Skeppy sat silently inside the grand opera-esk room, curled up in a chair just metres away from The Egg, otherwise minding his business with his nose in his phone. He wasn't doing much, keenly keeping tabs on his environment for any changes, just in case he needed to reach for one of the weapons he had littered near his side. Bad had gone out to convince Sam to join their cause, as he had been told ever so clearly, having been asked to cover for his place until he returned, hopefully with a new, powerful member of the Eggpire at that. He sipped at a can of soda he fetched himself earlier, only looking up from the screen of his device when he heard the familiar sound of footsteps. "Can I help you?" Skeppy asked blandly, uninterested, redirecting his gaze to his phone after a few seconds.

"The Egg called for me to defend it too," Antfrost spoke easily as he looked down at the small guy, his tail swishing slowly as he stretched. They may be allies, but the two of them never really got along. Antfrost didn't approve of Skeppy much, and as he hopped up to sit on the ridges of The Egg, he glared off at Skeppy as his tail swished. "You're annoying." He tsked out, feeling the being under him let out a soft grumble at its disciples arguing. His eyes glimmered as he crossed his arms, putting one leg over the other and just trying his best to ignore Skeppy since he never even wanted to work with him.

"Say what you want, but I haven't done much. You're just jealous that both Bad and The Egg trust me more," Skeppy snarkily responded in the same uninterested tone, continuing to scroll through his phone as if he had nothing better to be doing other than relaxing and taking it easy. Despite how appearances could be misleading, he was genuinely on guard, only pretending to have his guard down; it was his guarding style, one could say, and a very misleading one it was. "Anyways, have you heard from Bad recently? If not, I'll ask Punz to scout him out. He said he'd check in after a while if he was gone for longer than anticipated." He redirected, glancing up at the feline perching on The Egg with a cold and serious gaze.

The feline looked down at him with a matching gaze, but a feeling of utter [i boredom] was rising off of him as he tsked softly. "The Egg trusts you only because you're good at espionage, Skeppy. And you're in Bad's pants, so I don't blame him for trusting you. And we trust him to spread The Egg's message, hah!" He tapped his fingers on his arm before glaring at him as he tilted his head at him, narrowing his eyes. "Why were you even taken by our leader? All you do is laze about. Even I don't do that as much as you do, and I'm a cat."

"Oh, would you prefer if I waste my energy pulling off pointless, showy stunts?" Skeppy inquired as he raised a brow, letting out a long, tired yawn before sipping at his soda once more. He set his phone down, now redirecting a good majority of his apparent attention to Antfrost and their conversation, drumming his other hand against the wood of the chair he was curled up in. "I'd expect you of all people to understand that much, seems as if I was proven wrong though. If you [i really] need to know, it's a clever little tactic called misleading people, you should learn it sometime. It catches people off guard every time, unlike your measly attempts to do so." He added on with a muted hum, returning Antfrost's glare trifold before looking down to his hand and picking at the blood-red diamonds that grew on him out of boredom.

The feline rolled his eyes and jumped down in order to come closer to Skeppy, seeming to ignore The Egg's mild warning to stop arguing as his tail thrashed angrily. "You couldn't manipulate your way out of a paper bag, Skeppy." He growled as his ears flattened to his head, hearing The Egg's continued warning and just hopping back up onto it. Have the high ground always, that's what Antfrost had told himself. It'd be harder for your enemies to get to you if you did have it, he knew that much, but anyway. His eyes narrowed as his claws came out, snarling. "I don't understand why our leader keeps you around. You and Bad don't deserve to be part of the Eggpire, Bad least of all."

"To each his own opinion, I suppose. Don't go cursing Bad out like that, though, you wouldn't like the consiquences." Skeppy clicked his tongue in disapproval, shaking his head in the same manner as he hugged one of his knees to his chest, letting the other gently kick around under the chair. He ignored the throbbing in his head protesting their argument, downing the rest of his soda as if chugging water after taking ibuprofen for an intense headache. "All [i you] do is whine, complain, and bitch all day. You're not even that good of a fighter either; tis a shame for such a graaaaand feline. I'm surprised The Egg even [i wants] you around, let alone serve it." He sarcastically remarked with a scowl, managing to scratch off a decent quarter-sized chunk of diamond on his hand before flicking the sharp gemstone at Antfrost, a silent challenge of sorts.

He brought his shield up quickly before pulling his sword out, The Egg throbbing in disappointment but not intervening. If its disciples wanted to make fools out of themselves, it would wait and see who won. "You talk to [i me] about lazy, and yet you hardly go out and do things when The Egg asks! You just shrug it off on someone else!" Ant didn't sound very happy, his ears remaining pinned down on his head before he shook his head and tsked. He almost seemed to be wondering if Skeppy was even worth his time.

