CHAPTER THREE
Have To Go Inside
It was so strange and so sudden, but Oculass couldn't walk any further ahead of the gamers. She felt a solid wall in her way, yet when she gently tapped it with her cane, no noises of physical collision were heard. "Um, guys?" They all looked back at her, seeing that she was suddenly blocked off. "I can't come with you. There's some kind of barrier in the way, do you see anything?"
"No, which is the weird part," Natalie replied, touching the unseeable wall. "It's like there's something invisible keeping you out. Just what in the world is this?"
"I know walls like that exist in games to keep players from going out of bounds or accessing areas, but I've never seen anything like it in an actual realm." Michael took a step forward to examine it himself, but suddenly found himself falling through nothing but the ground. He screamed as he started falling into the void, as if the earth was fake.
"Michael!" Caela exclaimed
"How did that happen!?" Before Natalie could even try to figure it out, Caela tried to go after him, only to be blocked by an invisible barrier as well. "Just what is going on here? Are we being forced to separate or something?"
Oculass pondered the thought, tapping her cane around in hopes of finding something she could walk past. "Given the amount of entities in this realm, it's not really out of the possibility someone is using mechanics found in games to keep us separated. They probably think that they can all take us one by one if they do that."
Now, the likes of Caela, Natalie and Michael could all fight if they had an area of advantage, but Oculass… could she even do anything? She has excellent hearing, sure, but could she really try to fight something that came her way?
"Are you going to be alright without us?" Caela asked.
"Without you? As in, on my own? Surrounded by monsters the potentially want to kill me, rip my throat out, or whatever else they want?" Oculass thought about for a moment before smiling, and strangely laughing it off. "That sounds like fun, experiencing my own survival horror. I think I'll do just fine, you two worry about yourselves."
More than a little concerning for the girls, but what could they say or do in this situation? At the very least, Oculass wasn't cowering and saying that she didn't want to be left alone.
—
Michael didn't know what kind of pit he fell into, it felt almost like he had been warped somewhere rather than properly dropped into an unknown abyss. He carefully searched the dark area around him, uncertain whether to activate his abilities or not, but it soon became clear to Michael that he was trapped in some sort of cave.
A very foreboding cave, feeling tight and dark, uncomfortable with little space to move around in. Michael had adjusted to the idea of caves in several video games, but a real one just left him feeling claustrophobic. This wasn't like the widely spaced, exhilarating caverns found in a Legend of Zelda, Pokémon or any other titles. It was dark, cramped, and Michael found himself hearing weird noises.
His powers couldn't be activated, almost as if they couldn't be used within the current area. "Great," he sighed quietly, keeping his voice low enough so nothing could hear him. Michael wasn't going to risk the possibility of some unholy abomination prepared to sneak up on him anytime soon.
That being said, he could still hear a voice amongst the noises.
"It's dark and difficult to move, isn't it? Real people usually die from being trapped in these kinds of caverns."
A chill went down his spine, not helped by the cold, dry air of the cave itself.
"Starvation, hypothermia, being stuck. People are left in those caves for hours or days, slowly losing any sanity or hope before passing on. Their bodies usually get left behind, permanently entombed inside, never given a proper burial. If you try to escape this place by crawling through somewhere that you believe you can make, a boulder could trap you, or you could break your own legs trying to move."
Michael's breath began to shorten, his heart accelerating from the harsh reality of cave explorations. When he was a child, he wanted to explore on his own just like in a video game, but now he was witnessing what it was really like, wasn't he?
No, it's just this realm trying to mess with him, surely it had to be just that! Michael had to ignore it and just keep moving, pay no mind to whatever lurked in this cavern, he had to get out as fast as he could.
"You are the one of four who intruded upon my territory?"
There was what appeared to be a naked man on all fours, his fingers stretched out to resemble disgusting claws. His body was twisted and unnatural, fitting of the world that Michael and his friends had entered. It was too dark to see how his face appeared, so Michael could only make out his frightening silhouette.
"You're the Rake?" Michael questioned, recalling what Caela had mentioned, damning the fact that she wasn't here right now to deal with this.
"I am quite territorial, I usually follow those who cross upon my home so I can leave them with a reminder to stay away." Slowly, he began standing on his two legs, his fingers stretching out in anticipation. "A space like this is where you will perish, I won't even make the effort to completely finish you. It would be much more frightening for someone such as yourself to die alone with your sanity slipping, just like a man named Ted did."
There was a story regarding this area? No wonder it was part of this realm.
