Author's Note: Hi everyone! Sorry for the late release, university had really taken it's toll on me and most of my time had been spent doing homework or sleeping. But now that the quarter is over, I plan on finishing up this arc by next week :) This chapter took me awhile to get creative on, I had to write a few drafts before I finally came up with something that stuck with me. This is honestly one of my favorite chapters since Chapter 10. I really hope that you all enjoy this, I've worked very hard on it and I'd love to hear your feedback as the story is changing gears at this point. In just a few more chapters, we'll come to an even bigger point in the series, Stan's quest arc, which I'm going to guess you can probably figure what that's about.

Thank you for your patience, lots of love to you all! 3

Chapter 52- Wendy's Awakening – Part IV

POV: Craig Tucker

A few strains of grass beneath Craig Tucker had turned scarlet from the blood dripping down his arm. The blood welled at Craig's fingertips, the deep, rich red liquid felt sticky against his skin. Craig thought for a few moments, he could almost smell his own blood. He gripped his left shoulder with his right hand, wetting his hand with his own blood. Sweat rolled down Craig's face. His face felt hot and sticky from the moisture. Above him, the sky was slowly turning darker, as if rain would fall at any moment. Craig hadn't realized the toll his efforts had taken on his body. He was aching, tired, and felt like his energy had slowly been drained away. It had almost seemed as if even though he was granted extraordinary powers, his body was still quite human.

Craig didn't understand this power he was using. To him, the whole situation was shrouded in mystery. He didn't know about who he was, why he was gifted this power, if he would consider a gift at all. The dark figure gave him further questions about what was happening around South Park. Something sinister and dark was lurking in his hometown, but Craig couldn't fathom the purpose, nor the situation he was in. He felt as if his life was slowly turning into an even darker time in life. Little did he know, this was definitely the case.

Craig was panting and trying to catch his breath as he watched the figure in front of him. The dark figure's shiny silver chain rattled rapidly, sending Craig into an alerted state. Craig watched as a red aura surrounded not only the chain itself, but its wielder as well. Craig watched as the hooded man raised the chain above his head once more, preparing to strike once more.

'You've got to move, Craig! Maintain some distance…' Craig tried to think calmly. He couldn't allow his fear to show, not here when his own life was on the line. Craig quickly stood up and began stumbling away from the figure.

"Not so fast." The figure taunted. Craig glanced behind him as he limped away to see the figure's chain swoop towards the Earth's surface. Upon impact with the ground, a strong gust of wind blew towards Craig's face, sending his messy black hair flying in all directions. The Earth had cracked beneath him. The fissure left by the chain seemed to be growing towards Craig. The figure quickly raised the chain once more and slammed it on the ground. This time, however, the gust of wind was so powerful that Craig had to fight to maintain his balance. When the wind became too strong for him to maintain equilibrium, Craig stumbled slightly. He lost his balance and scraped his right hand on a small pebble. He winced at the slight stinging feeling in his palm. He clutched his new wound with his left hand.

'I wonder how much blood I've lost…' Craig wondered. His head was throbbing, and he was starting to feel slightly lightheaded. He didn't know how much longer he could keep this up.

'Damn it…' Craig cursed as he tried to stand up. He wobbled upwards, noticing the lightheaded feeling was increasing as he made an effort to regain his composure. He pressed firmly against one foot and managed to stand up straight once more. The figure still clutched the chain in his hand, waiting patiently to make his next move.

"I envy you for attempting to fight me, I really do. You actually managed to land a punch against me. I haven't had that happen since several years ago. I give you credit for actually putting up a decent fight, but I'm afraid you're still hopeless in this situation." The figure complimented.

The figure's chain rattle once more.

"I'm afraid I don't know where your friend went off to." The figure explained. "She seemed to have just disappeared off the face of the Earth. I'm afraid I don't know nothing about that. No matter though, it won't matter to you anyway, you'll be dead soon enough, anyway." The figure slowly began walking confidently towards Craig.

