Strange, winged humanoid creatures had been clear-cutting Slenderman's favorite forest. Enraged, he sent out The Observer to stop them, but he was soon overwhelmed by the seemingly endless horde of ravenous monsters and Slendy lost contact with him. He sent out the rest of his Proxies, and they too disappeared. Soon, the only ones remaining were Hoody and Masky. Now realizing this mission was too dangerous for mortals, Slenderman decided to enter the fray himself and see what had happened to the rest of the Collective. He instructed Hoody and Masky to stay in the cabin and he put on his best suit.
Upon exiting the cabin, he was greeted by a tank the size of a three-story house, with rotating cannons mounted along the sides, a decorative wolf's head in the front, and the biggest turret he had ever seen mounted on the back. And every single weapon was pointed straight at him. The wolf's "nose" opened, revealing miniguns. Slenderman dodged the bullets with ease, not like he needed to. But he needed to get the tank away from the cabin. Away from Hoody and Masky. He couldn't risk losing his last Proxies.
He lured the tank far away from the cabin, and towards the riverbank about five miles away. Suddenly, the miniguns stopped firing, and the tank halted. Slenderman heard yelling from inside it, and the cannon on the top started to glow and hum. Something about this made him nervous. He really should get out of the way. But that was ridiculous, he was immortal! Nothing could hurt him...right? Just to be on the safe side, he should destroy the thing.
He changed his size to that match that of the tank. He heard audible gasps and screams from inside the machine when he did so. Then, he extended his tentacles and began to grasp the tank with them, intending to toss it into the river. Just then, however, the colossal cannon fired a blindingly, impossibly bright blast of red light straight into his solar plexus. He was catapulted backwards 50 feet, shrinking back to his normal size and releasing the tank. What the?! That...actually HURT! It hurt like HELL! He looked down. There was a large, nasty hole in his abdomen where the beam had made impact, revealing one of his three livers. His black blood dripped from the hole.
Well shit, this wasn't good. These creatures had managed to develop technology that could actually injure him, and badly too. And he was supposed to be invincible. They were certainly not a force to be trifled with. Still, he had to stop them. This forest had been his favorite place to hide. It had always been so beautiful, so unspoiled. Like all forests were before the humans became so greedy and thoughtless. And Masky...he had always loved swimming in the lake. There would always be other forests, but they just weren't the same. He couldn't just let those monsters destroy his sanctuary.
The "mouth" of the wolf head opened, and a ladder rolled down. Dozens of the winged creatures came out of the tank and approached Slenderman. Now that he could actually see them rather than just sensing them, something about their snow-white skin, long greasy black hair and round, baggy bloodshot eyes seemed familiar to him somehow. They were brandishing what seemed to be handmade AK-47s in their clawed hands. They surrounded him. At first he thought of wiping them all out with a single swing of his tentacles, but considering the little trick with the cannon they had just pulled on him, he decided pissing them off even more was a bad idea. Besides, he needed to know what happened to his Proxies. Maybe if he acted along as their prisoner he would get some damn answers. Plus, in his injured state he wasn't exactly in a position to argue. He continued to sit down, not moving a muscle. Though it wasn't easy, that hole really smarted.
One last individual came out of the tank. This one looked a bit different than the others. It was brandishing a gold-toned cane tipped with a blue orb instead of a gun. It was wearing a white lab coat, and its right eye was replaced with some sort of camera-like device with a shiny red lens. It had a short black goatee, and its sharp teeth were made of metal.
"Ah, wonderful!" it said. "The Death Ray finally fired successfully without exploding! Its destructive power is even greater than I predicted; it's even stopped the mighty Slenderman!"
Slenderman slumped. "It's true, you've beaten me. Nobody's been able to do that before. But...why? Why are you attacking me? And why are you destroying my forest?"
"Tsk, tsk. I thought Slenderman knew everything. Well, allow me to explain. We Drones live underground, in structures made of layered wood pulp, much like paper wasps. Do you know how hard it is to find wood underground? Very, VERY hard."
"Then why are you destroying MY forest? Can't you just raid a lumber yard or something?"
"Oh, but our wood shortage isn't the only reason we're here. The Master is seeking you."
"Who, exactly, is this Master of yours and what does he want with me?"
"He didn't tell me. All he said was to subdue you and take you to him."
"Well, consider me subdued." Slenderman pointed to his gaping wound. "Lead the way. I promise, I won't pull any tricks."
"Very well. Troops, let us give him an escort to the camp."
The Drones climbed back up the ladder into the tank. The one with the goatee, who seemed to be the leader, went in afterwards. He asked Slenderman why he was stalling. "I don't need a ladder." He used his tentacles to boost himself up to the "jaw" platform. The ladder rolled back up, and the "jaw" closed behind them.