Natalie was tapping the barrier, trying to understand it. "Any luck?" She turned to Caela. "No. Whatever it is, it doesn't seem like it has any gaps or ends." Caela was nervously looking at the ground. "So we got both walls and trapdoors that we can't see, and someone that manipulates them at will. And with our powers limited, we're severely outclassed. At this rate, we can't protect ourselves, let alone - YAAAAAAAGGGGHH!" Natalie would have welcomed the silence if it didn't mean what it did. "She just disappeared too, I take it?"
Oculass tilted her head with a raised eyebrow. "Yes. But it was weird. It was more like she 'slid', like one of those spacial-location glitches responsible for things like Skyrim's flying horses." Oculass tapped the barrier with her cane one more time. "Well, it looks like you'll be facing off against BEN."
"Ben? As in BEN Drowned?"
"The same. It looks like you have a fight on your hands, so I'd better get some distance."
"What? But you - "
"I know, but the place we're going to is that way, right?"
"Uh, right."
"And this wall is relatively flat. I'll just follow it to the end, and continue in that direction where we'll meet up. Cool?"
"But - "
"Good. See you then."
Oculass walked off leaving Natalie completely dumbfounded. "A→w. I wanted to get at the girl that hit me, but you had A→ hand in it, so you can relieve some of my stress." The high-pitched voice made Natalie cringe, turning around to see Sen standing there.
"You're welcome to try, but I'll take down both you and your buddy."
Caela was not happy to find herself in a maze. Her only silver lining was that the fortress was still in view above the walls. But she kept running into dead ends, the passageways were too wide to shimmy up, and the walls were too smooth to climb up. It also didn't help that it felt like she was being watched. Her mood both improved and went worse when she remembered a trick that would unfortunately take hours. Grumbling, she placed her hand on the left wall and began walking.
"You think that will truly help you before you are destroyed?" Caela started to walk a bit faster before the voice could act on his words, looking up at the black sky.
"RUN"
That was the first thing that Caela could actually see in white letters.
As Michael's eyes adjusted to the dark, he had no idea how he was able to dodge The Rake's attacks. The long claws seemed to extend with each swipe, the arms seeming like they had extra joints. He was in a pinch, with no way to counterattack, until he got an idea. Standing near a wall, he waited until The Rake got in close. When he swung, Michael dodged, and The Rake hit the wall, breaking off several rocks. Michael quickly picked up a few and went at a distance. The Rake saw this and froze. The next few minutes were filled with tension as the two of them stood in silence, knowing that the first one to move loses.
Caela felt like she was making good progress at her pace until she felt the ground rumble. Looking up, she saw a blood-red monster the size of a building. Standing on two legs and ready to strike with four arms.
"Hello, mortal human. I am RED. Killer of both Kaiju and humans. Say your prayers, however useless they will be." He started to swing his arms, knocking down several walls. Caela's only saving grace was her small size that was able to squeeze through all the holes in the rubble, making it difficult for RED to find her. "You can't hide forever! I can easily crush this whole place instantly, but I want to see the utter despair on your face. I will crush the walls one by one until there are no more to hide behind! Then that will be the moment of your doom!" Caela would have to think fast before she became a pancake.
Natalie was very annoyed. It was obvious that her opponents were not taking this seriously and just toying with her. Barriers were coming out of nowhere, boxing her in, and any attempt at a morph was interrupted by Sen whooshing in and out with BEN's help. At one point she was able to land a hit, only to be pushed back with a sudden flare of fire. Luckily it also pushed back Sen, so her power wasn't disrupted, but she couldn't finish it due to losing her concentration. As the New Game Plus subsided, Natalie unconsciously leaned against the barrier. To her surprise, there was a small reaction. Giving a small grin, she placed her hand on the barrier, and concentrated.
The Rake couldn't take it any longer. He jumped forward, hoping his agility would come through. Michael threw the rocks as hard as he could before jumping to the side. Due to the hastily manner of the throw and The Rake's dodging, it only caused a few scratches. The Rake missed as well, hitting the wall again, but revealing a hidden chamber, where some disturbing things fell out. "Are…..those….?"
"Yes. Human bones. The remains of those who could not leave and succumbed to the madness. And you will join them!" The Rake charged forward, extending his claws as far as they could, only to be surprisingly parried. Looking, he saw that Michael deflected his attack with arm bones. His surprise left him stunned long enough for Michael to punch him with a fist covered with a human skull. The blow sent The Rake flying. Landing in a slump, barely hanging on to consciousness, The Rake stared in disbelief. "To think….that you would….treat them…..with such disrespect….."
