife, trying to cut them down like the staff.

"We can move again!" Yusuke landed in a kneeling crouch, ready to dodge again. "Kido's ability lost effect when he passed out!"

Kido?! Sayomi looked down at the boy with worry as he continued to bleed out on the floor.

"I'd hoped to play 'good ol' Dr. Kamiya' a while longer…" The Doctor conjured more virus carrying insects. He stood up straight and slipped a hand into his pocket. "But now I'll settle for spreading the suffering around. My aura virus is quite potent. The weaker your mind is, the faster you die. Those friends of yours might hang on for 10 more minutes…"

"You're goin' down now!" Yusuke charged and released a volley of punches on the mad doctor. Every blow hit his face until he fell down on his back. "Now that I know your ability won't work if you're unconscious, I'll punch your lights out!"

"Punch my lights…? Heh heh heh… Ha ha ha hee hee! No way, kid!" The Doctor jumped back to his feet and tried to stab Yusuke with both hands like a praying mantis. "Yaa ha ha!"

Yusuke weaved around every slash and landed a strong punch to Kamiya's stomach. The Doctor crashed through the window, landing on his back in the hallway. Yusuke went after him while Sayomi ran back to Kido's side.

"Kido, hang in there…" She lifted his wrist and began to heal the cut. Once he was okay, she lifted him onto one the nearby beds.

Sayomi ran out to the hall just in time to see Yusuke release a Reigun blast. It hit the Doctor's left arm, severing it completely, then crashed through a window to the outside. Her eyes widened as he seemed immune to the pain from losing a limb. "What's up with this guy?"

"You're no longer human. That'll make this easier," Yusuke said with resolve.

"I wouldn't count on that. Not only am I a master cutter…" The Doctor picked up his severed arm. He adjusted it to the stump and traced the wound with his other hand.

"Huh?!" Yusuke and Sayomi could only watch as the Doctor patched himself up.

Kamiya moved both arms, as if the injury never happened. He grinned, despite the blood running down his face. "I'm also a reattachment specialist."

"You're crazy…" Sayomi couldn't believe her eyes. The power's gotten to him. How did a healer become such a crazed killer? Is that what will happen to me if I keep fighting?

"My ability is 'Doctor,' yet I murder with glee. It seems our abilities are shaped by our personal tastes and proclivities."

"Oh, I agree. You're one of the seven, aren't you?" Yusuke glared down at the man.

The Doctor's smirk became a dark scowl. "You know about…?"

"Yeah, but enough about me. I wanna know about you," Yusuke said calmly. "More to the point, who and where your partners are. You guys got a hideout?"

The Doctor smirked. Then he dashed forward, reaching for Yusuke with a maniacal grin. "Fool! Here's my answer!"

Kamiya slashed at Yusuke with his arm. Yusuke dodged every strike and landed a powerful right cross to his face. The Doctor flipped back to his feet, but he was shaking. "I'd surely be passed out from pain if my endogenous opiates weren't pumping me up."

"His what?" Sayomi watched the human from behind Yusuke.

"Withdraw your territory and you can live… in jail. That's the deal," Yusuke negotiated.

"Withdrawing my territory won't stop the disease. Only snuffing out my aura will do that. As for jail… No thanks."

"Then you leave me no choice." Yusuke's glare darkened.

"So it seems… Heh heh…" Kamiya smirked and pointed at himself. "Of course, that means you'd go to jail… as an intruder who's murdered a helpless human physician!"

Yusuke dashed forward and threw a straight right cross. The Doctor jumped out of the way, just nearly dodging the detective's attack. Instead, Yusuke left a large crater in the wall. Kamiya got to his feet and scowled at Yusuke.

"I'll still do what I have to do," Yusuke said calmly.

"Really? Then why hesitate as you did with the Reigun?" Kamiya asked.

"H-help me!"

Sayomi gasped and looked past the doctor to the hallway behind him. A young nurse was covered in the same sickly spots as Yanagisawa and Murota.

"Stay back!" Yusuke warned urgently.

