Officially, this is my favorite chapter. I wrote this story with this chapter in mind.


In the back of his mind, The Coon could feel the light stirring that was Cartman. Was he trying to fight through again? It had happened for a moment, just after breaking out of Juvie. He'd wanted to go to Mysterion's tree house, slaughter the bastard while he slept, and rape the shit out of Vicki. But he'd quickly squashed the idiot down. Mysterion would have woken up at the slightest sound outside the tree house, and that was sure to get him caught. And no way was he going back to prison.

So Cartman had been banished to the deepest, darkest vault of his mind, where no shrink, or superhero could ever reach him. And where Cartman could rest. Because as much as he thought the boy was a self-loathing, stupid, crazy, and selfish, he was still the one who'd created him. He was still the one who gave him life, and so he deserved to have peace from himself.

Leaving Jimbo's abandoned bomb shelter, The Coon couldn't help smirking at the sunset. He was probably gonna die tonight. Kenny was definitely going to bleed, and if he placed that shot just right he would never walk again. And even though he'd never be able to fight him, or chase him, the cops were bound to show up, because they were probably on high alert, and they wouldn't hesitate to shoot. So this had to go right.

"C-Coon?"

Whirling around, he saw Butters standing on the edge of Jimbo's property. "What are you doing here, Butters? You know I wouldn't hesitate to dispose of you, right?"

"I-I know. I just came to try to reason with you. Because even if you feel you need revenge... you'd be better off just leaving. You could get out of here, find another town to hide in; start over. And you could let this go so that Vicki and Kenny can just move on with their lives. That's all any of us want."

The kid thought that would work? "I would think you above anyone would understand revenge. After all, that was what Professor Chaos was for; revenge against a world that had rejected you, right? It is out of necessity that we were born, Mysterion, Chaos and I. It's what makes us alike."

"We are nothing alike!" Butters shouted. "Who we are depends on our choices, and I chose to be nothin' like you! I CHOSE TO BE A GOOD PERSON!"

It only took a second, but he grabbed Butters by the throat, and shoved him against the side of Jimbo's shed. "I was a good person. I was the part of Eric Cartman that wanted justice and peace in this town. We have always been two people, blended but still distinct, and I was always fighting Cartman for control. Until he used the power of Cthulhu to corrupt me. I had to wait until his personality was weak enough to break apart from him, but it's too late anyways. I have been corrupted in my purpose, and I know that if Mysterion had never appeared, I would still want to protect this town, not destroy it. That's why I blame him."

He released the blond boy, and let him drop to the ground. "Go home, wait until ten, and then call the police. Tell them that you heard shots fired in the park."

Baby blue eyes widened in fear. "W-why?"

"Because I don't want Mysterion to die. I just want to make him suffer."

ϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰ I found a reason to show ϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰ

Mysterion left the house as the last rays of sunlight faded from the sky. The Coon had left a note taped to the tree house—he'd found it that afternoon. 9:45, The Park. He knew The Coon would show, knew he would attack, and knew he wouldn't bother calling the cops. He had lied to Vicki; there was no plan. All he planned to do was let The Coon do to him whatever he wanted, because even if he left him broken and bleeding, he would die from his injuries, and come back in a night or two. And if The Coon got away... so be it. With him, it wasn't about Vicki, so once he'd had his revenge she'd be safe.

And she was safe until then too. She was with The Mole, and despite being a horny French bastard, The Mole was the best Mercenary in the country. If anyone could keep Vicki safe, it would be him. Not that he didn't think Kyle could do it—he wouldn't have left Vicki with him if he didn't—but Kyle couldn't shoot The Coon if he had to. The Mole would do it without even blinking.

"Kenny..." Shit, he'd forgotten about Karen. She'd been playing on their old bike in front of the house. At least she knew about Mysterion; no need to hide it from his little sister.

"Yeah, Kar?"

"I know she means a lot ta ya, but ya mean a lot ta me; you're my big brother." She abandoned the bike on the sidewalk, and grabbed the front of his shirt. "Please come home, Ken. No matter what happens, just make sure ya come home."

He fought the lump building in his throat. This was the Karen he'd loved so much as a kid. The one who cried at his funerals, and would bring him water in bed when he was sick. The one who drew him beautiful pictures, and came crying to him when people teased her about being poor. This was his little sister. Not the Ruby-Tucker-in-training; his sweet little sister.

"I promise I'll come home. I'll come home, and I'll bring Vicki with me, and we'll be as good and normal a family as we can be."

