Shin Megami Tensei: ParAbnormal

"Have you ever taken a walk through a forest?"

"You'd be amazed at what you could find in one. In today's fast-paced, high-tech world, hardly anybody ever takes the time to slow down, catch their breath, and explore the wonders they can find in their own backyards."

"Especially...if those wonders are NOT OF THIS WORLD!!!"

"GOOOOOOOOOD DAY TO YOU, YOUTUBE! Welcome to another THRILLING episode of...THE LAVENDER FILES! DUN DUN DUUUUUUUN! I'm your courageous host, Aaron Spektor, and today, we'll be going on yet another adventure in the spacious, fascinating and BONE-CHILLING forests that surround the nation's most haunted town! So, shut off the lights, grab your security blankets, and start praying to whatever deities you believe in that you won't be monster food by the end of this video!"

On a cloudy, gloomy day in the middle of a clearing within an ominous forest, a young, blonde-haired boy was playing with a video camera. Thinking he'd make an incredible scientific discovery, and possibly become an Internet sensation on the side, every day after school, he would stay out until nearly dinnertime filming all sorts of paranormal phenomena. And by "filming paranormal phenomena," I mean investigating things most likely caused by wind and shouting like a maniac wherever he went.

"Alright, loyal viewers! Here. We. GO!!!"

The boy took off running out of the clearing and into the maze of trees, video camera hanging on for dear life in front of his face.

By now, the young Aaron knew he wasn't exactly about to encounter anything new. He had already scavenged and searched the entire forest and several old buildings top to bottom several times. Still, that didn't mean there wasn't anything interesting in the forest.

There were several odd things in some of the more open spaces. For example, some oddly-shaped trees, a boarded-up shed, a concrete tunnel, a few stranded trucks that must have been there at least 20 years, some old rusty gas tanks, what was probably once an old bathhouse, and, most interesting from Aaron's point of view, an abandoned hollow silo containing nothing inside, but tall enough to see every part of the forest from the top.

Nevertheless, the cheeky young explorer had searched and filmed all of these areas as well. These days, he hardly did anything but point out the obvious and plant fake evidence of ghosts. The boy's videos, even the earlier ones, were quite unpopular, being almost unwatched on YouTube, and seen as a source of insults from his peers. In spite of all of that, Aaron was doing what he loved, and his determination would never falter!

That is, until he would meet him.

"What the hell are you doing?"

The boy stopped in his tracks, his commentary coming to a screeching halt.

Up above, sitting on a branch, was yet another boy. He had long, light-brown hair, and piercing green eyes that would make a crocodile feel intimidated.

"Oh...um. Hi there, Jeff." The amateur filmmaker's once-hammy voice shrunk to the volume of a mouse's squeak.

The interrupting boy grumbled loudly as he jumped from the branch to the ground and walked forward into the camera's view.

"I walk into this forest every day to get some nice peace and quiet. And here you are, yet again, playing with that goddamned video camera of yours, screaming like a banshee. You're one annoying little punk, you know that?!"

"Hey, you know full well this is where I make my discoveries! You're the intruder here! Now get outta here, you're blocking my shot!"

"Oh sure, I'll get out of here. Right after you take that camera and shove it up your-"

Suddenly, the camera began to act strange. The electronic viewfinder display was blocked out by static, and it started to make a high-pitched whining noise.

"Hey, what gives? The camera's busted!" Aaron proceeded to hit the camera, as most people do when something isn't working, even though it never helps. It appeared that the image was being clouded by static coming from Jeff's outline on the display.

"This never happened before. Do you have any magnets on you?"

Noticing the malfunctioning camera, Jeff suddenly became slightly paranoid.

"Um, no! It's probably just...dying! Yeah! You probably forgot to charge it!"

"There's no way that's the problem. It's been charging since before I left for school this morning. I've always taken great care of it!"

"Well then, maybe this'll fix it!" Jeff took off in a panicked sprint, shoving the camera right out of Aaron's hands, causing it to drop and clatter to the dirty ground.

"HEY! WHAT THE HELL?"

But as soon as Aaron turned to chase after the camera vandal, he saw nothing but the usual trees.

"Ugh, that bastard! He'll pay for that next time I see him." Aaron picked up his treasured camera. Aside from being covered in dirt, it worked perfectly fine. And by perfectly fine, I mean a normal, static-free display.

"Well, that's weird..." Inspecting his surroundings, Aaron noticed an alarming increase in wind speed. All of the trees began to sway much faster.

"There's something really weird about that guy...I think I better just head back. I'm done filming for the day..." Aaron speed-walked back towards town, towards his dorm in the town's boarding school.

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Aaron was a fairly strange student. He was completely obsessed with all things paranormal, and his determination to prove the existence of such things made his hobbies seem quite abnormal. The other students gave him the rather insulting nickname of "Mr. ParAbnormal."

Jeff, on the other hand, was even stranger. Unlike Aaron, he had a reasonably high place in the high school social hierarchy. The other students feared him and his manipulative ways, and many wondered what, exactly, he did out of school.

As it turns out, they were right to be afraid.

"Ugh, that was a close one." Jeff muttered as he walked through a deeper part of the forest, far away from that obnoxious meddler. "I gotta remember to stay far away from things as high-tech as that."

He stopped walking once he reached a chain-link fence. A sign on said fence warned potential trespassers of the fence's electric nature. Beyond the electric fence, a humongous building rose out through the treetops.

The old Lavender Steel Mill.

Maneuvering over some branches, Jeff easily made it to the other side. It would obviously be much harder for a normal person to cross, but then again, Jeff crossed the fence every day, and he definitely did not consider himself "normal."

After jumping to the ground once again, he scanned his surroundings one more time for any more onlookers. When he didn't find any, he took a deep breath, spread his arms out, and began to utter a strange chant in some indescribable language.

Something very abnormal began to happen. All the color around Jeff's immediate area seemed to drain. A bizarre purplish gas erupted out of the ground near his feet. A high-pitched whining noise could be heard all around him. Soon enough, his entire body was soon engulfed in the fog, which mysteriously and quickly changed into a black-and-white pattern that resembled television static.

The "static" soon slowed its erratic movements, and began to take on a vague human shape. Soon enough, the bizarre activity ceased, and Jeff was alone once again.

However, he wasn't quite himself anymore.

Gone were his piercing green eyes and shining light-brown hair. In their place were large, almost cartoonish-looking, black-pupiled eyes and jet-black hair of even longer length. In place of his rather simple school uniform with its blazer and tie was a very old and expensive-looking white pinstriped suit, dotted with several conspicuous red stains. Freshly-polished dress shoes and a fashionable fedora completed the ensemble.

"Ah, that's better!" Jeff stated in a tone much more sophisticated than his physical age would have you expect. "I hate that old uniform. It's too casual. Obviously, mortals seem to have forgotten how to dress." Jeff said smugly, adjusting his tie with pride.

"I would go after that little ruffian with the camera right about now, but I have business to accomplish first! The others are expecting me, as Lord Slender has called a meeting. Onward, then!"

Jeff marched towards the steel mill, looking forward to greeting his associates. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.

"I really have to stop talking to myself. I'm not THAT insane...I think!"

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Meanwhile, a few miles from the small town of Lavender, a passenger train was on its way to said town's small train station. The train was packed with passengers, but most of them were headed to larger towns even farther away. In fact, the only passenger whose destination was the small, depressing industrial town was a young boy, seated near the back on the train, near the window.

He was about the same age as Aaron, but his mannerisms were quite different. He had short, well-kept dark brown hair and deep hazel eyes shielded behind thick-rimmed glasses. He stared out at the passing forests and quickly-darkening sky, sighing.

Normally, you would be a little nervous to be on a train by yourself, but for young Dominic DeLuca, traveling alone was hardly a rare occasion. His parents were once again making a business trip, this time a year-long one, so they sent him to what was the cheapest boarding school they could find: Lavender Preparatory Academy, smack dab in the middle of one of the country's most depressing, unpleasant towns.

Dominic, or "Dom," as he was often annoyingly nicknamed, was told by his therapist, his only "friend," that the town would be filled with happy people and he would make many friends and happy memories, but given the knowledge he gained from the Internet about the old town and its dark past, and Dom's various social inadequacies, he was not expecting anything positive out of his stay.

He let out his trademark long-suffering groan, and wrapped his brand-new...er, hand-me-down school jacket around himself, attempting to get at least some rest before he arrived in town.

Ahead of the other passenger train was another, only this one was dedicated to transporting both travelers and various resources. While there weren't many passengers, only four or five total, the train had arrived in the early hours of the evening. Among the few people aboard the train, two stuck out more than the rest. They had skin as white as snow, and one had dark blue hair that was longer than his body, but he had some of wrapped around his arm as he clung to whom they assumed to be a sibling.