The inside of the tank, especially the control panels, had a distinctly "steampunk" feel, and it was not at all what Slenderman was expecting. "Sorry for not introducing myself before," said the goateed Drone, "I was instructed to fire first and ask questions later. I am Dr. Janus Alabaster, The Weapons Master. I am one of two Commanders of the Soldier class of Drones, and the inventor of this fine vehicle, the Giant Wolf."
"Who's the other commander?" Slenderman inquired.
"Lieutentant Georgi. But never mind that pompous fool, let's get this pile of junk started up." He raised his voice. "READY, GUYS?"
There was a chorus of shouts under them.
"READY!"
"What was THAT?!" asked Slenderman.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. The Giant Wolf runs on a battery powered by pedaling."
Slenderman facepalmed, or rather palmed his lack of a face. He'd never heard of something so utterly ridiculous in his five millennia of existence. THESE were the same creatures that had developed a ray gun powerful enough to punch a hole in the abdomen of a demigod?!
And yet, it worked. After five minutes of furious pedaling, the power meter was full and the tank drove like a dream. As he looked out of the cockpit window, Slenderman realized it wasn't just trees that were missing. He hadn't seen any animals either, not even birds. And Dr. Janus was right, he was supposed to know everything about people. Why couldn't he read the minds of the Drones? And why did he have a sense of deja vu whenever he saw one? And...OW! Shouldn't that damn hole in his abdomen have closed up by now?
Before long they reached a long stretch of tents by the lakeside. There were still trees standing around here, thank god. Dr. Janus stopped the tank, and they got out. Slenderman was escorted to a large tent with a royal purple velvet exterior.
Within it was a scene of incredible opulence. A glittering chandalier hung from the ceiling, Oriental rugs lined the floor, and there was a small four-poster bed lined with white silk sheets in the far corner. On another side of the room there was a 40-inch flat-screen TV with a DVD player, Blu-Ray player, PS3, Wii, and XBox 360. A tiger-skin rug and wicker chair lay in front of the entertainment center. And at the center of the room was a mohogany, claw-footed oblong dining table filled with a feast fit for a king, including an entire roast wild boar (no doubt from this very forest.) There were five matching chairs around it, and six cut-crystal wineglasses plus one cut-crystal shotglass. At the far end, in a gilded high chair, sat a small white creature with four arms and two legs, all stubby like those of an infant. It had large, heavy-lidded round pink eyes with a thick black "mask" around each one. And like the Drones, it had snow-white skin, a long tail that ended in two black stingers, long greasy black hair, and small black nostrils. Its lower lip was blood red.
"Thank you, Janus," said the creature in a surprisingly loud and deep voice, "please leave us alone now."
"As you wish, Master", Janus said, bowing, and he left the tent.
The creature turned its attention to Slenderman and grinned, revealing a mouth full of gleaming, pointy little teeth. "Come, Operator. Have a seat. Make yourself at home. You no doubt have questions." it sipped a bit of wine.
Slenderman sat opposite from the four-armed critter. He wasn't used to not knowing what was going on, and it was really upsetting him. "Well, for starters," he said, pointing to the dripping hole in his solar plexus, "I'd like to know why your goons did THIS instead of just taking me to you in the first place!"
"I knew you'd try to stop the logging operation, so I resorted to using force to...er...calm you down. But I'm sure what you REALLY want to know is what happened to your Proxies."
"Yes. What happened to them?"
"It has something to do with the fact that you can't read the minds of Drones. Or me."
"Uh...what?"
The creature dropped the shotglass it was holding and crawled right up to Slenderman. "Look, Slendy, I'll try to make it as simple as I can. And try not to laugh. I...am Jeff The Killer. I died, and was resurrected as a parasite that can mutate people and mentally control said mutants. When people are mentally linked to me, they're somehow immune to mental control from other entities. Like you, for instance."
Slenderman wasn't laughing. But only because he was choking on his own disbelief. There was no way this little creature was that boy with the carved smile and the white hoodie he had encountered years ago.
"You? You're Jeff The Killer? I don't believe it. Ouch..."
"I told you, I changed. Oh, I'll get that nasty old hole patched up for you. Anna!" He snapped his tiny fingers, and a golden statue with the body of a woman and the face and legs of a goat floated into the tent, sculpted in an indian-style sitting position. It had an emerald-like third eye in the middle of its forehead and two "main" eyes, which were closed. Wait, that was no statue! It was breathing!
"What do you want, Master?" it asked. Its voice had a reverberating echo to it.
"Heal our guest."
"Ah, the Slender Man. As you wish." A purple aura surrounded Anna, and her third eye glowed. In an instant, Slenderman's flesh was restored. He still felt weak, though.
"Is there anything else I can help you with?"
"No thank you, Anna. Please return to your meditation."
"Very well. Goodbye for now, Master. Oh, and by the way..."
One of Slenderman's cufflinks materialized in midair, hovering in front of him.
"I believe you lost this when the machine guns grazed you by the cabin earlier. You're welcome." She then exited the tent, and the cufflink dropped.