Craig looked down towards the ground, gritting his teeth and trying his best to hide his frustration. He felt as if he was going to cry, he had never felt this angry before. Never in his entire life had he felt so defeated. He wanted nothing more than to do something he felt wouldn't make him feel useless.

'If I die here…is it really the end of the world?' Craig looked up towards the sky as the figure slowly approached.

'Can I really accomplish anything?' It always seems that I'm the one who's being defeated…' Craig noticed his hands were shaking rapidly.

'Damn it…of all times…my heroin withdrawal is kicking in….How have I fallen this far though? Why did I take heroin in the first place? I'm sure Wendy wouldn't want that…I guess I only used it because I felt it made me feel better….but if anything…that was a false reality. The reality is, the girl I love broke up with me…my dad is still abusive and probably wants me dead…my only pet isn't here anymore…and I'm not sure how Tweek feels about me…how am I supposed to make something of myself if I keep running from the truth…' Craig pondered all of this.

'I don't know what's happening to South Park lately…I'm not sure who this man is…" Craig raised his head to look into the figure's blood red eyes, just a few yards away from him.

'What sort of evil has come here? Who are these people, if they are people at all…and what do they want? What is their goal…? And why would they attack me? What have I done for them to come after me?'

Craig released the grip from his hand and clutched his scraped hand into a tight fist. He held his fist out towards the figure. Blood dripped between his fingers and towards the ground.

"You know. I'm not sure what makes people like you exist in the first place. I don't know where in your life you decided to become so hateful and disgusting. I can only say one thing to you though…"

"Oh?" The figure paused his movement for a moment, observing Craig.

"I'll die if it means protecting the ones I care about!" Craig's fist was shaking as he uttered those words.

"How bold of you." The figure stated. "If you mean to die here, all I can do is accommodate you." The figure shrugged.

Craig's determination had given him newfound energy. It wasn't much, but it was enough to motivate him to keep fighting.

'I'm never running away!' Craig thought.

'I need to protect those who I love. Wendy…my mother…my sister….everyone who means something to me….I'll never let harm come their way. I don't know who these people are or what they want, but they damned sure aren't touching those I care about…'

Craig glared into the figure's eyes.

"I want to ask you something." Craig prompted.

"Oh?" the figure mused.

"I want to know, I've seen another like you before…." Craig remembered the night a few months ago when Wendy had been assaulted by another dark figure in the alleyway downtown. He couldn't remember much about that night, mostly just the sinister figure out for Wendy's blood. Wendy may have died if Craig hadn't appeared at the right moment.

"If you're so confident you'll kill me. I want you to answer a question I have. Tell me, what is it you want?" Craig asked. "Why all this bloodshed and hatred? Is it towards me? Wendy? Or do you just hate South Park for some reason?"

The figure shrugged. "I don't question my orders."

'Orders?' Craig wondered. 'Who is he taking orders from?'

The figure's chain rattled slightly.

"Enough of this…let's continue where we left off, shall we?" the figure began walking towards Craig once more. Craig's heart was pounding as he prepared himself for another bout with the figure.

'Stay focused, Craig…you can't allow yourself to lose here…' Craig took a deep breath, planted his feet firmly on the ground and posed, ready to attack or defend against the figure as necessary. When the figure continue walking towards Craig, Craig pressed his feet against the ground and charged towards the figure.

As Craig charged for the figure, he also began to increase his speed. To Craig, it almost felt like slow motion as the two ran for each other, preparing to clash once more. Craig's body ached from his efforts, but he forced himself to continue onward. The pain made him feel alive and alert.

When the two met each other, they began to clash. Craig threw a punch towards the figure, he dodged his blow by sidestepping quickly. The figure gripped his chain tightly and swung it sideways towards Craig's head. Craig ducked and felt a strong gust from the chain, which had just missed Craig's head, blow through his hair. Craig swung a kick sideways, the figure put up an arm to block Craig's attack. Craig was surprised when the figure didn't even stumble at the blow, it seemed as if he had become stronger since wielding his chain.

