More time passed.
Of the few new proxies Slender Man had acquired, they couldn't be relied on to show up. It didn't help matters when Slender Man went hunting them down, he always got attacked by his shadow enemy. But ever since the end of his Jeff proxy-making attempt, Slender Man seemed to be free from her attacks within his own stomping grounds.
Welcome as her absence was, it was puzzling. Had it been Jessica Smith? Had she been intimidated at last when Slender Man had tried to enlist Jeff, even though that had failed? Well, no matter, he had tried to contact someone else he knew was far more powerful than Jeff. He had yet to hear back from that entity, but with any luck, that would be just a matter of time.
He decided to prove himself worthy of his would-be helper's attention by doing what he did best, torturing and killing people.
This time, he added a twist. After he was done with Katie Jensen, Wren, Chloe, and eventually Hallie Knudsen and her friend Tom and little sister Lizzie, he time-travelled them into the summer of the next year. This was an attempt avoid detection and responsibility and perhaps buy him some time until he could get help fighting his new enemy..
During this time, some other proxies had compared notes with each other, and had met someone who revealed that all of their misfortunes which Slender Man had pretended to be comforting them over, were misfortunes he had actually caused in the first place.
Rob Mortonson for instance. His grandma told him when she had recovered enough from a stroke, said she had been horrified by the sight of something moving in the trees near her window. The sight of the tree moving of its own free will had occurred right before her stroke.
Amber Jackson's father died in what was thought to be a freak construction accident, where another crew member who had been thought of as a good worker but mentally delayed, had reported seeing a tall, faceless man, standing on the roof and pushing Mr. Jackson to his death.
Erin Blake heard these stories from Amber and Robert, and started putting her own story together. Slender Man must've been there right after the car crash that put her in the hospital for weeks, and had killed her mother. Though the vehicle had been tampered with, there had been no one with the motive or knowhow. No one, but the being only Erin had seen just before the car skidded into a tree. Slender Man.
These three got together one afternoon as soon as school let out, and headed for Slender's woods with a very different mission than the one Slender Man had planned for them that night. They chose an afternoon time because they believed Slender Man was most active and dangerous at night. If they were really fortunate, he might be asleep during the day.
They were correct this time. with no sign of Slender Man, they quickly got down to business.
Slender Man's sleep was interrupted by the smell of smoke.
A quick search revealed that a fire was burning in his woods. It wasn't nearly as big as the fire that destroyed his mansion, but set right in among all these trees meant it could end up far worse, and he didn't have the means to stop it.
As he retreated, he caught up with the three ex-proxies as they made a run for it.
"You set that fire!" He bellowed at them.
They only continued running.
It had to be them. Slender Man could just tell. There was no one else around, and as far as he was concerned, they had guilt written all over them.
They didn't stop when Slender Man overtook them and demanded, "Put that fire out! or you will be thrown in to it, you useless maggots!" However, he found he couldn't disorient them the way he had in the past, and this puzzled him. But there was no time to worry about that now.
"She was right, this is all your fault!" Robert Mortonson retorted. "You tried to kill my Grandma."
"And you did kill my mom!" Erin said.
"And my dad." added Amber.
Slender Man tried the guilt-trip tactic next. "This is how you treat me after all the comfort I gave you?"
"Yeah, comfort, with an ulterior motive!" Erin shouted bitterly.
The three scrambled in different directions just as Slender Man was about to reach out and grab them with extended tendrils.
Slender Man was not fazed. He watched smugly after them, for he was sure they would be headed for trouble soon enough.
A few moments later, the three were seen in the distance, running away.
"What the heck?" Slender Man huffed.
"Yeah, the heck is, Slender Boy," came a voice from right next to him, "if that your stupid little booby traps have been rendered useless."
Slender Man flinched. He thought he was finally rid of that pesky shadow.
He didn't have long to think about that because another voice added, "And this is for what you did to my Cameron!" This was a decidedly tiny being that no one saw right away.
"Wait!" the other voice cried out.
It was too late.
There was a shock of electricity, and Slender Man collapsed in a convulsing, groaning heap. The convulsions lasted several seconds, and then he lay still.
The tiny creature ran all over him, biting off numerous tendrils.
Curious about the turning of events, the ex-proxies ran back the way they came, and saw what was happening.
"Oh, it's a little raichu! Awww!" Amber exclaimed. She was joined by the other two ex-proxies as they marvelled at the mouse-sized creature with the long tail, sparking cheeks and bifurcated ears, as it scurried along, biting tendrils off at their base.
"Her name is Jessica Raichu." said the woman who brought her there. "Her beloved owner Cameron was killed by Slender proxies as a human sacrifice, and for his enjoyment."
