Back at it again with the white v- I mean... The next chapter, lol. This one is exciting. Finally, the time has come... RELEASE THE BEAST!

"Aw man," Darren said.

"What's wrong?" Kyle looked over at him.

It was Friday, and they were waiting in the lunch line discussing their weekend plans when Darren had suddenly spoke up.

"Why do I have three legs?" He asked angrily, staring down at his feet.

"What?"

The other boys turned to give him odd looks.

"Yeah," Darren said. He pointed down at his feet. "See? One – Twoooo… Oh." He shrugged. "Oh well."

"Dude," Stan said as they collected their meals and headed for their usual table. "You're really losing your mind."

Brooke and Lucy were already at the table with Clyde and Butters. Even Riley was there, looking rather bashful sitting between Butters and Brooke and pushing his food around absently with his fork.

"Lucy," Stan asked, "How long does that powder side effect last?"

She looked up at him then at Darren and said sheepishly. "Um…forever. Until he dies."

Cartman warily eyed Riley as he sat down, making sure not to sit directly across from him. Lucy moved aside as Kenny passed, making room for him to sit beside Brooke and sitting herself across from Kyle who blushed and looked down.

Riley looked up from his plate at Darren. "What? Did you snort some cocaine or something?" It sounded like a genuine question and not just a sarcastic remark.

"No," Darren told him. "I got smacked in the face with Soul Powder and now, sometimes, I can see souls."

He stared at Darren for a moment then blinked and looked back down at his plate. "You sure it's not cocaine?"

"I assure you," Lucy said, "it was not. But, as a side effect of NOT FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS, he is now stuck with a permanent case of, er, mild psychosis."

"You know," Brooke said. "I could kill him, and then I could go fetch his soul and –"

"No," Lucy said firmly. "That is STRICTLY prohibited. Even for YOU, Princess."

"Fine, fine."

"I told you Mr. Squirrel," Darren leaned over and whispered to the floor. "I can't play Black Jack with you right now, I'm at school!" He sat back up and took a bite out of his mac and cheese. "So, what's the haps?"

"Riley's birthday is next week," Butters smiled. Riley made a quiet sound and appeared to shrink in his seat. "He'll be ten!"

"You're younger than us?" Stan asked.

"Mm," he hummed but didn't speak. He didn't like being the center of attention.

"Huh," Darren said. "I thought you were older. What are you doing for your birthday?"

Brooke felt him tense beside her and felt a rush of panic pass through him. Normally, she could easily ignore these kinds of things, but maybe it was because he was sitting right beside her that she felt it?

"Nothing," he said.

"You're not having a party? Or even a little get-together?" Darren cocked his head. "Double-digits, man."

"No."

This time she felt anger. Brooke glanced briefly at him, not actually having intended to, then furtively slid closer to him, lightly pressing her hip against his.

Riley winced a tiny bit, surprised at the sudden touch, then suddenly felt a little more relaxed. Really, he almost felt like he wanted to cry for some reason, but showed no outward signs of it.

"How can he?" Cartman couldn't help himself. "He doesn't have friends, remember? Just Butters."

The others shot him icy looks.

"We're his friends," Brooke said, not bothering to look at Cartman. She was too busy enjoying her sandwich to spoil it by looking at his face. "Me and Lucy."

"Lucy and I," the other girl corrected. "But yes, I would gladly consider Riley a friend."

Darren chuckled. "Okay Miss Grammar Nazi."

"Oh, careful," Cartman told him. "There are two Jews at this table."

"Shut up," Kyle said. He wasn't in the mood for his antics, not that he ever was…

Brooke rolled her eyes. "I told you, Cartman, I'm NOT Jesus." She had finally tried to explain this to him a few days ago, but, like always, he didn't listen.

"That's just what you WANT me to believe!"

Riley thought he was angry for a moment, but the feeling was quickly replaced with calm. He didn't know what this girl was doing, but he was thankful for it. "Thanks," he said very quietly and leaned in to her.

.

After school, the group had met up with Kenny's little sister, who appeared to have been waiting for him. She looked a bit upset.

"Kenny!" She ran over to him.

"Karen? What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry! I lost the little floating stone!"

"You gave her the Oracle Stone?" Brooke asked curiously.

"Uh… She wanted to play with it."

"I'm so sorry!" Karen said. "I swear, it was in my pocket earlier, but now it's gone!" She looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"Why did YOU have an Oracle Stone?" Lucy asked Kenny then slowly looked over at Brooke. "No matter," she said and smiled kindly at Karen. "You didn't lose it."

She sniffed. "I didn't?"

