The Best... Mao Face?

I look over at Splendor as we walk, “You know, this feels odd. Your arrival, all these dark smells on the wind, my arrival back. It feels like we’re in a giant chess game, and our enemy has us in check.”

He looks over at me, “What makes you think we’re surrounded?”

I take a deep smell of the air, “Scents of 096, 049, feelings of dark times approaching. Can’t you feel it? There’s a tension in the air, like someone’s made a great plan, and is worried about it failing.”

He calmly rests a tendril on my shoulder, “I think you’re overreacting. I think you’re mind is stressed, so it is seeing darkness where none exists.”

We step above a pony who gets in our path, “I know this isn’t just stress. One of my friends, Raven, taught me how to read mana. And the mana upon this world seems dark, all of a sudden. However, you might be right. Maybe my mind is just grasping at straws.”

He smiles, “Even if you’re right, there’s no need for us to worry. All that stress will cause terrible wrinkles upon your face, and we don’t want that, do we?” He motions forward with his cane, “Either way, we’re here.”

I look ahead, and see we’ve arrived at the secluded house on the outskirts of town. I look at Splendor, and nod, knocking on the door.

A pony hesitantly answers the door, peaking his head out, “Hello?”

I kneel down upon his level, “We’re here to ask questions about your reports to the guard.”

He nods, and fully opens his door, “Didn’t think you would show up. You must think this is awful serious if you’re here.”

I move in with Splendor following behind me. I duck as I enter, but soon stretch out in the big house. I nod, “Somepony missing a kidney is something to worry about. Regular guard might not be able to deal with this, maybe.”

He looks at Splendor, “Who’s this, your apprentice?”

Splendor looks at me, “Apprentice? You part of some big position, brother?”

I sigh, “I am head, and only member, of the Supernatural branch of the Equestrian Guard.”

The pony looks between us, “Well, I’m glad you two are catching up or whatever, but can we do this some other time? It’s getting close to night.”

I turn to face him, “Alright, to start off with, what’s your name?”

He smiles, “Kidney Bean.”

Splendor lets out a little laugh, causing the two of us to look back at him. He covers his mouth, “Oh, oh I am so sorry, the name mixed with the scenario was too much.”

Kidney looks back at me, “Anyway, I guess I should describe the events to you. About every night, soon after I fall asleep, I feel sharp pain on my body. I wake up, and only get to catch a single glimpse of some tall thing before it dissapears. One night, I didn’t wake up, and I found my kidney gone in the morning.”

I nod along, “Alright, I have a plan of action. You sleep, and I will watch over you.”

He blinks and yawns, “Well then, get ready. It’s about nine thirty, and it always prepares around ten.”

I nod, and turn to Splendor, “Alright, Splendy, I want you to watch the outside of the room. I’ve got the inside.”

Splendor nods, “No worries, brother, nothing will escape through the door.”

I move in the room after the pony, and I blend myself into the shadows in the corner of the room. I watch the pony fall asleep, and wait.

———

Out of nothing, something appears. Out of the shadows, there is a tall, human looking creature, standing at the foot of Kidney’s bed.

It goes to draw a knife from it’s side, only to stop as it feels my tendril on it’s shoulder. It slowly turns around to face me. A blue face, expressionless, eyes missing and bleeding darkness.

Eyeless Jack.

I wrap the tendril all around him, and toss him out the nearby window. I blink outside with him, only to see him roll back onto his feet.

He tilts his head as he sees me, “Slender? Shoud’ve guessed you’d be brought to this bizarre world as well. What, I intrude on your prey again?”

I stretch to my full hight, “Eyeless Jack. How odd for one so weak to pop up in this world.”

He angrily rips a kidney out of his pocket, and absorbs a bit of it, “Weak?! I know I can’t win against you, but I’m not weak!”

I shrug, “All you’ve got is teleportation and a knife. Forgive me if I’m not shaking in my metaphysical boots.”

He throws the kidney to the ground, and draws his knife, “These are the first words you’ve ever said to me, and it’s an insult?! I remember getting a few stabs on you last time, let’s increase that number!”

He tries to fake me out, by ripping a portal open behind him. He dissapears into it, and I follow him through. We both come out in the middle of a forest clearing, near the edge of the Everfree.

He turns around in surprise as I appear, “Wait, you’re seriously following me? Slender, what could I have done to make you so angry? I’ll choose another town to hunt if you want this one so much.”

I spread my tendrials out as much as I can, “You shall not harm any being here.”

His eyes widen a bit, “What’s gotten into you? We’ve always had a rocky relationship, yeah, but you’ve never claimed an entire town as your prey. Wait... you aren’t Slenderman, are you?” He shakes his head, “Should’ve seen it. You said my formal name, you actually spoke, protecting something.”

I nod, “You guess right.”

He turns to me once more, knife deep in his grasp, “Very well then. I shall have to rid this world of you. Some sort of impersonator, it’d never stand on my watch. I don’t think you even have powers, do you? Just some random thing that looks like Slender.”

He tries to approach, and I as well, but both of us are interrupted. The sound of something running through the brush of the forest drawing our attention. Until, all of a sudden, the noise stops. And the creature appears.

A boy, young looking, jumps out of a bush and towards Jack. He stabs a knife deep within Jack’s chest.

Normally, such a blow wouldn’t matter, but Jack starts to screech in pain. He tries to raise his own knife to block the newcomer, only to have his hand chopped off.

He grabs the new stump with his other hand, and tries running away. As soon as he takes his first step, the newcomer throws his knife.

It hit’s in the back of Jack’s head, causing him to fall over, dead. His black, tar-like blood staining the ground beneath him, and kidneys falling out of his pockets.

The newcomer pulls his knife out of Jacks head, and turns to face me.

Wide eyes, taking their first blink.

A smile to send shivers down anyone’s spine, turning into a sad frown.

Black hair draped on his head, now flowing in the nighttime wind.

Jeff the Killer.

Jeff stands before me, back from the dead.