Shelly O'Zalia

I opened up a Path Gate and lugged the motorbike through. I got on and revved it up, taking off through the dark forest. I was riding for a few hours before something behind me caught my attention. I hit the brakes and looked back. Sound was right behind me, flying. This was my first time seeing him in is demon form. It was weird. His hair was darker, and parted a bit by his horns. His eyes were red and sunken, and his limbs seemed even bonier than usual. Sharp claws tipped his fingers, and his sonic weapons were all strapped to his belt, out of the way of his huge ass wings.

"Why are you following me?" I demanded.

"You can't beat her by yourself Isaac," he said. His voice was different. He was drawing out his S sounds more than necessary, and he sounded like he had a really bad throat cold.

"I can't get you guys involved in this," I said.

"A while ago, you didn't want to get involved yourself," he said.

"That was before I knew who she was," I told him. "I have to be the one to face her."

"She's just and clever as you are," he said.

"I know," I said. "But I doubt she's a telepath like I am. She didn't go through the Enhancement process like I did."

"That doesn't mean she won't have something planned," he said. "Besides, she's a Rose Bride. Do you honestly expect her master to not be there?"

"Can you please change back?" I asked. "You're voice is annoying in this form."

"Sorry," he said. He painfully reverted back to human form.

"That looked... hard," I said.

"Gets more difficult every time," he said, his voice normal again. "Look, like it or not, I'm coming with you."

"Fine," I said. "But if things look bad, I want you to get the hell out of there."

"You know I can't do that," he said. "And don't bother ordering me to. You're not my leader anymore."

"Whatever," I said. "Get on."

He awkwardly got on the bike. It was a little difficult for him, since my glave was strapped across my back. We took off. I took us a while, but we got there, to my old house. The place where my parents died. Just like she said. She was waiting for us there, standing in the driveway.

"Been a while, Isaac," she said. “Your hair’s getting long.”

"Hello, Shelly," I said.

"I see you brought Jerome with you," she said. "I was hoping you would. It'll save me the trouble of hunting him down later."

"I don't plan on letting that happen," I said, getting off the bike.

"So how is my dear cousin doing?" she asked.

"Better that you," I said. "How does a girl like you end up serving the Smiling Man?"

"Kind of just happened," she said. "I caught wind of you becoming a servant, so I decided I'd do so as well. Smily was there. So I became his warrior. Of course, he and I have big plans."

"And what would those plans be?" I asked, drawing my weapon.

"I don't know the full story, but both the Smiling Man and I want to revive the Game Master," she said, drawing a machete from her belt.

"Why?" I demanded.

"To 1-up you, of course!" she said. "That's what this has always been about, Isaac. Proving that I'm better than you. And how better to do so than by resurrecting the man you worked so hard to destroy?"

"I didn't just destroy him," I said. "I erased his entire body from existence."

"And did you think he didn't have a failsafe?" she asked. "My master told me all about it. The secret to bringing him back, even when his body has been destroyed."

"What do you mean?" I demanded.

"William Timerus expected the quiet might claim him someday," she said. "So he hid a piece of himself away, in order to revive himself when he was destroyed."

"I won't let you," I said.

"Oh Isaac, don't you realize you can't stop me?" she asked. "Would you like to know what Wor Allon really means?"

"Frankly, cuz, I don't give a damn!" I snapped.

She swung a fist, and a wave of air hit me, knocking me backwards, Suddenly she was behind me. She kicked me to the ground. I looked up at where she had been standing to see her after image vanishing.

"It means Skill Thief," she said, raising her sword. I dodged out of the way just as she slashed at me and grabbed my glave. She swung again, and this time I blocked it.

"Aero Pulses and After Image Teleportation," I said. "So your powers aren't limited to Radiation Immunity after all."

"I can acquire the powers of any Emissary by drinking their blood," she said, delightedly.

Everything clicked into place for me. When we were kids, we had had a fist fight. She bit me, puncturing my skin and drawing blood. Ever since then, she became just as smart as I was. She rivaled me in school and just about everything else. All because she drank my blood and acquired my Emissary power.

"You have my power?" I asked.

