Now she was sitting all alone in the dark closet, with a million questions running through her mind. She was terrified of the thought of losing any of the people she now considered her closest friends. What if some of them were already dead? The thought brought quiet tears to her eyes so she focused on hoping Kenny, or rather Mysterion, would save them in time. That was another headache inducing thought entirely as she tried to process that her boyfriend, and her best friend, had been the same person all this time. The more she reviewed her memories the more hidden details now came to the surface. It was why Kenny had been so overly friendly to her, why she had felt so comfortable around him, why he flirted with her at times, why he did so much for her. She placed a hand over her necklace remembering how he'd thrown her an entire party. She placed a hand over her lips when she remembered the time he nearly kissed her as Kenny. It was laughable now that she realized she'd rejected someone she loved; she just didn't know it yet. Wouldn't that have been a good time to reveal his identity? He must have truly been afraid she wouldn't accept him. Her poor sweet hero, he had needed her just as much as she did him.

Hours passed but nothing happened. No more gunshots were heard, no screaming, no sounds of running, but she was afraid of leaving on her own. She only hoped Kenny wouldn't take much longer. Then it happened. She could hear what sounded like the main library door open. The sounds of footsteps were heard as someone was walking among the room, and they were getting closer. Now she could heard the office door opening. Why hadn't she locked that too? At least she could have delayed them a little. It wouldn't have been suspicious for an office to be locked, right? Though she was filled with panic and fear she breathed small, silent breaths, but as they came close to the door, enough that their shadow blocked part of the light, she stopped breathing altogether. She thought she would scream when the door handle was shaken, and she tightened her eyes closed, awaiting whatever fate would befall her if that door was forced opened.

"Violet! Are you in here? Come out if you're here!" The voice wasn't Kenny's, but she recognized it nonetheless. Not wasting another moment, she unlocked the door and swung it open, running into open arms.

"Stan!" She couldn't help but sob as she clung to his blue jacket. It happened so fast he found himself stunned that the shy girl was hugging him, but it wasn't exactly a normal day. Not that there weren't plenty of abnormal days in South Park but school at least tended to be boring. He lightly wrapped his arms around her.

"It's okay, you're safe now. Kenny told me where to find you." She looked up at him through blurred eyes.

"W-wait, why isn't he with you? Why didn't he come back himself?"

"Well he said he was going to go stop the escaped convict who was trying to use the school to negotiate for stuff. He told the rest of us to get out of here while he distracted him."

"Oh, alright. Is everyone else okay?"

"Yeah, the guy fired some warning shots but I don't think anyone has been hurt yet. Kenny always does brave stuff like this and always manages to come out of it alive so don't worry. Ready to get out of here?"

"Definitely."

Carefully, and quietly, they left the library with Violet staying close behind Stan, as he had instructed her to do so in case they ran into any trouble. The closing door echoed loudly among the silent hallways and each step they took felt louder than the last. She was worried about her fellow students and Kenny of course, but she had to keep reminding herself he couldn't really die. The way Stan talked though it must be true that no one remembers him dying. Neither one spoke though as they navigated past lockers and classrooms. Then, they heard the creaking sound of a door opening, and both froze in place. Turning around, they saw the disheveled man who had infiltrated their school, emerging from behind a classroom door. The man had a crazed, desperate look in his eyes as he held a gun pointing their way with a shaky hand. Immediately, Stan moved so that he was once again in front in her, and she found herself backing up a few steps until she felt the cold, hard metal of the lockers behind her. They were standing in the middle of the three-way junction of the hallway. To their right and left were exits, and to the front was imminent danger that would probably attack no matter which direction they chose.

"You two, you're going to be my new hostages, got that? I lost the others thanks to that stupid kid and I'm not going back to prison!" He screamed at the two frightened teenagers as he walked closer to them.

"Dude, can't you just let us go? They'll never going to let you just get away with this, with or without hostages!" Violet was surprised to hear Stan being so brave and confidant in such a situation as she remained silent.

