~Once Upon a Skephalo~

~Chapter 8~

Bad looked up at the maze before looking back at Skeppy.

"What do you say, wanna race?" Skeppy asked again.

"Sure," Bad said. "But only if you give me a ten second head start."

"What? A head start?!"

"Well, yeah, this maze is pretty big, and you probably have the path memorized," Bad reasoned. "Besides, ten seconds isn't that much."

"Fine," Skeppy said. He stood in front of the entrance, preparing to start.

"Wait." Bad had an idea. "If I win, I get to ask you a question, and you have to answer it. Deal?"

"You're not gonna win," Skeppy laughed. "Like you said, I probably have the path memorized."

"Then there shouldn't be any reason not to agree to the deal," Bad said, crossing his arms.

"Fiiiine," Skeppy huffed. "But what do I get if I win?"

"Bragging rights. I'll have to live my entire life knowing that I lost to you in this race."

"Whatever," Skeppy muttered. "It's not gonna matter anyway; I'll win."

That's what you think, Bad thought. "Okay, I'm gonna start now," Bad said, entering the maze. "Remember, I get a ten second head start.

Skeppy watched as Bad disappeared into the maze, and he began counting.

One,
Two,
Three,
Four...

"...five, six, seven, eight," Bad counted as he walked down one of the pathways. He had a plan, and as long as Skeppy didn't immediately rush to the middle, he could win.

Nine,
Ten.

Skeppy started through the maze, taking the familiar twists and turns. He planned on taking his time. He had seen the way Bad went, and it led to a dead end. The correct path wound around in almost a full circle before turning in on itself. The path was long, but Skeppy had it memorized, and he didn't expect Bad to find it before he finished. This was going to be easy.

After about fourteen more minutes of walking, he knew he was almost at the end. Just one final turn and the gazebo would be in sight. He followed the path down, turned, and stopped in his tracks. The gazebo was there, and sitting inside of it was Bad, a mischievous smile on his face.

"Hello," Bad greeted Skeppy as he walked over. "I made you a flower crown while I waited." He held up a colorful flower crown.

Skeppy took it, looking very perplexed. "Thanks, but... How... How did you get here? And still have enough time to make a flower crown?" He turned back to look at the path he had come from. "I took the only correct route, and I didn't see you anywhere... Which way did you go?!"

Bad giggled. "I took a shortcut," he said. "Through the hedges."

Skeppy spun back around to look at Bad, and saw tiny bits of leaves and twigs stuck to Bad's clothes and hair.

"Oh... But wait, that doesn't count then!" Skeppy exclaimed. "That's not fair!"

"You never said I couldn't do it, so technically it still counts. You just said it was a race to the middle," Bad said.

Skeppy opened his mouth to object, but stopped. Bad was right. He had outsmarted Skeppy.

"Okay, you win," Skeppy grumbled. He sat down next to Bad on one of the iron chairs at the round iron table in the middle of the gazebo.

"Yay!" Bad smiled. "And guess what? I get to ask you a question now, and you have to answer it, truthfully, no matter what!"

Skeppy sighed. "Well, what do you want to ask?"