Instantly, the victims started to recognise Denji and plead with Chainsaw Man to save them.
In response, the fake Chainsaw Man ruthlessly slammed the entire arm face-first into the concrete.
Seeing this, Denji leaned and jumped back, narrowly evading the barrage of heavy punches that followed. As the massive fleshy limbs swung past him, one of the terrified civilians fused to the monster's shoulder cried out in agony. He warned Denji that every time the fake missed a strike, the violent recoil hurt the trapped victims.
Not in any mood to stand around and take a beating just to spare a handful of strangers, Denji sarcastically asked the crying man whether he would prefer a pillow instead.
The desperate civilian offered a potential solution. He theorised that if Denji could pierce the monster's heart, the core would rupture and free everyone trapped inside.
Hearing this, Denji grinned, comparing the tactic to a classic video game boss fight. His casual gamer logic only caused another few civilians to panic, completely misinterpreting what he had said.
Locking onto his target with newfound resolve, Denji danced through the fake Chainsaw Man's incoming swings, looking for the perfect opening. He finally found a clean line of sight and readied his blades to pierce the chest — and froze mid-strike.
Dead centre over the monster's heart was the weeping face of yet another innocent bystander, acting as a literal human shield.
Caught completely off guard, Denji hesitated, and the fake Chainsaw Man capitalised instantly, landing a devastating counter punch that hurled Denji through the air and sent him crashing deep into a nearby building.
Yoru leapt through the shattered brickwork and landed near a groaning Denji, where she offered him a cold, pragmatic deal. He could not win if he felt sorry for the humans.
Denji immediately shot down the idea, complaining that it would only tank his public popularity even further. Yoru scoffed at his vanity, telling him that a decline in his fan base had already been inevitable. She used Asa as an example, and how nobody really cared about her any more after the massive fan base she used to have.
Before Denji could even process her warped logic, the ground beneath them violently tilted.
The entire apartment building groaned and detached from its foundations, lifted effortlessly into the sky by the Falling Devil. Looking down from her grand height, the primordial chef prepared her next catastrophic dish, planning to hurl the massive structure like a meteor directly onto a dense crowd of onlookers below.
Gravity slowly lost its grip as the building shattered, sending Denji and Yoru floating out into the open sky.
Looking around at the floating wreckage, Yoru pointed out that the building was completely ruined. Because of that, she realised, there was a loophole in her powers. The structure was destroyed and abandoned, so technically nobody owned it any more. Claiming the lawless territory as her own property, she converted the entire apartment complex into a large concrete sword, and the two of them plummeted back down towards the earth.
Denji flung himself through the air, caught Yoru, and landed with her on the ground.
Spotting the Falling Devil hovering in the distance, Yoru broke away to pursue her. Before she flew off, she threw a sharp warning back at Denji. If he did not slaughter the fake Chainsaw Man before she returned, she would handle it her way.
As Denji turned around, the fake Chainsaw Man, who had made his way over, began his advance.
Desperate to save the bystanders fused to the monster's flesh, Denji tried to negotiate with him. The impostor mindlessly ignored him and charged ahead instead.
Ducking under a heavy swing, Denji moved with blinding speed. He shifted his angle, completely evading the human shield, and cleanly decapitated the devilish body. Instantly flicking around from this, he brought his other blade down and bisected the torso in one fluid motion.
Exhausted, Denji smiled and turned to the survivors. Sadly, the sight of Chainsaw Man standing over them, covered in gore, was too much for them to stand. Terrified, they screamed and scrambled away from him. Not really bothered, Denji shrugged off the rejection, used to the public's fickle nature.
But before he could take a step to go and find Yoru, a calm voice echoed through the alley, complimenting his incredible strength.
Denji spun around, chainsaws revving, and faced the Fire Devil. He asked the devil whether he wanted a piece of him too, but the Fire Devil calmly declined. It only had one question for him.
Did he actually recognise the human face of the fake Chainsaw Man he had just cut down?
Curious, Denji stared at the severed head of the fake Chainsaw Man, but he did not recognise him.
Disappointed, the Fire Devil held out a flaming palm to tell a story. A pair of kind-hearted twins had once nursed him back to health, the devil explained. The twins had spoken constantly of Chainsaw Man, believing that he proved devils could be good. Moved by this, the Fire Devil had posed as the Justice Devil to these kids and granted them the power to transform into their own idea of justice.
The twins had become fake Chainsaw Men in order to save people, until sadly the younger brother was taken hostage by the Cockroach Devil, and Denji let him die just to save a cat.
The Fire Devil vindictively asked Denji whether he remembered the older twin's face now.
Denji said nothing.
Looking up, he asked whether the devil was here to tell him to apologise. The devil denied it. Instead of an apology, the Fire Devil said, Denji would have to choose between two options again.
Before it could give him those options, a skyscraper crashed down beside them, and the fire vanished into the chaos.