Randidly burned. He felt tired and rubbed raw, even though he had arrived late precisely so he would be in his perfect state. Apparently, no matter what he tried today, it would not turn out how he planned.

After manifesting his first Authority granted to him by his Mythic Nether Core, his energies were drained and spent. His core worked tireless to gather dense Nether to him, but too much had been expended in that initial activation before he realized how precious the power he obtained truly was.

He had carved out his vital bits and weaponized them. Which left him hollow.

Then he arrived on the beach, still stunned and exhausted, Wick became the first concrete detail that he saw. After seeing came the fixation. Those long hairs, his stubby snout, the crinkling lines around his eyes, the arrogance of his demeanor, the way he instantly made Randidly’s arrival about him, all of it brought the memories back. Again and again, the flickering still of Helen broken on the ground flashes before Randidly’s eyes.

His hands tingled and he felt dizzy and hot. Inaction burned at him, urging him toward violence.

Yet Randidly had intended to ignore him and walk past him, but then the Commandant had stepped forward and directly antagonized him. The Commandant said her name. Randidly’s raw and wild Nether whipped through his veins, faster and faster, damaging this body that had most of his usual physical Stats suppressed. Unbidden, flames of Nether Weight sprang up across his body. Even more oppressively, the specter of his First Authority hung over the space.

But Randidly pulled all that back into himself. He forced out a breath and noticed the familiar hair and aura; the real, evolved version of the third Devick stood in front of him, decked out in a golden mask and very official-looking regalia. Based on her dress, she was even higher on the MIlitary High Command totem poll than he was.

Too much was happening too quickly. Spending his Nether Core to activate his authority had blunted his edge. Everything was raw and chaotic in Randidly’s mind.

With all these strange things combined, Randidly looked around and found Claudette’s face in the crowd. It took some time to sift through all the strange and likely influential figures watching him, but he soon found her golden hair and sapphire eyes. Seeing her features, noticing the small lines around her eyes and the tension in her mouth, helped him push down the sudden urge to lay into Wick right then. Even fury could only give way before necessity.

He stepped to the side and walked toward the party. Wick stepped in front of him and spoke again. “Punk. Don’t you dare ignore me. What was her name again? Helen? Perhaps the two of you had a shallower connection than I thought. Wouldn’t she be hurt by how quickly you’ve forgotten the lesson she died to teach you?”

“You!” All that carefully stitched together control that Randidly had gathered was obliterated by the sneering arrogance with which Wick used Helen’s name. His hands slowly tightened into fists, the Nether in his body becoming a volcano with impatient magma ready to erupt. He took a half step forward, seeing Wick’s perfectly uniform and cruelty and almost lashing out immediately with a blast of Nether.

But.

But there was a reason that Randidly had worked so hard for this day. The man who had killed Helen stood in front of him, but Helen had been the closest relationship he had in recent years. Some sort of kindred spirit and perhaps even something more might be incubating between himself and Vualla, but they just hadn’t had enough time or interactions to make that connection solid. Meanwhile, Helen had always been there, and losing her made him realize how important it was that he cultivate relationships.

Like the relationship he had with Claudette. And this day was about her escaping her father, not about Randidly selfishly lashing out at this bully. As galling as it would be, Randidly would rather accept this rebuke from Wick for now, so he could focus on the real issue.

One day, someday soon, Randidly would get even for what had happened with Helen. But without preparation, he did not need to make today that day.

Randidly had bitter words held in his mouth, quite unwilling to say them, as he prepared to speak and received Claudette’s message.

Randidly, you don’t need to do this for me. If anything, my father would be somewhat pleased if you beat the shit out of Commandant Wick.

So don’t hold back. Give them a taste of what we, the younger generation, have to say for the plans they’ve made without consulting us.

Randidly felt the sand between his toes and his hot breath catch in his mouth. To the side, the last rays of sunlight glittered across the frothing wave tops as water lapped up against the shore. It was a perfect moment as his heart softened toward Claudette and her consideration. All the effort and emotional struggle he had engaged in for her had been worth it; she was a true friend who thought about him, even as he thought about her.

Commandant Wick’s scowl deepened. “You imbecilic, weak-”

He didn’t need any more prodding; Randidly smashed his fist into Wick’s face.

The movement was natural and satisfying.

As Wick stumbled backward, Randidly’s heartbeat began to quicken. He had no idea how being injured or killed in Alymian would affect the Nexus, but he didn’t really care. Despite how exhausted he was, Randidly knew that Stats and especially images were suppressed in this world. No matter how poorly conceived of a revenge plan it was, Wick stood in front of him without his greatest strength.

His fist hurt from slamming it against his opponent’s face, but that ache only urged him forward.

However, Wick recovered quickly and Randidly sensed something was amiss. Wick sneered at him and raised his own fists. “The Actus Suprem, in her infinite wisdom, fought and allowed us to keep most of our Stats. More for comfort than anything else. But who knew I could use this capability to discipline you in front of an audience.”