If Slendy had a face, there would have been a look of astonishment on it then. "But...how did she know? She wasn't even there."
Jeff smirked. "You're not the only esper around these parts."
"I don't understand it...that wound should have healed right up on its own..."
Jeff yanked a leg off the roast pheasant with all four hands, and tumbled backwards. He righted himself and started eating the leg. "*chomp* Well, it's not like you actually have much experience with getting hurt. Unlike me. *chomp* But I digress, let's get back to the topic at hand." He wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Ah. You see I..."
Anna poked her head back inside the tent. The third eye had a furrowed, worried expression. "M-master? May I speak with you a moment? In private?"
Jeff frowned. "It'll have to wait. I'm about to start the negotiations..."
"But this is urgent, Sir. It concerns our little...situation." She placed heavy emphasis on the last word, making
Slenderman realize it was a euphemism for something. But what?
"Very well. I'll have Overseer Margaret look after Slenderman till I come back. I'll meet you in your tent."
"Yes, Master. But please hurry." Anna exited again.
Jeff whistled loudly, and the ground trembled slightly five times.
"What was THAT?!"
"It's Overseer Margaret. She's very big. Don't let it upset you."
Boy, Jeff wasn't kidding. The blue-eyed behemoth was even taller than Slenderman himself, and her slender, antenna-like horns scraped the 20' velvet ceiling of the tent. "What did you call me for, Master?" she asked in a voice that was disproportionately gentle and soft.
"I am going to talk with Guru Anna about our..." he winked at her and gave the same emphasis on the word that Anna did, "situation and come right back to negotiate with our guest."
"OH! Ha ha! you mean the Pr..."
Jeff shot her the angriest expression Slenderman had ever seen, and his eyes flashed red. Margaret gasped and stumbled backwards a step. "Uh...er...yes. I mean the p-plank-cutting."
Jeff's eyes turned pink again, and his expression relaxed. "You are to tend to his every whim until I return."
"Y-yes, Master."
Jeff clapped his teensy hands. "Trans-PORT!" A pair of white-skinned humans that looked EXACTLY like Slenderman had remembered Jeff looking when he had first encountered him, except wearing dark shades, entered carrying a tiny rickshaw. One of them placed Jeff inside, and they carried him out of the tent. This was certainly a strange society that Jeff had set up.
Jeff and his goons were definitely hiding something from him. But since he couldn't read their minds and his omniscience was apparently gone now, he couldn't know what. His vision and hearing was like that of a mortal now; he could still see and hear without eyes and ears, but it was limited to what was immediately in front of and around him, like a human. In fact, most of his powers seemed to be gone or severely weakened. His tentacles worked fine though. Until whatever had happened to him wore off, he might as well make the best of Jeff's hospitality. "Margaret, can you get me some tea? Earl Grey with lavender, if you have any."
"Of course. One lump or two?"
Jeff was let off inside Anna's tent. The smell of incense filled it. Jeff crawled up to her. "You said you had an update about the..."
Anna pressed an index finger to her lips. "Shhhh, shhh, shhh shhh. We must talk with our minds. The Operator might hear us."
"Oh, all right." Jeff closed his eyes and relaxed. A glowing symbol shaped like an eye appeared on his forehead, and they started communicating via telepathy.
"What's so damn important about this that we have to use telepathy to talk about it, Anna?"
"I told you before how the death ray hurt Slenderman, didn't I?"
"Yeah, so?"
"Well, apparently it had a side effect."
"What sort of side effect?"
"It somehow removed most of his powers. I don't know if it's temporary or not, so we have to work quickl..."
"HA HA HA HA! EXCELLENT!" Jeff's creepy laughter was even worse in her mind than it was out loud.
"W-what's so funny, Master?"
"Do you realize what this means, Anna?!"
"Yes, of course. It means that if we work quickly enough, we can harvest the rest of the trees without Slenderman or his remaining Proxies opposing us..."
"NO! You FOOL! It means we can suck the forest totally dry and DESTROY the Proxies! And Slenderman too! With the Operator out of commission, the Proxies are weak. And to think, I was merely going to hold those brats for ransom."
"B-b-but what will happen to the remaining two Proxies? The ones in the cabin?" Anna asked with a tone of concern.
"Hoody and Masky? Mweh heh heh....I am going to have the Workers tear down the cabin and capture them. And in Slenderman's final, agonizing moments, I will force him to watch as I convert them into my servants."
"Master, d-do you think that's a good idea? He could still..."
"I HAVE SPOKEN. DO NOT ARGUE."
"Y-yes, master."
The telepathy session ended, and Jeff opened his eyes. He turned to the Dummy Jeffs. "Transport, take me to Captain Jack's tent."
"Yes, sir" they said in unison.
Anna slumped down, and pressed her face to her palms. What had she done?!
Written by laserpotato/Furbearingbrick.