"Not all of it," she said. "Your power has evolved since then, hasn't it? You're capable of telepathy, and reality manipulation. If I drink your blood again, I'll gain that power, and I'll be able to pull the piece of the Game Master out of its hiding spot."

"As if I'll let you find its hiding spot!" I said, as she blocked my attack with her sword.

"I already know where it is," she said, smiling. "I just need your power to get to it."

"And where would it be?" I demanded. "Once I'm finished with you, I'll destroy it!"

"So you'd be willing to kill your best friend to eliminate the Game Master once and for all?" she asked, smiling even broader.

I stepped back. "What do you mean?" I demanded.

"That's why I'm glad you brought Jerome Welric with you," she said. "His father, Emissary Gary Welric, hid the piece of the Game Master inside of his subconscious. With your telepathy, I can't pull that piece to the surface. Of course, I'll have to destroy his mind in the process, but that's no big deal for me."

Without warning, a small device rolled to the ground between us. Recognizing it, I instinctively covered my ears, but Shelly wasn't as quick to do so. The device let out an impossibly loud screech, hurting my ears even though they were covered. I ducked into the Path Of Black Leaves and reappeared at the other end of the yard. Shelly teleported away as well, clutching her ears in pain. Sound stepped forward, drawing his Sonic Sword.

“Is what you just said true!?” he shouted at her. “Is there a piece of that bastard inside me!?”

“That’s right,” she said, grinning. “And I’m going to bring it out.”

“You’ll have to kill me first,” he said, raising his sword.

“You’d be useless to me dead,” she said. “But there’s nothing stopping me from breaking all your limbs!”

Sound rushed at her, but a vortex of flames appeared around her body.

“Sound, get back!” I shouted. “This is Balor’s power! You have to keep a distance!”

Sound stepped back, pulling a handful of small sound grenades from his pocket and throwing them. She teleported away before they could go off and reappeared just a few inches from him. Her left hand glowed brightly, and she swung it in a swift uppercut, knocking him into the air. He vanished into the Path Of Black Leaves in midair.

“Where the hell did he go!?” she demanded.

He reappeared in his demon form, grabbing her by the hair and lifting her into the air.

“Isaac, now!” he shouted, throwing her at me.

I raised my glave, prepared to strike her as she sped toward me, but she regained her balance in midair and blocked my attack. I swung at her again, but she teleported and my blade passed harmlessly through her afterimage. In the next few moments, she managed to teleport all over the yard, leaving afterimages everywhere. I couldn’t tell where the real one was. Until I heard Sound screech in pain a few feet from me. I turned sharply as all of her afterimages faded. Shelly was standing right next to him, sword in hand, as he clutched a new wound on his ribcage.

“You’re strong,” she said to him, raising the blade to her lips. “I can’t wait to obtain your power.”

“No!” I shouted, ducking into the Path and appearing right beside her, swinging my glave, she blocked my attack easily.

“Don’t stand in my way!” she hissed.

A flash of bright light hit me in the chest, sending pain surging through my body and knocking me clear across the street as I dropped my glave. I looked up to see her lick Sound’s blood from her sword. A change came over her. Her fingernails extended into razor sharp claws. Her facial features sank and her eyes turned a deep red. A pair of massive wings sprouted from her back and horns grew from her forehead.

“Another power added to my collection,” she said maliciously.

Sound jumped up and flew back a few yards. He spread his wings and wrapped them into an incomplete dome around his body.

“You may have my power,” he hissed angrily, raising his sword, “But you don’t know how to use it like I do.”

He struck his sword against the ground. Once. Twice. Three times. Four times. He kept doing it, and I had no idea why.

“What’s going on?” Shelly demanded. “Why don’t I hear anything? That sword’s supposed to amplify sound waves, isn’t it?”

It suddenly struck me, and I strained my eyes to see. His sword was vibrating each time it hit the ground. It was definitely making noise. But I couldn’t hear it, and neither could she. I think I might have figured out why before Shelly did. His sword was making noise, and lots of it. It just wasn’t reaching our ears.

Without any kind of warning, Sound rushed forward with impossible speed, swinging his sword upwards, striking her in the jaw and sending her flying ten feet in the air. I suddenly understood. His wings weren’t for flight. They were built to absorb vibrations from the air and send them through his muscular system, increasing his strength.