The other had blood red hair and has slim, black framed glasses that seemed to defy gravity since they both had ears that weren't human, but rather those of a fox that sat on top of their heads and fluffy tails that followed behind them.


However, the blue haired one had one tucked between his legs, which almost tripped him as much as his dark red pants that were a bit big on him, while his other two came around each side of his waist. He also lacked a shirt, leaving his sunken, poorly muscled chest to make him look like skin over bone.


The other was the same, but he wore a unique robe, as it only covered one side as if it were merely half of a robe. Unlike his sibling however, his tails casually followed behind him aside from the occasional flick at the tip.


"Lucian..." The blue haired child asked. "W-where are we?" His face was buried in his brother's shoulder while his bangs shielded his face from view.


"I'm not quite sure." The redhead called Lucian replied. "But this is where father sent us for the time being." He said as sibling almost made him trip. "Cethin, can please give me some more room to walk? It'd be nice if I could walk normally instead of a borderline cat walk."


"I-I'm sorry, b-but this place looks s-scary..." Cethin distanced his feet from Lucian's a little.


The duo has walked from the train station and were outside looking for whatever looked like some sort of inn. They each didn't carry much, but luggage was still luggage and would get heavy after a while if they couldn't find a place to set it down. They had walked down towards the city square where they came upon a large building with what looked liked dormitories in the general vicinity.


"Hm." Lucian thought. "The locals don't seem friendly enough, but if this is some type of school, then hopefully we can get somewhere." He pushed his glasses, which started to slide down his nose a little, back into place.

(Because Vadia and her Astra are connected, I'm writing Katz's lines in pink)

(Edit, someone said it was hard to read so Katz's lines will be purple)

Vadia was once again out and about, training her body and mind. It seemed training was the only thing on her mind. She didn't know how far she had gone, though she really didn't care. At all.

"You really should stop now, Vadia. You've gone very far and you need to stop and rest. You'll tire out your legs if you don't take a break."

"Then I'll walk on my hands." She said.

They continued like this for some time, until the sun had set. Even Vadia's seemingly (but not really) inhuman stamina had finally given out on her. She was breathing heavily and her stomach was angry that it had been deprived of food for so long. Though she had plenty of water, she didn't bring a lot of food with her. She sat down against a tree, drinking from her canteen. It wasn't going to last for much longer.

"I hate to say 'I told you so', but I told you so. I have no idea if there's a town or anything nearby, and I don't have enough energy to do a soul read to find out anyway." Katz said.

"Save it, I don't want to hear it. I'll just hunt down an animal or something." She had been hearing small animals around all of the time, so she knew that if she could find one, she could catch it. Of course, she was hungry and fatigued, and her body didn't want to partake in the hunting of small animals. She laid on the ground. "After a nap, I will..." Though it was more like she passed out instead of falling asleep peacefully.

Aqua was lost. She decided it would be better to make camp for the night and find civilization in the morning, and caught a manner of animals in the traps she set out. As she was cooking, she thought she heard someone nearby but wasn't entirely sure, so she went to check. Lo and behold, she came across Vadia, resting with the leaves.

When Vadia came to, she was greeted by the smell of something-meat-cooking. "My head hurts..." She said. Naturally, as her blood sugar was low. She had a terrible headache.

"Don't push yourself too hard! I saw you passed out over there. There's plenty here, so help yourself." Aqua said. Vadia looked hesitant at first, but she couldn't ignore her stomach, so she started eating anyway. "Hey, slow down! Eating that fast is gonna give you a stomachache!" She was ignored. "What's your name?"

"Vadia."

"I'm Aqua."

"Interesting name."

"I could say the same about yours. That doesn't sound German."

Vadia was silent again.

"Anyway, I'm lost. If you don't know where a town is then maybe we can look together when the sun is up. You'll find that I'm pretty useful to have around."

"You caught all of these animals by yourself?"

"Yep! Every one."

"You have good hunting and survival skills. I'll join you."

"Yay! I was starting to get lonely. Even if it has only been a day." Aqua said. She looked cheery. Vadia just smiled. After a satisfactory meal, the two of them laid down to rest. They had a big day ahead of them, after all.

Mina sat cross-legged under a tree, candy bar in her mouth, and an open book in hand. In the same tree Sprite was somewhere up above hiding in the leaves. Her eyes immiditly caught the humanoid fox duo. She grabbed the branch she was
sitting on and lifted herself up and began to sway back and forth with excitement.

“Spriii! Spriii!” Sprite cried and flew down to Mina and circled around her head like a fly trying to get to a person’s meal before they put it in their mouth.

“Spriiispriiispriiispriiispriiispriiispriii!”

Mina put her book down and raised her hands and caught her spirit companion by her head. She lowered Sprite to eye-level.


“Sprite, calm down. You’re talking a mile a minute. I can’t understand a word you’re saying.”

Sprite took a deep breath and Mina released her grip.

“Spriii! Spriii spriii spriii. Spriii spriii!”

“Oh? Visitors? Now who would come to a place like this?” Mina tapped her chin. She stood up and peeked her head around the tree.

“Wow, those two ARE an interesting pair.” Mina said, eyeing Cethin and Lucian.

“Spriii.” Sprite replied with a nod of her head.


Mina grinned a devilish grin. “Well, might as well welcome them.” The both of them ran off into hiding near the brother’s path. As soon as the brothers walked up to a bush Sprite suddenly burst out and shrieked, “SPRAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!" She opened her mouth up wide, exposing a set of sharp teeth.

Mina walked up from behind the brothers and grabbed their shoulders. “Welcome to Lavender.”

As the passenger train neared its destination, (or first stop, for most of the riders) Dom was having a hard time getting to sleep. He could tolerate the shifting wheels and tracks, but something about his destination seemed a little...off. Not five minutes after finally drifting to sleep, he was awoken after having a bizarre dream involving an old man, a young woman, and a limo flying in space. Deciding he'd get some coffee or something when he arrived, Dom figured he'd stay up and look up some information on this dreary little burg he'd be calling home for the next while.

Pulling out a worn-out, out-of-date smartphone, Dom did a quick search of the town, but hardly anything came up. It was, after all, pretty much unknown to the outside world, and the locals weren't too up-to-date on information technology. Well, the older ones, at least. He figured he may just blend in with his old BlackBerry. That's one less thing to be bullied for, at least.

According to the little info that could be found on Lavender, the town seemed to be a tourist hot spot before most of the businesses mysteriously closed down. However, it did seem to get some recognition from several reports on urban exploration these days, with many reports of the town being haunted, or sightings of a strange, tall man, or even a serial killer living in the area. Used to thinking logically, Dom brushed off these legends as simple trolling, or at the worst, bedtime stories to keep little kids from going into the forests.

Nevertheless, he assured himself that it would be better than living in the city. He may even meet some friends, or better yet, go on the adventure of a lifetime and save the world from certain doom.

Oh wait. This is reality. What are the odds of that happening?

His "unrealistic" thoughts were interrupted by the image of that very same old man, grinning eerily.

Dom soon found himself too scared to sleep.

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Jeff whistled a tune as he walking calmly towards that same old secret entrance blocked by some simple rocks. Pushing them out of the way, he was greeted by a door with a strange symbol spray-painted on it, a circle with a cross through it.

The killer performed the "secret knock" he had memorized. A slot in the center of the circle-cross symbol slid away, revealing a pair of odd eyes.

"You are trespassing on sacred ground protected by the God of Corruption. State your business, or die."

"Listen, pal. We've gone through this discussion every day since I-can't-remember-when. It's me. Jeff the Killer? Vice President of this whole damn organization? Ring any bells?"

"Yeah, I know it's you, sir. It's just you've always told us to never be too careful. Now what's the password?"

"Password? We've never had a password!"

"We do now."

"Well, why was I not told?!"

"You were out on one of your killing sprees at the moment. We figured you'd get our text."

"You know I don't text. It's stupid. I don't rely on information technology, unlike those mortals with their incredibly short attention spans."

"Well, then why are you always on the Internet on your days off?"

Jeff facepalmed. "Oh, you are so lucky you're immortal too. Listen, just let me in, or I'll have your ass sacrificed!"

"Sorry, sir. Rules are rules. I'll tell you what, I'll give you three guesses and a hint: it's the name of a fish."

"Is it Mary?"

"Ha! That's no fish!"

"She isn't? Well, she drinks like one!"

"Your sense of humor is as sharp as a tack as usual, sir!"

"Thanks. Now, let me see here...Is it sturgeon?"

"Ah, you're crazy. A sturgeon's a doctor who cuts you open when you're sick. Now, I'll give you one more chance."

"I got it. Haddock!"