"Aww, the housepet is getting angry at an animated diamond. How sad," Skeppy recoiled with a roll of his eyes, sliding out of his seat and trotting over to grab himself another can of soda, downing about a fourth of it on spot before grabbing a bottle and spiking the drink. "I'd [i love] to see you nearly as loyal as Bad is, or guard it nearly as much as I do day-in and day-out... Oh, wait, I meant to say you [i could] be doing so, yet you choose not to. Sleeping and complaining are apparently more important to you, ain't that something? Some devote follower you are," He snarled out, baring his teeth as if he were a dog for a second, deciding to silence himself soon after by sipping at his spiked soda.

Ant twitched as he stared at him, glaring daggers at him. "I'm more loyal than you and Bad ever will be. I'm going to kill you." He growled angrily, tackling Skeppy down and quietly holding him down as his eyes glowed angrily. "I'm going to kill you." His voice sounded angry as he bit down on Skeppy's shoulder, growling and pulling his head back in order to rip the flesh off of him angrily. Ant knew he would probably be punished for this, but did he care? No. Antfrost was angry.

Skeppy let out a growl of pain and sheer hatred, glaring furiously at the feline who had him down to the ground. The crown he always wore atop his head having fallen off and slowing rolling around on its rim like a coin would, settling in the sticky mess that the spiked soda made when he spilt it a result of the tackle. His sarcastic and cocky demeanour snapped into shards right then and there, swiftly becoming as cold as his typical body temperature, driving a firm kick to Antfrost's gut, uncaring that technically it was a dirty move. He had to get the [i cat] off of him, which was exactly what he was [i going] to do.

A soft winded noise came from him, but he growled as he held him down tightly. "I'm gonna fucking kill you...you don't deserve to be here." He growled at him, his tail thrashing angrily as he raised his sword and put it to Skeppy's neck. He seemed genuinely ready to fight Skeppy, his eyes flaring red with a grin. "I'll take your blood and give it to The Egg, feed you to the thing you supposedly devote yourself to. Wouldn't that be such a fitting end for you?"

Skeppy snarled out, glancing around for some sort of solution to his problem, said problem currently being Ant and the threat to his life. Using more than one brain cell, theoretically for once in his life, he got a spark of an idea; come to find that later the [i pun was intended]; and it earned a chuckle from him. The diamond golem reached over to grab the can he had dropped, just barely able to grab it, before forcefully chucking it back at the alcohol arrangement he himself had set up; after [i begging] Bad to let him do so, of course, but the demon wasn't easy to convince. A good majority of the delicate glass bottles all came toppling down, some of which having a harsh enough of a fall that the alcohol splashed on them both, coating them with the easily flammable liquid. He reached into his pockets and sifted around for a millisecond, pulling out the lighter he carried around back when Quackity and him would chill and smoke together, lighting it in one swift motion. "I'll give you two options and two seconds to answer. One, continue attempting to threaten me and willing let me burn the place to the ground, with you and I in it as a result. Or, two, back off, help me clean up, and I won't usher a word about this to Bad. Well, I won't twist the story any; he's much more likely to believe me than you, after all. So, what'll it be [i cat?]"

A soft growl escaped him as he stared at the lighter, letting go of him after a moment before standing up and brushing himself off. The Egg began to pulse more as it filled their heads with scalding insults and growls, Ant gripping onto his head as it summoned Bad. The demon was one of its most devoted followers, the person trusted with spreading its cause around the SMP. It wanted him there now, and Bad soon emerged from the entrance as Antfrost ended up on the ground by then. Skeppy wasn't punished as harshly, but he still got an even worse headache out of it.

Skeppy had curled into, essentially, a ball of pain by the time Bad had returned, shifting uncomfortably as he rubbed his temples in a desperate attempt to ease the headache that throbbed in his head. It didn't help that Ant had bitten a chunk out of his shoulder either; something which he wouldn't be quick to forgive, even if it was barely more diamond than skin; but he could take care of that [i after] the throbbing had subsided. The diamond golem glanced up to Bad for a quick moment, but he redirected his gaze to Antfrost, silently glaring as he blamed him for the root cause of his headache. Thankfully, he had taken enough time to put his lighter out and tucked it away, thusfar keeping true to his word.

"What happened?" Bad demanded as soon as he got into the area, his demon tail swishing angrily as he gave both of them a cold stare. The demon could still be kind at times, but his personality had warped into one that was much colder than even Skeppy usually was. Ant growled as he looked up at Bad, opening his mouth to speak before the demon held up a hand. "And don't give me any of that "he started it" BS. Just tell me [i what happened."] His tone was stern like he was scolding a couple of children for eating cookies before dinner. Which he had done before, back when Sapnap was merely a child.