He felt no reaction toward this information, just the same grim resolve to smash Wick to pieces. Heat built through Randidly’s body as the Nether rotated through him, faster and faster. Even as Wick lumbered forward, Randidly pounced to meet him. Randidly had lost most of his Stats coming to Alymian, because he had allowed himself to be restricted. But he suspected-

Booom!

Wick threw a powerful haymaker punch and Randidly brought up his knee and knocked the blow aside. In terms of power, they were almost on par. Wick blinked in shock even as flames of Nether Weight flared to life across Randidly’s body to strengthen him. “How-”

Crunch.

The sensation of Wick’s nose breaking under his knuckles sent thrills of vindictive pleasure tingling along Randidly’s nerves. Despite the pain running through his body, Randidly increased the amount of Nether swirling through him to the limit.

His follow-up step was quick, closing the distance between himself and the bearman Wick. Wick probably had a bit of height and a third again as much mass as Randidly, but he seemed overwhelmingly hapless as he tried to stem the gush of blood from his nose. His eyes swiveled around to fixate on the approaching Randidly and turned red.

Randidly felt the change in Wick as his superior stopped underestimating him and brought his combat experience as a Commandant to bear. He fell into a fighting stance, releasing a probing and stalwart palm strike in Randidly’s direction. But from a single look, Randidly could tell that the motion was inefficient and hadn’t been practiced in a long while.

Wick is rusty.

He sidestepped and looped his arm around Wick’s attack. Before the bearman could pull his arm back, Randidly braced the thick arm against his side with one arm and a tail and brought his other hand down in a hacking bash that shattered Wick’s forearm. Stepping forward again, Randidly whipped his body around and brought his elbow slamming against Wick’s collarbone.

His lip curled in distaste as he took a half step back. Likely fractured, but not broken. Let’s fix that. This is for Helen, you fucking prick.

Wick recovered quickly, even while nursing his right arm. He adopted a different stance, a tight sort of boxing where his still powerful left arm flashed out in several quick jabs. But the agony of hosting his own Nether in this weakened body was starting to pay dividends. Randidly felt how his significance had recovered and stamped his foot with unnatural momentum. All that extra Weight that he possed smashed into the ground, sending a wave of sand that obscured the surrounding area for a brief moment.

Wick moved backward, but Randidly rushed in on the heels of that sand wave. The impact of Wick’s unavoidable first jab to his chest hurt like hell, on top of the pain he was already enduring, but then Randidly closed the distance and whipped his leg around into the side of Wick’s knee.

Howling, the Commandant folded down on his shattered joint, leaving Randidly standing above him, almost shocked by how easily he went down. His lips curled back to reveal his teeth as he started raining blows down on the crumpled form of Commandant Wick. “You little shit. How long has it been since you’ve needed to fight with your body?”

Something ugly and vindictive and scarred rose in Randidly’s body, smashing his fists again and again against Commandant Wick’s weakness. Each strike was driven by that immortal image of Helen laying on the ground. Each hit sprayed flecks of blood that hit the sand and remained there, tiny crimson gemstones. After four quick hammer blows, Wick’s face was beaten to a pulp, but Randidly could barely move his shattered and bleeding knuckles. Growling out his frustration, Randidly reached down and forced his hand closed around Wick’s lower jaw.

Wick almost immediately attempted to bit down on Randidly’s hand, but Nether Weight gave him more physical presence than could be resisted. With a wet squelch, Randidly pulled until he ripped out his superior’s lower jaw. Gore spray sideways and then dripped from the rigid bit of bone and cartilage he held.

For several seconds, he stood there, his chest heaving. But the adrenaline began to drain out of him.

The Wick in front of him vanished, as though by magic. Randidly looked at his now empty hand, where the jaw had once been. There were several wounds on his palm, more from him gripping too tightly than Wick biting him. He heaved out a shuddering sigh. It was probably too much to hope for that this would seriously hurt him. It felt good to punish Wick for treating Helen so casually. But what this had really done was tear off all pretenses between himself and Wick.

Outside Alymian, I have no doubt that you will now be making preparations to get back at me, Randidly trembled, this body pushed to its limits by hosting Nether for as long as it did. So be it. Just like I”m ready to stand up against the peak powers in the Nexus, I”m ready to fight to the death with their pathetic lackeys.

Now that my subordinates are hidden away in the Alpha Cosmos, do your worst, Wick.

“Bravo!” To Randidly’s surprise, Devick broke the awkward silence with enthusiastic applause. With her in the lead, the rest of the Don’s party followed, clapping their hands as Randidly stood in front of them, blood dripping down out of his hand and nose to pool on the sand.

A headache was already building behind his eyes as he looked at Devick. Your madness… has only gotten worse since leaving the mountain, hasn’t it?