[center][h3]Nick Waller[/h3]
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As Nick was desperately trying to figure out a rebuttal to what his Shadow was saying, Caelum offered a very helpful, and hopefully rhetorical, question.

Shadow Nick, on the other hand, sighed. "I told you to leave. Me. Alone!" Nick flinched a bit at the anger his Shadow was displaying, and when he looked, his heart dropped with realization: If this thing was his worst, darkest traits all rolled into one...he'd have one hell of a temper, and a quick fuse to boot. 

"No, no, we don't have to fight!" Nick desperately pleaded, turning a glare back at Caelum before returning his attention to the Shadow. "You're right. I...I know they're just pretending. As long as I don't bring my drama around, they're happy to spend a few hours playing video games, but the second the conversation steers to something serious they change the subject and I'm left standing there looking like an idiot!" 

His Shadow, far from looking satisfied, just looked annoyed. "Preaching to the choir, dude. But doesn't it piss you off?"

"Of course it does!" Nick yelled, hands running through his hair. "Feeling alone, constantly watching my back, wondering if they're talking shit when I'm not there! How the fuck am I supposed to feel?!"

"Angry." Was the simple response. 

"Angry doesn't even fucking [i]begin[/i] to cover it! What the fuck happened to friends being there for you! When that bitch Jessica fucked off to do god knows what, all they wanted to do was go drinking to forget about it! Nice one guys, forgetting I don't drink?! Some fucking friends they are!" Nick was pacing by this point, his heart pounding in his chest as he ranted. 

"So fucking do something about it." Came the reply from the child, now seemingly more interested. Nick proper, meanwhile, lost the wind in his sails at the suggestion he actually make an effort to improve his life. 

"Like what?" He bit back with a roll of the eyes. 

"I don't know, stand up for yourself, you fucking coward!" His Shadow stood up, pointing at him in accusation. "All you do is whine and bitch about how hard your life is, but you never make the people responsible pay! You didn't tell anybody what [i]they[/i] did to you for years, you just like that bitch walk out without so much as a fight or a word back to her, you just let these people walk all over you and don't do anything about it!" 

"Bullshit!" Nick yelled back, levelling his own finger. "I moved out! I got out of that shithole town, away from that fucked up family and those psychos I called friends! And why the fuck would I tell anybody, 'Oh, hey, the three most popular guys in the club just tested out that statistic we like to joke about on me, turns out I'm the one in ten!' Bullshit, at best I'd have started a civil fucking war, at worst I'd be a pariah! Nobody would believe me!" Nick's face betrayed the inner anger roiling underneath, pushed down and given no outlet for so long, finally coming out. 

Had he been paying attention, he'd have noticed that his Shadow's own anger was underlined with a certain smug, mocking aura. In reality, he was leading Nick around like a dog on a leash. "At least you would've tried something, instead of sitting and crying about it like a little bitch! This is why dad thinks you're a fucking loser! That's why Jason said you're not a man-"

As the Shadow was speaking, Nick's own fury boiled over at the last comments, and he quickly crossed the few feet between them and [i]punched[/i] the little brat in the face. "DON'T YOU FUCKING CALL ME THAT!" Nick roared, chest heaving as he looked down at his inner darkness. 

"You're [i]fucking dead.[/i]" It replied, voice distorting as its body began growing, Nick backing up in alarm. From a small child, the Shadow grew straight past 'average adult' into 'The Mountain looks at this guy and crosses the street' territory, at least a good eight or nine feet tall, and well over 500 pounds of rippling, monstrous muscle. The raggedy, well-worn clothes had grown alongside the monster, transforming into some malformed amalgamation of military uniform, chef's outfit, and high-visibility clothes that just looked wrong. Underneath those clothes, multiple arms sprouted from its chest, the extra ones on the left transformed into a spear and a bludgeon, while the ones on the right grew oversized hands that looked like they belonged on an oversized Silverback Gorilla. 

The most disturbing thing, however, was the face. Rather than one, transformed face, this thing had some horrific, eldritch amalgamation of a half-dozen different faces that Nick knew all too well, but had trouble placing individually when they were all mixed up like this. The thing's eyes, all five, seemed to change color and shape subtly, and its three mouths morphed into a sadistic grin. 

"You're dead, Nick!" The thing yelled as it raised its bludgeon, coming down in a devastating swing that took some of the roof of the room with it, sawdust and plaster powder exploding all over the room as Nick barely dodged backwards, turning and running. 

"OH GOD OH FUCK!" He yelled as he scrambled out of the room, arm grabbing Caelum's and pulling to drag him along. "VINCENT GIANT MONSTER FUCKING [i][b]RUN![/b][/i]"