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Skeppy hissed, winding bandages around his arm. Another bruise? This is getting out of hand…
Sure, he was supposed to listen to Niki, but her requests were a bit… extreme. Niki ordered him to kill people, innocent people. All for what? Unlimited power.
Skeppy opposed the idea, only to get this. It would’ve been easier if he did it. Of course, Niki did her usual thing. Just doing anything to Skeppy, making sure he feels pain.
He was lost in his thoughts, giving him no time to react to what happened. Niki held both his hands together, and Skeppy heard a snap. Pain shot up Skeppy’s arm, and he barely muffled a yelp. Queen Niki always hated it when he screamed.
Niki broke his arm. It was the most painful thing she’d ever done to him. Still, Skeppy hid all his pain from Bad. He always thought his demon friend was too busy fighting the enemies to help him. Obviously, that was far from the truth.
He only thought about it like that because he needed an excuse to not tell Bad.
Still, Skeppy didn’t even try to stop Niki. He was worried about what everyone would do.
“Niki, please… I said I won’t do it. Why do you need this power anyways?” The Queen only chuckled.
“Oh darlin’, you don’t need to know'' She gripped Skeppy’s face, scratching it lightly with her sharp nails. “Now are you going to cooperate or not, dear?” Niki glared at him, her crimson eyes glittering with malice.
Skeppy winced at the pain. She already abused him enough. Even with what Niki did, he still didn’t want to tell anyone else.
“...fine” He resigned himself to the reality that Niki would never stop pursuing power, and pretended he didn’t see the wicked smile gracing his queen’s face.
~~~~~
Bad huffed, swinging his sword at Dream, who leaped back nimbly.
“You’re getting better!” The demon grinned at his friend.
“All thanks to you, Bad” Bad checked the sun, eyes widening as he realized the time.
“Oh Dream, I have to go-” Dream waved him off, smiling fondly.
“Nah it’s fine. Tell Skeppy I said hello!”
Bad arrived at Skeppy’s lab. Almost immediately, Skeppy opened the door for him. Bad noticed that Skeppy’s arm looked different. It looked broken. Of course, Bad was quick to ask
“Oh my goodness Skeppy! What happened?”
“I- I accidentally misused an invention. I hate it when that happens.”
Skeppy couldn’t think of any other plausible excuse. At least it was believable.
“Oh, so you misused another one of your inventions? But- how?” Bad frowned slightly, inspecting Skeppy’s arm. “At least let me heal it”
Skeppy showed the arm to Bad. As expected, Bad was immediately concerned. His left elbow was snapped in half.
“Alright Skeppy. This’ll hurt.” Skeppy winced, nodding slightly to Bad. Holding back a scream, Skeppy squeezed his eyes shut.
“Done.” Bad leaned back, concern written across his face. “Take better care of yourself, okay Skeppy?”
Skeppy nodded with a heavy heart, knowing that his injuries would only get worse.
~~~~
When Skeppy was working again, he was waiting for Niki to come. He could run away, but he remembers what happened last time.
He remembered that the injuries got worse. There was no chance of running away. Still, for some reason, he won’t tell anyone. He was just worried about what everyone would do.
That was normal, right? It was normal to feel concern for your abuser, right? Skeppy tried to convince himself that it was normal.
He was friends with her beforehand, obviously he would feel concerned. Ignoring all the pain she put him through.
Skeppy’s thoughts were interrupted by a sickly sweet trill of “Hello!” echoing throughout his lab. Wincing, he turned around to face the Queen.
“Ah, Skeppy how are you?” Skeppy forced a smile on his face, answering with a brief “Fine”. Niki’s lips pulled into a pout, as she leaned against Skeppy.
“Just ‘fine’?”
“Yes. What do you want, Niki”
Niki looked at Skeppy with her creepy smile and ruby eyes.
“I want you to listen to me and do the experiments.”
Skeppy knew what was going to happen. There was no way he was going to kill innocent people.
Even if they spoke out against Niki, they don’t deserve what’s supposed to happen to them.
“I said I… I won’t do it.” Skeppy replied with a soft tone.
“What did you say? I didn’t quite catch that.” Niki seemed to be pulling something out of her pocket. A glint of silver caught Skeppy’s eye.
He drew himself up, summoning the dregs of his courage. “I said no, Nihachu” The Queen seemed startled for a moment, thrown off by the use of her full name.
Niki tightened her grip on whatever she was holding. Skeppy immediately regretted saying no. Then again, would this time be any different?
Pulling out what seemed like a knife from her pocket, Niki leaned closer and put the edge of the blade under Skeppy’s chin.
"Last chance, darlin'" Skeppy winced at the thin trickles of blood running down his throat and undoubtedly staining his lab coat.
"I said no." Skeppy dragged his cerulean eyes to Nikki's chocolate brown. Where mirth and joy had once danced, remained only fury tinged with insanity.