Craig could sense the figure smirking underneath his mask. The figure threw his chain high into the air and Craig noticed to glints of silver eject from the figure's sleeves. The figure began slashing at Craig, Craig carefully noted the muscle movements of the figure, dodging the individual slashes. As the figure lunched for Craig, Craig ducked then swiftly punched up towards the figure's arm. The figure released his grip on the knife, sending it flying into the air.

Craig quickly leaped off the ground directly in front of the figure and swung his leg sideways towards the figures head. The chain the figure wielded instantly turned blue and stiffened itself straight into the air, blocking Craig's hit. Craig felt a jolt of pain at how hard the chain was. It had seemed like it had stiffened and hardened to the texture of a rock. He winced and kicked his other foot against the chain, just lightly enough to get away a few feet. This was what Criag was planning for, however.

As the gravity pulled the airborne knife towards the Earth, Craig gripped the knife with his hand, then threw it towards the figure's face. The figure, unexpecting of the attack, attempted to dodge the knife. Craig grinned when he saw the knife skim the figure's shoulder. He heard the figure grunt very lightly, as if he had felt the smallest bit of pain. Craig skidded along the ground as he landed and leaned forward, trying to stop his movement and regain his balance. He finally stopped sliding along the ground, planting himself a few yards away from the figure.

'His chain has turned to colors now…I'm assuming he uses Red for attack… and blue for defense…' Craig deduced. 'That makes enough sense to me…but how am I supposed to attack him? If I had the abilities like I did that night Wendy was attacked…where I fired sparks from my eyes, I could attack him from a distance, but I can't seem to figure out how to earn that ability again…it feels like I'm missing something…I can't recall much about that night…I know that Wendy was attacked…she left…and then…'

Craig's lips stiffened as he thought about what had happened next.

'My best friend died…' for the briefest moment, it seemed as if the entire world had gone silent. His best friend's death had definitely taken him by surprise. Clyde's sacrifice had ultimately saved his life, from someone very similar to the figure Craig was fighting now.

'If this guy is thinking about doing to Wendy what that other one did to Clyde…'

Without Craig noticing, his eyes became a darker red color than they currently were. They seemed to have the texture of waves, light and dark shades flowing throughout his irises. Craig slowly felt a power surge through him. Craig felt a jolting feeling in his right hand. He stared down at his palm.

'What? Why now?' Craig wondered.

Craig stared at his hand, noticing sparks rapidly surrounding his forefinger. He felt the energy travel down his finger, to his palm, then spreading to his other fingers, and up into his arm. The jolting feeling spread to his chest, his other arm, and into his lower body.

'I don't really understand what's happen- 'Craig's eyes widened mid-thought. Memories flooded back into him. He felt like he knew how to use this power, but couldn't remember having any prior explanation or training. In his mind, Craig cycled through all of his current abilities. They were things he had never remembered using before, but felt like he was familiar with them. It was as if he had been trained a long time ago, but couldn't remember who had done so.

"Interesting…" the figure observed, amused. "It seems as if you've awakened your power once more. You're still young, but at least you'll make this fight more interesting."

Sparks surged throughout Craig's body. He could hear the crackling of electricity all around him.

'This bastard is about to be surprised.' Craig thought with upmost malice. 'Not to mention, there are enough disgusting people in this world…' Craig pictured his father in his mind. 'It'd be better for everyone if these people were dead…' Craig grinned slightly at the figure, unmoving.

'This increase in power…It almost makes me…want to kill…' Craig felt his bloodlust growing. 'I can't help but want to see this figure, lying on the ground, bleeding all over…'

As he spoke those words in his mind, Craig walked towards the figure without hesitation.

"Hmm?" the figure wondered, surprised. "What are you doing?"

Craig walked towards the figure with malicious eyes, not saying a word. His footsteps were the only sound that surrounded Stark's Pond as Craig approached.

"Very well, then. You'll receive no final words." The figure stated confidently. The hooded man's chain rattled once more, glowing a familiar red aura. The figure raised the chain high above his head. Craig watched as the figure waited patiently for Craig to come into range. Craig looked up at the chain without fear.

"You aren't planning to hit me with that, are you?" Craig teased.

