What's up everybody! A couple hours late for Halloween, but better late than never? Sorry for the wait, but stuff happened and I started working on my other stories and it snowballed from there. Once again, sorry.
Anyway, thank you all for those that Favorited and followed and reviewed. It means a lot and is mainly why I continue this story. Hope you stay tuned for more.
Now, here we go with Ruby's third (and final) attempt at beating Slender.
Disclaimer: I do not own Slender and especially don't own RWBY.
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Ruby booted up the computer and waited for it to finish setting up, dreadful anticipation settling in as she watched the mouse pointer pinwheel. I am going to beat this game. I need to beat it, for my own peace of mind. And also for the illogical sense that if I do beat it then these creepy things will stop appearing and I'll stop going crazy, Ruby thought.
… That really didn't help me calm down at all.
The computer pinged, drawing her out of her thoughts. Ruby put in the password and logged in, the desktop loading after a few seconds. With dreadful anticipation she plugged in her headphones and double clicked on the infernal game. Already I'm sweating, and not the good kind, and it's only the menu. Grrrr….!
Okay, last chance to back out and save yourself… no, I'm already past that, Ruby realized with despair. I… I have to beat this game. It's the only way that the Slenderman would leave me alone. It doesn't make any logical sense, but it also does. If I beat it, then I'll beat the Slenderman and things'll go back to normal.
The main menu came up and Ruby winced and growled at the awful, out of pitch droning that started. She quickly clicked 'Start Game' and the screen turned black and the sound of someone walking started again. Let's just get this going, before I get a heart attack, Ruby thought as she clicked somewhere on the screen to skip the intro. Immediately the flashlight flickered on and the goal of 'Collect all 8 Pages' appeared.
Okay, I'll go to the right first, and find the page on that red tower thing. She turned off the flashlight to save the battery and started walking, using the slightly more lit night sky in the game to see where she was going and following the 'path.' She flicked the flashlight on every once in a while to see around and caught sight of the red tower thing. Okay, I'll circle around it and then head to the bathroom/shower/locker room place. I do not want to get caught in there with a lot of pages!
She circled around the tower counter-clockwise and found the first page just before she completed a full circuit. It was the page that had the Slenderman in the trees, just standing there. Ruby took a deep, fortifying breath. This is the point of no return…
She clicked the page.
Pages 1/8
And then it started.
Thum… thum… thum… thum…
Ruby let out a little whine that anybody that owned a dog would recognize and her hands started getting clammy. Just… just go and find the page in the bathroom place. Get this over with. Ruby started 'jogging' on and off in the direction she knew where the building was. Or so she thought.
Where the heck is it! She thought frantically. All I see are trees and more trees! Where is everything?! She turned off her flashlight for a few seconds then turned it on again, repeating this until she found something. What? No! These are those tanks! I don't want those. How'd I end up over here anyway? I wasn't even close to this area! Oh well, at least now I know where the building is and I can head there.
Thum… thum… thum… thum…
She skirted the edge of the tanks and eventually saw her flashlight shine on the brick building. She approached the left side of it, and went through the doorway, a room directly to her left. Ruby shined the light on all the walls but found nothing. Okay okay, that's okay, I only have one page. I still have time. I can do this. She left and went down the porcelain hallways and turned left and continued, going to the other room that was down that way. She entered and looked around again.
This time there was a page: the one that said 'Always Watches, No Eyes'. She clicked it.
Pages 2/8
Thum… thum… thum… thum…
Gotta get out gotta get out gotta get out! Was Ruby's only coherent thought as she went out of the dead end hallway and out of the building through the center door towards the tankers. She made her character pass through the two center ones and then looked left and then right. I don't see the little outline of the pages. They might be on the other side. She continued and finally saw the page on the far right tank. She jogged to it (it was the one that just said 'Help Me') and clicked. Nothing popped up. What? No no no, click the stupid page! She clicked it again and this time the message popped up.
Pages 3/8
Then a low drone started up that raised the hairs on Ruby even more. Cheese it! She started jogging now, weaving through the trees. Then she saw a series of rocks. Another place! I don't think I can go through the center so I'll skirt the edges. She started circling in a clockwise fashion, but started getting worried when she couldn't see any page. What? There's no page here? She kept going hoping that she just missed something.
She didn't.
Oh, oh, okay. There's no page here. She made a half turn, but then her screen started fuzzing up and static started to sound. Oh okay hello there not that way then. She turned around and started jogging again. Unfortunately she got lost in the woods. Ah, I have no idea where I am! I could use a map!... actually that would not be helpful in any way because I don't know where I would be on the map anyway… Well there's the fence, Ruby pointed out to herself as she happened upon the border of the play area.
Can I climb over it? Is there a 'climb' button? She pressed her screen face against the fence, in a lost hope that it would do something. Ruby sighed. Thought that could work. She turned right and started going through the trees, but not for long.
BAMM!
