"(Y/N) Walker. Come here."
I glare over at Zalgo from the corner of my eye upon hearing him calling my name, and see him beckoning to me with his finger. The grin on his face doesn't seem trustworthy, so I pretend to ignore him and continue to mind my own business.
Zalgo however...
"Come here little Walker~ come heeeereee~"
The pet calling actually annoyed me and I finally turned to him with a snarl, "You're not talking to me like that. No way."
"Of course I am, you're (Y/N), aren't you? Now get over here!"
Before I could protest, Zalgo suddenly wrings me by the neck and starts dragging me away.
"TOBY HEL—"
Ticci Toby, who was nearby, instantly whipped out a camcorder and began taping me getting dragged.
"WOW. FRICK YOU TOBIAS."
"Love ya t-too, "little Walker!"" Toby laughed aloud as I disappeared around the corner with Zalgo.
•••
Zalgo eventually let's go of me once we were far from everyone else and I immediately start planning my escape. "At least let me get a word in," Zalgo sighed, grabbing my collar just as I was about to speed away.
"You just did. Now can I go?" I groaned. "Listen (Y/N), I have an extraordinary idea and I'd like you to be a part of it."
"Whenever I become 'apart of things,' something bad always happens or goes terribly wrong. No thanks."
Zalgo ignored my protest and smiled uncannily wide, "I'm starting my very own legion of Proxies, and I want YOU, Walker, to join them as the leading Proxy!"
I stopped struggling to escape and stared at Zalgo for a good minute. Before suddenly bursting into hysterical laughter and grabbing my sides.
"Forming your own group of super sidekicks is NOT gonna impress Slenders, Zalhoe!"
Zalgo's smile slowly faltered and he growled, "This has absolutely nothing to do with SlenderMan, why are you bringing him up?! I could care less what that bald pin thinks!"
"Sounding a bit desperate to defend yourself now there..."
Zalgo took a deep breath before continuing more calmly, "My decision to hold Proxies does not concern Slender. Instead, I figured it would be useful to have lowly servants of my own running around taking up tasks that I command them to and doing my bidding."
I blinked at him, "Did that really sound right coming out your mouth? Did you not just hear yourself?"
Zalgo rolled his eyes, "Oh so it's right when Slender does it but when I want the same exact thing it's seen as wrong!"
"I thought this wasn't about Slender."
"..."
Zalgo roughly let go of my collar and waved me off, "Nevermind, I'll just find someone else to be my leading proxy. You're too damn annoying anyway."
I shrugged, "Suits me! Later Señorita!"
I bolted out of the room before zalgo could end up asking me anything else.
•••
It was later on in the evening and I decided to stalk the woods for a while to see if any outsiders might've wandered in.
I brought along a board game that was tucked under my arm cause no, I wasn't planning to kill them like Slender expected. Nah, I was gonna trap them and force them to play a game of Scrabble with me because that's what any sane Creepypasta killer would do, right?
Anyway, I happily marched through the woods with my game of Scrabble held close and my ears and eyes alert for any sounds of intruders.
After a few minutes of searching, I hadn't had any luck so far. I was contemplating going and breaking into a random strangers house and setting up a game there when I finally caught the sound of footsteps.
I was so excited at that moment that I wasn't sure wether I should straight up go over to them and greet them or beat them with the box.
I quickly decided on a mix of both and started over to where I heard the footsteps.
Just before I could even step through he bushes to reach them, a figure launches at me first and knocks me to the ground, causing me to drop the board game. I look up in alarm to see a masked figure now standing over me, and the quickly grabbed my legs and started dragging me across the ground.
"NO, NOT MY SCRABBLE. NOOOOOOOO!!!!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I was taken away.
I continued to complain about my board game all the while the masked stranger dragged across the woodland floor. I think they eventually got tired of pulling me by the legs because we eventually came to a stop and they just stood at the side, trying to catch their breath beneath the mask.