The figure remained silent. When Craig took a step that would allow the figure to smack his chain towards his body, the figure heaved the chain downwards to Craig's head. Craig stared up at the chain as it came closer to him.

"Hmph…" Craig huffed with a grin.

As the figure's chain was mere inches away from Craig's body, it stopped. Thin strips of electricity had blocked the figure's chain, forming a wall and protecting Craig from harm. The electricity surged through the chain and the figure's body jolted as the electricity entered his body. He quickly released the chain from his grasp, and it dropped down towards Craig's feet. The figure took a few steps back, squinting his eyes.

"What are you?!" the figure asked angrily. Craig sensed a taste of fear in the man's question.

"I'm your angel of death." Craig grinned. "You haven't seen anything yet…I'm just getting started with you…"

Without hesitation and without another thought, Craig used his knowledge of fighting to begin his assault on the figure.

'Lightning speed…'

Craig gathered the electricity in his feet, then pressed his shoes against the ground. As Craig's feet left the ground, sparks ejected from his feet, leaving small holes in the ground. Craig sent himself flying forward in the direction his attacker with extreme speed. Craig flew through the air and gathered electric energy in his palm.

Craig could feel the increasing anger he was storing behind his punch. As he threw an attack at the figure, the figure chuckled slightly. Craig watched as the dark man's body seemed to morph into a thin shadow and disappear quickly.

'He's behind me again, I know he is.' Craig assumed.

'In that case…' Craig thought. He extended both of his hands in front of him, then grinned.

'Let's see how he likes this. Wall!'

Craig put his hands close together, his palms facing in front of him. He quickly spread them apart. A few feet in front of him, a thin, blue wall of electricity formed what appeared to be a thin vertical wall. Craig twisted his body around and noticed, as he had expected, that the figure had in fact stood just behind him.

As Craig's feet touched the wall, the vertical shape had bended slightly, outwards, seemingly giving Craig a little bit of cushion. When Craig's movement had stopped, he pressed his feet hard against the wall and quickly propelled himself towards the figure.

"What?!" the figure exclaimed, shocked. The dark man quickly extended his hand towards his chain, still on the ground not far from Craig's current position. The chain rattled fiercely and rose from the ground. It quickly flew into the figure's hand, as if the figure was using a strong magnet. Upon contact with his hand, the chain began glowing blue once more.

"Protect me!" the figure ordered his chain. Craig gasped as he watched the chain seemingly grow. More links were rapidly added to the chain. As a defensive measure, the chain had wrapped itself loosely around the figure, not coming into contact with the figure, but protecting him from harm's way.

'Might as well try!' Craig thought.

Craig gathered electricity in his right hand, his fury strong. He pulled his arm back and made a strong punch towards the chain. Instead of making coming into physical contact with the chain, a small pocket of air formed between Craig's fist and the chain itself. A strong gust burst outwards from the pocket of air, making the trees rattle their branches and disrupting the waters of Stark's Pond. Craig assumed his attack had little to no effect on the figure. He quickly jumped backwards away from the figure. Slowly, the chain unraveled itself. Craig noticed a single red eye appearing from behind the glowing blue chain.

"Fly away." The figure taunted. The extra links the chain had formed suddenly disappeared and the weapon reverted to its original state. The figure took the chain in hand and smacked it towards Craig like a whip. Craig used his electricity to form a barrier around his body, preventing himself from physical harm. The chain didn't hurt Craig, but the power behind the blow sent him flying backwards unexpectedly.

'Damn it!' Craig thought. He flew several feet before landing on the ground once more, almost colliding with a tree.

'I'll have to be quicker, so that he can't use that chain time.' Craig thought. 'I need to try to dodge it instead of using the barrier. In that case, I know the perfect move…I'll have to end this here…Let's see how he enjoys my next attack.'

Craig gathered the electricity in his feet once more, then dashed towards the figure. Spark flew out from behind Craig's body, leaving a trail of lightning behind him as he approached. Craig ran much faster than the average human being.

'Now…make an electric illusion…' Craig decided.

Craig carefully balanced himself and zigzagged to the left and right. He was so quick, his entire body had seemed like a blur, to the point where it appeared he had created a duplicate of himself. The figures chain glowed red as the two approached.