He shot into the air, hitting her several yards away. Before she could fall to the ground, he caught up to her, hitting her again. And again. And again. As he batted her around with his incredible speed, I got up and ran to my glave, picking it up. She was knocked right above me, and Sound flew above her, sword ready.

“Isaac!” he shouted, knocking her down towards me. “Think fast!”

“I always think fast!” I retorted, raising my weapon and piercing it through her torso just as she fell down toward me.

She screamed in agony as her blood dripped down on me. She turned her head so that she could see me. There were tears in her eyes.

“You... your not going to...,” she stuttered.

“I’m sorry,” I told her. “Cease to exist.”

She shrieked in pain as I tore away reality and allowed her body to dissolve into nothingness.

Sound approached me afterwards.

“Are you okay,” he hissed, in his annoying demon voice.

“I’m fine,” I said, wiping my cousin’s blood from my eyes.

“You just killed your cousin...,” he said. “You erased her.

“I don’t know what all she was capable of,” I said. “She could have regenerated or rose from the dead. I had no choice but to destroy her completely.”

“Did you?” he asked.

I tried to say something, but I couldn’t. He had a point. Was it really neccessary to erase her like that?”

“Why are you still like that?” I asked him, trying to change the topic. “Change back.”

“I can’t,” he said. “Not anymore.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“It gets harder every time,” he said sadly. “I’m stuck now. I can’t change back anymore.”

I understood. He had pushed himself too hard, and now he couldn’t un-push himself.

“Take the Path,” I told him. “Get Myrir and little Isaac. Then...”

“Then what?” he asked.

“Then leave,” I said. “Nolla Row is dead. Our partnership is over.”

“You’re not coming back?” he said, shocked. “But our Master never killed your parents. He was innocent!”

“No,” I said. “None of Them are. I made a promise to protect people from them, and I’m going to keep it.”

“Wait,” he said, as I went to my motorcycle. “I want you to kill me.”

I stopped in my tracks.

“What?” I asked.

“She said there’s a piece of him in me,” he said.

“And you need a telepath to get it out,” I said. “I have no intention of doing that.”

“He had that failsafe in store, he must have had another failsafe ready to get that piece of him out of me,” he said. “You have to kill me. She said I’d be useless if I was dead. If I die, that piece of him will die with me.”

I boarded the motorcycle.

“I’m not killing you,” I said. “And I highly doubt there’s another telepath out there who has what it takes to get the Game Master out of you.”

I started the bike up.

“You’re not going to use the Path?” he asked.

“I’m not a proxy,” I said. “I have no intention of using it again. Next time we meet, we’ll be enemies. Remember that.”

He smiled when I said that.

“No matter how often you say that, I still think of you as my only real friend,” he said, before disappearing.

 

 

I hate goodbyes. People always tell you that saying it is painful, but you don’t know how much until you actually have to say it. But I have to now. I’m cutting all my ties with the Slender Man. Starting with this blog. This is my last post. I might start my own blog eventually. I don’t know. But I won’t be posting here, ever again.

True Identity

Been quiet for a while. That's because I've been busy. I've been paying attention to the news in the town we're in right now. There have been attacks. People targeted in alleyways. I tracked down the people afterwards and read their minds. They were attacked by none other that Camazotz.

But they weren't attacked at random. There was a pattern to the times and locations. I used those patterns to try and predict the next few locations and times. Just to be sure, I waited a while. Three more attacks, at the times and places I had predicted. I know where he'll be next. And I also know he wants me to know. He used those patterns on purpose. He wants us to find him.

A who better to do so than Kord. He's been training on and off for quite a while now. He just got back from a little absence, and I think he's ready to face Camazotz.

But Kord isn't the only one who has a fight awaiting him. When Kord got back he fund a bouquet of flowers outside our hideout. He brought them in.

"Who do you think sent these?" he asked.

"I there a card or something?" Sound asked.

"NR," I said. "The initials are written on the tissue paper."

"Nolla Row," Wildfire said.

"Exactly," I said. "Let me see those."

Kord handed them to me.