"AHHHHH!" Ruby screamed as the sound of something slamming on a piano happened as she rounded a tree and saw the Slenderman a little too close for comfort. "NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOT THAT WAY!" Ruby shouted as she sprinted in the opposite direction, weaving through the trees.
Thum… thum… thum… thum…
After getting thoroughly confused and disoriented, Ruby saw a yellow-ish stone structure that was like a '+' sign. Is this new? Ruby started going counter clockwise this time and found the fourth page, saying 'Follows' with the Slenderman and a tree.
Page 4/8
Thum… thum… thum… thum…
God cheese it! Go go go! Ruby cut the corners as much as she could without ramming into them, then, once she cleared it, took off. She found another dirt path and stuck with it, scanning the edges of the woods with her slightly dimmer flashlight. Then she saw something a little odd. A series of totem pole things in two rows. Ooooookay? Was this here? I don't remember. At that she realized something. Actually, I don't remember much of the other two times I played this or when the rest of the team played. Is that good or bad? I don't know.
She checked around the totems and found another page, the one that just said 'No No No No' a bunch of times.
Page 5/8
Thum… thum… thum… thum…
In addition to the drumming and the droaning, an even louder sound started which was like a high wind going through a big, long, metal pipe. "Ahh-hah-hah…" Ruby quietly sobbed to herself as the noise started. On the bright side, this is the farthest I've gotten.
She continued walking. And then. "Oh no, I'm back here again!" She was at the tankers in the center of the map. "Where do I go from here? Up? Or north?" She did a wide 'U' turn to go away from the tankers. She wandered for a minute before the desire to know overcame her. I need to know if he's there. I need to know where he is. It's almost as maddening to see him, it, whatever. She turned around.
Slenderman wasn't there.
Oh shit shit shit, Ruby thought, even as some part of her mind chastised her for the language. Looking around once more, she screamed a bit as he was suddenly much too close poking out from behind a tree. With his facelessness and too long arms that waved slightly to an unseen and felt breeze.
"Ahh! Okay okay, you just stay right there!" Ruby shouted as she backed up, moving the tree in-between their line of sight. Thankfully that made the static lessen and she kept backing up until she felt safe…-er. Time to see where I'm going. Ruby turned around and was almost smacked in the face with a concrete tunnel thing. Ah, okay?
She looked inside and the page was directly on her right. 'Leave Me Alone.' Yes please! Well this one was relatively easy really.
Page 6/8
Thum… thum… thum… thum…
Holy crap, I'm almost there. Just two more. She jogged away to the left and using the rough mental map she was remembering, moved to the areas she hadn't been to. ACHK! Nope! She exclaimed when her vision started getting static alarmingly fast. Nope nope nope! She continued jogging along the path and found a beat up old red truck. "Ahggggggggg…" Ruby breathed out as she grew increasingly shaky, nerves and anxiety starting to cripple her. It didn't help that she felt something watching her from behind her in the room. There was something that was getting closer and closer to her, but she didn't want to look away from the screen to see.
Plus she didn't want to.
She didn't want to see it.
Thum… thum… thum… thum…
She cautiously circled around the truck and found the next page on the side of it. 'Can't Run.'
Page 7/8
Thum… thum… thum… thum…
Then there was this ominous echoing bell ringing tone that faded in and out that grated on Ruby's almost non-existent nerves even more. Her flashlight was at about half the strength it was when she started, and Ruby herself was starting to get a little light headed.
She glanced one way just a little too far and heard the piano slam again, making her jump and scream incoherent noises for a second as she made the character run forward along the path. The next thing she saw was the trailer and the truck. Let's hope this is the last page here. I can't take much more of this! She started circling it, catching the long edge of the trailer before going around the side when she didn't see the slight glow of the page. Then when she went around, she still didn't see it. Oh come on! Ruby thought. No page?! What's next? I don't remember anything else!
Knowing that the Slenderman was right on her butt, she continued hurriedly.
Thum… thum… thum… thum…
Please please please, leave me alone! Help me! She continued jogging along the dirt path.
And then she saw it.
The dead tree in the middle of the path.
Of course, she thought, eerily calm all of a sudden. It would be here. She started circling the tree, almost hugging it before the last page was in her face.
'Don't look or it takes you'
Click.
Page 8/8
The sounds abruptly faded into silence, the absence of them was jarring since Ruby had heard them for so long. The silence, save for the heavy breathing her character was doing, was blessed right then.
"It's… over?" Ruby said aloud, shocked and disbelieving that she had won. "I… did it?" She made her character back up and quickly did a scan of the area. There was no Slenderman anywhere.
"I beat it?" Then the realization came. "I BEAT IT!" She cheered as she rocked back in her chair, her arms thrown up in victory. "EAT DUST SLENDERMAN! WOOOOO!" She came back down and then started moving her character around.
"… Sooooo, now what?" The game hadn't ended yet and her character could still move around. Do I escape now? I got all the pages. Why hasn't the game ended?
…
Blip!
