Well
Chapter Fourteen – Re-Education
Butters stands, emptying the last of the liquid in his canister on to the concrete floor beneath him. He squints his eyes through the darkness, following the wet trail of kerosene as it leads to where Christophe is crouched. He lining five small crates along the underground wall of South Park High, where the basement level meets the sewage system. He checks the map Christophe had given him earlier in the week. They should be just beneath the cafeteria.
As they turn to leave, Christophe seems to inspect the quality of the kerosene trail to where his boxes have been laid, but Butters takes his silence as a good sign when he stops at the end of the flammable river and eyes the open gutter above them, the yellow light of the street lamp pouring down over their faces. Butters studies him and then begins to walk without waiting for him. Christophe follows. They climb silently out of the storm drain after making sure the path is clear, even though knowing no one would dare be near school on a Saturday night. A couple yards away is mother's van, and Butters climbs inside, waiting while Christophe joins him in the passenger seat. Butters mentally counts the remaining crates in the back of the car. They only have one more stop, but they may as well get things rolling now.
Butters puts the car in drive and pulls out of the empty school parking lot. As he turns back on to the main road, both of their eyes are on South Park High, and Butters cruises slowly until they are directly in front of the school.
With one foot on the brake pedal, Butters opens the door to the van and leans outside, the toe of his other shoe brushing the sidewalk. He lights a match, and then another, and then another, until in his fingers is clutched a miniature bouquet of burning flowers, the flames sparking and smoking beneath his nose. Smiling quietly to himself, Butters lets the lit matches fall to the ground, where, still burning, they slip through the metal grating of the storm drain and float like snowflakes to the anxious kerosene beneath them.
In an instant, they are gone. The wheels of the van screech around the corner and Christophe laughs loudly out the window as the ground beneath the school opens it's fiery jaws and swallows South Park High whole.
Kyle breathes heavily into Eric's mouth, ignoring the movie they had popped in the DVD player to watch. Eric's rough hands slide firmly down his back and Kyle whimpers as the kiss intensifies.
"I'll take my time to slowly plot your end. But now I will spit bullets with my pen. And all I know is you're cute when you scream…"
Groaning, Kyle pulls out of the kiss to grab his cell phone. Craig's name is flashing brightly across the screen, and something tells Kyle not to ignore the phone call, despite Eric's fat hand trying to knock it away from him.
"Stop it, fatass! Hey, Craig, what's up?"
"Kyle you need to come down to school."
"What? Why?"
"You just need to come down here."
With that, Craig has hung up. His words leave Kyle feeling shaky and weak, but despite the way his heart pounds nervously, he climbs out of bed and reaches for his jeans.
"Where the Hell are you going, Broflovski?" Eric asks.
"Craig says I need to go down to school."
"The fuck? Why?"
"He didn't say. He just said I had to get down there. I have a feeling I should go."
Eric stares dully back at Kyle for a long time, and Kyle feels almost as if Eric is trying to tell him something, but he ignores it. He has no time for mind games right now, Craig has really worried Kyle and he needs to make sure everyone is okay. Tying his sneakers and grabbing his coat, he bolts out the door in a matter of seconds.
In the silence, Eric can hear Butters voice ring through his head.
"Shut the fuck up, fag, and let them," Eric snaps.
Kyle runs in the direction of his high school, but it is already apparent what is wrong based on the orange illumination of the sky and thick layer of smoke that coats every breath his running lungs beg for.
"It's on fire," Token tells him when Kyle skids to a halt beside him.
"No shit," Craig drones. "And it's not just on fire. It was an explosion."
Kyle studies the heap of burning rubble that was once the school he had been attending since preschool. Half of it has collapsed into the ground, flames licking up from inside the earth and consuming the building as it slips into the sewers. Kyle gasps for air, the heat of the fire before him burning against his face, even when standing half a block away. Fear is a gripping emotion.
More people begin to crowd around, and distantly sirens ring through the night. Clyde, Craig and Token were the first ones here.
"Where were you guys?" Kyle asks.
"My house," Clyde says.
"How did you know to come here?"
Slowly, he turns to face the other boy. His face red and flickering in the reflection of the flames.
"I don't really know," he admits, shrugging. "We just had a feeling we were supposed to come here."
The crowd gasps as another explosion goes off in the distance and the boys are able to see the Stop 'n' Shop go tumbling to the ground. The entire city is orange and red, flickering and roaring beneath flames and sky-high plumes of black smoke.
"Weak."
Police have surrounded the area, but no one seems quite as brave as the four boys that remain so close to the ruins of building. Kyle can feel the asphalt beneath them cracking and straining against gravity as the sidewalk in front of the school crumbles into the pit of the fire.