'He's too slow!' Craig assumed.

Craig felt a sense of victory when the figure smacked his chain towards a blur. As a result, Craig quickly ducked his body closer to the ground then extended his arm left arm backwards, electricity forming once again.

Craig seemed to teleport in front of the figure.

"It's over."

Craig pushed his arm upwards towards the figures cloak. The entire world seemed to go silent as Craig felt his hand rip through the figures skin. Blood splattered against Craig's face as the held the figure's body up in the air. Craig noticed the figure's red eyes slowly disappear, his head went limp and Craig paused for a moment, he couldn't believe he had just killed someone.

'It's over…' Craig thought. 'I've won…' he pulled his hand away from the figure, his entire lower arm stained with red blood. The figure's body dropped to the ground. Craig panted heavily from his efforts.

'I can't believe that just happened…' Craig thought. 'I actually won…' Craig began limping away from the figure.

'I have to find Wen-' Craig's heart struck with absolute fear as he heard a menacing laugh behind him. Craig quickly turned around and saw red eyes just mere inches from his face.

'What the devil?!' Craig thought, surprised.

The figure pulled his arm back and threw a punch directly at Craig's face. He landed a blow against Craig's cheek, sending him flying several feet to his right. Craig flew towards the surface of Stark's Pond. His body skidded along the surface of the water, sending droplets of water flying upwards. The entire pawn had formed a rift down the middle as Craig flew through the water. Craig's body was absolutely soaked by the time he landed on the other side.

"It takes more than that to kill me!" the figure laughed from across the pond.

Craig slammed his fist on the ground as he struggled to stand up. Water dripped from his hair onto the ground underneath him. The sky was growing darker by the minute, as if a storm was threating to explode any moment now. Craig felt like his electric energy was fading. It felt as if his power had a reserve amount of energy he could use. His eyes were slowly fading from their deep red color.

Craig blinked a few times as he stumbled upwards, trying to clear his blurry vision. From across the pond, the figure seemed to wobble towards the water. Craig watched as he stepped on the surface of the water without falling through.

"Of all the people I've fought in my lifetime, you are easily the strongest!" The figure declared. "I've only had to use this on one other person before, and it's time you earn the privilege as well!"

When the figure reached the center of the pond, he paused then spread his arms out towards his sides. Craig watched as the figure slowly floated upwards.

"Chain of darkness, return to the Earth and raise the shadows of the ground!"

At the end of the figure's words, black energy seemed to explode from the figures chest.

'What the hell?!' Craig watched, wide eyed, as multiple chains burst from the figures chest. The chains extended over Craig's head. He was completely encircled inside. Craig saw the chains dig themselves into the ground. When they came into contact with the Earth's surface, shadowy circles formed across the ground, with shadowy flames extended from the round spots.

"Illusion of shadows…" the figure chanted. To Craig's horror, he watched as a claw extended from each of the circles. The claw planted itself against the surface of the Earth, then seemed to heave itself upwards. Craig's heart was pounding with fear of death as he saw multiple shadowy figures arise from the ground. Craig was completely surrounded by the shadow's, with the figure high above the Earth in the center of Stark's Pond.

The shadow's let out a sickening groan, as if they defied being used. Craig noticed they all seemed to have a pair of blood red eyes.

"Wh-What is this?" Craig's entire body was frozen with fear. He felt as if he couldn't move.

"I order you all, kill this child!" The figure screamed. Craig went on guard as the shadows dashed towards him, roaring with ferocity.

'This isn't good!' Craig thought.

As the first shadow came within distance of Craig, he punched towards its belly. Craig felt absolute fear when the shadow's belly seemed to split open, without harming it at all. Craig pulled his hand backwards, when suddenly the shadow swiped its claw towards Craig's face. Craig leaned himself backwards, but took a small scrape just underneath his left eye from the shadow's claw. The blow seemed to make Craig's face feel like it was on fire. The blood dripped down Craig's face like a teardrop and welled underneath his chin.

