You've Missed Mouthy

"Is there a problem?" He said. "Plan B." He said.

(Masky's POV)

    After spending a week in this musky building, I was finally able to teach Vince to throw a knife at a hanging dummy; and I don't mean Toby. I had managed to force Jeff to spar with the man when he needed to learn hand to hand combat with the blade, and I was surprised to find that the smiling killer secretly showed Vince a couple "special"  tricks. Thanks to Jeff's advanced tips, training Vince became easier than Slender had warned me. I won't admit it out loud, but having the freelancers here has been... helpful; except Ben, he's done nothing useful yet and only complains about being bored before dragging either Mouthy or Toby around for one of his "games".     By the second week, Vince's technique started evolving from only hitting the target with a throwing knife at every third try, to managing a hit to the throat with all of the following: a lead pipe, a rusted shard of metal, a small wood plank, one of Toby's axes, a shoe, and of course, a knife. The knife is a good starting weapon, every killer should know how to wield one. However, it won't give anyone an advantage if everyone knows how to dodge and steal one. Thats why I prefer to teach all of the proxies to fight with any and all weapons; now that should explain why Toby fights with his own weapons rather than listen to my advice.     After three weeks of hiding down here, Kate and Vince can spar for five to ten minutes straight before she catches him in an inescapable pin. His confidence has also grown, playing perfect with the white shades Slender gave him. I suppose if he also had a mask that Toby might feel a little left out, if he could feel in the first place would be a twist in and of itself. Since the beginning of that week, everyone's been antsy. They finally asked about food and other sustenance, after two weeks of not feeling hungry Jeff confronted me about it, I just told him it was part of being in one of Slender's domains. Mouthy had said that she and Kate could go weeks without thinking of food or water. The man was smart to just nod and believe every word, because all we know is that it has to do with working for an entity of unfathomable abilities.     It's the fourth week as of today, and I'm struggling to keep order in this cramped space. Mouthy and Kate still sleep peacefully on the floor while the rest of us talk about complete bullshit in the dorm, unable to fall asleep. Jack and Hoody have organized then reorganized the medicine bottles a pointless amount of times, and sigh often to express their frustrations without using their words. I can sympathize with them; training Vince was easy, and I never had to legitimately train Toby, so combining two people with clashing personalities is my current hell. I don't understand why they can't just get their acts together, once they learn to work together in sync then we can all finally get out of here.      I close the cover of one of my journals, running a gloveless hand through my hair as a loud groan escapes my mask.     "Toby, you're supposed to help Vince with the target, not completely destroy it before he gets the chance to even hit it." I shout from the stairs with Hoody standing next to me; both of us watch the two freshly partnered proxies argue in the sparring arena below us.     "I'm sorry he's super slow! You're the one suppose to train him in combat." Toby complains, waving his axes around in frustration. "Don't blame me for his lack of speed, Mr. Know-it-all."    "I am trained in combat, Toby! He's trying to teach us to work together here, what happened to all the enthusiasm you had about being partners?" Vince shouts, ripping off his shades to point them at the twitch. "You didn't shut up about it the first two weeks we were here."    "Meh, I guess I got bored." Toby shrugs putting one ax away, attempting to perform tricks with the other.     "Agreed!" Ben's distant voice echoes from upstairs, where he and the remaining four killers attempt to play with a deck of cards Jack had found buried in the infirmary.     "You got bored, oh okay, good to know that A.D.H.D. is also on your list of medical problems." Vince growls, causing Toby to freeze. "I wonder if Jack has found a magical pill bottle that could help you focus more on the main goal."    "You don't know shit about me." Toby fumes, tightening his grip on his ax as his neck twitches and pops. "You don't know anything about any of us."    "And you do?" Vince watches his partner's body language, waiting for the boy to turn and pounce on him. "Because last time I checked, Slender wiped the brains of all his proxies, there's nothing we can even compare between one another. So don't give me that bullshit, as if you've taken time to know me either."    "Shut up!" Toby screams, diving at Vince. I watch as he swings both axes down around the plain proxy, herding him into a corner. Upon instinct, I attempt to lunge towards them and break up the fight. However, Hoody stops me by grabbing my arm, his head tilted slightly downward. I pick up his emotions, figuring out what he plans to say even before he mumbles anything.    "L-let them fight." His little whisper tickles my ears, and I look back to the battle below. The moment Hoody had looked to me, I realized Vince had provoked Toby on purpose. Fighting the twitch when he's in a killing mindset would spark Vince's survival instinct, causing him to unlock abilities he usually wouldn't be able to by sheer will.     "Stop moving so that I can chop you into a million pieces." Toby screams.    "I thought you said I was slow, it shouldn't be that hard to catch me." Vince taunts, swiftly dodging Toby's random strikes. "Come on, T-" Vince's words are cut off as Toby throws a hatchet into the other proxy's shoulder.    "Say it, I dare you. Call me 'Twitch' one more time and I'll aim for the throat." Toby hisses, running towards Vince as fast as possible. It's now that Hoody shows concern for the outcome, so both him and I rush to pull them apart.     Hoody grabs Toby's left arm and I take the right. He growls, thrashing against us as Vince's grin grows wide and crazy. He tilts his head up while ripping the axe out of his shoulder, the glint from his shades giving us a small warning. He swings the blade into the air above his head, aiming to split Toby's skull. The twitch moves his head to the left; nearly head butting Hoody and allowing the axe to land in his collar, cracking through the bone. Blood sprays from the wound, speckling my mask and jacket.     "An eye for an eye, now were even." Vince hisses, kicking Toby in the stomach to pull the axe free. "I wonder, can I break you enough to feel pain? Or would you just die first?"     "Neither, you'll be the one to die." Toby spits, he pulls at Hoody in an attempt to break free. I glare at the kid, mentally demanding he stop. As he glares back, thrashing; blood oozing from the cut in his neck. I look to see Vince in a similar state of pain from his own shoulder.     "Hoody, get Jack." I scream, receiving a nod from my partner. As the yellow proxy rushes up the stairs, Toby takes this as his chance and punches me with his good hand. "Damnit Toby! You're bleeding out."     "Then let go hard-ass!" He shouts back, tilting to throw his head into my face. There's a defining crack when we collide, pushing me backwards until Toby's arm in ripped from my grasp.      I roll to my feet as Toby lunges for Vince, each with an axe in hand. The goggled proxy stumbles from blood loss, while his partner struggles to fight with one arm. I find myself in their battle seconds later, dodging their blades while remaining low to the ground. I kick under Toby's knee, causing him to fall onto the other. Standing up quickly, I reach behind me to grab the collar of Vince's shirt, spinning him over my shoulder and into Toby; leaving them in a tangled pile of limbs.     "Are you done?" I growl. These two are acting like psychotic children and punishing the other for stealing their candy. "Do either of you understand how childish your actions are right now? We've been underground for almost four weeks, without food, without kills, and unable to have space away from the others! All nine of us are grumpy and on the verge of slaughtering one another, because you two can't get your shit together. We came down here to train Vince to fight and to teach you both to work as partners. We aren't suppose to leave until that's finished, but it seems that we're going to have to figure out a plan B." My words resonate around the room, finding its way to the ears of the two killers before me. I look up to the stairs, watching Hoody and Jack walk towards us with the rest of the group standing by the railing just watching the scene unfold.     "Jack, get these two morons into a functionable state as soon as possible." I tell the blue masked killer, looking up to the walkway above after seeing him nod. "Kate." I call, pointing to Vince and Toby. She pushes away from the railing and runs down the stairs, reaching to help Vince stand as Jack grabs Toby. The four of them leave towards the infirmary, and the others wander down to Hoody and I once they disappear.     "Masky, your mask." Hoody mutters as Mouthy, Jeff, and Ben make their way across the sparring circle. I pull my hand towards my face, removing the mask then flip it over to look at the face I usually hide behind. A huge crack starts from the forehead, avoids the nose, and runs down to the chin; half of it smeared with Toby's blood.     "That's going to take some time to fix. Good thing I don't need to hide my identity here." I groan.    "I'll fix it." Mouthy whispers confidently, holding her hand out to me.    "Nah, I can do it when we get back to the mansion. But I can use your help with something else." I say with an idea baking in the back of my brain. "Can you still converse with Slender from down here?" She stands up straight, nodding in confirmation. "Good, inform him about our current situation. Talk to me if he replies, better yet, see if he'll talk to me." I command, waiting for her to confirm my order. Mouthy pulls her hand to her forehead in mock-salute, hissing a deep "Yessir!" before turning to walk into a corner. I watch her sit on the floor against the wall, hugging her knees and putting her head on her arms. She looks so peaceful, one of the only monsters I know who can keep stress-free like that. Well whatever, if she can still get into Slender's head then there's a chance he has another plan and we can go back to the our own separate lives.     "Yo, Masky, did you hear a word I just said?" Jeff growls.    "Nah, he's checking out the ladies." Ben says, floating upside-down above Hoody. I give him a death glare, and he widens his bleeding eyes. "Dang, you look even more sinister without your mask. I can both see and feel your laser eyes now." He laughs.    "Shut-up, Ben. Masky do you have a plan about what's going down? I've stayed out of it until now so I wouldn't have to hear your 'it's proxy business' crap, but now the three of us non-proxies are involved in this little problem and I'd like to know what's screwing us over." Jeff growls, waving his hands around as he speaks. His intense eyes meet mine and I look to Hoody for a brief moment before turning back to him.     "No. I have no plans other than to train Vince and Toby to fight as a pair. If you have a problem with that then you can start thinking of a way out of here. Maybe you can beat some sense into their thick heads, for example." I give a huff, and turn away.     Jeff sighs as I adjust my stance, lowering my head with a scowl as I think.     "We could just walk back through the maze. I remember the way we can in." Ben speaks up, spinning his hat weightlessly in the air. "Hug the right' remember?"    "I don't know if you've checked the entrance since arriving here, but the doors are gone." Jeff hisses to him. Ben looks down like he was just cut with Jeff's knife, surprise laced along his jaw. His lips form an "O" shape at the moment of realization. "Dumbass." The smiling killer growls.    "Hey, I'm dead so the laws of physics don't apply to me. I simply forgot that you're all still bound to them, so walls are a problem." Ben snickers, spinning his ghostly body around to prove his point. Jeff turns to glare at him, only receiving Ben's crazy gaze. "What if I told you I'm only a figment of your imagination, an electric pulse behind your eyes making you believe I'm really here? Hmm?"    "I'd call 'bullshit.' Ben, if you can't legitimately help us here then please go hover around Jack until Kate decides to chase you away." I command, giving the kid an angry but serious look. Ben looks to me, studying me before chuckling.     "Nah, I think I'll float around here until something worth your time pops up. Okay, Boss?" He rolls 'Boss' off his tongue in a mocking tone. I give a 'tsk' before turning to Hoody for advice.     "What do you think?" I ask him. He looks at my face without a sound, before turning to Mouthy's location.    "S-Slender should be able to get Toby and Vince to cooperate, even if he has to erase their memories a-again." He mutters quietly, bringing a heavy aura with his words. Jeff looks to me with his wide eyes, his mouth draw into a thin line.     "Again? Like hell that's fair! They'd forget all of their training as a whole, not to mention the last several years Toby's been working under Slendy. The whole household will be forced out of his stupid head, because he and the new guy won't get along!" Jeff screams. "Jane and I fight and bitch to each other all the time, we constantly go for blood but we're both able to live under the same roof without killing the other in their sleep. I mean, come on! If they won't fight as partners then get the big man to set them up with different guys. I'm sure Slender could easily pick up two more proxies before you can even say 'eight-pages."    "Guys." Hoody mutters. But I'm too busy thinking of a way to counter Jeff's argument that I don't notice the concern in his voice.    "You and Jane also aren't required to go on missions together, live to guard your assigned domain and partner with your life, nor were either of your pasts stripped from your minds! Our lives are Slender's to command, we don't know any other life!" A growl to the killer, ready to throw my hands around his neck. "If you think you have any say in the matter, you're dead wrong."    "Guys!" Hoody shouts again, finally getting my attention. I look to my own partner with an annoyed look, following his arm down to his hand. Hoody points into the corner of the room, where Mouthy sits with her own hand in the air.     "Mouthy?" Her name slips from my lips unitentionally, and slightly laced with concern. Her hand fall back onto her head as a thick atmosphere takes hold of my breath.     "Is there a problem here, Masky?"