Michael tossed the skull at him. "I just thought that they would like the idea of payback." The skull bounced on The Rake's head, knocking him out, and making the wall behind him crumble, revealing the outside and the fortress in the distance. Michael turned to the skull. "Thank you." As he left, he could have swore that the arm he used gave a thumbs-up.
Caela was running out of room. RED was bashing the walls like they were nothing, reducing the amount of hiding places. "There's no way you can stop me. We have been observing you and determining your weaknesses! So there is no way you can get energy from me, for I am not from Xbox!"
That sentence gave Caela the clue she needed. "Now I remember you. You're from the NES Godzilla story!"
"That realization will not save you now!"
"I don't think so, for you forget something!"
"What?!"
"Who Xbox stole Rareware from!"
Caela jumped out and grabbed the end of RED's tail, succeeding in absorbing some power. Acting fast, she conjured up a Rail Gun from HALO, blasting right between RED's eyes. The blast was enough to knock RED down and out. And the impact from the fall crushed the remaining walls, opening up a path to the fortress. "Now that's what I call an easily solvable maze."
Sen was confused. Natalie was just standing there, looking like anything else was more important than their match. It began to get on his nerves, for he didn't like to be ignored. His annoyance grew when Natalie started to smile. "Oh, you think you're so much better than me, huh? Why I'll - uh!" Sen jumped forward, only to find himself shifted off-target into the barrier. "OW! What - ?"
"Even if you are Creepypastas, you still have a connection to video games, and thus, the New Game Plus energy. Energy that I can take!" With a wave of her hand, Natalie caused the same trapdoor glitch that took Michael, making Sen fall deep underground.
"SpA→y me for the dooret!" Sen yelled while falling.
"Sorry, but it's my game now!" She tapped the barrier, making it crack and crumble. And with another wave of her hand, BEN came flying out of his hiding place, straight into Natalie's grasp.
"H-hey! Let go!"
"Not a chance. I don't know how long this power boost will last, so I'll need a recharger."
"Oh, you really shouldn't have done that."
"Too bad. Now let's go."
Natalie dragged BEN along, who was trying to figure out how to burn her without burning himself.
Oculass walked along the barrier, momentarily surprised to feel it crumble away. Happy she was right to believe in her friend, she resumed back on the right trail towards the fortress, wondering how long it will take to meet up with everyone. Which is why a sudden familiar voice made her jump.
"Oculass! There you are!"
"Natalie! How did you get here so fast?"
"Oh, I beat BEN long ago. It just took that long for the barrier to break down. And look who I found."
"Hello. So you're Oculass."
"I don't recognize that voice. Is that Nick?"
"Yes. I was able to escape from Polybius and the others. Now we should get out of here."
"But what about the others?"
"Don't worry. Once they know that I'm no longer there, they'll know that it's time to run."
"But they would be unnecessarily exposed to more danger."
"What's the matter? Don't you trust your own friends?"
"Oh yes. And that's where you screwed up, Hasshaku-sama."
"What?"
Now knowing where her foe was, Oculass swung her cane, repeatedly hitting Hasshaku-sama on the head until she collapsed, out like a light. "I do trust them. Not to lose, and not to abandon their friends. Remember, I'm blind, not stupid." Oculass walked away, thankfully not losing her bearings, and unable to contain a smug smile over her little victory.
Those who are seen by the Hasshaku-sama, are often immediately liked by her. People, usually children that are liked, are never seen again if they are taken away. One look into Oculass's pale eyes told the Hasshaku-sama that she could not see, which would have made her the perfect target.
But unfortunately for the Hasshaku-sama, Oculass was more than familiar with her horror tales.
They would probably all get back up and chase again sooner or later, but still, Polybius found himself more than irritated. Three gamers with strange powers standing up to him? Sure, fine, reasonable enough. But a blind woman armed only with a frail little cane that she uses to see?
How would he put it into words…
"If you were to put together the moments of my banishment from Gamindustri, the first time I heard Sen talk, and the combined quality and reception of Slender's movie….IT WOULDN'T EVEN COME CLOSE TO THIS INFURIATING! MY GREATEST SUBJECTS AND WARRIORS MADE FOOLS NOT ONLY BY THESE HUMANS, BUT EVEN A BLIND WOMAN WHO CAN'T EVEN SEE THE TERROR BEFORE HER?! HOW COULD WE HAVE FALLEN SO LOOOOOOOOOOW?!" He then took a deep breath."Aaaaaaaahhhhh, that felt good. It is very therapeutic to just let it all out, wouldn't you agree?" The other Creepypastas could only nod in agreement.
