Inner Demons 》Ticci Toby x Reader《 Savior Book 2

Chapter 8

In a flash of splinters and twigs, you dashed between EJ and Jeff. BEN and Toby were advancing on Jeff, who was switching from offense to defense and blocking their jabs with ease, a wicked grin stretched across his scarred face. You whirled on EJ and swung your stick, feeling the shudder that ran up your arms as it met the core of EJ's. He grabbed his stick at both ends and pushed you back, causing you to trip and allowing him the upper-hand. He aimed for your stomach but he stumble forward as his blow struck nothing but air, for you had dropped into a crouch at the last possible moment. You felt the rigid bark of the stick catch on your hair as it narrowly missed your head. With a grin, you took EJ's pause to leap forward into his knees and send him tumbling to the ground. In a flash you were on top of him, tree limb pressed to his grey neck.

"You've gotten good," he huffed breathlessly. Before you could respond, you were whisked into the air. You hit the ground on your back and rolled to the right to avoid Jeff's sharpened stick as he impaled the ground beside you. You closed your eyes and prepared for Jeff to mercilessly jab you with his branch but you never felt it. You looked up to see Toby holding him off. His movements were so swift they were almost invisible. As Toby press forward, Jeff was forced to take a few steps back to avoid being swept off his feet. You got back to your feet and pressed your back to Toby's, defending his blind spot from EJ, who'd regained his composure and was back in the action. BEN watched from the sidelines with his hands on his hips and whistled. 

"Damn, (Y/N), Toby, looks like you guys don't need me," he chuckled. "May as well join EJ and Jeff."

Neither you nor Toby protested the addition of an opponent. BEN ran at you and you held him back long enough for you and Toby to rotate a hundred and eighty degrees. With Toby now facing off with EJ and BEN, you separated yourself from Toby and lunged at Jeff. He sneered and twirled around you as you barreled toward him, too fast to turn as he dodged you. He struck the back of your knees hard with his branch and they gave out. You dropped to the grass with a hiss of pain as rocks and twigs tore holes into your jeans and scrapped against your skin. An elbow slammed into your back and you fell forward, grinding the rocks deeper into the skin of your knees. The wind was knocked from your lungs and you felt your lip split on the stick in your hand as you landed on it. With a gasp and a sputter, you thanked Zalgo that this was only a spar and not a real fight. Despite how tough Jeff was playing, you knew he was still holding back.

You staggered to your feet and wiped the blood from your mouth, letting your eyes flicker to Toby pinning BEN to a tree for a split second before devoting all of your attention to Jeff. Adrenaline pulsed through your body and your blood rushed in your ears. Aside from your bloody knees and aching shoulders, you were fairly unscathed. Jeff was positioned directly in front of you casually spinning his branch in his hand. Your eyes raked over him, searching for some weakness that would grant you an advantage. After a moment of sizing each other up, you realized that his breathing was uneven. He was getting tired. Although adrenaline was the only thing keeping you on your feet, you decided to take a tactical approach and tire Jeff out before you got too exhausted.

Time seemed to freeze and the next few moments passed in slow motion. You took a step towards Jeff. He grinned and dashed forward, slamming his tree limb into yours. A crack. Your branch exploded into splinters and chips. You dropped the two halves of your makeshift weapon and dashed to Jeff's right, making his lunge to his side. You circled him twice before making a break for the woods. As you ran with the smiling killer close behind you, the hairband that held your (Y/H/C) hair back snapped and it streamed out behind you like the tail of a feral canine. You heard Jeff's breathy chuckle behind you accompanied by the crashing of his footsteps. You waited until he began to fall behind before turning around. 

Jeff was panting and he'd dropped his branch somewhere along the way. Pausing for a moment only to allow him to jog to a stop, you ran back at him. He clumsily dodged your advance and swung a loosely clenched fist towards your shoulders and you parried to the right to evade the blow. He didn't stumble as you'd expected, but he did pause for half a second too long. You kicked his legs out from under him and sent him crashing to the forest floor below. He rolled over onto his back and waved his hands in surrender.

"You... win..., have... mercy, you crazy... woman," he panted and dropped his arms haphazardly at his sides.  You dropped to the ground beside him, sprawling out with your head nearly on his shoulder. When he turned and grinned, his pale face was inches from yours.

"That was pretty impressive," Toby laughed as he appeared above the two of you and offered his hand. You took it gladly and allowed him to pull you to your feet. BEN and EJ yanked a protesting Jeff from the grass and the five of you stared at each other for a moment, then laughed.

"Beating each other with stick," BEN chuckled, "Great idea, EJ."

"An effective way to avoid serious injury," EJ grinned.

You point to you now holey jeans and snorted, "Tell that to my knees."

"And your face," Toby smirked and ran a calloused finger over the cut on your lip.

"Wow, thanks," you growled and rolled your eyes.

"Let's get inside and clean up those knees, then we'll make Masky cook dinner," Toby smiled and gently draped an arm across your sore shoulders. As the five of you began the walk back to the mansion, you and Jeff exchanged a quick, respectful nod before sticking your tongues out at each other.