The way her face lit up, he was glad it wasn't a lie. He would come home, with Vicki. And they would be a shitty family, yeah, but it would be the best they could do. And at least they were together. Karen hugged him tightly, burying her face into the M on his chest. "S'long as ya start gaggin' Vicki in the mornin's, that's cool."

He fought the urge to laugh, and disentangled himself from his sister. "I gotta get going, Kar."

She nodded, and Mysterion felt her eyes following him as he took off down the street, heading for the park. It was getting close to the time. The moon was a half-circle in the sky, and the stars were shining dimly in the greyed navy they rested in. This was the kind of night you took your girl to Stark's Pond to make out; not go to face a villain who wanted nothing but to see you suffer. But that's what he was doing.

Entering the park, he noticed The Coon calmly leaning against the basketball hoop. He looked almost the same as the last time he'd seen him, only a little thinner, and dirtier. A lot dirtier. "I'm here, Coon. What do you want from me?"

"I want to know that you're as ruined as I am. And I know death's not gonna do the trick for you, Mysterion."

Before he could so much as move, The Coon had knocked him onto the ground, face shoved in the dirt, and knees digging into his back. "Revenge is hard to get on someone who can never truly die, you know. I thought about destroying Vicki—while he was around, Cartman was very eager for it—but I realized you've put enough resources into protecting her that I could never pull it off. So I was better off figuring out something...outside the box."

Mysterion heard the click of a gun being cocked, and then cold steel was pressing against his upper spine. "I chose this gun especially for the low calibre. So that when this bullet hits your spine, it's gonna pass through your spinal cord, and lodge in the body of your vertebra. And if all goes as planned, Kenneth Samuel McCormick aka Mysterion, you will be left in a bed the rest of your life. Unable to move below the shoulders."

He was going to paralyze him completely. "Oh, and I already have someone calling 911. They'll keep you from dying, you know. And I don't think anyone's going to agree to assisted suicide. Not after what we learned when we were eight, thanks to Stan's fucked up grandpa."

His blood ran cold through his veins as The Coon leaned over to whisper in his ear. "And by the way, say hi to Vicki from Cartman. Tell her I did her the favour of making him dead to the world."

ϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰ A side of me you didn't know ϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰϰ

"I'm so sorry guys..."

Neither Kyle no Christophe had known that Vicki had made a detour on her way over to his house. She'd stopped at the tree house, and found The Coon's note. She knew where they were going to be, and when. And the truth was that no matter what, she wasn't going to stand by and let Kenny get hurt. It was her turn to save him.

When she'd told Kyle the French Mercenary would walk her home, she hadn't been planning to lie. When she'd insisted she was safe to walk home on her own, she lied through her teeth. But nearing the park, she knew it was too important to be here tonight to worry about that. And seeing The Coon crouched over her boyfriend, entirely absorbed in whatever he was doing, she was glad she'd come.

Then his words reached her ears. "Tell her I did her the favour of making him dead to the world."

Without thought, she charged the villain, knocking him off of Kenny's form. A gun clattered across the pavement and into the road. She felt sharp claws graze across her cheek, tearing open the old scar, but she didn't care. "You will NEVER touch us again, YOU BASTARD!"

Behind her, Kenny was yelling something, but she couldn't hear him through the blood rushing in her ears. She was attacking him with flailing fists and tearing nails. His ears were gone, his mask and nose too, and already both eyes were darkening and swelling. Until The Coon gathered enough wits to give her one good shove that knocked the breath out of her, and sent her flying into the street. Her head smacked the ground, and she saw stars.

"MY BEEF ISN'T WITH YOU!" The Coon screamed at her, rounding on Kenny and pulling out a knife. "It's you I want. I may not be able to paralyze you, but I can make it so that no one will be able to look at your face without remembering this night. And not even Vicki will be willing to kiss you."

Vicki tried to pull herself up from the ground. She could hear the wail of sirens, and wondered who'd called the cops. If it was someone nearby, why weren't they helping them? She redoubled her efforts to get the fuck up but her arms kept collapsing beneath her as her vision blacked out. She could just see Kenny and The Coon struggling with the knife, and then her gaze fell on the dark metal object glinting in front of her. The gun. Lying on the pavement, just within reach.

"This one's for you Ken." She breathed. "I love you so much, baby." Grabbing the heavy object in her outstretched hand, she levelled it just as The Coon shoved Kenny away from him. A clear target. Squeezing the trigger, she felt the gun recoil in her hand, but saw The Coon drop. And it was the last thing she saw before she was blinded by the glaring headlights of the oncoming car that was never gonna brake in time. Not that it mattered; Kenny was okay. After all, she could hear him screaming her name...


Yes, I am evil.