"Uh, sure thing, my lord," the Skin-Taker stammered. "Anyway, she certainly looks like she has a lot of skin on her bones, I'll give her that. Personally, I'm anticipating the chance to turn them all into a new coat."
Polybius paused, looking over at the skeleton, a smile forming on his face. "Skin-Taker, tell me, have you ever read the book or seen the movie, 'Silence of the Lambs'?" The skeleton pondered this question for a few seconds, trying to recall if he had seen anything like it, and shook his head. "Well, I have good news for you then. The story involves a killer, who skins larger women and makes a suit out of their flesh."
"Ooooh, now I'm interested," the Skin-Taker sneered.
"This blind one, wouldn't you say she's rather large in some areas? Surely you could gain more than just a jacket from her skin." Polybius suggested, pushing all the right buttons on the skeletal puppet.
"My lord, are you asking me just to take her on, alone? You saw what happened to the Japanese child-abductor, I'm certain I wouldn't stand a chance." It wasn't that the Skin-Taker didn't think he was capable, but more-so, he wanted Polybius to come up with something clever to go along with, being that twisted minds often thought alike.
"You just need to get her alone," Polybius explained, "and send your henchmen to take away the sight-stick of hers. Perhaps something tied on strings, so she can't hear the footsteps of what is approaching her. Why, someone could come down to her like a venomous spider, maybe!"
"I'll see if I can get ahold of Horace Horrible. Any other suggestions you have?" Skin-Taker wondered. "The more messed up, the better I dare say."
"This despicable cripple," Polybius hissed, "knock her out, drag her, stab her, drive her mad until she perishes! I wish for her to see true horror before the light, even when she can't see! Skin her alive, or so help me—"
"Horace!" The Skin-Taker shouted, cackling maniacally as another marionette stumbled over to the scene.
A puppet with a blank face and large teeth, a mustache just barely above his grinning face with a monocle on top. "Yes, o' great Skin-Taker!?" Horace Horrible, the marionette, spoke in an almost squeaky, villainous voice that was rather comical.
"When the normals get here, I want you to stay on the ceiling and try to corner the blind one. Disarm her, then pull her away from the strings which hold you, and I don't care if she's too heavy!" The Skin-Taker ordered.
"Yes, of course, sir!" Horace stammered, being pulled up towards the ceiling.
—
Michael and Caela had been reunited easily, Oculass waiting for them as well as Natalie, who was dragging BEN. Although he was a statue, he felt more like a lifeless, empty shell with skin, which was more than a little creepy. BEN was hoping that Sen would warp himself back to this area, but given how random some of his teleportations could be, it seemed that he was out of luck.
He could try to get a song to be played on the spot so Natalie could be torched or electrocuted, but there was a high chance it would harm him as well. Warping to appear elsewhere couldn't be done either, not when Natalie had such a grip on him and refused to avert her eyes from him. She wasn't going to risk a potential "Weeping Angel" situation anytime soon.
"So, that fortress up there, is that your home?" Natalie asked, preparing to strike BEN if he didn't answer. "You need to tell me who else is in there, so we can be prepared for them!"
"Since when am I your hostage?"
"Right now you are, unless you want this to happen!"
Slashing at the statue's face with sword from Golden Axe summoned, BEN didn't even scream or wince from the damage taken. Natalie nearly dropped him once she saw that underneath, which was nothingness.
"I am but the empty shell of a child," BEN explained, "if you expected this to harm me, you're gravely mistaken. Only my own powers as well as the abilities of other creepypastas can do any damage. Don't believe me? Why don't you peel back more of my flesh?"
"If that's true, then tell me who else is in there, or I will use you as a shield for the other monsters!" Natalie demanded, trying to hide her disgust.
"What troubling conditions," BEN sighed, sounding depressed in spite of his usual, eerie smile. "I don't like ratting others out, that's Widemouth's job. But fine, looks like you're twisting me by the arm, not sure if that's annoying or impressive given you're the first to do so. Polybius and the Slender Man are in the fortress, naturally, but you should probably be watching out for the Skin-Taker and his crew." He paused, not because he was done, but because BEN was having trouble remembering who else was there. "Oh, I also don't recommend examining empty mascot suits."