"And my name is Jessica Smith," said another woman, emerging from her hiding place among some trees, with a backpack.
"Sorry about this, Jessica," said the first woman urgently, "but it's off.
"Because of the fire." Jessica theorized.
"Yes. Take your companions back home. It's way too dangerous."
Sorry about that." said Robert."
Never mind, just hit the trail before it's too late. Man, you guys really know how to bollox things up. Jessica R. wasn't supposed to go in for the kill yet, either. I wanted you and your lot to have your say before she zapped him unconscious."
"I've waited long enough." the raichu replied, unapologetically, and continued taking out her rage on Slender Man.
"What are you going to do?" Robert wanted to know.
"Try to put out that fire." the came the answer.
Then what? Erin asked.
"You will find out in time. You just can't be here to witness it personally, not if you want to live another day."
Jessica Smith shuddered. "What is it going to be, a nerve gas attack?"
"You will learn what it is from a safe distance." came the firm reply. "Now get going!"
"Okay, let's go." said Jessica Smith, putting the squirming backpack on.
What's in there?" Robert asked.
"Furbies." Jessica Smith answered.
"Never mind." the first woman answered at the same time.
"So that's it? We don't get to do anything?" an incredulous and very disappointed little voice issued from Jessica's pack.
"I'm afraid so, Kitri," Jessica Smith replied. "Guys, Elf isn't kidding. There's a huge fire. It might look far enough away now, but it could always flash up.
"All that training - for this? Oh I can't believe it."
"Aww, she's so cute! Amber exclaimed.
"Shut up!" Kitri snapped from inside the pack.
"What did you say?" Elf frowned at her.
Kitri, cool it." said Jessica Smith.
"Which way do we get out of here?" asked Robert.
Elf rolled her eyes. "You were his proxies for how long? You should know your way around by now.
This earned her a deer in the headlights look from all three proxies.
Elf sighed in exasperation. "That way." The instruction was issued with a gesture indicating a narrow but clear path.
"Thanks." said Erin.
"Yeah, thanks. Bye." Robert added.
The ex-proxies ran off.
Elf dabbed her forehead with the back of her hand. "You too. Get out of here!"
"Come on then,," Jessica Smith looked at her, "Let's go together."
"I've got to try waving this fire out." Elf answered.
Jessica Smith nodded. "Sorry about Kitri's outburst."
"That's okay, let-downs are never easy. Later." the elf motioned her friend to leave.
Jessica and her friends had only just cleared the area when the fire reached a tank full of gas.
This caused the fire to explode, covering most of the forest within moments.
The elf shuddered, and the tiny raichu quickly abandoned Slender Man to return to her owner. They had no choice but teleport out of there.
At that same moment, Slender Man and the man who was to help him, met through a timewarp as they consolidated what powers they had in order to escape their demize.
They found themselves standing on a barren island.
"You, my slender friend, must lay low until I can re-conquer this galaxy. Then you and I will settle our enemies once and for all."
Slender Man caused writing to appea on a sandy colored pillar nearby, "If you can help me re-create the wood I lost, and allow me to do with your empire's children what I please, I will regain my power and use it to help you re-conquer the adult population. The way to get to them may ultimately be by getting to their children."
The old man grinned. "Now that we have established this connection between us, you and I can move forward, but before we do, we have to move back. I need to establish trust among certain people from a certain planet, and you need to help me convince your greatest enemy you do not exist. I also need to convince her I am on her side, against evil. It is the only way we can save ourselves long enough to begin our eventual conquest.
"What can I do in the meantime?" Slender Man projected the writing again.
"Help me back on your own planet. You cannot go back to your woods, the fire has burned them all up and now I see they have all been washed away by some ocean.
That was true. The woman had come back a short time after the fire scared her off, and she put out the remains of the smouldering ruins, which were then flooded out, washed away, and turned into nothing.
"If I can't go back to my woods, what else is there on Earth?"
"There is a child I would like you to visit along with me. Do not kill her, for I sense a great power in her, so that when she is old enough, she could be far greater use to us alive than dead. I will keep earning her trust, you can enjoy the progress, as well as other benefits. the old man drawled.
"She will eventually be mine." Slender Man wrote.
"She will be ours...Yours, eventually, once I have completed my recovery of my empire, the child will be yours to do whatever you want with. Until then, and between your accompanying me on visits to the girl's house, you'd best spend time in dormancy. I shall awake you when you are to see the girl, and help you go dormant when we leave, so you will not suffer boredom, and you can heal and regain power. Dormancy is also the best way for you to stay concealed from anyone who might come looking for you."
Both evil entities laughed.
"
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