However, they are not alone for long. Speeding down the road comes a minivan, leaving black paths of its melting tires as it skids to a halt in front of South Park High. Butters and Christophe abandon the vehicle just in time to avoid its own breathtaking explosion.
"Butters?" many voices shout out in unison.
"Hardly," he laughs. Butters stands before Kyle and the other boys, smirking at them through the heavy air. A moment later, a body lands on the ground before them, coughing and sputtering, tears running down his pale face as he moans in pain, loud and heartbreaking. He looks as if he's been crying for days despite having appeared out of no where. Kyle falls to his knees to help him, and upon closer inspection of his the boy's face, all the color drains from his own.
"Butters...?"
"If this is Butters," Token asks, staring down at the sobbing heap at his feet. "Then who is this?"
They all look back up at the smirking replica of Butters before them.
"Professor Chaos," comes the weak voice beneath them.
Professor Chaos holds his hand out, and Christophe immediately places a gun in his palm. Before anyone can react, there is a bullet through Butters skull and his sobbing seizes. Kyle holds his bleeding body weakly in his arms, not quite willing to let go.
"You bastards!"
"Dude," Craig says quietly. Clyde starts to cry, trying to hide his tears.
"Leopold Stotch, you are under arrest!" Officer Barbrady shouts, a gun pointed at Professor Chaos's head.
"That's not Butters!" Token shouts.
"Who is he then?" Barbrady sneers, glancing back at Token.
"Butters' alter ego," Kyle explains from the ground. "Butters is dead."
Professor Chaos laughs while Office Barbrady stares down at Butter's body, dumbfounded. Kyle glares up at him.
"What the fuck is your problem, dude? What the fuck did Butters ever do to you?"
"Nothing but stifle me," he answers. "But finally, I will be able to get revenge on everyone that has ever teased or used me!"
"Dumbshit!" Kyle shouts. "You killed yourself! Who the fuck are you avenging if not the innocent man you just shot!"
Professor Chaos stares heatedly back at Kyle, his eyes even hotter than the fire that roars behind them. Kyle is aware of the entire population of South Park standing several yards behind them, still and silent. Their inability to speak has never seemed so deafening before.
"And you," Kyle snaps at Christophe, "should be ashamed of yourself. Just because you hate your life, and hate God, and hate your parents doesn't give you the right to ruin life for the rest of us."
"We're doing you a favor," Christophe growls down at him. "You want out of here just as badly as we do."
Professor Chaos wheels away from them, brandishing his pistol in the air.
"Don't move!" Officer Barbrady demands, but in an instant Professor Chaos blows off his hand and Barbrady falls to the ground, clutching the bloody stump where his hand once was to his chest. No other cops rush to their rescue. Kyle shakes his head. This city was trapped in a cycle of tragedy after tragedy, and it just seems that South Park has no more miracles up his sleeve. He has simply laid down and offered his life to the men with guns.
"You all will thank us," Christophe says, louder this time.
"For what?" Kyle yells. "Burning down our city? What the fuck are we supposed to do now? We just have to move! You haven't helped us at all!"
"I'm not done yet," Professor Chaos says with a smile. Slowly, his hand is raised to the sky.
Suddenly, there are hundreds of booming voices filling the air, and the sound nearly cripples Kyle as he tries to climb to his feet, Butter's cooling body sliding slowly from his grip.
"The signal!" they screech. "He gave the signal!"
Wide eyed and jaws dropped, Kyle, Clyde, Token and Craig turn and run as hundreds upon hundreds of the evil creatures from the dark side of Imaginationland descend upon South Park. There are claws and teeth and blood hungry beasts tearing apart the people Kyle has grown up with. He runs as hard as he can, and doesn't even stop when a Xenomorph grabs Craig and Clyde from behind. Token is lost a moment later to Jason Voorhees. Kyle cannot stop. He has only one boy on his mind.
Explosions continue to rear their ugly heads throughout the town as fires hit the hidden stacks of gunpowder grates that Christophe and Professor Chaos had placed around. The detonations send fear rocketing through Kyle. He has no idea how far away the city's fire is from Eric. His feet pound the ground as he races to the edge of commercial South Park.
Kyle turns to cut through the gas station. He can see Eric's house in the distance. A worried glance behind him shows a group of villains walking down the road to residential South Park. He can make it as long as he moves fast.
Ripping his jacket off, Kyle sprints towards the road. His foot lands on a solid patch of black ice and as he tries to propel himself forward, Kyle slips and falls.
Author's Notes
As always, thank you all for reading. :) I hope you enjoyed my attempt at action and suspense! ONLY TWO MORE CHAPTERS AND WELL IS GOING TO BE COMPLETED WITHIN THE WEEK!