I apologize for taking so long to write this chapter!

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Chapter 187

Inner Spirit Part 2

"What's the matter, Willy? Aren't you happy to see me?" the evil entity asked as he stared at me. "Then again, we've never truly met face to face like this, so I suppose your reaction is natural. So tell me, how's life treating you? You still hanging around those backstabbers you call friends?"

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"I'm talking about the people of Fairy Tail, those two-faced rats who claim to be your friends but only see you as nothing more but a traitor," my counterpart spoke. "And not just them. Every person in the world is nothing but a bunch of traitors treating us like garbage just because we happened to end up in a Dark Guild by accident. But that's to be expected. After all, it's human nature to ostracize a person who's committed terrible deeds, even when the victim is innocent for a crime they didn't commit."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" I scowled with a glare. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Come on; you should already know. After all, we've seen this in a lot of fairy tales and various media," the mysterious specter said as they looked at his hands. "After going through a traumatic event, the hero comes to question whether he's strong enough to continue with his current situation. So, he goes on a training journey and reaches the point where he comes to face their most mortal enemy, the darkness within their hearts."

"So that means... you're my dark self?" I questioned.

"That That's right, but I'm a bit more than just that," Dark Me said. "I represent the negative feelings you harbor inside of you. Your sadness. Regret. Doubt. Anger. Hatred. The true you that you've been repressing all this time."

"What?! You can't be me!" I couldn't help but snap. "There's no way in hell that you're anything like me! You're just a fake! A copy!"

Dark Me glared. "Is that what you think? You're more foolish than I thought. I can assure you that I'm very much real. Whether you like it or not, I'm the true you. However, the only difference between us despite our appearances is that you took something from me that I'll never be able to get back, and I'm sure you know what that was."

It took me a second to realize that he was talking about the toxin. "Then you should know why I had to," I said. "We... or rather, I didn't need that power anymore. Not when it was turning me into a monster."

"Then why is it that you've become so weak?" my dark self spat with disgust. "What? Did you think that by getting rid of it that you'd got of me? Sorry to break to you, but that's not going to happen. However, if you insist on doing so, you're welcome to try. Then again, you do have a nasty habit of running away like a coward every time you see me."

Feeling angered at that insult, I charged at my evil clone, swinging a fist, only to be blocked by him, who countered with a punch of his own.

"Guess I touched a nerve," he sneered.

I let out a roar as I clenched my other fist igniting it with my magic, and swung with an Iron Fist. However, the dark me replied with an Iron Fist as well. A short skirmish ensued, the two of us slugging and kicking at each other, matching in speed and power. I then conjured a pair of water swords, as did the dark me, and things escalated to a sword fight. I slashed and swung my blades using chaotic and quick movements, but the dark me did the same countering by mimicking my movements. Our exchange went for quite a bit until we both swung at the same time, our blades clashing with a mighty clang and locking together. I tried using my strength to overpower him, but I couldn't move them.

As we pushed each other back, I spread my water wings and took to the air with a mighty gush of water from my feet. As I shot upward, I glanced down to see that the dark me had wings too and was in hot pursuit. I banked to the right, curving around and my swords into large torrents of water, and unleashed a powerful Wing Attack only for my other me to counter with the same spell. I shot towards him, and he shot towards me, and the two of us fought again, using more force and speed than ever before, fist meeting fist and kick meeting kick until both of us swung our fists in a hook at the same time. Our fists slammed into each other's cheeks, the force strong enough to give either of us a concussion. Each of our fists ground into each other's cheeks until we finally pulled back, landing back onto the ground.

I then took in some air, gathering up my magic to my mouth as did Dark Me. Then, we both unleashed our breath attacks simultaneously, both attacks creating a massive explosion from the collision while water rained down everywhere. But as this happened, I quickly made a clone, circled towards his location while coating my hand with water, and punched him straight to the jaw. But as Dark Me went flying and hit the ground, his deteriorated and turned into a puddle of water, making me realize that it was a clone. As I turned back, I found Dark Me standing there, having to have taken out the clone I placed.

At this point, I felt a bit winded, having expended a lot of my magic, and my cheek still stung from the cross counter. Dark Me also appeared in the same state as I was, sporting a spectacular bright red imprint of my fist on his cheek.

"This is nuts! We're both completely equal!" I thought in frustration. "The same strength, the same speed, the same fighting style, heck, we even know what each other is going to do! At the rate this is going, we're going to be fighting forever!"

"As I said before, you won't be able to beat me. Not now, not ever," Dark Me said. "I'm you, remember? Just like with that woman from before, I know everything about you. Only I also know how you think, how you act, what you're going to do. However, while we're currently equal in power and are two sides of the same coin, I'm far more superior than you are. Allow me to show you why."

