The Slender Man 1

"Gather round, everyone!" Sid announced to the gang as they sat around Gerald Field. "I, Sid am proud to announce that the Keeper of Tales now has a new urban legend to share with us!"

"Which will turn out to be one big misunderstanding to make it seem like what it was assumed to be." Helga whispered into her beloved's ear.

Arnold chuckled, discreetly holding Helga's hand. "I guess you're right, Helga."

"Brace yourselves, Gerald says this is a scary one!" Sid went on. "And now, without any further ado, I present to you, the Keeper of the Tales, Gerald Johansen!"

"Thank you, thank you." Gerald grinned, standing on the pitcher's mound in order to seem taller. "Now that I have your attention, I'm gonna tell you guys about the creepiest urban legend I've heard in a long time! This one...is about...the Slender Man."

Everyone sat around, staring at him weirdly, no one uttering a sound or a word. All that was needed was for a cricket to start chirping and the comical moment would've been perfect.

"The Slender Man?" Helga parroted with disbelief, and scoffed. "Please! They couldn't come up with a more original title?"

"Believe what you want. But this is serious! Back in the 80's, it was said that many children have gone missing...and that some photos depicted a strange form, usually off in the background in plain sight and yet hard to decipher...some claimed to have seen him, but only right before they disappear." Gerald went on, trying to sound ominous. "The Slender Man...is a mysterious, scary man. They say he's tall, very tall...maybe about seven feet. Some people say he can extend his limbs to great lengths! Some say he can produce tentacles to induce fear and anxiety on his victims. Others say he stalks them...and when the Slender Man stalks you...it's not long before you go missing too! What is he? Where did he come from? What is he doing? Is he abducting his victims? Eating them? No one knows, guys! Anyway, he's tall...always said to be wearing a suit with a tie, and he's very very thin, real slender. And they say...the scariest thing of all...is that sometimes, people say he has no face."

"No face? I'm ever so certain that's impossible, Gerald." Lila said, now sounding nervous.

"N-No face?" Rhonda stammered. "And his suit had better not be some kind of an outdated series of rags!"

Helga rolled her eyes at Rhonda's obsessiveness with fashion. "I hardly think a man with the ability to induce fear, anxiety and possibly cause people and children to go missing would care about the wellbeing of his fashion statements, Barbie. ...And really, no face? What is he, the Faceless Slender Man?"

Gerald nodded. "That's what some people have said...they say the Slender Man has no face. But you can just feel him watching you! And once he sees you, there's no escape! You cannot escape the Slender Man! That's not all...they say he can give you anxiety, insomnia, horrific nightmares, paranoia...he can drive you insane without even touching you!"

Arnold, calm and disbelieving as ever, just said, "Do you know where he usually is?"

"No one knows for sure, man. They say he's been in the midwest...and has even made his way to the New England states...but he can be anywhere. On the other hand, he's usually spotted around wooden areas so that he's not easily seen...and come sometimes blend in with the trees...appearing as if he were one of them. But there is one way to know that he's nearby! Video cameras...lots of people have tried filming around to find him...and when he's close by, the camera messes up somehow." Gerald now held a flashlight underneath his face. "Whatever the Slender Man is, he's...no...IT...its something we'll maybe never-OH MY GOSH! AAAAHH! HE'S HERE! IT'S RIGHT BEHIND YOU!"

Everyone turned around and screamed (with the exception of Arnold and Helga too) as they now saw a tall figure in the shadows of the nearby walls, just standing there wearing a suit and having no visible facial features.

"AAAHH! IT'S SLENDER MAN!" Harold shrieked.

"He found us! We're gonna die!" Sid squealed.

Helga, however, grabbed Gerald's flashlight and shone it onto the alleged Slender Man...and immediately noticed something off about his "faceless" features.

"Stinko, it really ruins it because your nose is pointer than a dog's snout."

"Awww...willickers." Stinky removed the white fabric from around his face.

"Please! I knew it was you the whole time, Stinky. Especially judging by that hideous and outdated suit you're wearing!" Rhonda bragged.

Helga rolled her eyes. "Really, Rhondaloid? Because that screaming you were uttering just ten seconds ago seemed a little too authentic to me."

"Why did you do that, Stinky?" Lila asked, still shuddering a bit from the rush of fright.

"You guys!" Gerald cut in. "Okay, that was a joke Sid and Stinky came up with here...but the point is, be careful! If you see the Slender Man...you're doomed! They sometimes say that he has a mental link with the person he stalks...always knowing where they are!"

