Randidly’s eyes narrowed as he studied the figure opposite him. The other Randidly stood with his hands on his hips, his chin length black hair and the lanky, almost-alien body the exact same as his own. The same impossible dimensions, the sleek torso and long arms. The only difference was the eyes, pure black as though the pupil had risen and swallowed the rest of the eye in a fit of avarice.

At the same time as he studied this new figure, Randidly engaged in a constant campaign to protect and strengthen the massive Nether Ritual above him, that gathered the emotional force of the defeated Grey Creatures and empowered himself. The other Randidly mostly used the tainted emotion to release pressure, but it could still manipulate Nether with just as much finesse as he could.

Randidly’s skin tingled. He reversed currents and generated some small buffer areas to turn away the subterfuge. It really is like facing myself.

Luckily for him, he had already established the foundation of the working before this being appeared. With the momentum on his side, Randidly quickly pushed back the attacks. Then he raised his arms and prepared to fight. So long as the working was maintained, he would eventually overpower any foe.

Even one of the seeds of negative emotion that had infested his body.

The grin of Self-Hatred widened. “What, nothing to say to yourself? Afraid to face your own darkness? Or perhaps you are even having difficulty admitting that you even possess self-hatred?”

That earned a laugh from Randidly. “What? No, of course I know I hate myself a little bit. I’ve done some very shitty things since the System arrived. I’m just… trying to figure out what to do about you. What I require to overcome you.”

As he finished speaking, Randidly moved it a burst of furious aggression. With the force in his massive Nether Ritual, he physically ripped through two Grey Creatures that stood in his path as he charged. However, Self-Hatred responded just as quickly, as though he as expected the attack.

The other version of him hopped shortly forward, lowering his center of gravity. Randidly didn’t slow down, so he arrived and whipped a hook to crunch into the doppelganger’s ribcage. But it raised its leg and caught the blow with a barefoot. Randidly’s eyes narrowed as he followed through, even as the Self-Hatred kicked off the punch and soared into the sky without a scratch. It spun gracefully as it flew upward, like a dancer or a bird.

Stretching its arms out in the air, Self-Hatred condensed two black spears and sent them streaking at Randidly. Without his images, Randidly was forced to duck under the long-distance attacks and sprint across the mist-filled projection battlefield, above the oblivious heads of Pullas and Fiona. Grey Creatures tried to slow him down with their vicious claws and howls, but they weren’t able to stop him at this point. Each opponent in his path just added to his strength.

Self-Hatred spun slowly in the air, occasionally sending black spears zipping down that Randidly was forced to dodge. When it touched the ground, it laughed and rushed directly at him with a black spear gripped between its familiar fingers. “Care to joust?”

Considering their earlier brush and the parity of power they wielded, Randidly felt confident in the impending collision. However, the waves of dense negative emotions Self-Hatred now released felt slightly different. His eyes narrowed.

When they arrived before each other, their bodies blurred. Randidly feinted a leg sweep and then brought his knee up for a brutal crash into Self-Hatred’s chest. But it just spun sideways, releasing pulses of caustic emotion, then unleashed a roundhouse kick. Randidly blocked it but it had predicted his response, already lifting the other foot off the ground and stomping toward Randidly’s face.

His eyes glowed as he snatched the foot from the air, Self-Hatred whipping the first foot back around to try and smash into his temple. Ducking and twisting, Randidly moved underneath the doppelganger and launched a body blow into his torso. Yet somehow, Self-Hatred kept twisting enough to snatch Randidly’s punch out of the air, raising its other hand while stifling his attack.

Randidly flexed his wrist, breaking the grip. For a split second, they stared at one another. Both of them showed their teeth as they brought their other arms around; they would exchange blows simultaneously. Right before impact, a little bit of inky emotion spilled out of Self-Hatred’s hand and empowered it.

The impact knocked the breath from Randidly’s lungs and bounced him off the ground, even as the doppelganger cursed and smashed into a group of Grey Creatures and shattered their bodies. He rolled over the ground, his ribs aching, before pushing himself back up to his feet. Self-Hatred was already streaking across toward him, hands raised and covered with that same inky darkness.

Randidly narrowed his eyes. His sharp senses had picked up on a problem. His mind steadily spun. “You… you are growing stronger every time one of the Grey Creatures die.”

“Why do you think I let you play with them for so long?” Self Hatred cackled. Its hands shot forward, wreathed in darkness. Randidly twisted sideways, feinted forward, sidestepped a jab, then whipped his leg up in a sharp arc.

Self-Hatred’s speed hadn’t increased, but the influence it wielded amongst the negative emotion pressed against Randidly’s skin. The destructive power it wielded became more sinister. It pressed forward with sharp jabs, forcing Randidly backward. It was just by a small amount, but it seemed that refining the emotion held within the Grey Creature’s benefited it more than him.

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He cleaned up the emotional pollution, but Randidly dealt primarily in the leaking radiation beginning to affect the rest of him. But before him now was a true font of his own darkness, given life by the Alpha Cosmos’s subconscious. The space he cleared freed up more and more of its own influence.