"That's funny. I got a haddock too."

"What do you take for a haddock?"

"Sometimes I take an aspirin, sometimes I take a calomel."

"Y'know, I'd walk a mile for a calomel."

"You mean chocolate calomel? I like that too, but you didn't guess it."

The slot on the door slid shut. Sighing, Jeff performed the secret knock once more. The eyes reappeared.

"Hey, what's the matter, you don't understand English? You can't come in here unless you say swordfish. Now I'll give you one more guess."

"Swordfish...swordfish...I think I got it. It is swordfish?"

"That's it! You guessed it."

"Pretty good, eh?"

The door opened up, but there seemed to be nobody behind it. Apparently, the door itself had eyes.

Jeff walked in, feeling around the old, rusty wall for a light switch. After flipping it, the old light bulb flickered to life, revealing a small room containing nothing but a small, well-shaped hole.

"I hate this part." Jeff muttered. He took a deep breath, did some quick stretches, and quickly slipped down the hole.

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After experiencing a strange sensation similar to a somersault, Jeff was thrown out of another hole, landing in a room much like the one he'd just been in. There were some slight differences, however. The walls seemed newer and cleaner, but appeared to be a drab gray instead of rusty brown. Sighing once again, Jeff opened the door.

What was behind the door would surely shock a mortal, but Jeff was used to the sight. After all, he's seen it every day for over 50 years.

Beyond the door was a small city street, filled with lights and signs. Creatures great and small, some humanoid, others not so much, walked the streets like normal pedestrians. Even stranger, the air around this odd town painted almost everything a shade of gray, as if it popped right out of an old sitcom.

This was the city of Zalgopolis, a surprisingly lively town of glitz and glamour and the reaping capital of the world. It was much like the Lavender of old, except populated with monsters of all shapes and sizes who have dedicated their lives to ending the mortal scum's rule. A safe haven for all paranormal creatures founded by Slenderman shortly after the "victory" at the Lavender Steel Mill.

Everything a monster could ever want was present here, with several shops, restaurants, bars, casinos, and clubs open at all hours of the day...or rather, night, as most monsters despise daylight. Therefore, the sky is always dark, but the lights have always kept on shining.

At the center of it all was the Slender Building, a rather slender (lolgeddit) skyscraper in the exact place as the Lavender Steel Mill in the mortal world. This building was the main hub for The Reaping out of several spread out across the mortal world.

Jeff backed up towards the other side of the street, stopping at a sidewalk lined with shops. From this point, he could admire the building, which he thought was the most beautiful place in the world. The Reaping's logo was featured prominently on the front. Right below the familiar symbol was the portion Jeff was most proud about: a billboard advertising his next campaign for Vice President of The Reaping. Out of the many held annually, he had won every single one by a landslide.

"Slaying For A Better Tomorrow. Vote Jeffrey Blalock For Vice President." Jeff read out loud with pride, admiring how good his face looked blown up to the size of a blimp. As he was the first Reaper recruited by Slenderman, Jeff was something of a celebrity in Zalgopolis.

"Oh my Zalgo, there he is! It's Jeff the Killer!" No sooner had he remembered he had to lay low to avoid the attention, a fangirl had let out a squee, the universal war cry for paparazzi.

"Oh, great." Sighing, Jeff put on a fake smile, which wasn't exactly hard to fake. Cameras and fans soon crowded the street, bright flashes blocking out much of the view of everything, even the already overly-bright signs and streetlights.

"Jeff! You make wounds ooze and flesh crawl!" shouted an excited lake monster woman.

"You make walls fall, Jeff!" added a mummy.

"Walls fall?! You make the very mounds crack, Jeff!" corrected a rather ugly witch.

"Thank you! Thank you, everyone!" Jeff stammered, trying to calm the growing crowd. "Th-thanks! I have to go to a mee-"

"SAY IT!"

"Oh, alright, fine!" Jeff pulled his trusty knife, Sweetness, out of his jacket pocket. Getting into his killing stance, Jeff posed and said "Go to sleep!"

The crowd cheered, and many pictures were taken of the pose Jeff had taken years to master. He could feel sweat building up on his brow.

Soon enough, the killer managed to convince his fans he was busy, and he made his way towards the front entrance of the Slender Building. Near the alley, he spied a band of zombie buskers playing a tune. He tossed a few coins into a hat on the ground near them as he passed.

"Nice work, Reap-Daddy."

"Yeah, I guess so. Just like last year. And the year before that. And the year before that..." Jeff sighed, pushing his hat down farther over his eyes.

Just as he was finally about to reach the safety of the inside, Jeff was interrupted yet again. This time, by barking.

Turning around, Jeff saw a frightening dog-like creature with ginormous teeth. It almost made it look like it was smiling. The dog-monster thing's fur, or the little it had left at least, was dirty and black, and the patches of skin that poked out was a rashy red color.

Bending down to the creature's height, Jeff put on a stern face. "Not now, Smile. I'm busy right now. There's no time to play today. Besides, didn't I tell you to stay home?"

Smile whined, and gave Jeff the saddest puppy look he could make.

"Oh, fine then." Jeff reached into his pocket and pulled out a human finger, caked in dried blood. "Here, boy."

Smile wagged his stump of a tail eagerly, panting with excitement. Jeff threw the finger as far as he could towards some trees, causing Smile to give chase after it. He would normally eat it once he found it, but he felt like playing fetch today. However, by the time he was back with the finger, Jeff had already gone inside.

The lobby of the Slender Building was not very remarkable. There was a waiting area with several magazines with Jeff's face on the covers, a reception desk with the same old symbol on it, a portrait of Lord Slender hanging behind it, a stained glass window showing the God of Corruption himself surrounded by burning mortals, and of course, hallways plastered with Jeff's many campaign posters.

No sooner had Jeff thanked Zalgo for a break from all the attention, he was stopped by another shout.

"Mr. Vice President!"

Having quite enough of the interruptions, Jeff turned sharply. "What?! What do you want?! Can't you see I'm busy?!"

The source of the shout stopped dead in his tracks, too frightened to make another move. Jeff realized it was a young boy, one he had seen many times before, and one of the youngest Reapers. He had blonde hair and wore an odd, worn-out green tunic, complete with a pointy hat.

The boy was beginning to show signs of crying. Knowing full well the consequences of that, Jeff hurried to the boy's side.

"Hey, hey, it'll be alright! I didn't know it was you, BEN, I swear! I've just been having a hard day, is all!"

The child known as BEN wiped his eyes glumly and sniffed. "I didn't mean to b-bother you, s-sir. I just wanted to ask for...an a-autograph."

"An autograph? Oh, is that it? Sure thing! Here, gimmie that notepad!" BEN sniffed once more, handing the killer a page from the notepad and a pen.

"To my pal BEN..." Jeff said aloud, writing down his words. "Never stop following your dreams! Your friend, Jeff!" He tore off the page and held it out.

BEN's eyes filled with glee as he reached for the autograph.

"Not so fast!" Jeff reminded.

"Huh?" BEN asked, looking around worriedly.

"Ten Reapees." Jeff held out his other hand, flashing his trademark smile. (And once again, lolgeddit.)

BEN sighed, and handed Jeff a piece of green paper, which happened to be yet another object with Jeff's smiling face slapped onto it. "Thank you very much." Jeff said, handing the boy the page and the pen. "Now run along and show that to your friends, kiddo! I guarantee they'll be jealous of you!"

"Thank you so much, Mr. Vice President! You're the best!" BEN hugged Jeff's leg for a few seconds, causing Jeff to sigh yet again. When the boy ran off, Jeff walked towards the elevators. He reminded himself he did his job for a better future, one he wanted kids like BEN to enjoy. Nevertheless, a part of him wondered...Is this really the right way?

After riding the elevator for several minutes, listening to that annoying song that he seemed to hear all the time in the areas around Lavender, with its odd tones, Jeff reached the top floor.

Glancing at his vintage wristwatch, featuring a tiny caricature of himself pointing at the numbers, Jeff realized he was almost late. He ran as fast as he could out of the elevator, towards a set of large double doors adorned with that overused symbol.

Kicking open the doors, Jeff was greeted by a large room with a long table. Seated around the table were several of the higher-ranking Reapers, among them his friends Tails Doll, Hoody and Masky, Mr. Widemouth, Pinkamena Diane Pie, Pyramid Head, and Candlejac...."CJ."

"Mr. Vice President! Fashionably late, as usual!" CJ greeted.

"Don't give me any of your lip, CJ. You know how hard it is to commute from the mortal world to here!"

"My apologies, sir." CJ snickered.

"I suggest you sit down, sir. Lord Slender will arrive any moment." Tails Doll reminded.