The Doctor took advantage of the distraction. He made his way behind the woman and brought his hand up to her throat. "Freeze, boy… or her head comes off. See? I've made it easy for you. Let me leave… and I'll release her, and you won't have my blood on your hands."

Yusuke clenched his teeth angrily. "Do you know what you're doing?"

"Oh, yes…" Kamiya answered calmly. "I'm trying to cut and run. Was that not clear enough?"

"No!" Yusuke yelled. "As one of the seven… the hole you're helping to open will put the whole world in mortal danger! And the demons that crawl from it won't think twice about offing you! What you're doing is suicide!"

"I'm quite aware of that." Kamiya began to inch back with his hostage. "I've lived my life with no idea how to die. I won't be done in by disease or old age. Death by demon, though, has a nice ring to it, if it includes the rest of humanity. Me, atop a pile of corpses… what could be better?"

"You dying by yourself!" The nurse said defiantly. She held a jar with some clear liquid and splashed it at the Doctor's face.

"Aargh! Ah!" He raised his hand to his eye in pain as it sizzled and emitted white smoke. "Blast! Rarrgh!"

Kamiya released the nurse, slashing her stomach open as he threw her down. As she fell, the nurse transformed and Yanagisawa hit a wall. He was in a nurse's outfit and his skin was still patchy.

"Yana?!" Yusuke was surprised by the unexpected help.

"Heh…" Yanagisawa glared up at the Doctor. "Gotcha, sucker…"

Kamiya held his face in pain. "You're one of the gifted, yet so badly infected you shouldn't even be able to move! What kind of human are you?!"

"Odd question, coming from you." Everyone turned to see Genkai at the end of the hall with her arms crossed. She was blocking the Doctor's escape route. "End of the road, friend."

"This is my final warning…" Yusuke offered with contained anger. "Release everyone from your territory, from the disease, or… your life ends now."

Yusuke… Sayomi watched the detective worriedly from her peripheral. Are you really going to kill another human? I understand the necessity, but… She watched as the Doctor opened his white coat to reveal a hidden pocket. What's that?!

"Got it." Kamiya smirked. "I lose. I've got a serum that'll do the trick. Here…" He pulled out a small case and opened it. Inside were several small vials of green liquid.

"This for real?" Yusuke questioned.

"It is! I swear!" Kamiya flinched, holding up the case. "I don't want to die now! It's too soon!"

Is he really just gonna give up like that? Sayomi watched as Yusuke began to approach the madman.

"Don't do it!" Everyone turned to see Murota. He was as sick and weak as Yanagisawa, yet he crawled on his hands and knees to warn Yusuke. "He's trying to draw you in! That stuff… It's just glucose!"

"Grr…" Kamiya snapped the case shut, glaring down at the boxer for exposing him. He threw the case to the floor and yelled, "Rrrargh!"

"That's it, man…" Yusuke's cold glare showed no more mercy.

"Shut up!" Kamiya jumped at Yusuke, reaching out to grab him.

Yusuke stopped him without holding back. He threw over a dozen punches to the Doctor's face, sending him crashing through a window to the lot outside. He bounced before landing face-up on his back. He twitched a couple times before he stopped moving altogether.

"Oh…" Yanagisawa watched as his complexion returned to normal. "The spots… are gone! He must be knocked out, or…"

The hospital staff and patients began to rouse from the Doctor's virus. They got to their feet and rushed around to help the victims.

"Call the cops!"

"Hurry!"

Is he dead? Sayomi stared at the motionless body outside and snuck a glance at Yusuke. He was glaring down at his fist with clenched teeth. He really didn't have a choice… He did what needed to be done… but he's still…

"Crap!" Yusuke cursed quietly.

Bamp!

Sayomi and Yusuke looked outside to see Genkai kneeling next to the Doctor. She brought her fist down on his chest.

"Genkai?!" Yusuke asked curiously.

"Hack…!" Kamiya gasped for air and laid still, but he remained unconscious.

"Don't worry, he'll pull through," Genkai assured the confused boy. "I'd rather his death didn't weigh on you. He's not worth it."

Sayomi let out a sigh of relief. At least he won't have that on his conscious. But what if he's not so lucky next time?