Eric sat up, his head throbbing with pain. He looked around. What was that? He was on earth, he knew that. No black room. Suddenly he clenched his fists as if to test out his limbs. Most of them felt different; he couldn't put a finger on why. They felt lighter, easier to control. He swung his head around and looked for the door. It was there for sure. Up he got and soon he was walking down to Butters', he didn't know why he was going there, but he was.

The burgundy color stood out in front of the pure white snow. Eric had never noticed that before. In he went. "Butters?" No answer, Eric thought that was weird too. No-one around. He ambled over to the stairs and made his way up, and the dark green wallpaper began to show. For a moment he stood on the landing, hands on hips, just taking in the surroundings. After a minute or two he remembered what he was doing and made his way to Butters' room.

The door opened slowly, and Eric peered around the corner. Someone sat on the bed and Eric assumed it was Butters. Nonchalantly he strolled and mustered a: "What's up Butters." No answer. Surprised, he lifted his head up to the boy sat on Butters' bed. It wasn't Butters sat there, but Kenny.

"Kenny?" Kenny was caught off guard by Eric, and he jumped at the sudden mention of his name. "Oh, uh, hey Cartman." Eric studied Kenny, he sat almost lonely on the bed, as if something was missing. "What are you doing here by yourself?" Kenny looked up at Eric questioning his interest. "I came over to see Butters. I…" Kenny stopped halfway through his sentence. "You what?" Kenny curled his lip and frowned. "Do I have to answer that, Cartman?" Kenny seemed to spit out the Cartman in the sentence like he was spitting on Eric himself. "Jesus, what's up, Kenny?" At that point Kenny clenched his fist and was about to shout at Cartman, but he stopped himself, exhaled and wiped his forehead. "It's, Butters." Eric fixed his stare at Kenny. "I guessed." Kenny scowled at Eric, why did he have to be such a smartass. Then Kenny chuckled to himself, Cartman already had enough ass. He sighed again as he returned to reality, though. "He's angry with just about everybody at the moment." Eric furrowed his brows. "Butters? I know he had that weird thing about Hawaii and stuff but, now?" The room fell silent for a while, then Kenny broke it. "He's not talking to me, his dad or anybody." Eric left his mouth open. "Where is he?" Kenny shrugged. Eric flipped his phone from his pocket and searched for Butters on his contacts. He found him and sent him a text.

Butters sat in his U-STOR-IT unit. It was dark and musty, and the air was thick with the smell of rotten furniture. A buzz caught his attention and he grabbed at his phone, which lay on the table in front of him. Cartman. He tapped it and went to the messenger. It read:

butters where r u

Butters squinted at the screen, was that Cartman? Wait, it could be Kenny. He sent back a text directed at Kenny:

Nice try kenny

A minute or two passed before a reply came through.

what

Butters curled his lip and replied.

I know its u kenny

Did Kenny think he was stupid? No, Kenny wasn't like that. Or was he? Butters had definitely questioned Kenny's integrity over the past hour. Then a picture came through of Cartman sticking his finger up at the camera with the caption:

fuck you to then

Butters eyebrows raised a notch. So, it was Cartman.

what do u want fatass

That pretty much confirmed Kenny's story to Eric. Not once in his life before had Butters called Eric 'fatass'.

where are u

Butters sighed and slowly tapped in the answer.

u-stor-it

Eric had made his way through the blisteringly cold afternoon to the U-STOR-IT. He searched around for the unit Butters was in. Soon he found it and banged on the metal cover. "Butters?" Butters was on the other side, sulking. "What!?" Eric tipped his head to one side, this wasn't Butters. "You alright?" Butters didn't know what to say. "No." He cringed at what he just said. "Sorry?" Eric didn't understand why Butters was being such an ass. "Just leave me alone, Cartman." Eric pulled a puzzled face. "This isn't Butters, is it?" Butters shot up from his seat. "And how would Butters react? Huh? Would he just sit there and wait for you to open the door and fuck him over again? I know you've manipulated me before, Cartman." Eric turned to face Kenny and shrugged his shoulders. Then he swung his attention back to Butters. "Listen, Butters, you're being a turd." Butters slammed his fist against the metal cover. "Oh, and you haven't been a turd before?" Eric furrowed his brow. "So?" Butters pulled back. "What?" Eric sighed. He knew what he was about to say was going to change how Butters looked at him completely. "Butters, you don't think that I don't know that everyone hates me, do you? I know I'm a piece of shit. I know people hate me. I know I go way too far all the time. I know that I manipulate people. Believe me I try to stop sometimes, but I don't know what comes over me." Butters pulled his hand from the door. What was Eric getting at? Why, why did he just say what he did? He stepped back and stared at where he thought Eric stood behind the door.

What?