Hone Your Strengths.

CH: 1

The life of a devoted proxy. You obey any one of Slenderman's orders as swiftly and quickly as possible. That's what it was for Toby, if it weren't for the tall faceless man, who knows where Toby would be? He never bothered questioning the boss's orders, but with this upcoming schedule... Everyone in the mansion will train against one another to help their strength improve...? Every being Slenderman's ever captured has its own way of training. They have their own strengths and weaknesses...

That's why this "tiering by strength" didn't make sense to Toby.

For once, he didn't agree with what Slenderman was thinking. He didn't understand the way his so-called savior thought. However Toby would never say this out loud to Slenderman's face, he'll just accept whoever he gets and put up with it. All Slenderman wanted to see was how they'd spar against each other, right? It was nothing, in the end, all Toby had to do was wonder "Who are those I have a chance to win against?" "Who are those I have a similar fighting method to?" and such questions.

Jeff the Killer, Jeff was young but fast and acted without much thinking. Homicidal Liu, he was older and had quick thinking, but his other personality that was more willing to harm was the opposite. Jane the Killer was terrifying, Toby had never seen her fight before. Eyeless Jack always attacks below the rib cage as if he's looking for a meal...

Masky and Hoody could read Toby's attacks like a book, it'd be useless to try and fight them. Slenderman himself, well... It's Slenderman, Ben Drowned was a cyber-ghost, unless they are around a lake or a computer, Ben probably couldn't do much. Sally was young, but boy, she had such... creative... ways of disposing of "demonic" or "dirty" adults.

Was there anyone Toby could train with? There were too many people in this damn mansion to think over each and every one of them along with their fighting abilities. Toby was sat on a bed, worn down and destined to break in a year or two. The room was small with a tiny window, a closet with a door missing, and a broken mirror. Every mirror in this house was broken, the top was covered with a cloth for most people so they wouldn't have to see their own creation of their faces. Toby's was broken because it was just found like that.

Then again, everything was broken or in the process of becoming so in the Mansion. There isn't much you can make do with in another dimension below the Overworld, most of the things here were stolen or brought from little "trips". It's a bit selfish to think since he was already kindly allowed to live and hide here, but it wouldn't hurt to fix this place a little. However, with the forever faint scent of blood and the scent of the outdoors, it wouldn't be the easiest to fix. It's not like anyone in this home could get away with stealing too much..

Toby grabbed his axe by his bed frame and looked at it. The blade part was clean, almost even spotless. The wooden handle was run down, it'd probably give him splinters if he didn't always wear gloves. Something about going against another serial killer as Slenderman watched, makes him uneasy. Toby wasn't afraid of losing in front of him, and he wasn't nervous either, so what was this upset feeling in his stomach? It's like something bad has already happened, even though Toby hadn't done much yet.

"HEY!- Woah!"

The sound of glass shattering filled the room. As if on instinct, Toby had thrown the axe the held at the sudden voice. As if his mirror wasn't broken, it was unrecognizable now. A ghostly guy slowly came into sight, a bit more on edge than they were a moment ago inside the mirror.

"If I had known your murder plot, I wouldn't have bothered to come and get you." Ben Drowned, probably the only person in the mansion to nearly get murdered and brush it off so easily.

At the knowledge that someone else was there, Toby's head unwillingly jerked to the side a few times. "Y-Y-Yeah, w-what did you w-want?" Toby maneuvered past Ben to pick up his axe again while avoiding the shattered glass on his bedroom floor,

"Slendy said he wants everyone to gather together behind the mansion for his little training project, so I suggest you scurry over while I get the other ones who are actually busy." With that, Ben faded away to bother someone else.

Toby looked at his other axe sitting by the door of his room. No, Toby was sure he would only need one, for now, he should get going before Slenderman got impatient. This was what he'd been waiting for, right? Toby will see who he is matched within the eyes of his superior, and he will get to prove his worth with a battle, a "training session." Whether Toby loses or wins, this is what Slenderman wants, this is what Slenderman gets. Toby's opinion doesn't matter. No one does against Slenderman's word. It was time, it was finally time.

-

(these pairings are random and mean nothing)

Slenderman's voice echoed through everyone's minds. Everyone was to stand in a line, waiting for their assigned fighting opponent. This was the moment, it was happening and there was no going against it.

"Eyeless Jack and Nurse Ann, go to section 6."

"Homicidal Liu and The Bloody Painter, go to section 4."

"Ben Drowned and Judge Angels, go to section 7."

"Lulu and Jeff The Killer, go to section 1."

"Ticci Toby and Clockwork, go to section 3."

-

Clockwork and Toby stood out from their places in the line and navigated toward their section silently. Toby couldn't help but think about the person who 'matched' his strength. Clockwork. Her fighting abilities were supposed to match Toby's, but Toby had never seen her in battle so he couldn't begin to imagine it. He tried to remember Clockwork's personality and traits from what he's seen around the home, she was spunky, rebellious, short-tempered, loud-mouthed, and blunt to say the least. Then again, that couldn't mean Clockwork was a terrible person overall.

Clockwork slumped down by a tree, not saying a word. Toby assumed she was trying to observe his behavior for the advantage of winning. Well, when it was their turn there's one thing he can be certain of. Toby was not going to lose. Not in front of Slenderman, that'd be too... sad. Clockwork's eye ticked repeatedly, tick tok tick. It just kept going, without any other noises between them, it was starting to get into Toby's head, Tick tok tick, tick tok tick, tick tok tick. In a matter of seconds, Toby felt his body jerking to the clicks of her clock. His shoulders tensed and his head couldn't keep still, as if now was a perfect time for a "Tic Attack."

"Are you... okay?" Clockwork asked, more confused than concerned. Toby didn't bother answering, it'd only be stutters and tics anyway as long as he was in this state. Tourette's was something tiring, but also painful. Each jerk and twitch was followed by a shot of pain that hurt the same as any injury he's had before.

Toby's Tourette's suddenly calmed down, he expected it to happen for at least another couple of minutes, but it'd stopped. His shoulders fell, but Toby didn't have time to be exhausted, he'd be fighting the girl next to him in a matter of time. He needed energy now more than ever, no amount of his tics was going to waste his determination or bring his spirit down. Toby looked at Clockwork, she was tapping below her eye in the rhythm of her clock ticking.

She didn't have a visible weapon on her, nor did Clockwork seem nervous. Clockwork looked at Toby, her eye never stopping the reoccurring tick noises. "You better not go easy on me once we start, got it? If I am going to do this stupid training, I want it to be fair."

Toby looked at the axe he brought and looked at her person again. "D-D-Did you bring a w-weapon?"

Clockwork reached into her jacket and pulled out two serrated knives. "I'll only be using one since you forgot that other axe you carry. Still, you won't go soft on me, right? I need to know you won't just toss me a win."

Toby gripped his axe in his hand, "Okay, I-I won't g-go easy on y-you. I w-wasn't planning to a-a-a-anyways. I... I'm g-going to win."

Clockwork peered into Toby's goggles, his eyes were narrowed and he was serious about winning. Clockwork couldn't help but smile. "A challenge with someone that has fighting spirit..."

Toby and Clockwork stared at each other. Their eyes were fierce with the need to win against each other. Toby's expression was serious, it was read in his eyes, and Clockwork couldn't help but smile as if this wasn't serious at all to her.

"Don't get too excited, I don't plan on losing either, Toby."

-