He spread his legs, balled up his hands into fists, and his body began to radiate with a familiar black and green colored aura as the ground trembled slightly. The moment I saw this, my eyes went wide with horror, knowing what was coming, and rushed towards him.

"N-No! Stop! Don't!" I yelled.

But before I could stop him, Dark Me let out a bellowing roar as his body exploded in a black and green magic aura, the force being so strong that it almost blew me away. As I landed back on the ground, I looked up and saw that flame had turned into a shining and erupting pillar, forcing me to shield my eyes. Soon enough, the light dimmed, and when I could see again, I could feel the fear seize my heart once more.

Dark Me had now transformed into the form that I never wanted to see again, the Berserk State. His skin was pale with black cracks, large black claws, black spikes protruding from his shoulders, lining his hips, and coming out of his elbows, long billowing hair, a horn on his forehead, strange fins on the sides of his face, and an eye in the middle of his chest.

"N-No way!" I gasped in disbelief. "B-But how?! That form! I thought that-!"

"Despite the toxin's absence, I still retained some of the powers it gave," Dark Me said as he brandished his claws. "Therefore, allowing me to use this state."

As I stood there trying to stand my ground, my entire body began to tremble. It was as if my body was unconsciously gearing up to run away, knowing that I couldn't take my opponent.

"Come on! Stop shaking!" I kept telling myself. "There's no reason to be afraid! Just stay calm! Don't let him freak you out! You can take him!"

"What's the matter? You lost your nerve?" mocked Dark Me. "Can't say that I blame you. You turned down this power, the power you could have used to crush all of your enemies, but in the end, you gave it all up. And for what, to protect those backstabbers? What a waste of effort and time."

"You shut your mouth!" I snapped as I shot towards him and started slugging. "That's not true, and you know it!"

"Isn't it? Then why is it that whenever you try to be a good friend to those fakes, you always end up alone?" asked Dark Me as he avoided my punches by sidestepping back and forth. "The reason for this is because it is your fate."

As he dodged another of my punches, he grabbed my fist, clenching it tightly, and using his other hand, punched me straight to the gut by Dark Me knocking the air and spit out of me. I snarled in anger as I swung a few more times using Iron Fist, only to have Dark Me step on either side again, avoiding them with ease. I then attacked with a roundhouse Talon kick only for Dark Me to block it with one hand, swung me around, and threw me to the ground. Quickly getting back up, I shot towards him while gathering magic into my hands and turned them in a circle unleashing a powerful vortex of water. Dark Me countered by taking a breath and releasing a mighty blast of black liquid from his mouth, immediately canceling out my spell, blasting backward. Then, as I opened an eye, trying to see as I flew, a mighty blow struck me right in the stomach, slamming me to the ground, and another one hit me on my side and sent me tumbling and stopping on my back. Performing a kip-up, I sprang back to my feet, and attacked again, throwing a right, a left, and a right punch, swung with a roundhouse kick, and swinging hook. But none of them hit their mark as my opponent dodged them all.

"You're weak, worthless, and foolishly naive, always expecting your friends to be there for you when you need them most," Dark Me spat coldly. "However, that's nothing more than dependence, especially since your "friends" hate you so much."

"You're wrong!" I yelled as I swung again. "My friends would never hate me!"

"Oh no? If you truly believe that, then where were they when you were being experimented on as a child?" Dark Me questioned. "Where were they when you were kidnapped and treated like a weaponized puppet as a child and back with the Infinity Clock?"

I couldn't help but hesitate when this question was asked, unable to come up with an answer. That allowed Dark Me to clock me square on the chin, launching me into the air and knocking me to the dirt again. He then jumped up while flipping and swung with a downwards kick straight to the top of my head. As I staggered back from the pain, my evil twin kept up the pressure relentlessly attacking while I tried to defend.

"The truth of the matter is, they never cared about you and wanted you to suffer," he spoke again. "After all, you've committed horrible atrocities that would make even the evilest of hearts blush compared to yours."

A dark feeling began to seep into my heart as my will began to wane as the brawl continued. Each time I tried to fight back, I was countered by claws raking into my skin, punches and kicks bruising my body, and thrown like a ragdoll. Not only that, but he was also slewing spiteful words as well.

"You're a failure!"

"Why do you even bother to fight back?!"

"You let Finn die!"

"What's the point of resisting?! It's pointless!"

"You killed Éclair!"

"You only exist to be a traitor!"

"You let Mom and Dad die!"

"Aquadia left because you're not worth being around!"

The verbal and physical beating continued until I lay on the ground battered, bruised, covered in wounds, and dyed in red.

"Pathetic just as I expected," Dark Me spat. "Without the toxin or those fake friends of yours, you can't even put up a fight."