"No. They like to wander sometimes, but it's sure to return to you or Kenneth. Actually, if you tell me what it looks like, I might be able to summon it."

"Well, it's a little pointy white rock that's kind of shaped like a diamond." She held a space between her thumb and index finger. "It's about THIS big, um, small. And it flies and glows."

"Yes, sounds like Junior." Lucy opened her hand and the tiny white rock appeared, floating an inch or so above her palm.

"That's it!" Karen smiled. The little stone circled around her a few times before placing itself in her pocket. She smiled up at Lucy. "Thank you SO much! How did you do that?"

"The details are a bit difficult to explain," Lucy told her.

"Is it magic? Oh! Or, are you an angel?"

"Pardon?"

"You're really pretty, like an angel."

Lucy chuckled. "I assure you that I am no angel."

"Oh. Then maybe they all look kind of like my Guardian Angel?"

"Your Guardian Angel?" Lucy echoed and looked over at Brooke who was just as lost. "You've SEEN your guardian angel?"

"Yeah!"

"But that shouldn't be possible…" She looked very inquisitive, curiosity overtaking her. "There's only one angel you should be able to see and she-"

Brooke loudly cleared her throat.

"Oh, um, yes. So, what exactly does this 'Guardian Angel' look like?"

"Well, I can't really see his face," Karen explained. "He has it covered with a black mask and wears a shroud."

"Shroud?"

Kenny shifted his feet behind Lucy.

"And wings?"

"No," Karen said. "He doesn't have wings. But I don't think angels always show their wings. You know?"

"Indeed," Lucy mused. "I suppose that part is true…"

"It's all true! Really!"

"No, no," Lucy assured her, "I believe you, dear. I'm just a bit…confused. You shouldn't be able to SEE him. Um, when DO you see him?"

"Only sometimes. Usually when I'm feeling sad or scared. Oh, and it's always at night."

"Interesting…"

"Hey, Brooke," Darren said. "Do we ALL have guardian angels?"

"Only mortals do," she replied. "Immortal beings don't really need one."

"Huh…are YOU able to see them?"

"Of course." He flinched at her nonchalant response. He hadn't actually expected that to be her answer. She continued. "But they're not CONSTANTLY there. Though, they do keep a good eye on you. Usually…" She trailed off then continued again. "So, what Karen's saying makes some sense. Except for the fact that she can actually see it. That's…not supposed to happen."

"The appearance she described is also peculiar," Lucy added. "A fallen angel, perhaps? No…maybe…" She trailed off, muttering to herself.

"What's wrong with you?" Brooke looked at Kenny.

"Huh?! Uh, nothing. I was just, you know, trying to figure it out too."

Lucy suddenly stopped and looked at him, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Well," she smoothed her pale blue coat. "I'll have to add it to my list for later. For now, I'm still busy with Eric."

"He's letting you do experiments on him still?" Stan asked. "Even after you made him think he was going to die?"

"Well, he's not actually AWARE of it, but, yes. He DID sign a contract, of course."

"Ah," Darren tapped the side of his head with his finger. "The fine print. That's where they get you!"

"Honestly, I doubt he actually read ANY of it," Kyle rolled his eyes. "What are you doing to him, anyway?"

"Simple tests," she replied. "Nothing any more advanced than what the rats receive."

"So…you're treating him no different than a rat?" Kyle was both mildly concerned and greatly amused by this fact.

"I suppose," she thought for a moment. "Though, he does remind me more of a pig, no, a wild boar more like. Domestic pigs are actually quite intelligent. Boars on the other hand… Well, nonetheless, I'd like to find another human test subject soon."

"Why?" Stan asked her.

"Well, I'd like to conduct some different tests and research. Also, I typically prefer, well, healthy test subjects. It makes the findings more relevant and, um, fair."

Darren snorted. "I like that you just basically called Cartman a fat, dumb, uncultured swine. Hey! You should have KYLE be your new guinea pig!"

"What?" He jumped. "Why me?!"

He smiled. "Why not? I mean, you'd get to be around Lucy more often."

His face flushed pink. "Yeah, getting EXPERIMENTED ON!"

Darren laughed at him. "I thought you'd WANT to spend more time with her?"

"I-I –"

"Oh," Lucy tilted her head a little and looked over at Kyle. "You'd like to spend more time together?"

"Well, I mean…" He lowered his gaze to his feet; his face felt hot.

Lucy blushed just a little and looked away as well. "Well, if you would like to visit each other more often… Well, I wouldn't mind."

"O-Okay," he said bashfully.

"Are you guys going to start spending all your time together like my brother and Brooke do?" Karen asked curiously.