Jeff took his seat at the very end of the table, in a slightly more luxurious chair. At the other end of the table was an impressive throne adorned with many Reaper symbols and a Zalgo design on the back. It was many times the size of a normal throne, to account for Lord Slender's immense height.

No sooner than Jeff sat down, a plume of purplish smoke filled the area around the throne. Seconds later, the spot was occupied by an extremely tall man, at least double the height of a mortal. He wore a pitch-black suit, and his skin was even paler than Jeff's. He had no facial features to speak of. There was no doubt about it. It was Slenderman, the President and High Priest of The Reaping.

"Good evening, Mr. President!" The whole room greeted. Jeff spoke his slightly louder. If there was any attention he did like, it was any from Lord Slender.

"Evening." Slenderman grumbled lowly. He used a tentacle to remove his black fedora, and stretched the tentacle all the way across the room to hang it on a coat rack. He then stretched his long, stilt-like legs awkwardly in order to sit down.

An odd, cat-like creature very similar to Smile mewed and climbed up the throne's gallant arm rest. Slenderman proceeded to give it a few pats on the head, but whether he was annoyed or not was impossible to tell, due to his lack of a face.

"Well?" the tall man said grumpily.

"Oh! Right!" Jeff cleared his throat, standing up from his seat. He walked over towards the wall and pulled down a projection screen. He then turned on the projector at the end of the table, and shut off the lights.

Taking out a pointing stick from his bottomless jacket pocket, Jeff began the daily speech. "Ahem. So far, it seems our organization is having trouble locating any more Holders." Jeff stated, pointing the stick at a picture of a small ball of blue light being projected on the screen.

"Why am I not surprised?" Slenderman grumbled, causing the room to stir up a storm of awkwardness. Jeff was quite used to this feeling, so he continued.

"Erm, yes, but, uh...our faith rating has gone up 3% since last week!" Jeff could feel his smile losing its touch as he pointed at the next slide, an oddly stable line graph.

If Slendy had a face, the Reapers could sense his anger. But alas. The tall man stood up from his throne, walking over towards the front of the room. His head nearly reached the ceiling. He had to have been at least 15 feet tall.

"May I ask you a question, Jeffery?"

"Um, of course, my lord!" Jeff was sweating furiously.

"Be honest." Slenderman stated ominously.

Only a few seconds later, Jeff was swept off of his feet by a giant group of tentacles. The pointing stick flew right out of his hand. Soon, Jeff was suspended in midair in front of Lord Slender's face. The tall man pointed at him to get his attention, using a hand for once.

"Do you think this organization is doing its job adequately?"

"Oh, of course, my lord! All of us are doing our best to-"

"Nonsense." Slenderman's voice was frightening, even though he couldn't convey any emotion in it. "During your entire reign as Vice President, only two Holders were discovered. We are not even close to accomplishing our goals. It's possible all of that fame has gone to your head. I am disappointed in you, Jeffrey."

"My lord, I swear I'm doing my best!"

"Or maybe you're just leaving the work to the others while you go off slaying mortals left and right. Do you take anything seriously?"

"My lord, I can do better! I'll find the rest of the Holders myself! I'll create some Proxies of my own! Please, I'll do anything!"

All of a sudden, the tall man's tentacles released their tight grip, causing Jeff to fall and bang his head painfully right on top of the projector. The image flickered out, and Jeff felt a wound on the side of his head. However, just like that, it was gone. One of the many benefits of being a Reaper was not only immortality, but also the instant healing of wounds.

"That may be it..." Slenderman muttered.

"Erm...beg pardon, sir?"

Slenderman was silent for a time. He turned and walked back to his throne. He sat, stroking his forehead, deep in thought.

"Maybe we need a new type of Proxy." Slenderman announced suddenly.

The Reapers at the table whispered among themselves. "A...new type, sir?"

"It's a simple plan, but I'm willing to try anything at this point." Lord Slender stated. "We recruit one or more mortals to join us, whether by choice or by force, without any possession. Perhaps another from the mortal world is what we need, don't you think, Jeffrey?"

Jeff gulped, remembering his past as a mortal.

"Then it's settled then. You go out into the mortal world, and convince a mortal to join our cause, and give us any valuable information they may have."

"Um, now, sir?"

"Yes, right now."

Jeff gulped again, and walked towards the open door. Just as he was into the hallway, he was stopped by another tentacle, this one poking him on the shoulder.

"Oh, and Jeffrey."

"Y-yes, my lord?"

"Consider this your last chance."

The tentacle swished back fiercely, slamming the double doors in Jeff's face.

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Just as Aaron reached the the square leading up to the dorms, he noticed quite an odd sight. There was a girl, who also seemed to be a student at the Academy. He didn't exactly recognize her, but he was sure he'd seen her once or twice sitting outside, reading a book. If he did see her, he'd be sure he would remember her. After all, she did look quite cute.

But what was even more interesting was the strange ball of light flying near her, and the even stranger duo dressed quite outlandishly with mysterious, ear-like extensions coming off of their oddly-colored hair. He knew they were obviously new here. Most of the locals would have made a scene about their oddity had they been here any longer.

"Well, I guess this solves my lack-of-footage problem!" Beaming proudly, Aaron hid in a bush, recording the actions of the four strange visitors in a very Steve Irwin-like manner.

The twins heard Sprite rustling in the bushes and Lucian turned towards the purple spirit. "Well, what do you want?" He asked. "Well more importantly, I should ask if you understand the words of the living." He added. "It's OK Cethin, you can stop crying onto my shoulder.

"O-O-OK..." Cethin raised his head and moved his bangs from his face. "Hey, it's actually kind of cute!" He smiled a little before he felt someone's hand on his shoulder. His shoulders jerked and the fur on his tails stood on end.

Lucian didn't mind the hand as he turned his head and peered at its owner from the side of his glasses. Upon seeing it as a female, he quickly, and somewhat violently, removed her hand from his brother's shoulder. "Please, you must leave his sight before he sees you." The warming was hollow as Cethin had already turned his head around.

"Y-Y-Y-Y-You..." Cethin's pupils shrunk and his face had sheer terror sink into it. His eyes almost instantaneously watered and he started crying. "YOU'RE A GIRL!" He screamed before he burst into tears and started to run away. His hair whipped around behind him and it accidentally smacked Aaron's camera from his hands and sent it into the side of Cethin's face. After a quiet thud, Cethin fell onto the ground face first and sat back up and bawled some more before calling out to Lucian like an animal's cub to it's parents.

Lucian rushed over to his bawling twin and crouched beside him. "Cethin, what just hi-" He was interrupted by a hug from Cethin, but it quickly turned more into squeezing him in fear rather than a hug. "Cethin! Please!" Lucian hugged him, and helped him to his feet where he buried his face in Lucian's robe-like attire and cried for a while. Noticing the camera on the ground, Lucian was skeptical of such a device but because he already had his hands full with calming his twin, he gave it little mind for the moment.

Mina laughed at Cethin's fear. She thought that she scared him when she snuck up on him, not because she was a girl. But as the odd humaniod kept on crying, her joyous expression quickly turned into concern. Did she and Sprite went overboard on this scare?

"H-hey...is he going to be ok?" She asked, walking over to the brothers and then crouching down. "I'm sorry I made you cry. I never intended to scare you into tears."

As Mina was apologizing for what she did, Sprite had taken interest to the camera lying on the ground. She picked it up and sniffed the lenses. Hm. What an odd smell... She then stuck out her tongue and licked said lenses, covering it with sticky saliva.

"NOOOO!!!!" Aaron screamed, revealing his presence to the four. He was clearly running out of people he met that day that didn't gang up on his poor camera. He assumed he could retrieve it later after it was sent flying right out of its hands, but being licked by a ghost? That was the LAST straw!

Jumping out of the bush, he managed to barely grab the camera without touching the now-filthy lenses before he hit the ground.

"Watch it! This thing cost me a fortune!" Aaron yelled at the spirit. "What is this, "Everybody Ruin My Footage" Day?!" He wiped all the grime off the camera, cradling it like a baby.

Calming down, Aaron decided to get some information out of the four mysterious strangers in a more conventional way. "Who are you people, anyway? Never seen any of you around here before, and I know this whole town like the back of my hand."

(F@#$ Microsoft autoupdate crashed Firefox and I lost my reply goddamnit)

(Yes I have a Microsoft thing on my Mac, it comes with my Microsoft Office for Mac SHUTUP)

When Vadia and Aqua were rested, they continued on their way to find civilization, or at least more people. Though Vadia had been impressed with Aqua's hunting skills the night before, it was clear that Aqua was unfit for the wild. She had been trailing behind for hours, and Vadia had to keep stopping to let her catch up, and catch her breath.

"How do you know how to catch animals so well but you can't even walk a couple miles?" Vadia asked, moving some brush out of the way.