Skeppy quietly looked back and forth between Bad and Ant, internally debating between being his usual trickster self or simply come clean and avoid beating around the bush. On one hand, he wanted revenge for the shitstorm Ant had put the both of them through, but on the other hand he was too well aware now was not the time for fun and games given how angry Bad seemed to be. With a sigh, Skeppy undid the coiled ball he had made of himself, picking his sticky, alcohol-covered crown off the floor, attempting to clean it with a somewhat dry sleeve. "We got into an argument and let the heat of the moment get to us. I threatened to set the place on fire at one point after breaking those bottles because things got too heated," Skeppy answered with the half-story, having decided to cut Antfrost some slack and 'take one for the team' as one would say, gesturing over to the assortment of broken alcohol bottles beside him as evidence of his own actions. He just hoped Bad wouldn't go [i too] livid with anger, though even Skeppy would understand if he did. After all, the diamond [i had], marginally, threatened The Egg in the process of claiming to light the place up with flames.

Ant didn't speak, knowing that the demon could and would kick his ass if he needed to. Bad's eyes flared with anger as The Egg provided a bit of testimony as well, grabbing Skeppy by the collar and pulling him close as he growled. "I can understand getting angry, but threatening our [i leader] as well as one of the other foolish disciples?! What the HELL, Geppy?!" Bad [b really] didn't sound happy, Ant trying to sneak away before Bad's head snapped to look at the feline. He raised one of his hands and shot a crossbow bolt into Ant's shoulder. [i "You're not going ANYWHERE."]

"I did what I had to do; you know as well as I that it can survive a silly fire! I would have put it out quickly anyway!" Skeppy coldly spat out, evidently unappreciative of the rough response he was given more so than usual, going as far as letting out a full-fledged, pissed growl when the demon shot a crossbow bolt into Ant's shoulder. It was [i some] sort of karma for having bit into his shoulder, he supposed, though it didn't make him any less angry. If anything, it infuriated him ever more, his patience having already been seriously tested that day. "What, would you have [i preferred] if The Egg lost one of its most loyal guards at the hands of another disciple?! Quite the heartless freak you are, betcha'd like to see me hop into another lava pool too." Skeppy hissed in displeasure, forcing his way out of Bad's hold on his collar and furiously walking away, swiping one of the rare non-broken bottles and placing his crown atop his head once more along his way. He [i needed] to calm down and cool off, and he didn't give two fucks at the moment if Bad shot a bolt at him as a result, otherwise he felt like he would go mental and attempt to simply [i completely get rid of] his problems. Skeppy was no strong fighter after all, and even if he wanted to, it wouldn't be with his best interest in mind; so, he opted for the somewhat more peaceful route: fleeing.

Bad took a couple of angry breaths before directing the center of his anger to Antfrost, growling angrily and tackling the feline down as The Egg's anger bled into his own. His eyes glimmered with anger as the sounds of demonic screeching and Ant's growling and screaming followed Skeppy until he was too far away to hear it. It took a while for anything to happen, Bad came to stand near Skeppy as he looked over at him. The blacks of his outfit had a couple of white splotches on them where the Egg had taken the red out of Antfrost's blood.

Skeppy was wordlessly sitting on the floor, closing up a first aid kit he noticeably had used to treat and bandage the gash on his shoulder, deciding not to acknowledge the other presence in the room until he slipped his slightly dampened hoodie back on. Popping the cork on the wine he managed to salvage and downed a few gulps; wine wasn't as strong as he wanted at the moment, much to his distaste, but he wasn't going to complain about it given the fact he couldn't exactly pick anything else. "Rich of you to dare be around me right now," Skeppy grumbled out with his brows furrowed together, clearly displeased, but not nearly as furious as he was before.

A quiet sigh escaped him as he looked down, seeming a bit hesitant to speak before sighing. "I'm sorry for being so angry earlier, Skeppy. I didn't want to snap on you like that." He spoke lightly, seeming a bit upset still, but sighed out slowly as he closed his eyes. He honestly wasn't sure how to continue, just setting a bag down next to Skeppy before looking down at him. "Peace offering, I guess." He mumbled quietly, walking off in order to commune with The Egg. His wings flapped softly as he sat on it, closing his eyes as bloodvines attached to him.

Skeppy eyed the bag that was set next to him before glancing back at Bad walking away, humming out a somewhat surprised note. He didn't pay the bag any mind at first, rather focusing on his still-throbbing head and trying to relive that buzzing pain. What better way to remove said pain than using an addictive substance? That was his answer, quietly sipping from the bottle up until the headache wasn't bothering him as much, stopping soon afterwards. No way he was going to get full-on drunk around Bad; that would end terribly, he just knew it. Curiosity was eating at now, earning Skeppy to set down the wine and pull the bag closer, peeking his head inside to see what was inside. If it was a supposed peace offering, surely it was worth his time, right?