Craig had to jump back a few feet, where another shadow was fast approaching. Craig glanced up towards the figure, who was moving his hands, as if he was controlling the shadows.

'So he's the puppet master!'

Craig charged for the figure. He gathered energy in his eyes, then shot sparks up towards the figure. The figure swiftly moved an arm, and a shadow quickly jumped in front of him, taking the blow and dissipating.

Craig began to feel lightheaded from all the effort. He knelt to the ground, weak and seemingly unable to continue on…he felt his heart jolt from the heroin withdrawals. He clutched his chest.

'No! No! Not now!' Craig squinted his eyes tightly as he braced himself.

"This has gone on long enough, finish him!" The figure commanded the shadows.

Craig could sense the shadows moving rapidly towards him. He tried to stand up, opening his eyes once more, but he felt lightheaded and collapsed to the ground.

'It's…really over…' Craig thought. He slowly shut his eyes as the world seemed to go black around him.

Craig heard the rushing sound of wind and began coughing rapidly. He opened his eyes, noticing he was completely surrounded by smoke. In front of him, he noticed a shadow glaring down upon him with dark red eyes. The shadow raised its claw high above its head, preparing for a final blow.

Craig suddenly saw rapid flashing from within the smoke. In an instant, Craig heard the sound of slicing wind and saw a dark shadow flying around him. Craig coughed a few more times and closed his eyes, the smoke affecting him. When the noise had died down, Craig blinked a few times and looked towards the ground. Craig suddenly noticed something waving in front of him.

He gasped when he raised his head to see what was in front of him.

"Craig…I'm sorry I'm late."

Craig's eyes sparkled with surprise as he noticed a thin, pink cape waving in front of him with a purple trim along its edges. He noticed some familiar black hair waving in front of him.

'It…it can't be…' Craig's eyes were huge and he was in utter disbelief as he examined the person in front of him. In the person's hands, were two small, beautiful silver daggers with purple and dark red grips. They glinted, even underneath the dim sky. A gust of wind picked up, sending the cape flying to the side, revealing some shiny metal armor. Craig noticed a pair of shiny silver boots with purple straps, with blood red soles. On the figure's hips, next to their silver leggings, were two leather holsters in the shape of the daggers. Craig noticed the skin around the lower upper half of the person's body. The person was wearing a shiny silver breastplate and elbow guards. Craig noticed the person grip their daggers in their hands.

Finally, the person turned around. What Craig had least expected had turned out to be true.

"Craig." Wendy smiled. "It's time for me to protect you."

Wendy turned back towards the figure in the sky.

"I was watching you. I know about the situation. I'm going to help defeat him."

Craig stumbled upwards. He limped forwards, almost falling over. Wendy quickly put an arm in front of Craig to block his fall.

"Heal, divine light." Wendy gently placed her hand behind Craig. In an instant, Craig's body seemed to begin healing itself. He felt the wound in his shoulder begin to close, and his energy was slowly returning. Wendy gently pressed against Craig's shoulders. Craig was in disbelief as he regained his balance once more.

Wendy turned back towards the figure. "Craig, give me your hand, we'll end this together." Wendy slid the knife in her right hand into a holster on her side. Wendy extended her hand sideways towards Craig. Craig glanced at Wendy, then smiled.

"I knew you wouldn't leave me." Craig smiled, which was a rare thing for him to ever do. Being with Wendy, even in this dark situation, gave Craig hope that his life wasn't over yet. Craig gently gripped Wendy's hand with his own. He realized that his blood was staining Wendy's hand.

"Sorry for the mess." Craig said.

"Let's do this…together…" Wendy poured some of her energy into Craig. Craig returned the gesture. Around Craig and Wendy, an aura in the shape of a flame formed. Inside, the flame appeared to be a light blue color. On the edges, it seemed to glow a beautiful purple color.

"Craig, when this is all over. I have something I want to tell you. We'll talk, but first, we need to defeat him." Wendy eyed the figure in the sky.

With the power surging through their bodies, the two grinned as they gripped each other's hands.

"Let's go!" they both chanted.

The two began running forward, ready to fight for their lives.