"It's been 5 miles!" Aqua said between breaths. She had no idea that Vadia was so strong and had so much stamina.

"You should consider getting into shape. Anyway, about a mile ago, I started detecting signs of life. We should find them any time now."

"You can detect signs of life? Are you human?"

"Something like that."

"You're more human than me, I bet."

That sent a chill down Vadia's spine and she didn't know why. It occurred to her that she didn't even get a great look at the person that saved her, so she turned around. Aqua had blue-green hair, and deep purple eyes. Her tan skin indicated that she lived on or around the ocean, and her lips were painted green. Vadia knew that even with hair dye and contacts, Aqua's appearance couldn't be so perfect. She knew this because she constantly kept up her own appearance changes. Still, Aqua's words were unsettling.

"You don't look like an alien to me."

"I promise that I'm human at heart. I'm just a little different." Aqua said, giggling. Did Vadia even think that she was an alien? That giggle turned to surprise when she found a sword pointed at her jugular. "This is how you repay someone that saved your life?" Aqua asked. "Please, I don't like fighting." She said, pushing the sword away. Vadia didn't notice it then, but there was a fine sword cloth in Aqua's hand when she pushed it away, to ensure her sword's safety.

"That sword cloth. Where did you get it?" Vadia said, putting the sword back to its original position.

"You never let me say why I was less-than-human." Aqua said, looking a little annoyed that the weapon was still in her face. Her hand turned to the color aquamarine, and the cloth disappeared, with only her hand left. "I'm a shapeshifter. There's a race of shapeshifters. We live peacefully on the docks. There's no violence or strife, we just want a happy, normal life." She said.

"That sword cloth was made of some of the finest material. I could tell just by looking at it." Vadia said, moving her sword away.

"Of course it is! We pride ourselves on our ability to transform, you know. Everything we turn into is 100% real. If I were to turn into, say, a diamond, you could take me to a diamond store and they would confirm that it is in fact, a real diamond. That's how we work." She explained. Vadia looked slightly embarrassed. "Hey, no hard feelings! I am barely human after all." She said with a smile.

"She has such a simple mind. Not that you were in the right for shoving me in her face." Katz said.

Before Vadia could reply to her snarky Astra, they heard some voices.

"Watch it! This thing cost me a fortune! "What is this, "Everybody Ruin My Footage" Day?!"

They followed the voice.

"Who are you people, anyway? Never seen any of you around here before, and I know this whole town like the back of my hand."

Vadia and Aqua came out of the trail and into the clearing with everyone else. The two stopped and surveyed everyone.

"This is certainly going to be interesting..." Vadia said in German, muttered under her breath.

Lucian fixed his glasses with an agitated look on his face. "Will everyone please stop talking at once!" he said in an angry tone. "You there, with this 'camera' thing" He pointed to Aaron. "I don't exactly know who you are, but you best watch where you walk." He shot an inhuman glare. "For the last person that hurt my brother strangely vanished in the middle of a clear night." He turned his attention to Mina. "He'll be fine as long as you don't touch him or get too close to him, but for now it'd be a good idea to make sure he doesn't see you until he calms down. He's scared to death of females for a personal reason." He looked at the purple spirit. "And if I may ask, why do you have a spirit with you? I find it odd that any human could master the arts of necromancy and all its dark magics." He then noticed the two girls who were fairly taller than almost everyone else, but he ignored them.


"L-Lucian..." Cethin muttered. "Is that girl gone now?" He asked while his bawling slowly calmed to sobs.


"Not yet, but she will be in a moment." Lucian replied. "But she won't hurt you as long as I'm here." He smiled and continued to comfort Cethin.

Mina tilted her head to one side. “Necromancy? Dark magic? I don’t use any of that. I’m a Spirit Tamer! And this spirit is my friend! She came to me from the spirit world when I was three years old and now we’re bonded for life.” She explained.

Mina then turned her attention to Aaron. “Hey! Aren’t you that guy always running around with that camera trying to capture ghosts on footage?” She walked over to him and looked him up and down then she giggled. “The ghosts here are really camera shy. That’s why they don’t show themselves when you whip out your camera. I should know, I can see them!”

“Anyway, I always see you when I’m out here reading or whenever I’m exploring the forests.” Mina smiled. “Oh, I’m Mina and this is Sprite.”

“Spriii!” Sprite chirped happily.

Aaron was a bit put off by Lucian's accusations. "Hey, cool it, buddy. I didn't do anything. I was merely observing when he came running over like a chicken with its head cut off. Besides, that ghost-dribble stuff did more harm." Aaron figured he'd leave the two fox-like boys alone, there were plenty of other interesting things to get on film. And one was right next to him!

Aaron eyed Sprite excitedly. He figured he could forgive the poor creature. It was only curious, and not to mention, it was easily the best thing Aaron had ever captured on film.

"Wow...you're amazing! You managed to befriend a ghost, when I've never even seen one this close before! I always knew there had to be at least some kind of spirits prowling around here. I never thought they'd be friendly!"

"Oh, my name's Aaron, by the way. Aaron Spektor. Amateur paranormal investigator!" He rubbed the back of his head, beaming.

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"Amateur is right. This kid doesn't know the half of what goes on here!" Jeff chuckled, adjusting his hat. He was spying on the strange group of people that had shown up in the middle of town. He had formed a temporary lookout point atop the old silo in the forest, and from this spot, he could not be seen, but he could make out what was going on in the square with some binoculars.

"Woof!" Smile barked in agreement. Jeff had decided to drag his dog along into the mortal world to make up for being gone most of the day. Plus, Smile's powerful hearing gave the dog the ability to tell Jeff all that was being said. (How Jeff can speak dog is probably a bigger mystery than that...)

The killer zoomed his binoculars. "Who are these people? They certainly don't look mortal! Didn't Lord Slender tell other immortals to stay out of our plans?"

Smile panted.

"No way. The monsters in our Hollywood branch look much weirder than that!"

The killer examined each member of the group one more time. "Stupid Aaron. That kid just never knows when to quit. He's been meddling in our affairs for far too long. He'd better not be forming an alliance with those folks. If there's one thing I hate more than mortals, it's immortals against our cause. If he is indeed forming an alliance, it would cause much more of an uproar killing him now than killing him when he's alone. I have no choice but to let him be for now. At least his stupidity will prevent him from getting far!"

"And who is that girl with that little purple spirit? A spirit working with a mortal? Utter treason! I'll have to teach those two a lesson sooner or later."

"And what's up with those two girls standing back over there? They don't seem to be interacting with the core group. Must be new here. They look mortal, but their features are quite strange. I should keep an eye on them, as well."

"And those two boys with the fox ears look the most suspicious of all. I can't tell if they're mortal or not, but they seem to be quite...different, if they are. I doubt they'd be good for business. They must not be from around here, what with those really strange physical features. Maybe that means they know nothing about our reputation in these parts. It would be quite fun if I...introduced myself..."

Jeff grinned evilly. He was considering a plan to dispose of the town's new visitors, but Smile's barking interrupted his thoughts.

"Oh, that's right. I have to find a mortal to recruit. How the hell does Lord Slender expect me to do that?! All of those fools down there look quite unsuitable."

Jeff continued spying about the small town, when his binoculars fell upon the train station. A passenger train had just pulled in, and only one passenger had stepped off. Curious as to how that could occur, Jeff zoomed in as far as he could go.

A bespectacled boy with no parents or guardians present. No history in this town whatsoever. In addition, Jeff couldn't help but notice the boy's odd mannerisms, as if he held some sort of regret towards mortal society. Perfect...

"Well, ring-a-ding-ding..." Jeff grinned knowingly, the corners of his large mouth curling up as far as they could go.

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Dominic stretched a bit, after being used to sitting down for hours straight. He carried the small luggage of his few possessions nonchalantly.

"Huh. The place is just as gloomy as I thought it would be." he said, staring up into the deep, eternally gray sky.

"I guess it was inevitable. Once again, life has pushed me off what little pile of hope I can create. Anyway, I'd better just check in to the school."

Dom walked down the almost empty streets, counting on one hand any places of interest. Aside from the academy, the residential area, the abandoned buildings, and the overly large forest, there was only a bar, a bank, a gas station, a grocery store, and a small family restaurant. Nothing less than what he'd expect from such a shady old town.

Making his way to the main building of the school, Dom noticed a very odd group of what were possibly students, or perhaps one or two of them were. The others looked like they came out of a circus freakshow. He mentally laughed at the irony of there being a circus in such a small town. It was like he was going to be spending the next year in a horror movie.