It was a bunch of muffins flavored with Skeppy's favorite flavor, some Shark Bite ice cream as well as a couple of one-person bottles of alcohol. Some pretty expensive stuff too, one wondered how he'd gotten this much. At least it was a good gift for the most part, even if it was a bit confusing given that he usually hated it when Skeppy drank. When anyone drank, actually. His eyes glimmered as he heard the bag moving, confused but just silently sighing.

Skeppy rummaged through the bag in his lap, a soft, childlike smile soon coming to his face upon noticing how many of his personal favourite goodies it contained. After a few moments of silent debating with himself about what he should mercilessly devour first, he pulled out one of the muffins and quietly munched away at the muffin top. The ice cream could be put in the freezer and enjoyed at a later date. Plus, the muffins were probably made by Bad, which only made the apology more heartfelt in his opinion. It took Skeppy a few minutes, but he walked back to The Egg while dragging the bag with him, looking up to where Bad perched on it. "You're forgiven if I am." He said simply, finding no need to say much more than that, especially since he was happily nibbling at the muffin.

"You have my forgiveness, Skeppy. I see you're enjoying the muffins?" His eyes flicked down at Skeppy as he hummed lightly, his wings flittering softly while he flew down to stand in front of Skeppy. He had a sort of rosary in his hands but it was egg-shaped, a religious signal of sorts. Given Bad's odd habit of dressing up like a priest, he was clearly trying to show The Eggpire as a form of...religious place? It was definitely odd.

"M'yeah, ver pwetty goov," Skeppy answered with a nod and a mouth filled with the last few bites of one muffin, already reaching inside the bag for another. He didn't bite into it quite yet, though, instead curiously eyeing Bad's outfit, specifically the rosary he held. Skeppy didn't offer out a comment on it despite eyeing it down, rather preferring to munch down on the new muffin he held in his hands. "So, how'd it go with Sam? Were you able to make any progress converting him?" The diamond hybrid curiously asked, brushing off the arguments he had been in that day as if neither were anything serious, taking another bite of his muffin and humming out in bliss at the taste. Orange chocolate, weirdly enough one of his favourite muffin flavours.

"Don't eat them too fast," Bad warned before sighing, closing his eyes as the bloodvines tightened around his arms as if trying to comfort him. "No, I didn't manage to convert him. He had a dog around, and he kept clinging to it. It was annoying." His tail swished angrily like a cat's, letting out an angry growl before taking a soft breath and letting it out. "Hopefully Ant will learn his lesson while inside The Egg. It chose the proper punishment for our feline ally, and I approved."

Skeppy hummed out, seeming to take Bad's warning as he slowed down his eating pace, nibbling at the muffin every so often now rather than greedily gobbling it down in a matter of seconds. He sighed at the news that Bad hadn't been able to convert Sam, though he didn't dare to comment on it considering that was Bad's proclaimed personal project to tackle. "I'm guessing I'll get my own fair share of a punishment sometime then? All I got was a throbbing headache, but that's nothing compared to Ant's, and technically [i I] was the one to anger [i him]..." Skeppy mumbled out quietly, softly, as if afraid of his punishment for his own actions.

"I did put in a bit of a word for you. The most you'll probably get is a few minutes inside, while Ant...well...I'm sure he'll be fine after a few days." He chuckled gently, his tail swishing slowly before he glanced at Skeppy. "...The Egg doesn't mind us leaving together as long as I keep an eye on you. We could go do something fun together if you'd like. It's been a while, you know." He spoke after a moment, Bad's original personality shining through a bit before the bloodvines tightened on him and he winced a bit at the stinging headache he got for a moment.

Skeppy fell into a wordless silence, staring down at the floor beneath his shoes while taking the last few final bites of his second muffin. "It didn't seem to approve of that idea very much..." He muttered out in the same hushed tone he had spoken in with his last reply, shifting the bag between his fingers as if it was something that was meant for him to toy and fiddle with and wasn't mere plastic. Skeppy looked back up to Bad after a few moments, his face emotionally blank now, "The only reason for me to [i leave] The Egg is to help convert more people or gather supplies, Bad. Otherwise, it needs me to stand watch and guard, you know this." He stated matter-of-factly, only further falling expressionless with every word. As much as his old self would have jumped at the offer, his current self wouldn't- couldn't- too devoted to bother leaving unless specifically asked.

Bad had fallen silent once again, opening his wings and flapping up to sit on top of their leader figure. "We follow The Egg's will." Was all he said as his eyes closed and stayed closed, letting his emotions connect with the red figures'. He put his hands together and quietly held his symbol there, his wings and tail shifting a bit while he made sure The Egg hadn't just eaten Antfrost. Bad knew that they were all angry at the feline, but they needed Antfrost as much as they needed everyone that worked with The Egg.