You've Missed Mouthy

See, Compromise

(Jeff the Killer's POV)

     "Is there a problem here, Masky?" The boss's heavy voice falls into our heads, feeling like a huge weight on my shoulders. I was not expecting that, did Mouthy actually get in touch with Slender or did he just decide now would be a good time to pop-in?    "Hey, look who's here." Ben snickers, still hovering around us like an annoying fly. "You missed some pretty good fights, yet I seem to remember a threat about eliminating us if-"    "I have been informed of the situation,'Electric-pulse-boy." Slender growls mockingly, not bothering to look at Ben and his face of shock. The elf grumbles an "Ouch" as the room falls silent. My ears are caught by a slight thump not far from the group, and I turn to find Mouthy had fallen onto her side. Slender's head also turns to look at the girl before he folds his arms behind his back.    "Let her rest, Mouthy has told me everything from her point of view. Now I want to know what you plan to do from here on Masky." He says, clearly annoyed.     "I have no plans outside of what you asked of me, sir." The now maskless proxy informs, keeping his dark eyes on his master. "Though with the issues at hand I had asked Mouthy to contact you to organize another option for the operation." He finishes, earning a silent nod from the boss. But a clawing sensation rips at the back of my mind and I'm unable to stop my mouth from moving the question past my lips.    "Is there a way to solve this without wiping their minds clean?" I growl with an unintentional smile, making me look like I was challenging the twelve foot tall man.  Slender cranes his neck in my direction, his heavy voice ringing in my head.    "How? Can you give any idea's that will fix the issue under your own terms? If so, enlighten us. Otherwise, you are no longer involved, Jeffery." He growls into my skull, leaving the sound of my name echoing around and clouding my thoughts.      Flashes of my families' corpses, bloodied and motionless, rush from all the dark corners of my mind. They crawl over my ideas, blocking any kind of solution from reaching my mouth. While growing overcome with the horribly beautiful images, I begin to deeply chuckle.     "Jeff, what did you have in mind?" A small voice jerks me from my head, and yanks on the sleeve of my hoodie. I look down to see the short white masked teen with her shaky hand gripping my shirt with incredible force. "Tell him." She growls while in pain, forcing her voice to be deep and strict to hide that she's straining to keep on her feet.     "Go sit back down, Mouthy. I know what I'm doing." I hiss with a neutral glare, and she happily takes my words like a command and drops to the ground at our feet. She's still shaking and swaying, sitting with her legs crossed and her head in her hands. I look to Slender after being pulled from that trip, subconsciously blaming him for that nostalgic bombing.    "I actually do have an idea, big man." I say with a cocky tone ringing from my slit mouth. "Why not take everyone back to the mansion, let them unwind and heal then start training again. Get the rest of the monsters to get off their lazy asses and show Vince some tricks or something. Then send them to whatever domain thing you have planned." I give my resolve, lifting my arms up to emphasize my point as I sum it all up. "Proxies are trained, people have space, your domain is protected, and no one gets a mental scrub down; see, compromise." I give a chuckle, thinking I have won the conversation. That is until Slender give a small shake of his head.    "The mansion isn't a location open to them, the moment Mouthy, Kate, and Toby left the mansion they were, in a way, bordered out. They can't return without my authority." He speaks, monotone. "The only instance that the girls have ever been inside was before training had began down here. Masky and Hoody haven't been to any other domain because of the same rule." This news is shocking to me, honestly I didn't expect for the boss himself to admit his uptight actions. Holy shit, being a proxy for this guy must be worse than hell with Zalgo; too many rules. No wonder Masky's a hard-ass.      "The door upstairs, isn't actually gone then." I think out loud. "I never actually looked for myself if it was, but Toby stomped into the dorm one night growling about how it was gone. I may be accusing you for nothing but I'm going to guess that is because of your little rule, right?" My words are heard, but nobody makes a move to acknowledge my claim. "Well?"    "Yes, t-that is why." Hoody mutters beside me, keeping his head hung low and staring at the ground.    "That's bullshit! The mansion's where Toby calls home." I growl, curling my hand into fist. A twitch pulling my fingers towards the knife in my pocket. "Why are you pressing these shitty rules onto them?! What kind of system are you running here, Slender? You let random monsters stay under your roof not giving a damn what they do; but the few killers that you actually care about are tied down with heavy chains! What does that accomplish?" I shout, expecting an immediate retaliation to keep the argument. However, Mouthy wraps her fingers around my calf, holding it in a vise grip as she begins to hum the static of a radio. I take the hint and shut my own mouth, looking into the faces of those around me.     