I honestly didn't care who they were or what they wanted with me because I already knew I could evaporate their ass at any given moment. I was more worried about my fucking board game, the damn thing costed me almost $25 bucks and I didn't even get to open it yet!
I sat up on the ground and crossed my arms, turning my back to the stranger, "I'm not talking to you."
"...What?" The stranger sounded outright confused at my sudden remark. "You kidnapped me, but you couldn't even bother to take my Scrabble? Burn in hell."
There was a long moment of silence before the stranger spoke, "There's no way you're pissed more about a board game than the fact that you're being kidnapped."
Hearing them speak, I realized that their voice sounded familiar...like someone I live with at the mansion type of familiar. It might've been someone I never spoke with as much because I couldn't pin them to a name yet, and they seemed to be disguised.
I slowly turn around and huffed, "why should I be worried about that? I could kill you whenever I feel like it. The only 'threat' you bring to the table is separating me from my Scrabble, so you're not worth the trouble."
"Fucking stop talking about Scrabble..."
"Go back and get me my game or buy me a new one, bitch."
The stranger groaned in annoyance before grabbing my legs again and beginning to drag me along. I went back to screaming "MY SCRABBLE" into the air like a dying hawk, hoping to embarrass them to some extent so they'd let me go or something.
•••
Well, the stranger never let me go and hours later (with a few unwarranted stops) we ended up at a massive, giant white marble mansion that sat at the edge of the woods, perched on a cliff by a giant lake. I was actually blown away by the presence of the mansion—it was beautiful and all but when was this ever here? Slenders never told us about another mansion in the woods? Now I was even more curious as to who brought me here.
"Thank God that journey is over," The stranger heaved a loud sigh once they'd dragged me up the polished granite stairs of the building and dropped me in front of the door. "This journey isn't over yet bud, I'm torturing you for eternity unless you—"
"Lemme guess! You want your dumb board game?"
"Awww, whose a good smartass?"
The stranger scoffed and abruptly pulled off the baklava they were wearing the whole time. My eyes widened but then quickly narrowed in annoyance, "X Virus!"
"...I had to."
"No you didn't bro. All you had to do was grab the Scrabble and—"
"Oh my God NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR GODDAMN SCRABBLE!"
Taken aback, I stared at the brown haired killer in shock before I hear the doors of the giant mansion suddenly open before us. I'm greeted with the tall figure of none other than...
"Zalgo you have a mansion!?" I exclaimed, scrambling to get off the ground. "Wait...what's going on here?"
"Welcome Walker," Zalgo purred, a big smirk on his face, "to my brand new "Zalgo Mansion!""
Suddenly I didn't even care about the Scrabble game anymore; I was shaking violently trying not to laugh at the fact that this man blatantly found a mansion just to copy SlenderMan and call it The Zalgo Mansion.
Zalgo tilted his head in curiously, "What's wrong ? Are you shaking with envy at the fact that you, The legendary Walker, are forced to live in poverty under that loudmouth SlenderMan instead of living lavishly in my new headquarters along with MY Proxies?"
"Your Proxies?" I stopped and raised an eyebrow.
"Me" X Virus spoke up and raised a hand, "I'm his Proxy."
"X what!?" I stammered, my head spinning to X Virus in bewilderment, "but what about Slender, I thought—"
"Slender's ways weren't cutting it for poor Christie here. Forced to live in that crowded—"
"It's Cody..."
"—filthy, rotted mansion for so little reward in return? Just to serve a man too engrossed in his precious paperwork to even care."
"I only joined cause I wanted my own room," X stated as a matter of factly, "Toby snores too damn loud and I'm tired of sharing my clothes. Plus, why the fuck is there a morning rush hour just to grab breakfast?"
"Honestly, you're asking the real questions here," I responded, "but you really gave up being Slender's proxy and became Zalgo's just for that??"
"I offered to bake them cookies," Zalgo added in.
"He's got cookies," X Virus shrugged.