"Empty mascot suits?"
"You may see something you don't like if you do."
That what was BEN took his chance, as Natalie was just about ready to let him go, she could feel water entering her nose and mouth, trying to fill up her lungs. "Anyway, like I said, I don't really enjoy ratting others out, so I'm afraid I'm going to silence you forever! You'll drown just as I did!"
Natalie wasn't even fazed though, as she used the New Game Plus that was obtained to turn into Ecco the Dolphin, ramming into BEN at full speed. "Seriously? Trying to get me at the last second?" Natalie laughed. "That never works!"
BEN was knocked down, unable to get up. The situation was made worse for him when a foot was placed on his face. "Nice to know you're ok." Natalie smiled to see Michael, and smiled even more to see Caela. "We heard some ruckus and went to investigate. Now we just need to find Oculass and the fortress."
"Both are over here." Oculass's voice made the three of them jump. They peered through some trees to see her standing next to an open drawbridge. "I heard water and smelled some wood, telltale signs of a moat. Then I just waited for you."
"Well good for you, but if you go in there - "
"We'll meet with a terrible fate, won't we?"
"Don't worry, we'll be prepared with him."
Natalie grabbed BEN, using his energy to give a power boost to Michael and Caela. She carried BEN inside as Caela guided Oculass. "OK, here's what we know about who's inside…."
The inside of the fortress, if one could call it that, was bleak, feeling like a distorted amalgamation of nightmares. The smell of decay was one that was indescribable, making all three of the gamers recoil, but Oculass showed no reaction. "We all need to stick together this time, we can't run off without one another, understood?" Natalie explained.
"It's really dark in this place. How do the creepypasta legends even see?" Caela wondered.
"Maybe we should keep our voices down, so nothing is alarmed by us being here," Michael whispered, which the others agreed upon. They were all armed and ready, but they still had to be careful if they wanted to avoid conflict and find Nick. Michael summoned a flashlight from Luigi's Mansion, keeping it by his side in the offhand chance it was needed, while Caela prepared a torch from Minecraft.
They started walking, making sure not to make any movements too sudden or noises too loud. Thick cobwebs or something appeared to be in the way, but they were mostly just shoved, until Oculass started following.
The "webs" were somehow tugged at just a little bit, flicking the cane out of her hand. Oculass quickly tried to retrieve it, but suddenly felt strings tightening around her body. She knew she couldn't be too loud, but Oculass had to alarm the others that she was tangled.
"Guys?" Oculass murmured, feeling more strings around her tighten. "I think I'm caught on something, can you help?" Michael looked back and turned his flashlight on to get a good look, which is when he realized something.
Those weren't webs at all, they were puppet strings, coming from the ceiling.
—
"Aha! Hook, line, and sinker!" Horace Horrible cackled from the floor above, full of arrogance as he prepared to pull up the freshly caught victim. He stopped short though, once he realized just how heavy Oculass was, and found himself struggling to yank her upwards. "Skin-Taker, sir? Could you help me out here?" He stammered, awaiting for his superior to deny the request.
"I had a feeling this would be difficult given her assets," the Skin-Taker huffed, "I'm nothing but bones! Do you really think I have any muscle that could help you with that?"
"Can you get Slender Man or someone to help me out then?"
"Slender Man is very busy handling the prisoner!"
Horace then began whimpering, continuing his attempt at pulling Oculass upward.
—
"Hey, Natalie, shouldn't we help her?" Caela asked.
"I would, but—"
"But what?"
Natalie took a good look at how badly the strings were fighting against Oculass, who was just dangling there, humored rather than annoyed or frightened. "I just don't think they're going to get very far," Natalie replied.
The strings then suddenly were pulled up even further.
—
"I think I got the hang of it!" Horace assured himself, trying not to fall down through the hole. "I've almost got her, sir! Watch!"
Tugging with as much strength his wooden body could muster, Oculass finally was pulled up from the first floor, to the second. Horace had tugged so hard on the strings that he ended up flinging himself backwards.
… However, her chest prevented further progress, forcing her to be wedged between the floor and the ceiling.
Both Horace Horrible and the Skin-Taker just stared at each other for a near minute, absolutely dumbfounded.
"It's a start," Skin-Taker huffed, "keep pulling her in."
"What!? Her friends surely know that she's being taken away by now, sir!"
"Is that so?"
—
"I can't believe I'm witnessing a real life Winnie the Pooh situation unfold before me," Michael said, eyes wide in astonishment.