Predictably, Dom took a detour at the site of the group. He walked through a small section of forest to go around to the front of the school. He could have sworn someone or something was following him, but he tried his best to cling to his logical normalcy. Or perhaps it was his paranoia flaring up again. After all, he was in a forest. Surrounding by dirt. He hated dirt.

Dom speedwalked the rest of the way, going into the academy to confirm his attendance without a sound.

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Aaron looked to the fox-like boys and the two girls that had just arrived, realizing they probably had no idea what to be doing. "If you want, I can show you all around this place. I know every nook and cranny in this dingy old town! Plus, if you need a place to stay, I'll see if I could have you stow away inside my dorm room."

"that would be desirable." Lucia said casting away his anger for the time being. "It's impressive that Apostle Micheal has citizens as oblivious as this. I thought for sure we'd be recognized as the princes of their mortal enemy by now." he thought to himself.


"Lucian." Cethin said with most of his paranoia faded from his voice. "C-Can we go inside? I-Its a little unsettling out here. I feel like I'm being stared at by something..."


Lucian briefly looked around in his field of vision. "There's no one else hiding around here, but I do agree, we should go inside. I'm a fair bit uneasy myself, but we're in a different place, so try to put it aside Cethin." He replied. "Aaron was it? Please, lead the way."

((Just a brief explanation: In my cannon, there's two countries, and the twins are under the assumption they're in the other one. Not an entirely different world. XD))

Sprite perked up and started to bob around Mina. “Spriii? Spriii spriii!”

“What is it Sprite?” Mina asked, looking at her companion.

“Spriii spriii spriii.”

“Another new person? What did he look like?”

“Spriii spriii. Spriii spriii spriii. Spriii spriii!”

“Hmm…must be a new student…well, when we run into him we’ll give him…” She giggled mischievously, “a proper greeting.”

“Spriii. Spriii spriii?” Sprite asked, nodding to Vadia and Aqua.

Mina nodded then turn to Aaron. “Excuse us for just a moment we’ve got to welcome those girls over there to town.” Sprite then disappeared and Mina walked over to Vadia and Aqua.

“Hello there! I see you two are new.” Mina said, putting her hands behind her back. “I’m Mina.”

Sprite suddenly appeared inches from the newcomer’s faces and shrieked, “SPRAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!”

Mina giggled. “This is Sprite. Welcome to Lavender.”

Aqua shrieked, scrambling behind Vadia and cowering. She certainly wasn't partial to what she just saw. Vadia flinched but still stood her ground. She still had her sword in her hand, which instinctively she pointed at Mina as Sprite screamed at them.

"You've got guts, for trying to scare someone with a weapon in their hand." Vadia said after the wail was over. "I'd suggest you don't do that again. My sword arm is very jumpy." She added. Aqua slowly got out from behind Vadia.

"Lavender Town?" She asked. That was new. She had no idea that humans named their towns after colors. That was going to take some getting used to. The place was pretty creepy, she didn't know if she liked it just yet.

Vadia's sword disappeared and she started surveying the others gathered there. Certainly an interesting group, nothing she couldn't handle. Though being a new group made her anxious, it seemed Aqua was the one that needed more TLC than her. She still looked shaken. Vadia turned to Aaron.

"Well, if you're going to lead the way, it would be best to do it quickly. This town is strange. I don't want to be outdoors very often." She said.

"Well, if you say so." Aaron nodded. "It is getting dark. It would be more fun to explore the more...interesting parts of town in the dark, but that's probably best for another time. Why don't we head to the academy first?"

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Staring up at the ginormous school building, Dom was more than a little surprised. The place was easily the largest building in town, and from the looks of it, the oldest one still in use. Sure, it was missing bricks in places, and it was a bit lopsided, but it was simply stunning for a place like this.

"Huh. Maybe this town is a little nicer than I thought. Or at least, was." Dom stepped forward towards the school's courtyard. Despite it being a weekend, there were still many people, students and staff alike, roaming the grounds. Probably because there was nowhere else to go.

As Dominic made his way to the doors, trying not to look at anybody, he could sense he was being watched. Not an uncommon occurrence in Lavender, but this time it was less sinister and more...obnoxious.

"Well, well! Here's something you don't see every day! A new kid!" The voice sounded amused and slightly stupid. It clearly came from a group of older, larger students. Due to far too much experience with these types, Dom immediately knew he was in hot water yet again.

Of course there's bullies here. he thought. Why wouldn't there be?


He set his eyes straight forward and speed-walked. For such a strange town, things were quickly becoming all too normal.

His little getaway tactic was instantly foiled when he was charged from behind and sent reeling right onto the hard cement ground, his glasses flying right off his face.

"Ho ho! No way! You're not getting past us without knowing your place! Hey guys! This little shitstain thinks he's so good he can walk right by us! Let's show him how we do things here in Lavender!"

A handful of large, fatter students towered over their newest victim. Dom decided to just lie down and take it, having had this exact situation occur many times. The bullies lifted their feet, ready to stomp the boy's head into submission.

"NOT IN MY SCHOOL YOU DON'T!"

The bullies nor Dom had no time to react as the biggest harasser was sent sprawling to the ground even harder than Dom was. I guess the bigger really do fall harder, eh? ...Eh?

The other attackers didn't even process what happened before each one got their very own punch in the nose. The speed it all happened at was almost...inhuman.

Dom's saviour stood over the heap of bullies, revealing his long light brown hair and piercing green eyes. "Tsk, tsk! That's the third time in a month, guys. I suggest you drag your sorry asses home before I have to report this."

The pathetic group gulped, and then immediately dissipated out of the courtyard.

Dom wiped his eyes, noticing a strange boy standing over him, holding out his glasses. "Need a hand?" he said.

He was little shocked for a second. Nobody had ever tried to help him in a moment like this before. He didn't really know how to react.

He hurriedly got to his feet, snatching up his glasses. "Um...thank you?"

"Don't mention it." The odd boy smirked. "You okay?"

"Uh, yeah. It's no big deal, really. That's happened before."

"Really now? That's depressing. You can't even hold your own in a fight?"

Slightly offended, Dom backed away, not liking the look in the boy's eyes. "Yeah...I'm gonna go."

Managing to pull his sight away from those menacing eyes, Dom turned and ran towards the doors. The boy had caught up with him in seconds, pulling him back.

"Whoa there, partner! I mean you no harm! Besides, how can you leave without introducing yourself?"

"...Do I really need to?"

The boy stopped grinning for once. He grabbed Dom's shoulders and turned him towards him, eyeing him closely.

"Listen, pal. I am offering you my friendship. And trust me, that's a damn precious thing. You saw what happened back there. You don't want to be on my bad side."

Dom was losing respect for this kid every second, but somehow, he couldn't bear to run. He knew he was right. This guy was clearly nothing any bully he'd ever met could handle. It scared him. He was at a loss for words.

The boy frowned. "Here, let me help you." He put out his hand. "My name's Jeffrey. Jeffrey Blalock. Call me Jeff."

Giving up, Dom shook his hand. "I'm Dominic DeLuca. Nice to meet you." he replied, despite it not exactly being a "nice" meeting."

"Likewise, Dom. Mind if I call you Dom?"

"Actually, I prefer Dominic."

"Excellent then, Dom. I take it you're new here?"

"Uh..."

"Well, then, welcome to Hell, buddy! Population: a shitton o' sad sacks and two badass guys just going with the flow!" Jeff proceeded to wrap his new "friend" in an arm hug.

"Um, what?!"

"I can tell this is the beginning of a lifelong friendship!" Jeff broke away, turning towards the school and pointing. "Together, we'll be unstoppable!"

Dom had never once been so confused. First, this weird guy manages to save him from a group of huge bullies, and then immediately proclaims that they're best friends? Was this normal? He didn't know. He'd never had a real friend before.

"Alrighty then, Dom! What do you say I show you around this pathetic shithole? I know everything there is to know! The obvious...and the more exciting..." Dominic certainly didn't like how he said that, but it appears he didn't have a choice at this point.

"Well, alright..."

"Fantastic! Just follow me this way and...oh, crap."

"What?"

"He's coming."

"Who is?"

"No time to explain, just follow me!" Jeff grabbed the boy's hand, practically dragging him against the ground.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well, here we are. Lavender Academy. It's certainly not the most welcoming place in the world, but for now, it's home." Aaron scratched the back of his head as he introduced his place of residence to the more...out-of-place members of the group.

"It's probably best if we stayed away from the front doors. Come on, I know a shortcut to the dorms! Follow me!" Aaron ran towards the bushes leading to the side of the school, not even looking back to see if the others were following him.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So, who is this kid anyway?"

"He, my dear friend, is most certainly the biggest freak this side of the nuthouse."

