Something Slender (and Awful) - Backup and Bathroom Break

[x-cypher.livejournal.com]

Maddie goes to find the only people she think might possibly believe her - X-force.



Even though weekends tended to be quieter in the Snow Valley Memorial Centre offices, at least a few people could generally be found in the building. Doug was a frequent case, between his tendency to bury himself in work to avoid unpleasant things and the fact that he would often be dealing with strange time zone differences for his digital searches and interactions. And this day was no different, as he had plenty to want to avoid thinking about since Belladonna's bait-and-switch attack on the brownstone.

For her part, Amanda was on a conference call, talking with several of the occult network about D'Spayre's appearance. There hadn't been much information in her books and Strange was off following a lead on the Chthon cult.

"...and of course, she got away, so we've got another supernatural baddie on the loose," she was saying as she chewed the end of a pencil. Not being able to smoke in the office was a pain, sometimes. "I was hoping you lot could help me identify her, it, whatever."

"A demon that projects fears and feeds on life energy?" The voice on the speaker was mechanical, the deaf-mute Sato using reading and voice recognition software to participate. "That's not exactly new, Amanda..."

"Doug!" The door slammed shut as the out-of-breath, female voice shouted into the office's empty lobby. As Maddie paused long enough to catch her breath, she pulled out her cell phone and began scanning through her list of contacts.

"Ow. Shit. Damn. Fuck." A sharp pain stabbed her in the abdomen, forcing her to double over in pain. She knew better than to run the way she did, no stretching, water, and then stopping finally. It was her own damn fault she got a cramp. "Walk it off Pryor."

"Doug!" There was no concealing the pain in her voice as she staggered around, gripping her side. "Marie-Ange? Amanda? Anybody home?"

"Shite. Gotta go, I'll email you all later." Amanda hit the disconnect on her phone even as she was rising to her feet, hurrying out of the office to the lobby. "DOUG! GET YOUR ARSE OUT HERE!" she bellowed, seeing Maddie - there was definitely Trouble happening. "'S all right, Mads, 'm here. What's happened?"

~Not again,~ was Doug's first thought in reply to Amanda's bellow. He was already reaching for the small lockbox that held his pistol, and was settling it into the holster at the small of his back as he came out of his server room and towards the lobby. "What's the deal?" he asked, his eyes hard and his body language coiled like a spring as he took in Maddie's appearance.

"Don't worry," the teen shoved her phone back into her pocket then waved away the concerned faces that had appeared before her. With a groan she stretched out one side, then the other, wincing in pain. "I'm fine. Just a cramp. I'll live."

"Okay, what's the emergency?" Doug asked. That there was an emergency was obvious, since Maddie had come to the Snow Valley offices at a dead run on a weekend. Besides, he vaguely recalled that there was supposed to be some sort of group student outing in the city.

Maddie let out a breath and pulled herself upright. Eyes closed, she inhaled and exhaled deeply as she brought her hands down in front of her, palms flt like she was about to pray. One more inhale and exhale, and she opened her eyes wide, her gaze alternating between Doug and Amanda.

"Okay." How to begin, exactly, was the problem. She hadn't believed it when the others told her certainly, but it wasn't like she had anyone else to turn to for help. Worst case scenario, she could use her powers to make them believe her. Otherwise....

No. No "otherwise", dammit. She would not let those creepy skinny bastards keep her friends.

"Right. Long story short: everyone is in this weird, messed-up astral world. I mean, it felt astral," she frowned in concentration then shook it off. No time to question her gut instincts. "And apparently there's this internet meme called "Slendermen" only, Surprise!, they're real. And I don't mean like 'Well duh they're a real meme', I mean like 'HOLY FUCK THEY EXIST IN A CORPOREAL FORM AND THEY'RE TRYING TO EAT OUR SOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUULS.'"

There. Now all she could do was stare out with intensely pleading owl eyes and hope that these people who deal with weird shit would know what to do.

Doug rubbed at his forehead. "Yes, Maddie, I know what Slendermen are. I'm from the internet, remember?" He scratched the back of his neck, calculating and thinking. He frowned. "Damn, I was kind of hoping they wouldn't turn out to be real." He turned to Maddie. "How many of them were there?" he asked. "What do you think, Amanda?" he followed up, turning to the blonde witch.

"Wait, Slendermen are on the internet?" Amanda blinked in surprise. "I thought they were only known about in magic circles. You know, something they warn young magic users about if they screw up too much?" Then she caught herself - Maddie hadn't rushed in here because she was curious. The students were in trouble. "We need to get them out of there. Slendermen aren't something to fuck around with. Maddie, you can show us where you came out of their dimension, right? It'll give us a starting point to try and get in there."

They believed her. And not only that, they believed her on two different fronts. The shock of them actually believing her had rendered Maddie momentarily paralyzed as all she could manage to do was to stare at Amanda, mouth agape and eyes blinking repeatedly. Internet Meme AND Magic Monster in the Closet? No way was all this a coincidence.

"You believe me," timid though her voice was, it was still a firm statement. It was like a light bulb had gone off in her head, breaking the stunned spell. "You really fuckin' believe me. Holy Fucking Shit," she began bouncing excitedly in place, "you guys really believe me!"

Her celebration was cut off. Amanda was right, they needed to get the kids out of there. Maddie had no idea how (Step 1 was to find someone who would believe her; she hadn't gotten to Step 2) but if the things were magic then Amanda could work whatever juju she did, and Doug was like a human computer. He practically was the internet. And if they couldn't figure something out, the two of them, of how to defeat these dudes, then they were swimming in a sewer of excrement. But first she had to answer their questions. Doug's first.

"Uh, hi, I was kinda too busy, you know, getting the fuck out of there to count them." Ask a stupid question, get a sarcastic answer. "But at least three. Maybe four. I don't fucking know! There could be a billion of them. Ew. I wonder how they procreate." She shuddered then turned her attention to the question of actual substance and the blonde who asked it. "I know where I came out, though. Outside the subway station. The one," Maddie paused to think, retracing her steps. "Um..." She turned in a circle, stopping and reversing direction when she came to a turn. Finally she stopped. Arm stretched out, finger point, she declared, "That way."

"Brilliant. We've got a starting point." Amanda turned to Doug. "We're going to need back up, but we can't grab everyone. 'S gunna be hard enough to find a way into this dimension - I won't have the juice to force a way for all of us."

Doug took on a look of intense concentration, as if he were attempting to solve a multidimensional math problem in several variables. Move this bit, and what does it do to everything else? Maddie didn't think about the tactical implications of how many enemies they might be facing, but Doug was. Assume one-for-one as a lower bound, pessimistic estimate higher. So the issue would be getting maximum firepower in a minimum of personnel. Luckily most of X-Force specialized in the 'maximum firepower' department. "Is there anything that would make the trip easier?" he asked Amanda. "Like a connection to the kids, or affinity to magic, or whatever."

"Wait a minute..." Something sparked in Amanda's eyes and she grinned. "That's it, Doug! Dimensional travel - 's always easier once you've done it once. So we grab the ones who have done the interdimensional thing before!" She began ticking off on her fingers. "You, me, Jubes, Angie and Remy. And Nico - I figure the Staff will have no trouble bringing her into a world full of soul-sucking monsters. It'll be just like home for it. Same goes with Wanda with Chthon being in her head and all."

Well that settled that. "Now come on!" Maddie passionately waved her hands in a circle, indicating for the two to hurry it up. "We don't have all day. Get your asses in gear, rally the troops, and let's go get our people!"

"While you're doing that though, which way to the bathroom? I really gotta pee."