pandemic runs its course, there are menacing  headlines about others possibly cropping up.  

But as you browse the internet, you may come  across people talking about something called  

“X-Virus”. Is this a new and deadly plague  making its way over from unknown quarters?

No, X-Virus isn't a virus at all -  but it may be no less terrifying.

No one knows where X-Virus came from,  but he introduced himself to us in a  

short story that began circulating around  the internet. But the strange thing is,  

X-Virus doesn't seem creepy at first - he's a  little boy. One who had a rough life and maybe,  

just maybe, will finally find the friend  he needs. Sounds cheery enough, right?

Why has X-Virus captured the attention  of creepypasta fans everywhere?  

And could he have ties to one of the most  notorious monsters in internet history?

X-Virus wants you to know his story - he  started out as a boy named Cody, and he  

describes himself as an unwanted kid. He never  knew his father, who likely abandoned the family,  

but at least he had his mother, right? Wrong! His  mother was a career criminal, and was hardly fit  

for raising a child. She would go out to commit  crimes - the young Cody never described what they  

were - and left Cody alone. He would sit at home,  waiting for her to come back - sometimes days,  

but eventually even for weeks at a time alone.  Cody never had any friends, and being alone  

was a way of life for him - until one day, there  was a knock on the door. It was a social worker.

Would things start looking up for Cody?

It was clear to the social worker that  Cody's mother wasn't fit to take care of him,  

and so he went into the custody of the state.  They took Cody to a group home, where he hoped  

he would be able to start fresh, far away from  his traumatic upbringing. He even looked forward  

to making some friends. But it wasn't to be.  From the moment Cody arrived at the orphanage,  

everything went wrong. He was ostracized by  the other kids, and felt intimidated by them.  

He was too scared to talk to anyone, so he just  sat on a chair and stared at them. It was just  

like being in his old home - although he was  surrounded by people now, he was still alone.

Then, one day, he was told to pack by the  people at the orphanage. Where was he going now?

For once, it didn't seem like bad news! Cody  was going to be adopted! He was surprised,  

as parents usually favored younger kids and he  was already thirteen years old. He thought of  

himself as a weirdo, and couldn't believe a set  of parents wanted him. But the adoption papers  

were signed, and he was taken away to meet his  new family. And when he approached his new home,  

he couldn't believe his eyes. It was a  mansion, the biggest home he had ever seen!

But all wasn't as it seemed  inside Cody's new home.

Cody was given his own room, much nicer than  he had ever had, but once more he was living  

all alone. Then, one day, he was introduced to  the man who adopted him. He was a scientist,  

the head of a major laboratory specializing  in microbiology. He studied the behavior of  

dangerous viruses, and his job kept him very  busy. He wouldn't be spending much time at home,  

and Cody immediately worried that he would  be left alone just like he had been with  

his mother. Cody would do anything  to keep that from happening again,  

so he tried to win his new father's favor. He  expressed interest in the scientist's work,  

and volunteered to help him with his work in the  lab. Soon, Cody's adoptive father began opening  

up to him, explaining to the curious boy what his  work was about and how dangerous a virus could be.

Cody was about to find out first-hand.

Cody had a chance at a normal life, going to  school with other kids, but his social troubles  

continued. He never fit in, and preferred to  spend his time in his adoptive father's lab.  

He started keeping a work journal, where  he kept his personal sketches and formulas.  

The years went on, and by the time Cody  was 17 he was an expert in viruses.  

But his father kept a close eye on him  and never let him experiment on his own,  

only allowing him to assist in planned tests.  But Cody was getting more and more curious.

He decided it was time to  start his own experiments.

Cody had designed his own custom viruses and  compounds, and he wanted to know what they  

would do when injected into a living being. So  he started gathering test subjects, mostly rats  

and other small animals. He would inject them,  and they would die soon after - confirming how  

dangerous the viruses he used were. But it  was how they died that intrigued Cody most.  

In the moment before death, they would  let out a horrible high-pitched noise,  

almost like their lungs were about to  explode. Cody wondered what caused this.

He wondered what noise a human  would make if it happened to them.

Cody started thinking about how he could  find out. He didn't have any friends at  

school - when he talked to kids about his work  with viruses, they were disturbed and stopped  

talking with him. He knew he would have to  act alone, so Cody waited until his father  

was away. He took a lethal virus and filled  up a syringe with it. He was going hunting,  

but he knew he couldn't let himself be  seen. He needed to disguise himself.

And so Cody disappeared...and  something new and terrible was born.

He dressed in a black jacket and jeans, and  took his old baseball bat out of the basement.  

Finding a jar with rusty nails  in it, he nailed them to the bat,  

turning it into a deadly weapon. Finally, he  put on an old gas mask and a pair of protective  

goggles. He was ready to kill, and went to  a neighborhood very different from his own.  

