Andrey awoke to something poking at him. Opening his eyes, he quickly took stock of the world around him, rolling off the Originium shard he had landed on and standing up. A cave of Originium crystals met him, bright strands of electricity coloring the cave a monotone red.

"What did you do?" The words were spoken calmly, precisely. Andrey turned to face his doppelganger, taking a step back as the man advanced. "I should not be facing you."

Turning to the right, almost as if forgetting Andrey's existence, the man rapped his knuckles on a nearby pillar of Originium. "Perhaps… the Arts separated us? Inter–"

And then a knife appeared in his hands, as he thrust out towards Andrey. Twisting to the left, Andrey narrowly avoided the menacingly sharp blade, the knife nicking his right shoulder and drawing blood. A familiar pain lanced through his body, and Andrey stumbled back, before turning and running. No time.

A blast of Arts flew over his head, and Andrey ducked behind a crystal, the material of the cave fortunately resistant to whatever Arts were flying towards him. In a pitiful imitation of "return fire," Andrey threw a shard of Originium back towards his doppelganger. The man batted it aside and continued advancing. Seeing his attacks were useless, he climbed up the side of a pillar of Originium, the man soon stopping at its foot as he approached.

"Come down." He commanded, raising his knife as it morphed into a wand, firing off a continuous stream of red bolts at Andrey. And thus began a frantic climb, Andrey jumping between handholds as the bolts broke against the crystals around him.

One shot, to his left; he disregarded it and hauled himself up one step. Another, straight towards him; he jumped to the left and flung himself up; another step. And another, and another. Slowly but surely, Andrey was going up. Acutely aware of the pain in his shoulder, he slowly flung himself atop an outcropping, peeking down at the man. He was rewarded with a bolt to the face, Andrey narrowly dodging the projectile in time.

Looking at his hands, Andrey was surprised to find them cut-free.

Maybe… Andrey jabbed his hand at a spike of Originium and was rewarded when it simply bounced off.

He grinned.

"Nowhere to go." The man below him laughed as he began climbing, the words echoing through the cave as red lightning crackled above.

Andrey relished the momentary expression of shock on his face when he fell atop him. Grabbing the man's knife mid-fall, Andrey stabbed down as they landed, slamming the blade down with his momentum. He was rewarded, the man bringing his right arm up to block, only for it to be impaled by the blade. Almost immediately, his doppelganger's face twisted into a grimace, and with monstrous strength, he threw Andrey away, towards the walls of the cave.

Standing up and clutching his arm, the man smiled, watching Andrey fly towards the infinitely sharp crystals of the wall. Looking back at him, Andrey smiled back at him, striking the wall and bringing up a cloud of Originium dust, before sliding down the wall and disappearing from his doppelganger's sight.

"Easy." The man's voice came from the center of the cave. Andrey's smile grew wider as he quietly slinked towards the man. Not that it was that hard; the dust beneath him muffling his footsteps as he drew closer. Just a few steps now… and he leaped out of the shadows.

A punch caught him in the stomach, and Andrey was knocked back again, striking a flat face of Originium as he wheezed for air.

"Impressive." The man raised his wand with his left hand, firing off a burst of Arts at Andrey; the man's right hand now hanging limply at his side. Andrey realized the lack of blood for a split second, before leaping out of the way of the energies, landing unceremoniously on the ground. Unharmed, he quickly got up again, before breaking into a sprint away from his opponent. The Arts chased him, but he slid under the lethal bolts. His doppelganger's firing pattern was too predictable, at this point.

"You are quite resilient." Good; he didn't know that the environment couldn't harm any of them. Andrey charged forwards again, ignoring the sharp rock beneath his feet, right arm winding up for a punch; before a strong pain in his shoulder deterred him from doing so, Andrey hastily switching to his left hand. The man easily dodged it, firing off a burst of Arts at point-blank range. Andrey leaped to the right and avoided the blow, before shoulder-ramming the man back.

"My instincts, hm?" His doppelganger straightened himself, before taking three measured steps back – raising his wand and firing off a laser towards Andrey. Again, Andrey ran, taking cover behind a crystal of Originium, the flat facets deflecting the laser towards the roof of the cave. He felt a probing presence in his mind, and he quickly closed himself again. His doppelganger was using mind Arts, now. Another danger to add to the list.

The subsequent headache was undoubtedly an attempt to simply execute him, but he was tougher than that. Andrey rushed forwards again, his doppelganger attempting to thrust forwards with his wand, only to have it wrenched from his grasp as Andrey pulled upon the Arts focus at its tip. The man attempted to punch him with his right arm, only to cry out in pain as the wound reasserted himself; giving Andrey the time to retreat from his range.

Looking down at the wand now within his hands, he smiled.

"You can't use that." The doppelganger said, evenly looking back at him. "It's linked to me."

"Really?" Interesting. It felt like a normal wand to him, not that he had seen many. Reaching out with his Arts, Andrey closed his eyes and cast a simple mental attack towards his opponent.