Kenny suddenly choked on air, or saliva, or maybe nothing at all, and Darren burst out with laughter.

"We – We don't spend ALL of our time together," Brooke tried to defend herself.

"Well, I guess that's true," Karen mused then smiled up at her. "But most of the time!"

Brooke made a strange huffing sound, feeling as if she had just exhaled her very soul from her body. She both wanted to laugh at Karen's innocent antics and hide in a corner from embarrassment somewhere right now.

"I like when you come to play though," Karen continued innocently. "Especially when you bring your doggy!"

"Speaking of Sniper," Kenny said, trying to change the subject. "Are you bringing him to the park later?"

"No," she replied. "My dad's coming pick him up later to take him to the, uh, 'vet'."

"At night?" Stan asked.

"He won't be expecting it."

"What are you going to do at the park at night?" Lucy inquired.

"Cartman's convinced he saw the kindergartners bury real treasure in the park while playing pirates," Stan explained. "We're gonna go watch him try to find it and place bets."

"Interesting." Despite that word, she looked greatly UN-interested. "I doubt it's anything of real importance."

"Yeah, we doubt it too, but beats watching TV I guess."

"Yeah," Darren agreed. "Everything's just reruns right now anyway."

Everyone had returned to their homes for the rest of the afternoon, until about seven-thirty-ish when Brooke, Darren, Kenny, Kyle, Stan, Clyde, Butters, and even Riley had all gathered at the park. By now, all of the people had left the park to go home or do some Friday night activity, so only Cartman now remained with the group of eight kids watching him from the picnic tables as he started digging through the sand and dirt.

"I don't know," Butters said. "Maybe he'll actually find something?" He and Riley were using chalk to play tic-tac-toe on the wooden tabletop.

"Yeah," Riley scoffed, "some garbage or cat shit, sure."

Across from them, Brooke and Clyde were whispering and laughing about something together. On the girl's other side, Kenny side-eyed them, looking rather annoyed by it and anxiously tapping his finger on the tabletop. Stan, Kyle, and Darren had all gathered at the nearby vending machine and were debating on what snacks to get with their couple of dollars and quarters.

"Gum's not a snack," Kyle was fussing Darren.

He shrugged. "Okay, fine. You said we should get something we could all share. I was just throwing something out there."

"Yeah, but you can't EAT gum."

"Yes you can."

"What?! No!"

"Dude," Stan said, "You're not supposed to swallow gum."

He shrugged again.

"What about those Cracker Jacks?"

"No," Kyle said. "Those are too expensive. They don't have much in those little bags, anyway."

"Those bags of mini cookies have a bunch in them," Darren pointed.

"Aw man," Butters said. "You won again! You're really good at tic-tac-toe, Riley."

"Okay then," he started drawing something else. "Let's play hangman instead."

"Okay! We can all play that one."

About an hour or so later, Cartman had managed to dig several large holes all around the playground and was still refusing to give up. Meanwhile, Brooke had spotted a small gecko on the vacant table next to them and tried to catch it, but the little creature had seen her coming and launched itself from the table, landing with a tiny plop, pausing very briefly, then darted into the bushes.

"You win this round, tiny gecko." She smirked, amused by the sound it had made upon landing.

Remembering her fascination with strange little critters and creepy crawlies like that, Kenny got up and started snooping around the base of a nearby tree and its half-exposed roots, hoping to find something interesting to get her attention.

"Man," Stan said. He looked over at Cartman who was already knee-deep in a new hole. "Is he really still going?"

"Do you think we'll get in trouble about the holes, too, just for being here?" Darren asked.

"I don't know…"

Kenny walked back over to the table and thrust his arm between Clyde and Brooke. "Look what I found!"

"UH!" Clyde jumped back, almost falling onto the ground. "What is that?!"

He was holding something between his thumb and index finger that was long and dangly, the bottom end trying to curl upwards to protect itself as its many tiny legs flailed around for something to grab onto.

Brooke laughed. "Aw, it's just a millipede." She held her hand out and he dropped the creature into her palm where it curled up into a tight spiral.

Kenny pushed his way through to sit between them, ending up so close to her that his right leg pressed against Brooke's left. He exchanged a very fast, angry look with Clyde before turning his attention back over to the girl and leaning against her side.

She was too distracted by the creature to have noticed the look, and didn't seem bothered in any way by Kenny being up against her now; in fact, she even leaned in to him as well. She placed the millipede on the table. After a few moments, it slowly uncurled itself and started crawling around.

Almost another hour had passed when Cartman suddenly shouted from one of the many holes littered across the playground. "AH-HA!" He pulled himself up and out of the hole and reached back in to grab something. "I KNEW it! I told you guys!"