"Alright, where do I sign up," I scoffed, turning back to Zalgo in defeat. Zalgo chuckled and beckoned for me and X to follow him inside.
The interior of the mansion was even more impressive than the outside. The clean and regal atmosphere of it all put Slender's spooky forest killer shack to shame. Like, really.
"Over the time I've been living with you all at the Slender Mansion, I've taken it into my own to begin the construction of my own mansion," Zalgo explained, as he walked me through the main hall towards the living room, "do you know how embarrassing it was living under SlenderMan? Your mortal enemy? As his servant!? Oh, it was humiliating."
"You think you'd be grateful since that seems to be the only punishment you got for literally starting a war with us," I muttered. Zalgo seemed to ignore the comment.
"Now that the construction of my mansion is complete, I took it into my own hands to recruit some of the killers that live with Slender to join me as my Proxy and come live here. It's very thoughtful of me on my part—I'm essentially helping Slender cut down on the ridiculous crowd he has now at his mansion."
"Yeah but does Slender know about this?" I ask.
"This has nothing to do with Slender," Zalgo responded with a straight face.
"You keep bringing him up?" X Virus mumbled.
"Quiet Cassie. I'm not the one obsessed with him like you and all his other followers."
Me and X Virus flashed each other a glare.
Zalgo continued to ramble on about his new mansion and his plans for recruiting more pastas to join him and help upkeep his new base. I just took the whole thing as him wanting to 1-up Slenders—or impress him—either way it all sounded incredibly goofy.
"This is why I asked you the other day to join me, Walker," Zalgo said, "you're no longer SlenderMan's Proxy anyhow...but just imagine how much more convenient it would be to join me! Not to mention...your own living space~"
I rolled my eyes, "I like sharing with Silver. He's like a quiet little baby and I take care of him. Barely takes up any space. Perfect roomie."
"Lucky," X Virus muttered, "Ticci Toby's entire personality took up the whole room."
"Yeah well Toby's an airhead."
"No lies there."
Zalgo groaned, "We're straying from the point here. With ME, you will have not just your own room, but the entirety of the mansion to explore and to call your own! No more fighting for breakfast in the morning. No need to share bathrooms or hog TVs...no annoying slender beings dictating over your life..."
"So tall and over zesty demon man is better?" I asked, pointing at Zalgo. By this point, Zalgo looked a bit annoyed with me.
"Listen. You're completely missing the point here. Take a moment to actually think about this offer."
Well for starters, I was still confused as to why Zalgo supposedly sent X Virus to practically kidnap me and drag me all the way here like a ragdoll rather than confront me normally.
Then again, I didn't exactly make myself very easy to talk to the last time he approached me...
As I remained in thought, Zalgo turned to X Virus, "if you'd be ever so kind Cindy—"
"Cody!"
"...Whatever. Just show (Y/N) around the rest of the mansion and maybe once they've seen enough it shall help with their decision to part with Slender and join me."
X Virus didn't seem to thrilled about it but he nodded his head in acknowledgment before Zalgo grinned and patted my head before teleporting or something.
"Welp. Now it's time to shave my head and enter my Saitama arc," I growl, rubbing my head in annoyance. X Virus looked at me for a moment before smiling slyly and suddenly slapping me over the same spot Zalgo petted me.
•••
"This is actually boring the hell outta me so can I get your final thoughts on the mansion already so I could report to Zalgo?"
X Virus seemed tired of showing me around Zalgo's place after only touring the kitchen and a few guest rooms that haven't been claimed yet. The rooms that were taken, I noticed that the newer pastas to the Slender Mansion had all for some reason moved here. Maybe they felt bad for crowding up Slender's Mansion? That or they weren't used to the daily chaos.
"X, why do I get the feeling you only came here to slack off and not have to do anymore work for Slenders?" I asked. "Because that's exactly why I left, besides the room situation. Zalgo doesn't seem to care so far, so I'm going to enjoy having my own space to work on my experiments and up the lethality of my poisons," X responded proudly, "I've already solved a deadly compound mixture of tetrafluoroethylene and sulfuric acid and made some sort of gaseous substance that nearly put me out."