Even worse-

Grimacing, Randidly wheeled around; several Grey Creatures had leapt at his back and attempted to rip into his flesh. With several deft hand movements, he guided their blows away and tossed them to the side. But then could only twist around, diverting most of the force from Self-Hatred’s attacks but still experiencing a painful jarring through his bones.

His body bounced and skidded across the ground. The horrible engine of negativity just laughed and began conjuring those horrific blacks spears. Its throws were sharp and accurate, so Randidly rolled and dodged, then finally began ripping through Grey Creatures to avoid them, even as he knew it gave his opponent more of an advantage. He didn’t have any other choice.

The spears stuck into the floor of this projected battlefield, vibrating slightly with the force of the throw. Randidly’s Nether Ritual began to rotate more quickly, strengthening his momentum further. But at the same time, the darkness around Self-Hatred deepened.

“What a fun game we play,” It said with a small smile on Randidly’s own face. “With your body as a prize. But I think its time we cease with the games. We both have one more gear left to switch into, don’t way? Isn’t that always the way with our fights?”

Self-Hatred snapped its fingers. The projected world began to shiver. Then Grey Creatures erupted from the edges, swarming at Randidly with ferocity in their eyes and slobber dripping down from their jaws. The press of bodies and limbs became almost overwhelming as they struggled to get at him. The noise of their screams felt like a physical thing, buzzing in his ears.

Randidly took a breath as he raised his hands. It was a fine line to walk; he knew it teased him, knowing that here he was alone and isolated. His images were locked out of here. Or rather, he currently fought inside of one of his images. His Nether was tied up in the grand working above, which he needed to allow to continue, so he could benefit from this process.

His eyes drifted down to the heedless backs of Pullas and Fiona, both waiting near his body. I could definitely rip apart the Nether Ritual for a surge of power, but if I failed to kill this avatar of Self-Hatred in that burst, it would then-

Randidly stilled. For a moment, the impending crush of bodies fell away. Randidly felt excitement in his chest. A possibility presented itself to him. But really… am I actually alone?

His eyes went to Self-Hatred, which continued to leer at him. In truth, the two looked quite a bit more dissimilar than Randidly had realized originally. Part of it was their affect, but there was also something else. Several something elses; he almost couldn’t believe he missed it in the beginning.

Perhaps his mind was more frazzled by the presence of this negativity than he had thought.

The Grey Creature’s smashed into him and Randidly let that thought go- he didn’t need to face Self-Hatred immediately. Instead, he swam through the Grey Creatures in front of him, buoyed on currents of violence. His arms and legs moved constantly, ripping through limbs and tossing his opponents from side to side. The force of his passage shattered their bodies, freeing up a widening river of negative emotion that flowed into the Nether Ritual. Its influence grew and grew, sharpening every aspect of Randidly’s imagined presence.

Of course, the darkness around Self-Hatred grew overwhelming by the same measure. Or even at a faster clip, as more of its influence was purified. Because this thing was a magnetic, a part of his personality that drew all the similar emotions to its body. That pull had gathered a mighty, sinister heart of negative emotion to it, but most of that was tainted by other, extraneous feelings.

Sadness, desperation, self-pity, rage, hatred, fear…

The emotions swirled around in an endless, poisonous maelstrom. And now Self-Hatred employed Randidly, pushing away all the ancillary emotions and allowing its own core to be strengthened and purified.

He scrubbed it clean with every killing of a Grey Creature.

Randidly moved tirelessly, his power growing to the point it became almost a chore not to slaughter the Grey Creatures. They rushed at him and were annihilated in wide swaths. The Nether Ritual hummed in pleasure.

Self-Hatred conjured black spears the size of massive trees and threw them with horrifying proficiency.

Randidly almost wished he were worse at fighting, just so this would be easier.

There are foes and battlefields that cannot be won with just fighting, Randidly sighed to himself. Despite the difficulty, he felt no fear. Because these were fights he understood, as well. You have to be smarter. You have to be more prepared. Or… you need to understand a deeper truth about the environment. The entire world even.

Some of the ambient Nether he maintained in his body began to stir. Sensing what he needed to do, Randidly let himself go into physical autopilot. His attention went to his Nether Core, where he began to fold and twist his perspective. He followed the flow of significance through his body, folding and unfolding, seeking this strange sensation of truth. The train of thought had touched upon an important lesson.

At a particular twist of his Nether, everything opened. Randidly peered forward. What he saw made his face darken. Elhume… is perhaps such a foe. Is it really possible for me to fight fairly against him and win? I have a Nether Core that he does not, but he possesses an image that shook me even from afar, when he attacked the Patrons. And he definitely knows more about the fabric of this universe than I.

So… how can I win? Truly?

The thought made his Nether Core begin its own rotation, a constant rumination on the answer. The beginning of a long journey. Two simultaneous movements, the Core within and the Nether Ritual above moving in opposite directions, their friction strengthening Randidly a little extra. Not enough to catch up to the growth of Self-Hatred, however-

Randidly’s eyes blazed. However, I already know the way to slay this foe.

He planted his foot and began to rip a path to crush this emotional poison that had been growing fat within his body. He would plunder its core and finally earn himself an image that could stand up to powerful foes in the Nexus.