As I tried turning my head up while my vision flickered, I could see that he stood a few feet away from me, looking down with his eyes cold as ice.

"How do you expect to protect anyone when you can't even protect yourself?" he went on. "You're nothing—just a boy scout refusing to accept reality. You're a traitor. Destined to be alone and never to be trusted. And if you can't accept this truth, I'll keep pummeling you until you finally cave in. I am the little voice you hear in your mind, the poison that will suck out any hope you have, the one who knows you more than anyone. I am the unstoppable beast of darkness with no weakness, so you should stop trying and give up."

"He's right. I can't beat him," I thought. "He's way too strong. Maybe I was wrong to get rid of the toxin. No matter what I do, I'm too weak on my own."

As my vision darkened and my consciousness and hope faded, it seemed that it was all over. But then, I remembered what Tu Chi said about facing my fears and worries back at the swamp. In addition, I also recalled what my darker self noted during his speech.

"Perhaps your mind is trying to tell you to face your past enemies, in other words, all of your fears and worries. When you experience tragedy, it can be damaging and traumatic. However, you can let it define you for the rest of your life, or you can learn and move on from it."

"I am the little voice you hear in your mind, the poison that will suck out any hope you have, the one who knows you more than anyone."

Then, it hit me as if something finally clicked inside of my head. Gritting my teeth while grunting in pain, I pushed myself back to my feet, staring at my foe.

"Haven't had enough yet, or are you a glutton for punishment?" Dark Me said. "I told you that it's pointless to defeat me, so why can't you concede already?"

I didn't say a word as I glared at him.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" he taunted. "Or are you gonna keep giving me the silent treatment?"

Again, I didn't say anything while keeping my eyes on him and took a stance, ready to fight again.

My evil mirrored image rose a curious brow as he also got ready. "Fine. If that's the way you want to play it, then so be it," he huffed. "Guess you'll never learn."

I tensed my legs while clenching my fists and dashed towards him, jumping and attacking with a flurry of fists. But, yet again, my dark self dodged and parried every blow and punched while spitting another insult.

"Everyone in Fairy Tail hates you and doesn't care about you at all!"

This time, I dodged it and swung back at him while countering with my verbal jab. "You're wrong! Everyone in Fairy Tail does care about me!"

My fist connected square in his face, which was enough to make him stagger a few steps. As Dark Me stared at me in surprise, he attacked again with a few rapid kicks. I dodged and blocked them and grabbed his leg by the ankle before he hit me in the face.

"Why bother resisting?" Dark Me spoke snidely. "We both know that you're too weak."

"No, I'm not!" I barked back, gripping his ankle tightly. "I'm stronger than you think I am!"

I grabbed his ankle with my other hand and threw him over my shoulder, and shot towards him while cloaking my hands in water. As he landed on the ground, I jumped up, turning the water in my hands into swords, and attacked with a series of quick swipes while he blocked them with his claws. However, unlike how he had the upper hand, this time, I was able to get a few knicks while he defended. And the more hits I got, the more my darker self seemed to grow irritated.

"So what's this? Your second wind? Or are you running on your last breath?" he snarled. "Can't you see that continuing this meaningless battle is pointless! You have nothing to fight for; every one of those frauds would leave you for dead, and yet you're still fighting to protect them?! Don't you remember what you've done, the lives you destroyed?!

"Of course I do!" I shouted as sliced. "How could I not?!"

"Then, why do you keep trusting them?! Why the hell do you keep putting your faith in people?!" demanded Dark Me, now growing angrier as he swung with a mighty claw. "Can't you see that they're just going to let you down and betray you?! Why bother wasting your time?!"

I crossed my swords into an X and blocked the claw. "Because Fairy Tail and its people would never do that to me! They would never let me down or betray me!"

As Dark Me took a breath about to unleash a breath attack, I got close and decked him with an Iron Fist square in the jaw. As the blow jerked his head up, he released his breath attack straight into the air, making water shower everywhere, and while he was stunned, I gave him a second punch right in the gut, the force pushing him back a few feet. After taking a few seconds to breathe, Dark Me glared at me, his eyes burning in anger.

"Damn you! Why the hell can't you understand?! All that blind faith is going to do is get yourself hurt again!" he yelled in anger. "Don't you remember how much it hurt when everyone kept calling you the bad guy?! Not only that, but Mira even had the gall to call you a traitor! And that hurt more than anything else!"

As I looked up at him, I could see that he was now trembling. At first, it was because of rage, but then I looked at his eyes filled with anger and two other emotions, sadness and hurt.