"Speaking of Winnie the Pooh," Caela stammered, "there's Mickey, but his colors are inverted!"
"Inverted colors?" Oculass thought for a moment before gasping. "Guys! Be careful! That Mickey is - uh!" Horace tried pulling hard again, only to meet with the same problem of size.
"There must be a way to get her up here!" Skin-Taker looked down. "I have an idea. You keep a firm grip on the rope." Skin-Taker quickly walked off, leaving Horace alone with his risque Winnie the Pooh situation.
"What was she saying?" Caela was straining her ears to try and hear Oculass, while Michael was trying to figure out the Nega-Mickey that just stood there. Natalie was alerted to BEN suddenly squirming. "What are you waiting for, ABD? Get them!"
"ABD? Wait….." Natalie's eyes widened. "Michael! Get away from - "
"Heeeeeeeyyyy, want to see me take my head off?" The Nega-Mickey suddenly started clawing at his neck, making small cuts that oozed out a yellow-colored gunk. "It's tough, but there's a trick to it. Let me show you…" Michael started backing up to get out of his reach, as Natalie used a Golden Ring's bright glow to blind Nega-Mickey. "Who the - "
"It's Abandoned by Disney!" Michael and Caela froze at that. The supposed personification of insanity and a grudge over a cancelled Disney resort, leading to workers dying in their mascot suits, or becoming something else…..
"That wasn't nice. I only wanted to help out with a trick….." The gamers were keeping their distance, while keeping Oculass in their sights at the same time.
"From what I can get, I think a masked psycho is all he is. If we can overpower him, that should end him quickly." ABD then went for Natalie, only to run into a force field courtesy of Caela assuming Master Chief's arm. "OK, it won't last long, so we need to plan quickly. I think that one should focus on tripping and another focus on - what's that sound?" The three heard a repetitive sound that sounded like punctures. Looking up, they could faintly make out the Skin-Taker using his sharp digits to scale the wall and ceiling, heading towards Oculass.
Approaching her, Skin-Taker shouted up to Horace. "OK, you pull and I'll push!" Planting his toes deep in the ceiling, he grabbed the bottom of her feet and braced himself. "Ready? And -
"PULL!"
"OW!"
"PULL!"
"OW!"
"PULL!"
"OW!"
"PULL!
"OW!"
It was obvious that they were getting nowhere, and the only things that were loosened were Skin-Taker's toes. Something he realized when he fell to the floor. Hard. The Gamers would have grabbed him, but the shield wore off and they had to bring their attention to ABD. Skin-Taker quickly got up and ran off, another plan in mind.
The moment of watching Skin-Taker led to no time forming a plan, so they had to improvise. ABD reached for Caela, and was able to grab her head. "See? It's easy. You just do this!" ABD looked at the head he ripped off, wondering how it became green so quickly. The head gave him a shock by quickly giving a smile, right before exploding. Caela, whose upper body turned into Stubbs, grew another head while Michael turned into Caterpie and used Stringshot to tie ABD up. Natalie gave a few deep breaths as she supplied to power needed for the shifts. With the situation reclaimed, the three of them wondered what to do about Oculass.
Skin-Taker entered the main room, knowing what the first reaction would be. "Huh? Why do you return empty-handed? You were not supposed to be that, were you?"
"I-I'm sorry Polybius, but we need some help due to some… assets...of the woman making it difficult to pull her up through the hole."
"Well, what do want for that then?"
"We just need to borrow Slender Man for a moment, until we get her fully in our grasp."
"But I need him to hold the prisoner."
"It will only take a minute or two, and I don't think the prisoner is going anywhere due to his….condition….."
Polybius looked at Nick. "Very well. Slender, assist them, but get back here when you are done. We still have work to do."
Slender Man walked a bit quickly with Skin-Taker. Secretly, he was thankful to take a break, as the screaming and yelling gave him quite a headache. He almost wished that the intruders would get here, so it wouldn't have been in vain. Thinking about the shock on their faces calmed him down quite a bit.
"It shouldn't take much effort to pull her back down to our level," Natalia said, turning her arm into one which matched the strength of Big the Cat. "Especially with our varying transformations! I should be able to break her—"
"Ah!" Oculass yelped, as her body was surrounded by various, black tentacles which yanked her upwards, with only her cane falling back down.
"Oculass!" The group of three shouted.
Their visions were all then blurred by the sight of static, as Slender Man faintly appeared in their views.