Dom and Jeff were perched up in a tree behind the school. Even more forests surrounded the entire back of the building, but a clearing was right below them. Dom had no idea how Jeff was able to climb a whole tree so nimbly, and how he managed to carry him up with him, but he decided asking questions about the many odd things he had seen that day had no place in Lavender.

"What's so bad about him?"

"What isn't? He goes around the forests EVERY DAY carrying this stupid camera trying to find ghosts, right? And I'm up in one of the trees trying to get some peace and quiet, and he NEVER learns to just shut the hell up. To my knowledge, nobody even watches his crap."

"It can't be that bad."

"Ah, the blissful ignorance of non-Lavenderians. Trust me, it's bad."

Just down the path, Aaron was making his way through the bushes.

"Oh, you're shitting me. Why is he coming this way?!" Jeff shouted.

Out of the corner of his eye, Dom noticed several strange people following him. Some of them looked completely different than any person he'd ever seen before.

"Who are they?"

Jeff looked just as perplexed as he was. "I actually have no idea."

All of a sudden, Jeff got yet another one of his eerie grins. "Hold on, I've got an idea. This is gonna be hilarious."

Dom knew he was in deep trouble when he saw Jeff tear a whole branch off of the tree they were sitting in.

"You're not actually going to..."

"Oh, I am." Jeff snickered.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It's right down this path. There's a door with an old broken lock. You can get anywhere in the building through i-GAAURGH!!!"

Aaron stopped dead in his tracks as a tree branch came tumbling down, mere inches from his head. He could have been knocked out cold! Branches don't even fall that far from the tree! Someone had to be up in one of them.

"Thought I told you to stay outta my quiet spots, Spektor?" Jeff stood on another branch, leaning against the tree's body. Dom tried his damnedest to make himself hidden, pretending he was somewhere else.

"ALRIGHT, THAT DOES IT! WHAT THE F@#$ IS YOUR PROBLEM?"

"What's my problem? More like who's my problem. I've had it up to here with you snooping around like a goddamn animal. I thought I'd teach you a lesson. In some cases, curiosity really does kill the cat." Jeff was indifferent to Aaron's anger. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lighting one for himself.

"You threw a F@#$ TREE BRANCH at my head! What kind of a lesson is that?! You could have killed me!"

"From what I've seen, it looks like killing you is the only way you'd learn." Jeff blew smoke out of his mouth, not even looking at Aaron.

"...How can you even say that?!"

"Please. It's nothing a complete FREAK like you wouldn't be used to." Jeff looked down at the boy, grinning. For a split second, Aaron thought his grin stretched a little...farther than normal.

Dom was mortified. What he just said was completely cruel. He wanted to come down and help the boy, but he was much too scared of what Jeff would say. Like he said already, he did NOT want to be on his bad side. Especially when his face can look as menacing as it was now...

Mina was about to open her mouth and say something but heard Sprite’s voice in her head.  “What?  That new kid is the tree?”  She thought back.  “Well, we might as well introduce ourselves and save him from that tree.  That…very…tall tree…”  She shuddered at the thoughts.  She hated heights and always will.  But she swallowed hard and snuck around to the back of the tree, assuming that Jeff was too busy insulting Aaron to notice her.

When she got to the back of the tree purple arms with blue claws extended out of her back.  She dug the claws into the tree and started climbing up.  Soon enough she was near Dominic and she jumped on a nearby branch and the purple arms disappeared.

Mina put her hands on the boy’s shoulders.  “Boo.”  She said right in his ear with a slight giggle.

Of course that scared him but she was prepared for that she gripped him as hard as she could so he wouldn’t fall.  Mina smiled.  “Hi!  I’m Mina!  Welcome to Lavender!  …I see you’ve already met Jeff.”

She looked at Jeff with a huff.  “Hey, Jeff, why can’t you just leave poor Aaron alone?  What did he ever do to you?  So what if he has a hobby of exploring the forests?  It doesn’t give you the right to be a complete douche.”  She said, glaring at him.

Cethin jumped at the tree branch from the corner of his eye and tightened his grip on his twin's right arm.

Lucian let out a heavy sigh to try and keep his cool so he didn't make irrational threats. Rather, he pushed his glasses back up his nose. "If I may interrupt." He said. "May I ask you to save your quarrel for later? My brother and I have traveled all day, so we would like to find a room so that we may retire for the remainder of the day." Despite his polite tone, there was still some blatant agitation, probably a combination of the long traveling and being protective of his skittish twin.

Cethin dared to look up into the tree at the oddly smiling Jeff and the apparently confused, and thanks to Mina, startled Dom. He focused more on Dom than Jeff since the latter was the one that startled him. "That boy that the purple thing is holding..." He mumbled. "He... he doesn't appear to be bad."

Vadia sighed. "I've already graduated from school a long time ago." She said, not really looking forward to going back. When they met up outside of the school, she didn't even flinch at the tree branch being flung. "What a welcoming committee." She said. Aqua yelped, hiding behind Vadia, trembling slightly. 

"I don't like this place! Please, just take me indoors!" She said, still trembling.

"Look, you made the girl upset. You two stop bickering so the rest of us can go inside and get some rest." Vadia said. She could already tell that she wasn't going to like this newcomer.

"EEYAK!" Dom shrieked, immediately giving away his presence if it wasn't already obvious. "Wh-where did you come from?!" He was certainly surprised at seeing all of these interesting new faces popping up all over the place. (Sometimes literally.) Yet, this strange girl and the others below didn't seem nearly as threatening as his new "best friend."

"Hey, mind your own business, ghost girl!" Jeff spat. "You don't know half of what he does! How'd you even get up here?" Jeff looked at the third resident of the tree, even angrier. "Dom, you no-indoor-voice piece of shit! I thought I told you to be quiet!"

Instead of going on a tirade at his two tree-buddies, Jeff held his tongue upon hearing Lucian. "Do you honestly think that concerns me at all, foxface?! You're the ones intruding upon MY domain! Standing up to me is the LAST THING you'd ever want to do, trust me. Only someone with a death wish would even think of it!"

Jeff had enough of people questioning his authority. He put out his cigarette, jumped to the top of the tree, and gave the group below his best glare, reserved only for those he knew he had to deal with sooner or later.

"Listen up, you pathetic freak scum. This is MY town, you hear? Pissing me off is the greatest mistake any of you could ever make. Believe you me. This isn't some little name-calling session on the playground, ohoho no. I have these friends, you see? All I've gotta do is add you my list, and bam! We will make you regret ever making a mockery of Jeffrey Blalock! So I'll give you all a little opportunity, understand? Stay out of my way, and you can forget everything that you saw here today. But, if you blow this ever-so-rare second chance...let's just say you'll be getting a nice long sleep, got it? Good. Great. Wonderful. Fantastic. Excellent."

Jeff returned to his original branch, grabbing Dom by his collar. "Well, it's been fun talking, but I have work to take care off. I'm sure we'll all meet up again real soon, my dear friends! Arrivederci!" Jeff jumped down into the woods, dragging a quite scared and unwilling Dominic behind him.

Aaron blinked. "Well...that was...freaky." He sighed, turning to the others. "That was Jeff, some...disturbing guy that also goes to school here. I wouldn't worry about those awkward threats he just made. I'd say he's not exactly...all there. Like, mentally. He really scares the hell out of me sometimes. Best if we kept out his way..."

He opened the back door easily, the rusty lock not even trying to fight back. "Well, as I was saying, there's a staircase in here that leads to all parts of the building. The dorms are just this way. Follow me."

Mina stood on the branch, Sprite holding her waist tightly so she wouldn’t fall.  “Oooh, sooo scary!”  Mina called at Jeff in a mocking tone.  She posed in the tree and grabbed one of her ponytails and made stroking gestures with her hand, as if she was coming it.  “Look at me!  I’m badass Jeffrey Blalock!  I stand on my balcony every day in the crisp morning air looking at the sunrise combing my luscious maiiiiine!  It’s so badaaaaaaaass!”

She crossed her arms and huffed.  “Man, he’s such a douchebag.  I feel sorry for that new kid he was dragging along…”

“Spriii!  Spriii spriii!”  Sprite chirped.

Mina laughed.  “Nice one!”  She gave her ghostly companion a high-five.  “Well…I guess we’d better climb down now…”

“Spriii spriii.” 

“Right.  Just don’t look down…”  Purple arms appeared on Mina’s back and Sprite disappeared.  She dug the claws into the tree and started her slow descent as she kept looking at the sky.  “Don’t look down…don’t look down…don’t look down…”
Finally, her feet touched solid ground.  She let out a sigh of relief as the purple arms disappeared from her back.  She spun around on her feet to face the group.  “Ok!  Let’s continue what we started!”  She said before following the group.

Lucian let out a heavy sigh. "Jeffrey Blalock" He said turning and starting to walk along with the rest of the group. "I'll be sure to remember that name." A glare from the sun flew over the lenses of his glasses.