I pretended to seem genuinely interested although I had no idea what just came out of his mouth. Sounds like something that explodes to be honest, but I didn't wanna vocalize that and appear stupid.
Upon heading out of Zalgo's "Zalgoid Hall" (bet you can't guess where he came up with that one...) we run into some of the other pastas.
"Zero, you're a traitor!" I shouted out as the white haired murderer freezes in place between the extravagant stairway and the living room. "Oh what, Walker! Come on, you can't blame me, I mean look at this place!" Zero whined, dropping her shoulders.
I see Hobo Hearte poke his head out from the corner at the top of the stairs and he waves at me briefly with a blank stares. "It's more...comfortable here than with murderous stick demon..." He murmured.
"I don't get how "murderous stick demon" is any better than "murderous demonic fork,"" I grumble. "Maybe if you stay for a while, you'll come to realize," the voice of Dark Link sounded behind me and I turned to him approaching, "you'll realize that SlenderMan is a fool and keeping more than 10 people in one household is an awful idea."
"Agreed! Plus it's much brighter here and there's more space and everything!!!!!" Pinkamena screamed from somewhere in the house, but I couldn't see her.
"Any more traitors I should know about?" I sigh.
I soon learned that basically everyone that wasn't a big deal like Eyeless Jack and Jeff The Killer was here in Zalgo's mansion, to put things simple.
"You say "traitors" as if we've betrayed our allegiance to SlenderMan when this isn't the case," Jason The Toymaker scolded me, "it's only Slender's negligence in managing his crowds that brought things to this outcome."
"Maybe for all of you guys, but I think Zalgo just wants Proxies to do a bunch of his work for him," I responded with my honest opinion.
"We're not doing shit!" Glitchy Red cried.
"I'm guessing this means you've made your decision," X Virus nudged me in the shoulder impatiently. "I...."
I looked around at everyone that was here. Although I knew everyone that was with Slender better, I still felt a connection with these guys and was hoping to get to know them better...
Before I could say anything however, the front doors of the mansion could be heard getting ripped open. Down the hall I see none other than Slender himself gliding up the hall.
"Wait, what's he doing he—"
"Where's that Zalgonic pain in the arse?" SlenderMan demanded aloud, gaining the attention of everyone present.
"Slendyyy!" Zalgo suddenly appeared out of thin air in front of SlenderMan, his arms in the air. "You finally came!"
"Stealing my followers away now are we? And this entire mansion in MY woods—what is the meaning of this??"
"I think you've got it all wrong Slendey! I'm simply taking the pressure of having 57 children living in your household and placing some of the burden on myself! Isn't that so thoughtful of me~!"
"You absolute oaf, I never asked for any assistance in how I run my Manor!"
The two suddenly start bickering...like children. Me and everyone else just watching in an awkward silence as Slender continued to further embarrass me more than he'd ever done before.
Vailly Evans grabbed my arm and whispered, "Please stay here with us. Remember Slender abandoned some of us? Who's to say he won't abandon you one day—plus, you're the one that brought us out of that old house in the woods...I'll miss you if you go..."
Slender seemed to notice that I was amongst the crowd and stopped shouting at Zalgo. "Walker? I'd never have expected to see you here with...Zalgo? Have I upset you in some way for you to decide on joining him?"
"No Slenders, no," I quickly answered, "I was gonna go have a game night—I mean I MEAN go hunting outsiders when X Virus kidnapped me and brought me here on Zalgo's word. I'd never ditch my favorite Italian dish!"
Somehow, Slender suddenly looked like he wanted to tell me to just stay, but he probably got over it after a moment of unamused silence.
"That...pleases me then. Very well. At least it seems you still have a bit of sense around here. Let's not delay any further and return to the mansion."