Slender had been locked in a stare down with Masky, exchanging mental messages rather than listening to my angry rant. Mouthy had been listening in on both, knowing that the argument ended awhile ago. The boss turns away from the group, nodding once to all three proxies in the room.     "Gather your things, Jeff and Ben. We're leaving immediately." - - -     Everyone drags themselves upstairs to the dorm, without the need to carry anything out of this forsaken building; we gather around Jack and the other three proxies. All four of them are covered in blood, growling at each other to either, "stop moving," "shut-up," or to just growl in general. Slender appears in the corner where he can be seen by everyone, craning his neck to fit right under the ceiling.     "Toby, Vince; listen carefully. Training here is over, you are not cooperating well under Masky's command, and are not matured enough to function alone in a new domain." His voice is strict and rings in everyone's ears. "Instead, you two will be taken to the Elementary. Kate and Mouthy will join you until I either need them or you learn to work as one. No distractions from the other monsters, and no room for argument. I have different ways of making you two get along, however they are not necessary if you decide to cooperate." He finishes, earning a glare from me that he doesn't notice.     "Elementary?" Toby questions, dropping his hand to rub the blade of his axe nervously. The wheels in his head turn, quietly knitting together the realization. I can barely see through his goggles as he closes his eyes with a little sigh. "When do we leave?" He asks, accepting Slender's order.    "I will take Masky, Hoody, and the rogues back to the mansion then return to take the rest of you to the Elementary. Be ready to leave when I return." Slender commands, looking down at the rest of the group with his blank face. Mouthy walks towards Jack, offering her hand out to take the stitching needle and thread from him. He looks up to her for a moment. Understanding the gesture, Jack gives her the tools.    "I already fixed Vince." He says, standing up to trade her places. Mouthy nods to Jack, and he returns it before walking towards Ben and myself.      No one speaks, allowing silent goodbyes to be exchanged with their eyes. Slender's tendrils rip out of his back, waving through the air until touching each one of us. An ear splitting buzz swipes through the air and my vision distorts. But before it became completely unrecognizable, I swear I saw Mouthy lift her hand to wave. - - -     The temperature changes instantly, warming my bleached flesh as my vision returns.     "Finally, some electricity." Ben sighs in relief, stretching in the air above our heads. He flips upside down before looking into Slenders face with a bored expression. "Let me guess, now you're going to tell us to keep the past four weeks a secret and not tell anyone else in the mansion about the other proxies. Right?" Ben says, ending with a smirk.     "Exactly, if anyone asks where you have been, you were all on a mass killing spree. If they ask about Toby, you are to say nothing." Slender replies with a neutral tone. "If you say anything about this event other than those two options, I will be forced to take away the memories. And I am not precise when I am angry." He warns, retracting his tendrils. "Am I clear?"     "Ya, loudly." I hiss at him.     "Good." Slender gives the word before completely disappearing into thin air, teleporting back down to the training facility.      "Well, home sweet home, I guess." Ben sighs, "Whatever. Hey Jeff, I want to play campaign on a third person shooter. Care to join?"     "Might as well, I ain't got any other plans." I reply with a groan. "And I really don't want to hear crap from Jane the moment I get back."    "I hear ya, Jack, I've got three controllers." Ben says, offering to let him game with us.     "Maybe, I should wash this blood off first." He replies, grabbing his sleeves to show wet spots on it.    "Why bother, it proves our killer alibi." Ben laughs, putting emphasis on "killer." I chuckle and Jack shrugs in agreement. - - -      The three freelancers walk down the hall, ready to readapt to life in the mansion. They leave Hoody and maskless Masky behind, not bothering to even speak to them. Masky sighs, looking down at the broken mask in his hand. He finds a chip in the corner, no bigger than a quarter but still a chip nonetheless.     "Back to work?" Hoody questions to his partner, earning a small nod from him.    "Back to work." Masky confirms. The two of them turn to walk down the opposite hallway, silent footsteps growing quieter with each second.