BadBoyHalo: The 808th Demon

-Chapter 12- Jef

Skeppy let his tired limbs hang loosely from the tree branch. His crystal cheek was pressed firmly on the bark, squishing the rest of his face into a frown. He idly fiddled with his cardboard box until it slipped from his fingers and thumped onto the forest floor. Too lazy to get down, he nestled himself deeper into the branch. Skeppy was due for a nap, so he let his eyes sink lower and lower.

But because the world is a bitch, she of course wouldn't let that happen.

It was mighty silly to see him frantically bug his eyes open, both lids awkwardly popping out of sync. He thrusted himself up off the branch, and tried to scan the area through his glazed vision. Sitting up, he hovered his hand over his hilt. There was something there, he could feel it; or perhaps he was going crazy. Hell, maybe Mama was right about retiring this whole "adventure" thing.

Skeppy managed to catch sight of the culprit, and dare I say he was more than confounded. It was a mere pumpkin, thrashing itself around in the grass. Weird. Not only that, but twisting vines seemed to sporadically whip around it, thrusting in and out of the soil. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, to the point where he pinched himself until he bruised. He had expected a fox or a wandering lamb, but not this. Observing it a bit more, he noticed that those same vines were guiding it— like some surreal game of pinball. They would snap at the pumpkin to dodge it from loose stones and tree stumps. Freakier yet, it seemed to be going somewhere.

He unsheathed his sword and sliced off a stick long enough to reach his box on the ground. Keeping his eye on the mysterious fruit on the move, he poked at his box to make it balance on his stick. Skeppy waited for it to come near, then swiftly trapped it inside.

"Score!" he cheered as he slid down the tree. He crouched beside the creature in question, his hand over the top to keep it from squirming away.

But if only that were so easy.

The pesky vines burst from the ground and pierced the flimsy cardboard. Skeppy jumped back, for the box was now rising; the creature inside was growing ever taller, tearing its pathetic confines to shreds. Skeppy looked up and gawked at such a sight. It was a boy, no different than him. Mousy brown hair hugged his cheeks, and the vines were slithering from his sleeves. What was left of the pumpkin was sitting on the top of his head. However, the most interesting thing about him was... his smile.

"Well hello there, blue face!" he squawked, grinning widely. "Didn't plan for a person this fast!"

"Who the hell are you?" Skeppy leaped to his feet, holding out his sword.

"Well I'm Jef, of course! Yours?"

"None of your business." He placed his hand over the splay of teal on his cheek, seeming to take slight offense.

"Well that's not very fair..." Jef crossed his arms, yet continued to keep that smirk. "Well let's get on with it, shall we?"

"Get on with what?"

He didn't have much time to react, for the orange boy immediately snapped his green whips right on the arm. Skeppy toppled over, and barely had time to scramble back up before Jef attempted to strike again. He put his boot up, and drove it into his stomach. Jef shriveled into a pumpkin again, rolling off the impact before circling around again. Skeppy took advantage of the time he had to quickly scan the area for any passers by. Thankfully there were none.

When Jef came back to plant another blow, Skeppy braced himself, and stomped the ground, summoning a chunk of solid diamond to erupt from the dirt. In response Jef's vines tried to finger past the makeshift shield, but Skeppy didn't let it. Shoving his hand into the crystals, he began pushing it around. Jef continued to whack at it, only to get himself caught up in the unrelenting grip of precious stone. As Skeppy continued to whirl around, so did Jef, which aroused hysterical laughter.

"Ha-ha! Idiot!" he taunted. "Think you can mess with the almighty Skeppy?"

"Yes I do think so," Jef chirruped back as he was thrown into a tree. "The problem lies in your spitballing. It's much too soon to tell, is it not?" He tumbled back into his pumpkin and lurched his way to him. Skeppy forced the diamonds in his direction, but Jef kept managing to swivel away. Frustrated, he began to slash at him, only causing angry whips to explode from the ground on all sides.

Slash. Slash. Whack. Repeat.

Every one he'd cut down or stomp into oblivion, more would spring up. As if deer flies in late summer were annoying, get a load of this guy...

Swing. Slice. Smack.

He was being grinded like a gear, gradually wearing from the strenuous repetition. The most he had ever had to fight off was an angry dog or two; Skeppy was not prepared to duel whoever this bastard was. It was clear that Jef was getting the upper hand. Slowly but surely, Skeppy's endurance began to waver. That kid's stupid grin didn't make the situation any better either.

Despite shards of crystal and vines all in an intertwined mess, Jef managed to find an opening. He reeled his arm back and socked him square in the nose. He fell back, landing into his writhing arms. Skeppy looked up, dazed and bloodied, to see the orange boy have the last laugh.

"You were saying?" Jef cooed, tightening his grip on him.

"M-my point still stands," he gasped in response.

Scraping the last bit of energy Skeppy had left, he tried to resist him. Jef had cut off circulation in the hand that held his sword, so his only choice was to wriggle out. To this Jef picked up one vine, and it began to wither. As it crumpled in his hand, the lush green pigment decayed into a deep violet. He flashed a crazy smirk before beating it directly into his chest.

The splay of diamonds encircling them grew brittle and shattered to the ground.