"Uh uh uh! Wait a moment!" Zalgo stepped in front of me quickly, "hold it Slendey. I've offered the Walker quite a promising deal if they were to live here with me. (Y/N) is no longer your little pet, but as my Proxy they will find their work well awarded! I've yet to hear their decision..."
Slender hissed at Zalgo, "You must be insane to think that I would allow (Y/N) to live with you after all the chaos you've caused with them and my other killers? Come (Y/N), we don't have time for this nonsense."
"Yeah but—"
"Your "little pet Walker" isn't a child anymore and can make decisions for themself! After a generous amount of thought, I can't see them passing up this opportunity to live with me!"
"You're delusional. You're not even supposed to be out here on your own—you're supposed to be my servant!"
"Well, you're an awful master and that's why I ran away."
"What!??"
I started backing away from Zalgo and Slenders into the other pastas and a lot of them were beginning to do the same because the situation was highly embarrassing. I ended up going upstairs with a few of the others to escape the scene while the two demon lords exchanged insults.
"If I were you, I'd fade away from the face of the planet," Chris chuckled, looking at my ashamed face. "This is why you all should've left me dead in whatever other world I came from," I grumbled, annoyed. Suicide Sadie rubbed my back and murmured, "At least they're fighting over you...means they really...care?"
"Care? They just want Walker's power is all," Jason scoffed. I glared at him, "Jason, I lost my powers years ago when I got wasted."
Jason seemed to eye me a bit too seriously before muttering, "Oh no Walker. You have not."
Felt my insides lurch at that response. However, before I could question him on what he meant, the forms of SlenderMan and Zalgo appear at the top of the stairway and they both seemed to have ceased their fighting.
"What a mess..." Slender sighed, "apologies for that regrettable display."
"Indeed," Zalgo admitted, "Slendey does get a little bit uppity when he's passionate about something..."
Slender elbowed Zalgo in the ribs, "Don't you dare place all the blame on me! Now..."
Slender's empty canvas turns to me, "(Y/N), we have come to an agreement and have decided that you may have the opportunity to visit both mansions occasionally for different periods of time. You may spend a few months here with Zalgo, and then a few months with me, so that the share is even. That way, Zalgo can have someone from my mansion to keep an eye on him in the result of my absence, and I can have you back at home as well. In place of X Virus, I'll even allow you to return to Proxyhood, if you'd wish."
I rolled my eyes, "oh great, so now they've both got custody of me as if I'm their lousy child they can just toss back and forth between each other because they can't get along in one household. Wonderful!"
"It's ...not like that—?" Slender seemed genuinely confused and discomforted by my comment, but Zalgo nodded his head generously, "Yes yes Walker, my child, I'm afraid it's come to this decision but for the wellbeing of us all. But don't worry, I'm sure you'll be more than happy to come spend some time with your step-Zalgy every now and then~?"
Suddenly my throat collapsed and I started hacking like a maniac before grabbing Slender's arm and pulling him back down the stairs, "Yeah nah, I'm going home. See y'all in six months."
The other pastas bid me and Slender farewell as we went to leave the mansion. Zalgo didn't seem very pleased but he looked like he just accepted it. I still don't get how he got under Slender and managed to build a whole entire mansion under his noselessness AND convince half of his housemates to come live with him instead. Beats me.
All I know is that if I'm ever visiting this place, it's for the atmosphere and my pasta friends.
As we open the door to leave, another pasta seemed to be coming into the mansion at the same time, although they didn't expect me and Slender to be there.
"Alright I'm ba—w-wait, Slender...."
"SKULLY!?" I snap at the masked marble (Skully can be referred to as a marble instead of a pasta, my story rules) "no. NO Skully. Everyone else can up and leave Slender but YOU're going no where. Come ere'!"
Skully panicked as I suddenly wrung him by the neck and begun to drag him away from the mansion along with Slender walking alongside us. Slender didn't seem to have any complaints as to what I was doing—guess the more in his mansion the merrier.
"W-Wait, I can explain—!"
"You're so fucking grounded when we get home, Skully."