"Just shut up! I don't have a choice. I have to think, have to think." He muttered to himself but continued to stay away a reasonable distance. "You two stand further apart. No funny business or I swear to God I'll shoot you!" They both held their hands up in defense as Stan moved more to the right to show their cooperation. As the man continued muttering to himself, the door to their right suddenly burst open, letting in a bright light as Kenny came running in with a furious look on his face. He took a moment to register Stan and Violet's presence before facing the crazed criminal, standing in front of both of them.

"No, no, no! Don't make me shoot you this time you stupid kid! You made me lose my other hostages but I still have my gun!"

"Shut up! Don't you dare hurt them or you'll regret it." Kenny narrowed his eyes when he saw the man begin to form a Cheshire grin.

"I bet these two are special to you, huh you little school hero? I bet they'd be more willing to give me what I want if I killed one of you." Kenny let out a low growl as he stared him down. Violet's eyes grew wide when the man turned his attention towards her. "How about I start with the girl? They'll be more willing to listen then." Her world felt like it was finally ending when he aim the gun at her chest.

"No!" Kenny screamed with a fury even he didn't know he could posses as he rushed forward, taking the man by surprise as he turned his attention back to the orange clad teen. He was so surprised that his shaking hand slipped and pulled the trigger. Violet felt herself tumble to the ground as Stan pushed her down and she watched as Kenny kept running, even as blood began soaking through his jacket. With all the strength he could manage, he gave the man one good punch before falling to the ground. The man looked on with a look of absolute terror and disbelief. He started screaming hysterically before taking his gun, pointing it in his mouth, and pulling the trigger a second time.

"Don't look, Violet."

Violet was grateful for Stan acting so quickly and pushing them both out of the way, but now she was struggling against his grip as he tried to restrain her.

"But I have to see Kenny!" He reluctantly broke free at those words and let her run to his side. She did her best to ignore the dead man, and looked at her bloodied up boyfriend, kneeling by his side. He was lying on his side, but Stan helped move him on his back. Kenny weakly placed a hand on her tear-stained cheek. Of all the times, he wished someone just once, would remember one of these deaths, he was glad she wouldn't remember this pain. He gave her a weak smile, knowing he'd be going through his death and rebirth cycle soon.

"Don't worry; you know I'll come back just fine."

"I know, and I won't even remember this, will I?"

"No, probably not, but I can't say for sure how you will remember it. I'm just glad you're okay so promise me you'll get out of here in case he had any friends."

"Don't worry, dude, I'll get her out of here and we'll send you help okay?." Stan said, choosing to ignore their confusing conversation.

"Thanks, but I won't need it." Kenny's voice was weaker that time, and right after it, he closed his eyes and died. Violet knew it wasn't permanent, and she'd even forget, but she still couldn't help but start crying.

"Bye, Kenny." Her voice was cracking with her tears and she turned to Stan to see a look of disbelief written on his face but it was soon replaced with a more determined expression.

"Come on; let's get out of here, for real this time." Violet nodded to Stan as he helped her up, then they both ran to their freedom.

They joined the crowd that was gathered in front of the school and were checked by police and EMT members before being free to find their friends and family. Violet could barely speak so she let Stan handle the explaining as he told them were to find the man. Most of the students were also standing around, some huddled together, some with their families.

"Stan!" Wendy made her way through the crowd and hugged him, then turned to Violet and hugged her too. "I was so worried about you two! Oh Stan, it was so brave of you to go find her. Are you both okay?"

"Yeah, we are." Violet smiled to further reassure her friend and was glad to see her worried face relax. Her eyes wandered over the crowd to see a few other familiar faces. Slowly the crowd grew smaller and smaller as parents came to retrieve their kids. Suddenly her mind had gone back to Kenny, and she desperately tried to search for him through the crowd. It made her panic a little when she didn't see him anywhere. Her mind relived the confrontation her and Stan had with the intruder and how he'd cracked and just shot himself. She'd been so terrified until Kenny had come running in to defend them, but then he ran off to check the grounds and told them to go. That's how she remembered it anyway since it was all just a blur of fear in her head. She didn't have much time to dwell over his absence as her aunt and uncle soon arrived.

"Oh honey! We're so glad you're safe!" Her aunt was hugging her tightly, tears welling up in her eyes and uncle wrapped his arms around them both. "All we could think of was you being put through even more hardships you don't deserve, or losing you too just like we did my brother and your mom."