"It was so painful! The way she called us that word with so much hate!" continued Dark Me while he squeezed his hands. "And it wasn't just her. From the moment we were saved, everyone despised us! Treated us like criminals! All because we were somebody else's puppet! And not just that, every person we've ever loved or grown close to always ends up dead or leaving our lives! If that doesn't prove that we're a curse, then what does?! You can't trust anyone, you hear me?! Not a single one of them deserves to be trusted! If you do, you're just going to look like a naive fool and get yourself hurt again!"

I paused for a brief moment as I looked at the ground before responding. "You may be right. Maybe I am being an idiot, but as much as I hate to admit it, what happened was on me because I didn't trust anyone," I said quietly. "If it's one thing I've learned, trust is pretty fragile. It takes one little thing, and it comes crashing down like an unstable object. But right now, I need to take that time to rebuild that trust, and also need to trust in myself."

Dark Me was taken aback by this, but his face quickly filled with rage. "Stop talking nonsense! That kind of sentimental crap is what us into those messes in the first place! Can't you see that way of thinking is pointless?!"

He extended his claws and swiped them rapidly while releasing an array of black crescent blades simultaneously. I quickly straightened my hand, cloaking it with water turning it into a sword, and used it to cut and deflect them.

"That's where you're wrong," I said. "There's indeed a lot of people in the world that want to use or hurt you, but it's also true that there are a lot of people that you can count on and care about you. Despite everything that's happened, everyone in Fairy Tail still trusts me and believes that I'm a part of their family. Even though I was in a place I would never come back from; they still saved my life. They also never let their pasts hold them back or shackle them in doubt, and they're proud of who they became and are." I paused as I smiled with determination. "So, I'm going to put my trust in them and strive to be proud of who I am and what I've become today."

Dark Me let out another roar, his patience appearing to have reached its limit as a blood-thirsty aura shrouded his body. He held up a clenched fist and slammed it to the ground, and black ooze erupted from it, shooting high into the air and spilling everywhere. It swallowed him up while growing into an immense size and changed shape into a gigantic shark-like creature. With its teeth barred and his green eyes flashing, the beast let out a growl as it set its sights on me.

"If that's how you feel, then I believe we're through talking!" I heard him snap. "It's time we put an end to this once and for all!"

Standing my ground, and conjured a sword made of water and gripped it tightly with both hands. I then closed my eyes and focused hard throughout my body.

"I won't let my past transgressions hold me back anymore! If I use every bit of power in my body, I can do this! Just focus! Focus! Focus!"

Like a torrent of water down a stream, I felt my magic power surge throughout my body as I was bathed in brilliant blue light, focusing on that feeling. I could feel my strength grow by the second as I steeled my resolve and took a stance getting ready to attack.

NO POV

As Willy prepared to strike, his evil counterpart inside the giant shark-like mass of ooze let out another bellow while it let out a roar in response as it charged straight towards its enemy. But as it did, the sword in Willy's hands began to shine brightly along with his body, growing twice in size and length, and along its blade, gained a mysterious black line. Then, the water dragon slayer's eyes snapped open as he took a giant leap into the air letting out a fierce yell as an ethereal blue dragon appeared behind him.

The beastly creature made of ooze snapped its jaws threatening to devour its prey, but undaunted, Willy surged forward and swung his blade, using all his power and determination.

The next second, Willy landed back on the ground in a crouch, his sword at his side while the shark made of ooze went past him. At first, the creature looked back towards him, appearing to be unfazed. Then, almost immediately, it suddenly split horizontally in half and dissolved into a shower of black rain as the Dark Willy fell and hit the ground flat on his back, completely speechless.

"I-Impossible...! How?! When did he cut me?!" Dark Willy thought. "He completely obliterated my attack in an instant!"

He struggled to get back up, but his body felt heavy and didn't respond to him.

Then, as he straightened back up, Willy turned around to face him, and what the counterpart saw made his eyes widen. What he saw was the face of a boy no longer held back by doubt and fear but a man with focused eyes filled with instinct and confidence. It was then that the replica's body began to fade, growing transparent little by little.

"Well, it would seem that I've lost," he said quietly. "I must admit, you surprised me, and while I'm not pleased with this outcome, I should extend my congratulations."

Willy remained silent as he dispersed his sword.

"But let me give you one last piece of advice before I go," Dark Willy continued. "People will never change. They'll always let you down when you least expect it, even when you trust them with your life. You can have all the faith in the world, and it'll only be in vain. If you insist on believing in those friends of yours, you do what you want, but it only takes one mistake for people to use as a weapon to crush you. They ignore your tears, sadness, and pain; all they care about is shutting you down. And if you don't understand that, let the despair of it all drag you and drown you in the sea of darkness."

Willy could only remain silent as he watched the darker version of himself continue to grow more transparent by the second until finally fading away into the air.

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