“Alright then, you asked for this.” Niki’s smile widened. Giving Skeppy no time to react, a sharp pain hit his right eye. Then, something ran down his cheek. He couldn’t tell whether it was blood or tears.
It felt like he was dying. What had even happened? Niki only seemed to smile at Skeppy’s cries for help. The pain never stopped. The pain only worsened as he opened his eyes. Then, Skeppy realised.
Why is blood running down my cheeks?
I don’t have vision in my eye!
“Just remember, YOU brought this on yourself, it’s your fault.” Niki said with a grin, before holding Skeppy’s hands together again. She grabbed the knife again, and cut a slit on his neck. Niki was surprisingly happy. Seeing someone suffer. It’s what made her happy.
She enjoyed watching Skeppy beg for mercy, for her to leave him alone. Even right now, Skeppy was begging for her to stop. His attitude from earlier strangely disappeared. How surprising.
“P-please Niki, it hurts.” Skeppy said with the little energy he had left. He slowly faded out of consciousness. “W-why’d you do this?” he asked again. Niki was genuinely surprised that she brought Skeppy down this easily.
“Well, now you know what happens when you disobey my orders” Niki said, while looking at Skeppy.
Then, the world faded to black.
~~~~~
Bad had finished sparring with Dream again, and was heading to Skeppy’s lab. He was not ready for what he was about to see.
Upon opening the door, he saw Skeppy. Bad’s hand flew to his face, taking in the sight of his best friend. Skeppy’s eye was covered in blood, his neck also bleeding crimson. He picked Skeppy up, not caring about all the blood that was soaking into and undoubtedly staining his shirt.
Bad finally arrived home and placed Skeppy on his bed. He didn’t mind that he’d have to sleep on the couch if Skeppy didn’t wake up. Bad got some medical supplies to tend to Skeppy’s wounds. He cleaned the wounds first, then wrapped the bandages around.
“Who did this to you?” Bad asked, of course not expecting a response. There wasn’t anyone he could think of, nobody would do such a thing.
~~~~~
It was getting late, and Bad had to sleep too. He was heading to the couch in his room when suddenly, Skeppy grabbed his hand.
“P-please stay, I don’t want to be alone.” It came out as barely a whisper. Bad stilled, pondering his choices for a moment. Yes, Bad needed sleep, but Skeppy needed him.
Maybe he should stay, Skeppy was gaining consciousness and with what happened to him, he probably needed Bad.
He got onto the bed with Skeppy, while asking what happened. At least now he can get a proper answer.
Skeppy winced, his bright azure eye filled with pain.
“N-Niki she…”
“She..?” Bad gently nudged Skeppy, a silent plea to continue.
“ShewantsmetokillpeopleandabusesmewhenIrefuse” Skeppy breathed out in a rush, eyes downcast in shame. Bad gasped, thinking of how much pain his companion had had to endure in silence.
“Skeppy, why didn’t you tell me?” Despite his efforts to keep his voice as calm and soothing as possible, Bad grimaced at the hints of distrust that had snuck into his tone.
“I…”
“I didn’t want to bother you, and Iwaskindaworriedaboutwhatyouallwoulddo” Skeppy gasped for breath, clearly anxious.
“Skeppy, you know you can tell me about something like this anytime! Also, why are you worried about what we’d do?” Bad said, still processing all this information. Skeppy thought that telling him about what Niki did would bother him?
Knowing this information, Bad wanted to know more. What did Niki do before? Was she the one that broke Skeppy’s arm?
Before he could ask, however, he felt a weight press down against his side. Looking over, he saw Skeppy, fast asleep.
Bad sighed, brushing Skeppy’s bangs out of his face. I’ll find a way to deal with Niki tomorrow… For tonight, Skeppy deserves some rest.
~~~~~
Skeppy’s eye fluttered open, immediately crushing it shut again at the light illuminating the room. Lying in silence for a few moments, Skeppy sighed before attempting to sit up.
“FUCK” Skeppy yelped, feeling a sharp, throbbing pain where his right eye was supposed to be. Unconsciously, he lifted a hand to his wound, hissing when his finger was pricked by sharp crystalline… thing. Blood wasn’t crystal-like, right? Heaving himself out of the warm and very comfy bed with some difficulty, Skeppy staggered over to a mirror.
Forming around his injured eye and trailing down his cheek, dark vermilion gems tinged with cerulean arose, deadly sharp.
Skeppy whirled around, hearing a door open behind him. He relaxed minimally when his eye settled on Bad, not Niki.
Bad smiled gently at Skeppy, reaching out for a hug. Skeppy crushed against his friend, careful not to spear him with his blood-crystals.
“Hey, Skeppy. Sleep well?” Bad smiled down at his companion.
“Yeah”
“That’s great! It means you’re healing.” Bad sighed, reluctant to break the hug. Skeppy noticed him reaching over to grab several runes and potions, hand flitting over healing runes for just a moment before dismissing them.
“Where are you going?”
“To confront Niki.”