"We came here as soon as they told us it was safe. Let's get you home okay?" Violet wanted to argue against her uncle, wanting to see Kenny before they left, but she also desperately sought the comfort of her room.

As she lied there in her room, she wondered, since Kenny was Mysterion, Mysterion was Kenny, if maybe he had died and she didn't even know it? Was that why she couldn't find him among the crowd? Why Stan had come to get her instead? She quickly sat up in her bed, feeling the urge to run all the way to Kenny's house and see if he was back yet, but how would she explain that? It was quite doubtful Pearl and Pete would allow her to leave the house after today's events. She'd call him, but he'd recently mentioned his cell phone was out of minutes again and their house didn't have a landline. Then she remembered the computer and impatiently waited as it fired up. After whirring and buzzing, the desktop finally loaded and she checked Aim but he wasn't online. Maybe they couldn't pay the internet this month either. With a sigh, she returned to her bed and lay on her side, hugging her extra pillow tightly to her chest. Her gaze fell on her calendar across the room and she took note of the date. Kenny's birthday would be soon, and she'd always wondered when Mysterion's birthday was but figured he wouldn't tell her even if she asked. She'd wanted to return the favor of giving her the necklace after all and she pressed her hand against its violet charm.

As if on cue, like he tended to be, she heard a knock on her window, and nearly fell in her rush to the window. It only took her a moment to lift the creaking windowpanes, and only another moment for Mysterion to be standing in front of her. In another, she had her arms tightly wrapped around him, so happy to see him she did her best not to cry again. She'd had enough of that today.

"Oh, Kenny! Mysterion! I've wanted to see you so badly." He wrapped his own arms tightly around her as if he never wanted to let go of her every again.

"I'm so sorry I had to leave you like that." After all, he'd left her all alone and he remembered the look in her eyes when she had to see him die. It was nice though, having someone worth dying for, and for once, he was glad his deaths were usually forgotten. Violet didn't need to remember something like that. He pulled back only slightly so he could look over her frame. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"No, I'm not hurt. I was just worried since I couldn't find you anywhere. You saved me today. Before that guy shot himself, he might have shot me before he snapped. Then you ran off to check things and never came back." Kenny didn't have it in him to tell her what really happened so he just went with it.

"I'm sorry, I didn't even find anyone else, but it's what we vigilantes do."

"You're not just a vigilante, not to me anyway. You're definitely my hero, in so many ways." She smiled, looking into his eyes, and he softly smiled back. "You know, since I know who you are now, you can take the mask off."

"Oh, well I couldn't just run around in my normal clothes. Besides, I thought you might like me better in this outfit anyway." She actually found herself giggling over him, causing a confused look in those blue eyes.

"Well, you do look great in a cape and mask, but as Kenny, I always have liked that messy blonde hair of yours. You can drop the Batman voice too if you want." She reached up to pull back his hood, revealing the shades of yellow hiding underneath, and as cute as he looked in his black mask, she reached up to undo it, but it was proving too difficult. He instead, moved his hands to the back of his head, undid the knot himself, and released the strip of black fabric that he carelessly threw to the floor. He returned to holding her tightly against his chest, resting his chin on her head. Violet could feel every breath, and the rhythm of his heartbeat. She smiled at the sound before he began speaking again in his normal voice.

"I have to tell you something. Today when you were in danger I was so scared you might get hurt or worse and then that guy actually pointed his gun at you. I've never cared about anyone as much as I do about you, not even my family. I love you, my shy Violet." How many moments passed before she responded? The shock made her question if she'd heard him right, but there was only one thing she could say.

"I love you too, my mysterious masked hero."

A.N.: Whew, aren't you all glad that drama is over? Since so much was happening this chapter ended up quite long but it was the finale for my little story, but don't despair just yet! Even though this would be a good place to end it I'm going to have one more fluffy chapter just to cutely and sweetly tie up their relationship a bit. This has been such a fun story to write and I'm glad to see it has quite a few happy fans! Its the first South Park fic I've written but I may write more again if inspiration strikes. For now I hope you've all enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the cute epilogue! ^_^