They all went over to see what he had found, carefully stepping around the holes so as not to fall in one.

He pulled up a small chest and opened it. The inside was filled with gold coins. He stared at it in awe for a bit then suddenly swung his arms around and made a bunch of strange sounds to get them all to back away from him. "It's mine! All mine! I found it!"

"Smells like bubblegum," Darren commented.

Cartman shoved his hands into the chest, his smile fading as he felt something sticky. He pulled his hands out to find a pink substance clinging to his fingers and some golden wrappers. "GOD DAMNIT!"

"Well," Stan said. "They were just PLAYING, after all."

"This is bullshit!" He jumped up and kicked the chest roughly, knocking it over and sending fake coins flying into the other holes.

"I told you it was probably candy," Brooke said to Clyde. "You owe me a smoothie."

"I was kind of hoping I would lose," Clyde admitted with a smile.

"Brooke!" Cartman shouted. She looked at him, surprised. "Can you permanently destroy people's souls?!"

"Yes?"

"I need you to find out whose asshole idea it was to bury GUM and crush their soul into tiny bits!"

"Excuse you?"

"Yeah! Crush them! Just like what happened to your brother!"

Everyone suddenly tensed. She stared at him, astonished.

Butters glanced sheepishly around. "Wh- What happened to her brother?" Riley elbowed him in the side to silence him, sensing the tense atmosphere.

"How…" She clenched her fists at her sides. "Don't talk about Desmond!"

"Pfft," he rolled his eyes and started dusting his clothes off. "Oh, get over it! We all have problems!" He gestured to the holes he had dug.

"Cartman," Darren suddenly looked very serious. "If you don't shut up right now…"

"Uh, guys," Kyle said. "Is it just me, or is it like, really hot all of a sudden?"

He was right. The chilly night air had suddenly turned thick and hot all around them and the nearby pile of snow was suddenly a puddle of rapidly evaporating water.

"Brooke?" Darren noticed her shaking. She had turned around and wasn't facing any of them, her hands tight fists at her sides. He suddenly remembered something. "Uh…guys, we gotta move."

"What?"

"Move!" He roughly pushed Cartman out of the way as he hopscotched his way around the holes.

Cartman had lost his balance and fell in the nearest hole. He scrambled halfway out of it and was about to shout something at Darren, but he was interrupted by the blaze of bright blue flames that had just fiercely erupted around the girl. "Ah!" He lost his grip and fell back into the hole.

The others hurried out of the way as the blaze quickly grew into an inferno, growing wider and rising higher and higher until it had reached a height taller than all of the buildings and dispersed in a blast of embers and heat that almost knocked them all over. Left in the wake was a massive monster that towered high above them.

It was both thin but muscular, with a broad chest where its ribs and breastbone were not covered with flesh, and its body, limbs, and tail were covered with wild, red feathers. It had huge feathered red wings on its back and long fingers that ended with long black claws. Its head was an exposed skull, resembling that of a deer's but with fangs and teeth like a wolf. It even had an impressive pair of antlers atop its head and pointed, wolf-like ears placed behind the skull where it turned to flesh.

The beast sat back on its haunches, pointing its head up to the sky. Its eye sockets were hollow and black.

"Holy fuck!" Stan shouted. "THAT'S a Wechuge?!"

"Is – Is that really Brooke?" Kyle gaped up at the monster.

The monster sat there like this for several moments without moving before red orbs with slit pupils suddenly appeared in its eye sockets as if it had just opened its eyes. Its mouth gaped slightly as its eyes looked wildly around at its surroundings, then it threw its head back and released a long, loud sound that was like a mix of a roar and a screech.

The sound was like no other. It was a horrifying, ear-splitting noise that reverberated through their bodies and made even their very souls shake. They instinctually tried to cover their ears, gritting their teeth at the sound as it even trembled the earth below them.

She suddenly lowered her head, peering over her shoulder at the group of children, her pupil contracting and constricting as she tried to see them through blurry red fury. She slowly lifted her long, broad tail.

"Should we run?" Kyle asked.

"Totally," Riley said. "Run."

They scattered out of the way as the monster slammed her tail down hard, the impact shaking leaves from all of the park's trees and sending sand and snow up in a flurry. Cartman stood there, poker-faced with realization and fear. He had just climbed out of the hole when a huge feathery tail thicker than a tree trunk came crashing down mere inches from him. He waited for the snow and dust to settle. "Oh. My. GODDDDDD!" Then turned and took off running as fast as he could.