It was full of old, run-down houses - very much  like the one he grew up in. He wasn't looking for  

anyone in particular - any house would do,  as long as there was someone alive inside.

He kicked down the door, and  the horror was about to begin.

Cody swung like a professional, targeting  people one by one in his murder spree.  

They weren't expecting an attack, and  no one in the house stood a chance.  

Finally, there was only one left -  a middle-aged man who Cody tied up.  

As soon as the man was trapped, Cody  injected him with the virus and watched,  

waiting for his darkest questions to be answered.  First, the man stayed still, terrified. Then he  

started groaning, louder and louder. He sounded  like an animal as he moaned, the life leaving  

him - until he fell on the floor dead. Cody had  his answer, and he knew he couldn't stop now.

But he had been discovered.

Cody's adoptive father was waiting for him,  angry that his son had snuck out. But Cody  

wasn't worried - his father was a scientist just  like him. He would understand, right? Cody opened  

up to his father, explaining about his experiments  and how he had finally lived his dream of snuffing  

out a human life. He was excited - maybe he and  his father would work together on more experiments  

like this! But his father was horrified! He  couldn't believe what his son had become,  

and he looked at Cody with the same  look of disgust Cody had seen from  

his classmates so many times. He knew  what he had to do - call the police.

It was the last move he would ever make.

Cody leaped up and smashed his father's head  with the deadly bat, killing him quickly.  

He took his father's ID badge for the lab and  ran. He knew what he was looking for - supplies  

that could help him live his passion. He took  as many samples of deadly viruses as he could,  

along with enough syringes to hold them all. He  knew he had to run, but the lure of that dingy old  

neighborhood was calling him. He wanted to test  out his new wares on some unexpecting victims.  

One by one, he paid a visit to different  homes and watched as people died horribly.

The police would have heard about this  by now, and Cody knew he had to hide.

He went into the woods, where he thought  he would be alone. But he wasn't.  

He wasn't even the only strange boy in these  woods. Then one day a figure approached him,  

wearing orange glasses and what looked like a  muzzle. While Cody carried a bat with nails,  

this new boy carried a pair of axes. They viewed  each other cautiously, but eventually the new  

boy approached Cody. He told Cody he didn't  need to fear him, and introduced himself as  

Toby. As Toby asked him his name, Cody knew  he had found a friend, even a blood brother,  

for the first time. And he also knew it was time  for a new name that reflected what he had become.

X-Virus.

Who is Toby, and are there two kid serial  killers out there tormenting people with axes,  

spiked bats, and deadly viruses? Well, we hope  not! But as for who X-Virus' new friend is, that's  

a complicated question in itself. X-Virus isn't  just a creepypasta - he's part of a crossover.  

Toby, or Ticci-Toby as he's better known, is  one of the most famous creepypastas himself.  

Another boy with a dark past who had dealt with  abusive parents and trauma from a car crash,  

he eventually became a killer himself.  He was presumed dead in a fire,  

but the truth was more complicated.  Because Toby had become a proxy.

A proxy killer for one of the most notorious  internet monsters of all time - Slenderman.

A gangly, white-skinned monster wearing  a black suit, he's notorious for stalking  

and abducting people and has appeared  in hundreds of works of fiction. He  

even had a video game and a movie based  around him. But he's all fiction, right?

Well, that depends on how you look at it.

Slenderman is so popular that while the original  creature may have been a work of fiction by  

Something Awful forums user Eric Knudsen, he's  taken on a life on his own. Photoshopped pictures  

tie him to real-life abduction, the mythology is  spread to unaware teenagers, and real crimes have  

occurred because of his legend. In Wisconsin,  two preteen girls attempted to murder their  

friend as a sacrifice to Slenderman. The victim,  Payton Leutner, survived and both her attackers  

were sent to mental institutions. Unlike most  creepypastas, Slenderman almost had a body count.

The would-be killers were children  - just like X-Virus and Ticci-Toby.

But where did X-Virus come from? That's a  complicated question. Like many creepypastas,  

there is no obvious source and most people  read X-Virus' manifesto when it's reposted  

on the internet by random people. The original  story can be traced to Spanish-speaking artist  

MamaPorcupine, who initially posted it on  her Twitter and drew fanart of X-Virus and  

Ticci-Toby on Deviantart. But the characters have  taken on a life of their own, with hundreds of  

stories about them written by other creators  and posted around the internet. X-Virus may  

have originated as a random scary story, but  he spread regardless of his creator's plans.

Just like a virus.

For more on the most famous  creepypasta of all time,  

why not watch “How a Meme (Slenderman)  Became Real” or check out this video instead.