As the man grimaced in pain, Andrey rushed forwards; and a swift punch from his left hand was enough to send the man keeling back. Striking back, his opponent sent him flying away, however, Andrey landing in an unceremonious heap a dozen steps away from him, wincing at the pain in his chest.

Well, if he couldn't beat him, at least he could run. Running to a pillar of Originium, Andrey once again began to climb, his now-disarmed opponent chasing close behind. While his whole body hurt from the consecutive punches, he was still fully functional. Abnormal, but then again improved resilience was hardly the strangest thing to happen if you were a soul trapped within a crystalline prison. Raising his wand as the other Andrey began to climb, Andrey struck the man with his Arts once more; his target stopping for a split second before following with renewed determination.

He was slow, however, avoiding the sharp Originium edges and meticulously taking the supposedly "safer" route. Andrey cared not for that; having already reached the outcropping once more by the time his opponent had reached halfway. He considered his options, thinking in leaps and bounds as his doppelganger neared.

Jumping on top of him wasn't an option; his wand could be lost in the scuffle.

Jumping away? Perhaps.

Andrey looked down, firing off another burst of Arts; watching his doppelganger increasingly struggle with his focus. Good, just a few more steps up…

He leaped off, landing on the ground with a loud thud and looking up at his copy – still stuck at the top of the pillar of Originium. He fired off another wave of Arts, and that was enough to make the man lose his footing and fall from the pillar; straight towards Andrey. Twisting to the side on instinct, Andrey struck the man as he fell, sending his doppelganger landing in a heap beside him. The man got up quickly enough, however, glaring at Andrey as the two stood a mere few meters from each other.

"His right arm is disabled. Good," Andrey thought, moving his shoulders – the pain having subsided.

"Come on!" His opponent roared a challenge, the constant waves of Arts Andrey had sent out having long since worn down his composure. Rearing back like a bull, the man rushed forwards.

Now or never. Andrey twisted to the side once more, jabbing the wand into the man's side as he passed. Superficial damage, at best. With a sudden turn, the man struck at Andrey with his left hand, a bright glint of steel passing by as Andrey jumped to the side. He had kept the knife.

No time to agonize over that. Andrey tossed his wand away; keeping it was only risking losing it. Kicking out, he struck again, his doppelganger not even making an attempt to dodge as he took the blow solidly in the chest, before grasping Andrey's leg and throwing him to the wall.

Andrey landed amidst the Originium unharmed, standing up once more; instincts shifting him into position to face his doppelganger's next charge. Without a thought, the man charged forwards again, knife still held tightly in his hand. Rolling away, Andrey avoided the blow, standing up and punching forwards. The blow missed; but it deterred his opponent for a split second, Andrey noticing the crazed red glint in his eyes as he locked gazes with the man.

Kicking out, Andrey struck the man again, sending him stumbling back; with a punch, his opponent staggered back, almost collapsing against the Originium crystal behind him. Still, however, the man got back up. It almost seemed pointless, like striking against a steel wall.

Andrey dodged the charge, barely avoiding the blade of the knife as it split the air beside him. With a punch, he struck out at the back of the man as he passed. A miss. Turning around, the man charged once more, knife going wide – but follow-up punch knocking Andrey to the ground.

The man raised his knife and struck down. Twisting to the right side, Andrey watched as the blade bounced off the Originium beneath him, trying to get up – only to be kicked down again, his entire body jarred by the impact. That monstrous strength…

The next blade barely missed his head as he rolled to the side again, Andrey attempting to regain his balance as he stood up.

The man rushed him again, and unprepared, Andrey was tackled to the ground. Again, the man raised his blade and brought it down, barely missing Andrey's neck. The two's hands scrabbled for purchase as they rolled on the ground; Andrey finding no success against his doppelganger's strength.

Finally, Andrey got atop the man, punching down and striking his doppelganger's face. The blow struck, without much effect.

He felt something above him.

A loud yell, below him.

At the last moment, he pulled himself from his opponent's grasp, as his opponent struck down – at Andrey, and himself.

The blade passed through the thin air where Andrey had once been, and the red glint faded in the man's eyes, incredulousness flashing through his visage in the split second it took for the knife to impale itself in his heart.

No blood spurted out; it almost seemed like the handle was simply stuck to the man, as he used the last of his strength to glare at Andrey one last time.

"Curse that Wendigo…"

And then he was gone, his form fading into Originium dust. Andrey sat down beside the pile of dust that was forming, blowing at it, and watching it scatter in the weak wind.

Finally, he had –

Red filled his vision, and he blacked out.

AN: I can't write combat scenes very well, especially when attempting to distinguish Andrey and Andrey-alter. Feedback would be very appreciated. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and thanks for the favorites, follows and reviews so far!

P.S. As to why Andrey could defeat an elite spy / assassin, he has his alternate's muscle memory, and said alternate has no idea how to fight in an arena where normal logic fails to work.