Once the group made their way inside, a faint lavender colored fire-shaped wisp appeared above the branch Jeff sat on. It then licked it's entire self with it's disproportionately sized tongue before licking the entire branch thoroughly leaving a clear substance on it. It gave a small giggle once finished and faded away.

A harmless Robin soon thereafter landed on the branch for a quick rest but within moments of landing slipped right off like a hot knife through butter.

"Grrr! Those despicable freaks! Just who the hell who they think they are?! What kind of fool do they take me for?! Ignorant little asshats!"

Jeff complained loudly as he dragged Dom through the woods. As he noticed the dirt and twigs piled upon his school uniform, Dominic contemplated his "friendship" with Jeff. After that little incident back there, he assumed no one in their right mind would ever want to associate themselves with this depraved sociopath of a high school student. That, coupled with obsessive-compulsive need of cleanliness told the bespectacled boy enough was enough.

"Hold on a second!" he blurted, pulling back from Jeff's grip.

"WHAT?!" Jeff shot Dom another of his trademark stares. Okay, maybe voicing his own opinion was not such a good idea after all. He thought he could sense one of his sharp green eyes twitching after a few seconds. If looks could kill...

Against his better judgement, Dom ignored his "friend"s" irritation and stood up for himself for a change.

"What is up with you threatening everyone you meet?! You nearly knocked a kid unconscious just for fun, and then immediately afterwards demonize him just because you were too delusioned to go and find yourself a different "quiet spot?" You're psychotic!" His words came out in one big huff, as he tried to look at absolutely anything besides those hellish eyes.

Had he been just a normal, everyday mortal, Jeff would have promptly reduced Dom to a bloody mess that looked nowhere near human, making sure it would be slow and agonizing, and covering up his work so well that people would say that he just up and disappeared into the woods one day. But, Jeff was on a mission, and Dom was the key to its success. Whatever Lord Slender had wanted with the boy, he knew failure was out of the question.

To accomplish this task, Jeff knew he had to get on this kid's good side, and his normal behavior was certainly not helping those matters. Therefore, in a completely un-Jeff-like move, he dropped the issue and his anger.

"You're right. I'm sorry, Dominic. I guess I just let that little prank get to my head." He scratched the back of his head, giving a not-so-creepy smile for once. "Won't happen again, I swear it."

"How do I know it won't happen again?" Dominic folded his arms, unimpressed. "You just completely exploded at those guys back there. Those threats sounded pretty damn disturbing, if you ask me."

"I'm done with your shenanigans, Jeffrey. I've got to go sign up at the academy." Dom walked off towards the end of the forest. After a quick glance at his clothes, he added: "And I need a freakin' shower, too."

Watching the other boy fade from sight, Jeff's eye twitched, for real this time. "Ugh. I'm in deep shit now. What am I gonna tell Slendy? He's expecting a Proxy ASAP!" He kicked the dirt, groaning. "That kid's wanting no part of me now, that's for sure. I had some real potential there. Who knows, he could have been made my yes man!"

"He was this close to taking the bait, and now I blew it. Who else would make a good Proxy? I mean, it's not like I can just wait until midnight, break into his bedroom, snatch him up, and take him to Slendy right then and there!" At that moment, Jeff became silent. A familiar grin took shape as he stroked his chin in a very villianly manner.

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Dominic made his way back to the school, going through the front doors and checking in. It's a good thing he did that then, too. It was about 6:00, the office was about to close.

On his way to the dorms, he spotted that odd group of shady characters he'd seen just before at the clearing. Considering they now most likely thought he was in cahoots with that complete psycho, and reminding himself of his complete and utter lack of social skills, he slipped by them and into his room, hopefully unnoticed.

Upon arranging his very few belongings into his bland room, Dom washed up in the bathroom, changed into pajamas, and turned in early for the night.

"Well, today sure has been...interesting. Hopefully tomorrow will be a little more normal." He pulled the covers over his head, wrapping up in as much warmth as he could muster. As an added thought, he added: "And a little more happy."

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"Welp, here we are!" Aaron said, unlocking his door. "Everyone, I present to you...the Paranormal Command Center!" He opened the door to his room excitedly, muttering a little fanfare as he did so.

The inside of his room was quite surprising. What had once been a bland, dingy old room just like the others was now his own little lair dedicated to his hobby.

Over the creaky hardwood floor, a plush rug had been spread, in slight need of a good vacuuming. The walls were covered in posters displaying aliens, ghosts, and old advertisements for terrible horror-themed B-movies from yesteryear. The bed's blankets were nice and plush, albeit unmade. The desk was a disaster area, covered in soda cans, pizza boxes, candy wrappers, unfinished homework, broken pencils, open books, and at least three wads of pre-chewed gum stuck to the bottom. The desk's computer was relatively free of garbage. The screen was currently showing Aaron's YouTube channel page, shamelessly having little to no views, likes, or subscribers.

Next to the TV-and-game-console setup was perhaps the room's most notable feature. Covering much of a wall was a bulletin board covered with notes, pictures, and paper scraps detailing many aspects of certain paranormal creatures. Smack dab in the center was the entry Aaron had shown the most pride in: a weathered yellow newspaper page detailing the first known slayings caused by the so-called "Lavender Strangler." The header read: "OMINOUS LOCAL KILLER IS STILL AT LARGE"

"Well, I dunno if there's much space here, but you're free to make yourselves at home! I've got plenty of blankets...oh! Sorry about the mess, by the way."

Lucian's eyes lit up with displeasure and shock. "What in the name of the seven sages is wrong with you boy!" He said with anger filling his face quickly. "You expect us to settle down in this abomination of a room?" He added before nudging Cethin's hand signaling him to let go of his arm.

Following his twin's cue, Cethin let go of Lucian's arm and wrapped his arms around the base of his chest.

Lucian let out a heavy sigh. "Well, since you've shown us your blatant lack of tidiness, I guess I'll just have to do this." He said before snapping his fingers several times. "Listen up you louts, clean this mess up. NOW! Anything left over will lead to punishment." He yelled at as if directing his attention to the thin air.

Responding to the red haired boy's ire, a bunch of light blue and violet colored wisps. The second they appeared they quickly began to tidy up the train wreck of a room that Aaron called a base. Each hastily gathered up trash and organized the room very thoroughly down to each individual detail. within twenty minutes, the mess was quickly cleaned up into a presentable room. The pizza boxes were stacked on top of each other in a neat pile with the soda cans lined up beside them on the end of the desk. The candy wrappers were discarded into the trash along with the broken pencils and wads of gum on the underside of the desk and the bag in the waste bin was also changed to a fresh one afterwards. The nooks were bookmarked to their open pages via dog-earing the page corners and neatly put away and the unfinished homework was completed with deftly done cursive and all work shown before it was stacked next to the computer's keyboard. All of the posters were dusted thoroughly and the bulletin board was rearranged and separated to be organized by each individual paranormal creature.

"There." Lucian said as he dismissed the wisps. "Now this is a room more suited to live in." He walked back over to Cethin, whom quickly latched back onto his arm, and walked along the carpet and stopped beside the bed. "Go ahead, have a seat." He told Cethin.

Cethin's tails left their curled up positions reveling just how fluffy the each were as he sat down, but they quickly curled back around him onto his lap.

"You can thank me later." Lucian said eyeballing Aaron. "For now we'll settle in. You can also hold your blankets for us." He said. "I'm sure with our size, the both of us could fit on this bed." The red head added as he et out a light yawn.

“Wow!”  Mina exclaimed, looking at Lucian.  “That was awesome!” 

“Spriii…”  Sprite said sadly, looking at the clean pizza boxes.  She wanted to go treasure hunting through the garbage for leftovers.  But now that the place is cleaned up there was no way she could find anything good.

“Oh Sprite, you do know that there’s some candy back in my room.  You’ll just have to wait to eat some until we get back.”  Mina said, staring at the notes on the bulletin board.

“Looks like we got a future paranormal investigator on our hands.”  She smiled at Aaron before focusing her attention on the newspaper page detailing the “Lavender Strangler”.

The young girl tilted her head to her side.  She felt chills running up and down her spine.  Faint whispers of the deceased filled her ears.  Why are the local ghosts talking to her at once all of a sudden?  Are they trying to tell her something?  Boy...?  What boy?  Danger…?  Who’s in danger?

Then as soon as the voices made themselves known, they quickly became silent.  She fell to her knees and rubbed her head.  “Oww…my head…man, this is a first.”  She groaned.  Sprite flew over to her side, concerned for her friend’s well-being.

“Spriii?”

“This never happened before Sprite.  The ghosts in the area…they started talking to me all at once.”