"Rhododendron," I said, examining a couple of the flowers. "Beware."

"What's that about?" Kord asked.

"I've researched the language of flowers," I said. "Thought it'd be useful knowledge to have in case we ever ended up dealing with the Smiling Man. These ones here are Marigolds, for despair, and Cypress, for death, and mourning."

"I see," Myrir said. "What about the rest of them?"

"This one right here," I pointed out. "It's a black rose. Another symbol of death. And then these marigolds. They mean farewell."

"A lot of death in this bouquet," Kord said. "Is Nolla Row trying to threaten us with flowers?"

"That seems to be the point of all the death flowers," Wildfire said.

"Not all of them," I said. "This one, in the center of the bouquet. It's pink hyacinth."

"And what does that mean?" Kord asked.

"In the language of flowers, it means play," I said. "But that's not what Nolla's trying to tell us."

I locked eyes with Sound briefly.

"Isn't that...?" he asked.

"Her favorite flower," I said.

"What's that about?" Kord asked.

"I know who Nolla Row is," I said.

"What!?" Kord said. "Who!?"

"It's complicated," I said.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, which I handed to Kord.

"This is the time and place that Camazotz will show up next," I said. "Wildfire, I want you to go there with him."

"You want us both to fight?" she asked.

"No," I said. "This is Kord's fight. Don't intervene unless you have to."

"What about Nolla?" Kord asked.

"I'll deal with it," I said, getting up. "I have to go. Don't follow me."

I left the room. I pulled out my phone, hoping that my hunch was wrong. I punched in the number and let it ring. She answered after the first two rings.

"Hey, Isaac," she said.

"Pink Hyacinth was always your favorite, right?" I asked.

"That's right," she said. "So you got my little gift?"

"Yes," I said. "I tried all kinds of anagrams and alphabetical codes to try ad figure out what 'Nolla Row' was supposed to mean."

"Did you now?" she asked.

"I never thought to just spell the words backward," I said. "Wor Allon. From that made up language you created in fifth grade but never finished."

"That's right," she said. "Do you remember what those words mean?"

"Afraid not," I said. "It's been too long."

"I tell you when we meet again," she said.

"And where will you be?" I asked.

"In one week I'll return to the place I killed them," she said.

"Killed who?" I asked.

"Don't be so naive, Isaac," she said. "Slender Man didn't kill your parents. I did."

She hung up. I allowed my phone to drop to the ground.

It wasn't him. Slender Man wasn't the one who killed my mom and dad. He was there, but he wasn't the one. Nolla Row. She did it. She slaughtered them.

He was standing a few feet away. He had just shown up when my phone hit the ground. He stood there watching me for a while. I turned to him, looking into his blank face.

"Is it true?" I asked.

He nodded, then gestured to a motorcycle a few feet from him.

The path is open, He said to me, before vanishing. I guess I know how I'm getting back home.

Isaac Malkator

Well, I've had a pretty crazy night. It all started when Myrir said those three magic words.

“My water broke!”

As you can probably guess, I freaked the fuck out.

“Oh god!” I said. “What do I do!?”

“You have to help deliver this child!” she said.

“I can't deliver a child!” I said. “What the hell makes you think I can deliver a child!?”

“You're as good a doctor as anyone within range of your telepathy!” she said. “You've said so several times!”

“Yes!” I agreed. “But this is childbirth!”

“Damn it, Isaac, help me give birth or I swear-!” she said. She didn't really need to finish the sentence. I could read her thoughts, and they weren't pretty.

So, I got to work. Lucky for me, I was able to find a doctor with my telepathy who was helping with childbirth. I stayed in contact with his mind the whole time so I'd know what the fuck I was doing.

“Wildfire, Sound, hold her hands!” I instructed. “And Kord!”

“Yes?” he asked.

“Use your weird sound powers to turn down the volume of her screams!” I said. “It's really distracting!”

I'll spare you all the details of the childbirth, but the baby was delivered safely. Relieved, I fell over onto my back and closed my eyes. I could hear the others talking a few feet away.

“What is it?” Sound asked. “A boy or a girl?”

“It's a boy,” Myrir said.

“What are you gonna name him?” Wildfire asked.

