THE SLENDER...BOY? FINALE

Alex yelped in shock as Slender Boy appeared with his colorful brother only three feet away. Wh-wha…?

"Oh yeah! I did it!" Slender Boy cheered with a nonexistent smile of pride.

Splendor took a quick glance at his surroundings, and then squealed with delight, "SWEET RAINBOWS IT'S REAL LIFE!" throwing himself to the ground and making a grass angel.

"Splend, the DiMeNSioN is a real place too," Slender sighed with a nonexistant eye roll.

"Op-Operator! Help!" Masky cried, struggling wildly in the strings.

Alex knew he couldn't win this one. And it annoyed him a little.

"C'mon, Jay, let's go," He called, turning to run.

"But my balloon—"

"Forget the balloon! RUN!"

Hesitantly, Jay obeyed, running over to the other side of the playground with his friend.

"Op-Operator! Where were you?! I was-was scared so-something bad had happened!"
Masky cried, beginning to sob a little.

Slender Boy felt a twinge of guilt at his proxy's statement, growing his tendrils out to assist him with the binds.

"I'm sorry, Masky. I really am. I just had some important business to take care of," Slender explained, undoing the last of the proxy's binds.

The faceless boy gave a small, surprised, "Oof…!" as he was tackled over by his proxy, who was bawling pitifully now.

A hug? Slender had never had a hug before…at least not by a human (Splendor had done the horrendous act several times). It was kinda weird feeling, he decided. But…it seemed to make Masky feel better, so…it was ok. For now.

"Masky, calm down, please…" The proxy's master chuckled awkwardly, patting the masked boy's head. "It's ok. I'm here now."

After about five minutes, Masky had quieted down to a small sniffle.

"I-I'll always follow you, Operator."

"Thank you, Masky; that really means a lot," The faceless boy confessed with a small invisible smile. "I'll try to protect you in turn. AlWayS WatCHinG YoU."

"Daaaaaw," Splendor cooed from five feet away, stopping from his dandelion-picking activities to watch the two.

He quickly got up and left, however, at the intensity of the glare his older brother gave him.


Slender Boy was pondering several things while eating his child for dinner that night.
Why hadn't his father taken him to the SleNdeRdiMeNSioN like he had promised? And why were his parents not saying a word to him? Usually the dinner table was very chatty.

"…Slender," His father finally spoke up with a heavy sigh.

Slender Boy gave an internal gasp of shock at his father's tone. Oh, if Splendor had told him what they had done today, he would LITERALLY kill—

"Did I…do something?" The faceless boy asked carefully.

"What—no, son, you didn't. Just some…important news."

Oh. Was this bad or good? Slender couldn't tell at this point.

"Well, you see, Slender…" The boy's mother continued, "This evening we dropped by the dimension to talk with our bosses, and…well, they think it's in everyone's best interests if we moved to another area in the Human World."

Boom.

The shock that fell upon Slender Boy felt like a ton of bricks.

"Wha…what?"

"Yes, Slender. We've been in this area far too long now: they want us to move out; see what else this World has to offer. Also, the human law system around here is beginning to have several missing children reports. They're becoming suspicious."

Slender couldn't speak. He felt...like…he was in some sort of dreamlike state.

"You-you can't be serious. What…what about…"

About twenty tendrils burst from the boy's back with the sudden explosion of rage that had entered him.

"What about how I feel?! Did anyone think about consulting with me about this?!"

Everyone at the table was shocked speechless at Slender Boy's outburst.

"Slender Boy, calm down now." Mr. Slenderman growled warningly after a long pause, growing two of his own tendrils and giving his son a pat on the back to tame the wild tendrils. "Why do you even care this much?"

"M-my proxy! I can't just leave him! I PROMISED him!" Slender screamed, throwing himself into a total tantrum.

"You can make new proxies—"

"I want Masky! I don't want anyone else! He's my proxy! My only proxy!"

The parents sighed, knowing Slender was stubborn and couldn't break out of this state easily. So they ushered the other boys back into their rooms and left him by himself.
Slender was beside himself. Slenderpeople could never handle strong emotions too well, so Slender Boy as well was at a loss of what to do.

On a complete whim, he decided to run out of the house. Well…run wasn't the word.
More like…teleporting randomly.

And he found himself in a dark forest. He had no idea where he was, so Slender Boy decided to sit down at the roots of a tree. Forests…forests always calmed him.

