Hunting Slenderman

[dont_turn_around]

In the mist and fog and silence, there is a cave. There is darkness within darkness there and nothing more and the faint whiff of something ... not right.

But there's a drawing stuck to the rocks that frame the opening, a childish grouping of trees and a tall, thin man, with the words TAMAN SHUD.

Here is the end.

"I think we should go here," says Jack.

Comments

[changeinasnap]

It also comes really close to taking off the head of a guy leaning against the cave wall, one eyebrow curved in a perfect arch as he stares up at Slenderman.




Wait, hold up, when did that guy get here?

[ambriel]

Ambriel pulls up short.

When did that guy get here?

Because he wasn't there to begin with.

And he certainly didn't come in behind them.

Unless...

[dont_turn_around]

Even he seems to be taken aback.

[changeinasnap]

[dont_turn_around]

[changeinasnap]

[dont_turn_around]

[changeinasnap]

From out of nowhere, he produces an American twenty-dollar bill, pinches it between two fingers, and holds it out to Slenderman.

"Go buy yourself a sandwich, kid," he says. "You look terrible."

[dont_turn_around]

Head tilt.




Alas, he does not take the money.



(They don't make sandwiches in 'baby', do they?)

[jack_inthegreen]

"Nice try," Jack says to the newcomer.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"Would anybody care to tell me," Steve says in that controlled way that says he's about two seconds from kicking someone's ass, "why my best friend is encased in chocolate?"

[mix_it_up]

A little dry, "It's... getting a lot easier to not believe in this thing."

Namely because this all somehow became a lot more unbelievable.

[changeinasnap]

"Because he has a delicious nougat-y center?" he says to Steve, brightly.

Then, with a very put-upon sigh, he turns back to Slenderman. "Fine," he grouses, wiggling the twenty back and forth, "your loss."

With a quick flick of his wrist, he tosses the money at Slenderman's feet, then turns around to give the party a quick once-over. Seemingly satisfied at what he finds, he grins, directs a wink to Asami in particular, and lifts a hand.

Snap.

Yeah, that's about as helpful as he's gonna get. He's gone.

[dont_turn_around]

He is confused.

And not feeling like himself.

[jack_inthegreen]

Jack can sense it.

Like he felt the Slenderman's presence in the bar, he can feel it now--a weakening of strength, maybe even of will.

"Steve," he says softly, "go get your friend."

And as Steve makes his way to the slab of chocolate, Jack calls out, "Unnamed god, it's time we made a few things clear to you. This is Milliways, and we protect our own. Your days are gone and over. The people you've overtaken, they don't deserve this cruelty. We will help them--we will bring them back to themselves.

"But mostly, Tall and Tentacled," he smiles, "you really do look terrible."

[zodiac_rabbit]

A rabbit carrying blue shorts hops into the room at a run, then stops.

It takes a moment for his eyes to adjust to the scene in front of him. There were people... and the evil thing... and um, was that... chocolate he smelled down near the centre?

[ami_imperfect]

Coming up and skidding to a stop behind the rabbit carrying blue shorts is a teenage girl with white hair.

Dani blinks, taking in the tableau in front of her. She recognizes Jack, and a couple of the others that had been at the meeting. And, of course, there's Skinny-britches.

"...the hell is going on here?"

[a1enzo]

And joining them is a big green boy.

"I dunno, but it looks like we're just in time for the party," he says grimly.

[dont_turn_around]

CHILDREN.

He whirls to the newcomers, tentacles poised as if to snatch, hands already reaching for the tasty morsels young people and the little rabbit.

[jack_inthegreen]

"NO!" shouts Jack, stretching out his hand.

The cave quakes. There is a flash of green light.

And then there is someone in the cave who is like Jack, but isn't Jack--someone fierce and wild and old, containing so much energy that the air in the cave seems to dance like trees in the wind or wild colts on the plains.

Herne the Hunter has made his presence known.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve drapes his body over the Bucky-shaped slab to protect him from falling debris, all the while staring in wonder at Jack's new form.

[zodiac_rabbit]

Momiji, still in rabbit form, shrinks back as the dark being reaches towards him. Then, his eyes are drawn to the man's change and quivering walls.

The question- Who was that?!

[a1enzo]

Enzo—sparing a gape for Jack's transformation—dances back, extruding the claws from the Ghost Gauntlets' fingertips.

[ambriel]

Steve's shield did not work, so Ambriel takes no chances. It fades away.

Then as the air in the cave shimmers with energy, Ambriel vanishes as well, reappearing directly in front of the Slenderman with a crack of displaced air. The circle of radiance moves with the angel, flooding the altar and the area around it with light.

Ambriel grabs for the Slenderman's outstretched arms, faster than the human eye can see.

[dont_turn_around]

Faster than that, he is on the other side of the cave.

Sneering, it would seem.