“I haven't really thought about that,” Myrir said. “I guess maybe Scott.”

“Don't name him Scott! I said. “Scott's a stupid name!”

“Then how about I name him after you?” she said.

“Please don't,” I said.

“Too late, I'm doing it anyway!” she said.

“You bitch,” I said.

“Isaac Malkator,” she said. “I think it has a nice ring to it.”

It was about that moment that I felt a presence. I raised my head to see the Fury standing a few yards away from us.

“What the fuck are you doing here!?” I demanded. Every looked where I was facing, and drew back when they saw him there.

He raised a hand, and the words I'M NOT SURE, became gashed into the ground in front of him, followed by I HAD A FEELING I SHOULD COME HERE.

“Just who the fuck are you!?” I demanded, getting to my feet and walking over to him.

He raised a hand again, and more words became engraved into a nearby wall. I DON'T KNOW.

I tried to speak, but I stopped myself. I couldn't read his mind, but I didn't need to. There was just this... feeling, that I got from him. This guy honestly had no idea who he was. Whatever identity he used to have was gone, stolen by the Archive.

He raised his hand once more, engraving some more words into the wall.

I MEAN YOU NO HARM AS OF NOW, BUT IF YOU CONTINUE TO OPPOSE THE ARCHIVE, IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE THEY SEND ME AFTER YOU AGAIN.

With that, he vanished. I don't understand. There's something about him. Something I can't quite put my finger on. Just who is he?

Gift

I had an encounter with my old “Master” the other night. I was patrolling by myself, on the outskirts of the City we're currently in. A powerful presence suddenly appeared behind me, and I immediately turned around. His tentacles surrounded me, grasping my limbs and lifting me into the air.

“What are you doing!?” I demanded.

You're time is drawing to a close, his voice sounded in my head. Even with the extension Jack granted to your life span, your Enhancement will soon take its toll.

He was right. I was noticing the symptoms. The coughing, the chest pains. I wouldn't live much longer.

His tentacles wrapped around more and more of my body, binding my head tightly. Some of them passed beneath my skin, entangling my heart and lungs.

You're going to kill me, aren't you? I thought.

Of course not, He replied. I still need you alive.

I felt him pouring more of his energy into my body. It was painful. Even worse than the first time he enhanced me.

What is this!? I demanded.

Some time ago, an Enhanced from another universe came here, He said. He was superior to anything I ever created in this world. He is dead now, but in the time he was here, I observed him. I learned how to fix some of the flaws in the Enhancement process.

My skull and chest were burning up. The pain was almost unbearable. But I fought it as much as I could.

Why are you doing this? I asked.

As I said, I need you alive, He answered. Who else could defeat Nolla Row?

I can think of plenty of people who could fight her, I replied.

As could I, He said. But you're the one who needs to face her. You're the one who must settle things.

And why's that? I asked.

You'll understand soon, He said. I believe I'm finished now.

He dropped me to the ground. The burning faded. I felt better. The chest pains were completely gone.

You are still imperfect, He said. But you should be more than able to deal with her.

Why are you so willing to help me after what you did to my family? I asked him.

You've yet to understand anything, He said. You will soon understand why your parents are dead. And more importantly, you will learn who Nolla Row is, and why you are the only one who can fight her on even grounds.

He then vanished.

I don't know what he's talking about, but I'd say that his reason for killing my parents is far mor important than Nolla Row's true identity.

Bandages

You may have read Myrir's post about the Fury by now. We were attacked by this guy who was insanely strong. I tried attacking him with a mental blast, but he reflected it. When that happened, I lost control of my sanity for a while. I stopped holding back. I ended up passing out, and I guess he left after that.

But I noticed something from our fight with him. He can take a punch. Even when I used my control over reality to increase my physical strength, he could still get back up after being hit. He's practically invincible.

But when we attacked with guns or blades, he made sure to stop our attacks before they reached him. There's a number of reasons why this may be, but I think I know which reason is correct.

It's not his body he's protecting, it's his bandages. He's trying to protect his identity.

