~A Final Choice~ (Skephalo)

Chapter 32: Surprise~

~Skeppy's pov~

I clung onto Niki, as she was the only thing stopping me from falling to the ground.

A demon..? I'm a demon hybrid?

Niki is an angel hybrid..? That's confusing, all this time, I thought I was a human, and she was an angel.

XD stood in complete silence, looming over the dome.

But then... something weird began to happen.

He began to laugh...

It started out as a low, rumbling giggle, then bloomed into full hysterics, as he completely stopped trying to hide to slivers of insanity that had threatened to spill into his voice moment prior.

"Oh! What a sob story! Did you honestly think that would get me?!" His callous voice echoed around the platform, amused, but undeterred. "Outing yourself as a former human to save his skin?! You're pathetic. I have no sympathy for you."

He took a deep breath, regaining his cold composer, the hints of insanity remaining in his voice.

"Freaks are the scum of our society. Abominations like you should be purged."

Niki didn't budge, holding the barrier up. It took her a moment, but she finally looked down at me.

I probably looked pathetic to her... A 5'6 demon hybrid who was uncontrollably shaking, and what on the verge of fucking sobbing.

The amount of absolute stress was unbearable.

Do Bad and Niki do this often? Is this a common thing for them?

"Are you alright, Skeppy?" 

Her voice was soft, very comforting for what was going on...

It would have been better if Bad had said it though...

I glance over to where the demon still lay motionless on the ground.

"Niki... We need to help Bad!" I exclaim, too loud for my own good.

Niki just nodded as she turned back to XD.

"XD... I'm only standing here today because Death took pity on me. She gave me the power to protect those weaker than myself. I will not let her down!"

XD simply tilted his head slightly at her short speech, his mask hiding any trace of emotion, if it was even there to begin with.

"You know what I think of that?"

XD began to pull on the strings, tugging them so hard that cracks began to form on the dome.

Niki focused herself in, repairing damage that was being done to her barrier.

It dawned on me that this was simply a lethal game to him... But the stakes were only high for the two, maybe even the three of us. That depends on what happens to Bad afterward.

There is not risk for XD by doing this.

But if XD won, both Niki and I would be torn to shreds by the death ribbons surrounding our dome, a dome that was cracking like ice on a summer day.

A cracking sound that erupted from the dome became unbearably loud, as several parts began to fall victim to the ribbons pressure. While Niki may have been repairing the dome as this went on, it seemed that XD was breaking it twice as fast.

"XD... Wait..!" Niki shouted, straining to hold the barrier up. XD paused momentarily, giving her a chance to speak.

"We... We can talk about this..."

By now, XD's hands were both almost completely invisible under the mass of strings he was clutching.

"I mean... we could... But I don't wanna." He taunted, continuing to try and destroy the little protection Niki and I had left.

Niki shot an apologetic glance at me.

I know she is trying her best, being injured and all, but at this rate, XD will have our heads.

A small noise echoed around the platform, almost canceled out by the large sound of of deteriorating barrier. 

The noise was soft, like the sound of a pebble moving. Yet it seemed to catch XD's attention, because he turned his head in the direction of the sound...

Right in time to catch a sword crossed the face by a shadowy figure. 

The god stumbled back, his own threads beginning to tangle him up, restricting his movement, as the same figure shoved him to the ground.

"Bad!" I yell, still clinging to Niki's robes.

Bad loomed over the injured god, threateningly pointing his sword at XD damaged mask.

I'm going to be honest, he looked pissed.

"Step away from them XD." Bad warned, his tail whipping from side to side.

The god hesitated, before snickering, retracting all of his magic, and freeing Niki and I from his grasp.

"Oh yeah, tough guy? How are you going to stop m-"

He was abruptly cut off by a horrific coughing fit. In an instant, he had his hand raised to were his mouth should be, simple trying to hold back the choking gasps.

"W-what... did you do to me..?" he managed between coughs.

Bad allowed a terrific grin to slip onto his face, lifting the blade of his sword away from XD, and towards himself, examining the blade.

"Oh, that's right! I forgot to mention, silly me." Bad giggled, tilting his head to look down at the suffering god, "Have you ever heard of wither toxin?"

If silence could speak, this would scream volumes. Only occasionally interrupted by XD's coughs, for once, it was almost like I could sense terror coming from him.

That didn't stop Bad though, as he smirked and taunted the god, just as he had been doing before.

"Oh, I shouldn't have expected someone who isn't a demon to understand, my bad. Let me put this as simply as I can for you. My blade is laced with a lethal dose of wither toxin. That slash across your face? Yeah. Even as a god, that could very easily be your undoing. As a demon, I'm immune to this kind of poison, and can therefore safely handle it. But let me warn you, no amount of magic would ever be able to stop its affect in the fullest. You can already feel its crippling impact, no?"

XD just stared up at the demon, coughing, and beginning to shake, his breath becoming rugged.

I couldn't tell what his face below the mask looked like, but from the wine colored blood coming from underneath, I could tell it was bad...

Could he actually be scared? Surely not... right?

"However," Bad continued, sheathing his sword, and pulling out a small vile of a murky, crimson liquid, "I just so happen to have the cure for the toxin right here."

"Give... it to me..." XD growled, trying to force back any hint of pain to his voice.

"Ah, Ah, Ah!" Bad started, the grin dropping from his face as his voice went serious. "You are in no place to make demands right now."

The two of them stared each other down, glaring into the others eyes.

"Here is my deal, XD. You can leave, and never come back unless it is absolutely necessary. You will never mention taking Skeppy away, nor attempt to take him. That includes sending someone else to try to take him for you, and or using any form of mind control. If you agree to these terms, you can have the cure and be on your way, and, you know, not die in an hour." Bad offered, taking a step back, allowing there to be room for XD to get up.

Try as he might to force himself up, the god simple couldn't do it, holding close to the ground.

"...fine... Give it."

He seemed to realize how high the stakes were, and resentfully accepted Bad's deal.