He just had to…calm down…

"Hey! Who're you?" A voice called out.

Slender looked up to see a little girl, about four years of age.

"Slender Boy," The faceless boy growled in response, still quite agitated.

"Oh. Um…are you a monster?"

"I suppose…please go away."

"So, are you?"

"Yes. Now leave."

"You don't seem like a monster."

"Leave me alone!" The faceless boy cried out, and without thinking picked the girl up and threw her into the air, a little bit higher than intended.

There was a scream. And then silence as she hit the ground.

Slender blinked his nonexistent eyes, shocked, mind beginning to race, as he ever so slowly approached the girl.

Oh dear hornets of marble. She was dead.

Slender felt a little woozy suddenly. He had actually done it. He was a killer. And it had been an accident.

And this fact…didn't freak him out, but didn't make him particularly happy either. He was a little neutral on the subject. Maybe he was just tired. Or a little drained from the news.

Whatever the reason, Slender felt he had to get home soon. He strangely was not as angry anymore.

Not wanting to waste the body, he grabbed it, and teleported on back.


Masky was ecstatic that Slender Boy was back at school today.  He could actually talk to someone now.  Well, besides the Jay guy.  Who liked balloons, apparently.

"Hi, Operator," The masked boy greeted with a big grin (which was unnecessary as his mask hid almost all emotions).

His master strangely said nothing.

Oh.  Well…maybe he just wasn't in a talking mood, Masky decided.

But then…the rest of the day…all during lunch…he sat beside him, but…the boy's master wasn't saying much at all.  Why?  It hurt Masky a little.

Recess.

"Operator, I need to talk to you," Masky requested, shifting uncomfortably as the walked onto the playground.

Slender Boy nodded slowly, and sat down on the swing.

"Why won't you talk to me?!" Masky blurted out, voice cracking slightly with hurt.

Now the Operator was shifting uncomfortably, and he replied slowly, "I don't…want…to hurt you."

"Hurt…hurt me?  You would never hurt me.  You protect me," Masky reminded him, frowning.  "What d'you mean?"

"Masky…" Slender Boy swallowed, feeling as if someone had just stabbed glass into him.  "I…I have to go."

"Go?  Where?"

"Go away.  Far away.  I…I won't be coming to school here anymore."

Slender Boy didn't know if he had a heart.  If he did, it was now broken with his proxy's scream of anguish.

"N-NO!  WHY?!  Y-Y-YOU'RE MY MASTER!" He screamed, throwing himself at Slender Boy's feet.  "You…you're my best friend…"
"M-Masky, please…don't make this more difficult than it has to be…" Slender Boy choked, trying to think of…something…

And then it hit him.

If Slender Boy could cry, he would have.  This idea would fix everything, but…it…it would be the most difficult thing he ever did.

"Masky…I'm going to give you your free will back."

A slight gasp escaped the proxy's lips.

"Wh…what?  Why?"

"I'm moving.  You won't have a master anymore, so…you can become Tim again."

"B-but I like being Masky."

Slender Boy chuckled, giving his proxy a solemn pat on the head.

"That's exactly what you said when you were Tim.  Don't worry.  I…I have a way to take away all of your pain, Masky."

The masked boy tilted his head.

"What's that--"

Slender Boy clenched his fists, and pressed a tendril to the boy's head.

"No loNGeR aRe yOu mY prOxY.  YoU…yOu wIll fOrgEt Me.  AlL oF YoU WilL.  BuT…yOu wIlL bE maRKeD.  I WiLl bE waTChiNg yoU.  AlWAys."

With a small sob, Slender took the mask off of the dazed boy, and quickly teleported away.


Tim shook his head.  Why…why did it feel so buzzy?

He walked over to the other side of the playground, spotted Jay and Alex, and asked, "Hey…do you guys feel weird?"

Alex nodded.

"Yeah, my head hurts."

"Mine too…" Jay sighed.

"Weird…hey, what's this?" The boy asked now, pointing to a strange symbol in the dirt.

An X surrounded by a large circle.

Jay shrugged.

"Dunno.  It's weird, though," Alex commented.

Tim tilted his head, curious.

There was a message under the symbol, it seemed.

WATCHING YOU ALWAYS.  I'LL COME BACK FOR YOU.  SOMEDAY.