“WHAT?” Skeppy yelped, hands flying to Bad’s shoulders. “No- you can’t. She’s too strong for you-”
“That’s why we’re bringing Dream” Bad smiled gently, detaching Skeppy from him. Skeppy relaxed slightly at the thought of having their green-clad warrior friend on their side, but worried still.
“So many things could go wrong…”
“But so many things could go right. It’ll be worth it, you’ll see”
~~~~~
The walk to the throne room wasn’t really far. When they arrived, Dream was already there. They had already thought out their plan. Bad would talk to Niki, then Dream would put an end to Niki’s reign.
“Niki.” Bad stated, breaking the silence. The Queen smiled at the trio, eerily calm.
Skeppy stood behind Bad, trembling slightly and gripping his knife tightly.
“We’re here to stop you before you can hurt this kingdom any more than you already have.” Bad’s eyes narrowed, anger written across his face.
“Is that so?” Niki laughed, the tinkling sound filling the grand throne room. “Well good luck then, dearies”
~~~~ Bad End ~~~~
They were waiting for Dream to attack. Why was he not doing anything? Dream was supposed to come and…
Bad was caught off guard when Dream appeared behind him instead. He was stunned by something, giving him no time to react to the incoming blow. Dream’s axe sliced into Bad’s body, making a deep and irreversible wound. Dream snagged Skeppy before he could run.
Skeppy watched this happen, while there was nothing he could do. Bad had no healing potions. He couldn’t heal himself.
“See, Skeppy? I knew about your plan.” Niki walked over to Skeppy, with the same knife she used to stab his eye.
He tried struggling out of Dream’s grip, but failed. Niki’s silver blade pointed at Skeppy’s throat, nicking it. Niki watched a bead of rouge slip out, her dark red eyes hungry.
“I knew he would try to do something. I knew you would tell him.” Niki looked at the eye she stabbed. She remembered everything she did, that put a smile on her face.
“You know, now that I’ve been waiting almost forever, I decided to… change things up a bit.”
“Since you never gave me your crystal blood or killed those people, I think you’ll do it now.”
Skeppy was rethinking his decisions. Sure, he could’ve killed those people, but they were innocent people who just went against Niki’s new rules.
About his blood, the crystals hurt his neck and his eye. He would have to choose to suffer, or carry on the guilt of ending innocent lives.
Bad’s life also depended on what Skeppy chose. If he chose wrong Bad could-
No, he shouldn’t think negatively. He could stop Niki, right? If he gave Niki his power, she would kill everyone who spoke against her. Even if it’s reasonable. There was absolutely no way Skeppy would allow that to happen.
“I… I won’t do it. I won’t let you get all that power.” Skeppy said, almost immediately regretting his decision.
“Well then, that was your final chance. Dream, you can do it now.”
Suddenly, Skeppy felt lightheaded. Then, the world faded to black.
~~~~~
Skeppy woke up in a room, the only light came from a light above him, there were no windows. The light barely illuminated the room, but he noticed a paper. Skeppy shivered from the cold air in the room.
He picked up the note and read the message penned in dark red ink.
Skeppy, I made this note to let you know what will happen. Because of your choice, I decided to lock you here. I’ll take your blood crystals and combine them with someone else’s blood to gain my power. Now, whose blood am I using? Why of course, I’ll use Bad’s blood. I’ll also make sure you’ll suffer for your actions. With my power, I’ll make sure your life is miserable.
Remember, it was YOUR choice to make this happen. I’ll see you later =)
No… It can’t be happening! It’s all his fault. Skeppy can’t stop feeling guilt. If he just listened to Niki, his life wouldn’t be like this right now.
Everyone he loved is dead. All because of him.
~~~~ "Good" End ~~~~
(Aka Bad End part 2)
Dream rose up behind Niki, purple-enchanted axe slamming into her leg. Niki gasped, her red eyes widening in pain. Skeppy stepped out from behind Bad, disguising his fear with fabricated confidence.
"Your reign of terror is over, Niki. May your soul wander forever in distress." Skeppy swung his knife, burgundy blood staining the pristine blade. Niki's head fell off her body, her scarlet eyes glazed over and unfeeling.
~~~~
Puffy forced a smile, adorned in jewelry and embroidered silk. Her emerald eyes searched the crowd for Skeppy, eyes softening when she caught sight of the man, leaning heavily on Bad's shoulder.
From behind her, Eret's voice resonated throughout the room packed with civilians and warriors.
"I now crown you, Puffy of Ovine, Queen Puffy."
~~~~
Skeppy grinned nervously, his azure eye meeting Puffy's warm emerald ones. Despite having been there when Niki died, despite being the one who killed her, Skeppy just couldn't shake the feeling that the ex-queen was watching…
Shaking himself away from his suspicions, he once more brought his attention to the new queen. His breath caught. His eye widened. Puffy's eyes, still trained on Skeppy, glittered with sharp malice replacing warm sympathy. Puffy's ruby eyes bore into Skeppy, her lips curving into a smile.