Ruby jumped in her seat and tried to scream, but nothing came out as it caught in her throat. Then her character was forcefully turned around as the piano slammed and her screen filled with static as she saw the outline of the monster. Then it was just the face of it as the screen was consumed by static, flickering on and off, with the face ever present.
Then the screen went black.
Ruby's eyes were wide, staring at the screen. But they were dead. There was no emotion behind those silver eyes. She didn't react as the credits started and the Thum-ing started again.
Emotionlessly she quit the game and removed the headphones from her head and set them on the table. She stood up and walked to the center of the room, starting to pace slowly.
I won… I won, but Slenderman still got me. I lost in the end. I won but I lost. Was that it? Is that what I'm destined for? To loose anyway? Even if I win, I loose. Is that what it's telling me? I can't run. Always watched. No. No no no no no. That can't be.
Somehow, Ruby found her diary in her hand, with a pen in the other and she started writing.
I beat Slender but I still lost. The game ended with the Slenderman catching me anyway, even though I beat it, got all 8 pages. Is that it? I feel… wrong. Watched. It's been plaguing my thoughts ever since I bought the game. I can see it. Feel it. It's here, somewhere. Help me.
Ruby came out of her trance and looked at what she wrote. It was barely legible beneath the scribbles of trees and misshapen stick figures on the page. Horrified that she didn't even realize that she did that, she flung the book away from her, not knowing where it landed. No! No no no no no no no! This isn't happening. I won't be taken by the Sl- blip- Slenderman. Oh… what?
She blinked, trying to get the fuzz out of her eyes. Why? What did I do? Why is it after me? Leave me alone! She started getting dizzy and she could hear static coming from somewhere. Always watches no eyes. Can't run from it. Just leave me alone! Go away! Leave help me. Can't run follows. No no no no no no leave me alone no no no no no no no can't runalwayswatchesnoeyesfollowsdon'tlookorittakesyoutakesyoueightpageshelpmehelpmehelpnonononononoslendermanslendernonononononofollowscan'trundon'tlookdon'tlookfollowsfollowsnononononononocan'trunalwayswatchesalwayswatchesnoeyesnoeyesfollowsleavemealoneleavemealonenoeyesdon'tlookorittakesyoufollowsfollowsnoeyesdon'tlook-"RUBY!"
"Heeeey Ruby, it's time to get ready for the dance," Yang said cheerfully as she opened the door and walked in. There was a pause as she waited for a response from the crimsonette who was… strangely standing in the center of the room. "Ruby? Remnant to Ruby? Ruby!" Yang said louder as she didn't get a response. What's wrong with her? Why isn't she responding? Can she hear me? Does she have headph- no she doesn't, so why isn't she responding? Yang, with more than a bit of concern crossed the room to her sister.
"RUBY!" She all but shouted at her sister as she tapped her shoulder. That seemed to do the trick as Ruby jumped and spun around.
"Yang! Don't do that!" Ruby shouted and whined at the same time.
"Sorry Rubes but it doesn't help when your head's in the clouds. I've called you several times already," Yang said with a hint of sisterly worry.
"You have?" Ruby asked, with a slight tilt of her head, her brow furrowed slightly in confusion.
"Yeah, you must have been thinking about something really deeply if you didn't hear me," Yang said with a smile.
"Oh. I'm sorry," Ruby said, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.
"What were you thinking about," Yang asked.
Ruby outright frowned then. After a few moments, she said, "I… really don't remember now. I think it was about me thinking about beating that Slender game finally. Eh, mustn't have been too important. So, what's up?" She asked her sister.
"Well, it's time to get ready for the dance," Yang said, going to what originally brought her back to the room.
"Already?" Ruby said, looking at the clock they had. "Wow time went by fast." She met Yang's eyes again. "How'd it go with Blake?" She asked hesitantly.
"I… think I got to her," Yang admitted. "She'll be coming now for sure," she said confidently.
Ruby sighed in relief. "Good. She needs a break… and I need to apologize to her for being so bossy."
"You mean Weissy, right?" Yang said with a grin.
"Yaaaaaang!" There it is.
"Anyway, I'm sure she'll understand and forgive you. Besides, it's your job now really. Just like it's my job to get you ready for the dance." Yang's smile grew as her younger sister groaned and slouched.
"Ugh, do I have to wear it? With those heels?" Ruby moaned.
"Yep! They go with the dress. And no you can't wear your hoodie to the dance, it's a formal event," Yang said, cutting off Ruby's figurative escape.
"Ugh… fine, let's get this over with," Ruby groaned as Yang led her to the bathroom after grabbing her dress, subconsciously stepping over the diary splayed open on the ground, closing the door to dress up her sister, which never got old.
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Fun fact: I have yet to beat Slender because I can't stand scary games (or movies).
Heehee... everyone knows you can't escape the Slenderman Ruby. What made you think that?... Now what will happen next?... :D
Please R.R.F.F (Read, Review, Favorite, Follow)
-OrangeGalen