Fury

We all met tonight to discuss possible locations of our enemies. We were ambushed. Not by Nolla Row's group, but by someone else. He came out of no where, covered from head to toe with bandages. He raised a hand and sent Wildfire crashing through some crates. As if she wasn't injured enough. Kord rushed forward and punched him right in the jaw. He was completely unfazed by it. He simply swiped his arm, striking Kord in the chest and knocking him into a wall a few feet away. Sound tried to fight him next, kicking him in the Solar Plexus and face, then punched him twice in the face. He then drew his Sonic Sword and sung it, but this time he blocked with his forearm and corkscrew punched Sound so hard that I could hear his nose breaking. Sound fell unconscious just as Kord got back to his feet. He fired a soundwave from his mouth, but the bandaged man stopped it with one had and sent it back at him, slamming Kord into the wall with enough force to leave cracks. Kord slumped down, unconscious.

He turned his attention to me next. I couldn't see his eyes through those bandages, but I'm pretty sure he could see me. Isaac grabbed me by the wrist and took off.

“Where are you dragging me!?” I asked him in between pants.

“Away from that thing!” Isaac replied. “If Malkator were still around, he would kill me if I let something happen to you!”

“Who is that guy anyway?” I asked.

“I can't read his mind, so I can't say for sure,” Isaac said. “All I can say is that he's just as powerful as the Game Master.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“I can feel his power,” Isaac said. “He's exactly as powerful as-”

He stopped dead in his tracks without finishing his sentence. The bandaged man had appeared at the end of the alleyway we were running down. I drew my handgun and shot at him, but the bullet stopped in midair three inches from his face.

“Shit!” I said. I turned to Isaac and asked “Any ideas?”

“I'll see if a mental blast'll work on his,” he replied.

He tried to do just that, but it failed. That man didn't just resist the mental attack; he completely reflected it back at Isaac. He fell over, clutching his head, and fell unconscious. The bandaged man began walking toward me, stopping just a few feet away. He was about to kill me. I could tell.

“Who are you!?” I demanded. He cocked his head to the side, as if he didn't understand the question. “Who are you!?” I asked again. “What's your name!”

He looked up to the sky. After a moment, he swung his hand in front of me, and a series of gashed appeared on the ground at my feet, spelling out a single word; FURY.

“Fury?” I asked. “Is that your name?”

He nodded. He then raised a hand, pulling it into a fist and drawing it back, ready to punch me, but before he could, another fist collided with his chest, knocking him out of the alley and into the middle of the street. It was Isaac. But he was different. His white hair had become jet-black, and the air around him shuddered.

“That was incredible!” I said. “How did you hit that hard!?”

“Reality's my bitch!” Isaac said, turning to me with a malevolent smile on his face. “I'm exactly as strong as I perceive myself to be!”

Fury appeared again, a few feet away. Isaac drew his glave and charged, but Fury was able to stop his blade with his hand. The two of them began fighting viciously. Isaac kept tearing reality apart to summon weapons from nothing, and the Fury kept blocking his attacks and manipulating objects from a distance to fight with. The fight didn't last long, though. After a while, Isaac began coughing up blood and passed out.

Fury paused for a moment to catch his breath before before approaching me again. However, he didn't move after that. He just looked at me for a while.

“What are you waiting for?” A voice asked. I looked past Fury to see Martyr Beta. “She's your target! Finish her!”

Fury ignored him. He turned around and began walking away from me.

“What are you doing!?” Martyr Beta demanded. “Kill her!”

Fury waved a hand and the words DON'T FEEL LIKE IT became gauged into the wall. He then disappeared.

“Who is that!?” I demanded.

“A hassle is what he is,” Martyr Beta said. “I already got one kid to babysit, and then the Archive goes and shoves their super weapon on me to take care of. A real pain in the ass.”

“Super weapon?” I asked.

“What does that mean?”

“It means that those who cross the Archive will learn to regret it,” he said. “You're off the hook this time, but you won't be as lucky the next time you cross paths with the Fury.”

He left. I regrouped with the others and we're treating Wildfire and Isaac's injuries. I don't know what happened to Isaac back then. He was using his control over reality recklessly, without caring about what it did to his body. He seems to be okay now. His hair's even turned white again.

But Fury.... just who is that guy? And why is he so powerful? I'll have to watch my back from now on.