Tim charged forward with the wind at his back, wanting to end this farce as soon as possible. In mere moments, Tim had already initiated an attack. James had assumed a defensive stance, bracing for the incoming onslaught, both his arms focused on protecting his face and chest based on the trajectory of the attack.

Tim got into range with his right foot first, throwing a feint with his right hand as if he were trying to break James guard. Mid punch however, the force behind the punch rapidly dissipated and his clenched hand relaxed. Instead his left foot moved to support his following movement and three sonic booms sounded out in quick succession. Three 'shotgun' powered underhanded punches were rapidly thrown out, striking James' in abdomen relentlessly.

As James gasped for air after the attacks, Tim followed through with a crude, yet effective kick towards his shin that destabilised his footing and sent him stumbling backwards. At the very verge of falling, James somehow had managed to regain his footing, displaying a level of agility that he should not be capable of.

Tim however did not give chase. Instead, he had pointed his index finger towards James, his thumb raised upwards. Since he didn't have a weapon, the air would act as one for now. After having solidified his 'reason' of sorts for his actions, or perhaps a more apt term would be resolve, he felt much more confident in his abilities.

"Don't come swinging fists at a gun fight" said Tim, as the wind coalesced into a small, translucent ball at the tip of his finger. His hand jolted slightly backwards, as with a screeching sound his self created projectile hurled itself towards James' chest. He 'fired' 5 more in quick succession, only then taking a look at the outcome.

James' body rapidly swayed as the impact from each bullet blew him backward a meter or two each time. As Tim had expected, the bullets didn't really have much piercing power due to the circular shape, and he wasn't sure he was capable of shaping them either. The goal however, was to distance himself from that..... thing.

James' body was full of cracks, a thick black vapor emanating out of them. As the fight progressed, the cracks had gotten more widespread, and the vapor surrounding James thicker. Tim wasn't sure if he'd want to be near whatever that was when it exploded, so he raised his arm to deal the finishing blow.

Another air bullet went forth, striking what remained of James' caricature right in the head. The cracks intensified, and a cloud of tar black miasma blew past Tim before he could react, after which Tim finally registered the accompanying sound as that of an explosion . At the center of the blast radius stood the outline of what appeared to be a man, though due to the think coat of miasma there was no way to discern any facial features, except the shining red eyes that stared at Tim with a ferocious intensity.

"I......" A raspy, unpleasant voice that seemed to be struggling to speak sounded out from the shrouded figure.

"I know I am unreasonable..... I know that......But, I hate you. I hate this world that only brings me pain. All I want is to be left alone, I tell people to leave me be...... BUT THESE PEOPLE KEEP BUZZING AROUND ME LIKE FLIES, TELLING ME TO MOVE ON, TELLING ME THAT IT GETS BETTER IF I TRY..... Just fuck the hell off! I don't care you fuckers, I just don't care. Just.... Just go away and stop lying to me. Unless you can get her back, stop lying to me. "

Tim had expected this, but he still felt agast at this revelation. He found it difficult to come to terms that this..... was how he truly used to feel back then. Maybe even now, this darkness lurked in a corner of his heart, patiently waiting for a chink in the armor, a weakness. And once it found that weakness, it would devour him whole, without mercy. There was no denying it, these were his feelings.

"How long will you ignore them? How long will you deny their good intentions? They are not the ones lying, YOU are. Hate.... Is pointless. Have you not suffered enough to realize that? You have no reason left to hate. Give it up".

Timothy started walking towards the shadow, in slow, measured steps.

"Is empty sounding platitudes all you got? You are just like them, just CAN'T fucking leave me alone. Stop. S-STOP COMING TOWARDS ME, OR I'LL KILL YOU!"

Tim ignored the threats and kept walking, paying no need to the warnings.

"Y-YOU ASKED FOR IT" said the shrouded figure, and a pitch black spear materialized in his right hand. Using it as a ranged weapon, he threw it at Tim, aiming for his abdomen.

"WHAT!?" the shrouded figure yelped in shock at the outcome of his attack.

The spear he had thrown.... had hit it's target. It was embedded in Tim's abdomen, lodged inside it. The attack in itself was quite ordinary, one that Tim could easily have dodged. He had chosen not to.

Blood poured out from his abdomen, and he looked quite comical as he walked with a spear lodged inside him parallel to the ground. Each step he took hurt, but instead of showing pain, he was smiling.

"W-What, I didn't mean to do that. YOU, WHY DIDN'T YOU DODGE. WHY DIDN'T YOU ATTACK ME? I TRIED TO KILL YOU!? He screamed in a shrill voice.

"The reason why you wish to be left alone is not because you hate the world, is it? No, let me tell you that it's not. It's because you are afraid. Afraid of opening yourself up to the world again. Afraid of being hurt again. Afraid of cherishing someone again, because you are afraid to lose them"

Tim stood in front of the shadowed figure at this point, who showed no hostility. He plucked the spear out and threw it aside, paying no attention to the gaping wound in his stomach.

"Then I ask you to trust me, because I promise you that as long as you live, I will be there with you. I will never break your trust. And slowly, we will rebuild our confidence and learn to trust again, to cherish again, to love again.". said Tim, extending a hand forward to the shrouded figure.

The shrouded figure remained silent. Tim remained silent, hand still hanging in the air. The shrouded figure sighed, and clasped Tim's hand.

Tim stood mesmerized as he looked at the spectacle in front of him. As he clasped hands with his alter ego of sorts, the miasma around him began to change in color.

From pitch black to a goldenish white color. Only for an instant, Tim saw the outline of a humongous tree behind his alter ego, one he could not see in it's entirety, and the surroundings around him changed to one teeming with life, all sorts of multi-coloured flora and fauna the likes of which he had never seen. In front of him was a man that looked like him, but as humiliating as it was to admit, far more handsome dressed in silver-ish white robes with streaks of gold running around it in a seemingly natural pattern. The figure gave him a toothy, childish grin before Tim was jolted from his reverie and the scene in front of him vanished as if it had never existed.