"Yeah yeah, whatever, Geraldo." Helga waved it off. "Football Head! You're walking me home right now!" She pointed at finger toward Arnold in feigned anger and annoyance.

"Me?" Arnold pointed at himself, feigning innocence. "Why?"

"Well doi, I know you're not just gonna let a poor so-called defenceless girl like me walk home alone at night." Helga said, rolling her eyes. "And I knew you'd ask me. So I'm just gonna save you the trouble from asking. Let's just get that over with."

"Arnold Arnold, don't be silly. Wouldn't you rather walk Lila home?" Rhonda drawled, smirking. "I'm sure she'd much rather appreciate your company and help than someone like Helga."

Arnold held back in rolling his eyes. Rhonda and some other of the boys were always convinced that he and Lila were a "perfect couple", despite that he knew far well by now that it wasn't true. Not only was he dating Helga now, albeit secretly, but he had been over Lila for months now, even before he and Helga had gotten together after their adventure in San Lorenzo. He had even said he was over her, but they continued to persist.

"That's ever so fine, Arnold, you don't have to." Lila said sweetly.

"Sorry Lila, but Helga asked me first." Arnold said, ignoring Rhonda then, and walking off, motioning for Helga to follow him.

Rhonda was shocked at this, and let out a petulant snarl. "Well...I never!"

"Rhonda, please don't be mad." Lila coaxed. "Come on, why don't you, Nadine and I head back to your house and we'll have a makeover party?"

This immediately perked Rhonda up. "Brilliant idea as always. Let's go, Nadine!"

"All right, I'm coming!" Nadine nodded, eagerly following after the two girls.

"C'mon you guys, we gotta go scare the Sullivans again!" Harold proclaimed, snickering at the idea he had running in his mind.

"Oh! Can we knock on their windows all over the house like we did last time?" Sid asked eagerly.

"Willikers, we did that last time! Let's call their house and pretend to be the Slender Man!" Stinky suggested.

"That is awesome! Count me in!" Harold laughed as he and the other two boys walked off in the opposite direction across the street.

Gerald and Phoebe were left behind, and the two looked away from one another, the faintest hints of a blush set on their cheeks. It was a little awkward, but at the same time, they couldn't help but feel kind of glad about it. They weren't strangers to spending a little bit of time together and doing things, but there were moments, such as right now, where it kind of had them really look at the situation. Other times, it was just going with the flow and not even really noticing, as if it were second nature. But now, they were fully aware.

"S-So then..." Gerald cleared his throat, doing his best to put his "smooth" front on. "You certainly wouldn't mind if I were to escort a fine young lady like yourself home, would you?"

Phoebe blushed a bit more and giggled a little, nodding a bit as she smiled. "Oh, sure, Gerald...that would be nice of you, thank you."

"Anytime, babe." The African-American boy winked at her, offering his arm to her, and found himself smiling more as she accepted, linking her arm through his. "Then let's be off!"

XXX

"I mean really, how dumb is that? A man who's all tall and slender, has no face, can extend his limbs...what is he, Dr. Octopus?" Helga snorted, shaking her head as she and Arnold walked along the deserted, darkened streets of the city.

"No, that wouldn't make much sense since Dr. Octopus' extra arms were mechanical." Arnold said thoughtfully, shaking his head.

"You know what I mean!" Helga huffed, though she was more amused than annoyed. "But really, Arnold, who would be scared of something like that?"

"Well Helga, fears are irrational." Arnold reasoned. "Some people are afraid of things that others would consider weird to be afraid of."

"Always Mr. Logic." Helga snickered, shaking her head. "Fine, let's just go with that. Point is, this Slender Man thing is a crock. Just like all the other urban legends."

"You can say that again."

"Sounds more like something out of Stephen King!"

"You read Stephen King?"

"Doi! I've been reading chapter books since I was five. And I happen to like Stephen King's works. Anyway, back on topic. The Slender Man sounds a lot more like something Stephen King or some other expert horror writer or moviemaker would come up with, if you ask me."

"Maybe that's how this urban legend started?"

"You never know, Football Head." Helga winked at him.

"I guess not, Helga." Arnold chuckled and squeezed her hand affectionately as he smiled toward her.

Helga nodded and sighed happily as they walked along, hand-in-hand, when she suddenly saw something move at the corner of her eye. She glanced to her right, looking across the street. Under one of the street lamps, just barely in view, she saw something there. It was shadowed, but she could feel whatever was there seeming to watch them. Frowning, she fixated her gaze on it a few moments, and then turned away, figuring it was her imagination.