He managed to reach an alleyway where he found Stan, Kyle, Kenny, Darren, and Clyde already there hiding up against the side of one of the buildings. "You guys!" He huffed out of breath. "What do we do?!"

"WE?!" Darren snapped. "This is YOUR fault!"

"Yeah!" Stan shouted. "What'd you have to go and say that shit for?!"

"What do you mean?!" Cartman looked offended.

"Fuck you!" Darren suddenly punched him in the face.

"Uh, guys," Kyle caught their attention. "She found us."

They turned to see the monster's left eye peering at them through the entranceway of the alley. She snorted, her hot breath sending a puff of fog from her nasal, then lifted her head from the ground. They weren't entirely sure what to do, but after a small moment of silence, the monster had let out another loud screech and slammed her head into one of the buildings. They screamed and ran out of the way as the building toppled down in a loud crash.

"What DO we do!?" Kyle shouted over the noise. They stopped in the street, trying to find a way to escape.

"It's Cartman she's mad at!" Stan pointed at Cartman. "Give HIM to her!"

"WHAT?!" Cartman screamed, attracting her attention again. The others pushed him forward as she reached a broad hand out to grab him and snatched something up. They looked over to see that Cartman had ducked out of the way and was scrambling to his feet to run away again.

"Who did she catch?" Stan asked.

"She got Kenny!" Darren pointed.

They couldn't see him in her grasp, but other than Cartman who had just run away, Kenny was the only one of them missing. With another screech, she crushed the tiny body in her fist, blood spraying from between her fingers, then slammed her hands down, leaving large cracks in the road, and roared at them.

"Oh my god! She killed Kenny!" Stan shouted.

"You bastard!" Kyle yelled.

"Don't call her a bastard!" Darren yelled at him.

"I was actually talking about Cartman," he said.

"Watch out!" Stan shouted and ducked out of the way.

Kyle just saw the massive set of jaws lunging towards him and couldn't react, but something had pushed him out of the way. He quickly looked to find that a large blue-gray wolf beast had shoved him aside, and they both turned in time to see the teeth slam together with a loud crushing sound and an air force that pushed them back. Once the head lifted again, he saw Kenny and a banshee standing on the other side with shocked expressions.

Dangling by his coat from one of the sharp front teeth of the Wechuge was Clyde. He screamed as he was lifted high off the ground then tossed up into the air. She had thrown him up and opened her jaws, ready to catch and swallow the boy, when something rammed into her leg. She closed her mouth and looked down at the little car that had crashed into her, too distracted by the frightened man that ran out of it to pay any mind to the small boy who had just bounced off of her head and landed in a thick pile of snow.

With another roaring screech, she took off after the man on all fours, mouth open and ready to snatch him up.

"What happened?!" Lucy demanded as she returned to her human self.

"Cartman pissed her off about Desmond and she turned into a giant monster!" Kyle explained quickly. "Kenny? How did you get away?!"

"Uhhhh…" He exchanged an awkward glance with the banshee beside him. It was probably the fastest he had ever come back after dying, and it was only because this banshee was nearby and came to see what was going on. Of course, no matter how fast it was, it still seemed that only the banshee and Lucy remembered that he had actually died just now. He shrugged. "She dropped me."

"Lucy, what do we do?!" Darren asked.

The giant Wechuge was screeching and rampaging through the town now. Giant blue fireballs formed in her hands and she threw them at one of the buildings then rammed her antlers all the way through another and ripped it from the ground.

"I have to make a phone call," Lucy said and took out her phone.

"What?! NOW?!"

"You got the Reaper here," the voice on the other end answered. It was on speakerphone.

"Yes, hello Sir," Lucy said. "Um, we have a bit of a…problem."

He heard the monster's loud screech. "Aw, god damnit! Not again! Ugh, I just made nachos…"

"Nachos?" Darren made a weird face.

"I'm terribly sorry," Lucy said.

"No, no. I'm coming. Just give me a second." The phone beeped as it hung up. The boys shouted and jumped back as a burst of screaming blue flames erupted between them and a tall shrouded figure stepped out with a familiar Doberman by his side. "All right," he said as the flames disappeared, turning his skull face to look around at them. "Which one of you is responsible for this?"

"He is!" They all pointed at Cartman, who was currently attempting to hide his large body behind a trashcan.

The Reaper pointed a tall, spectral, blue scythe at him. "I'll deal with YOU later. Right now, I have to calm my daughter down." He moved forward, appearing to glide across the ground, and disappeared behind a toppled building. The next they saw him, he had flown up to the giant monster and, with a single upwards motion of his scythe, slashed a huge gash into her jugular.

They watched, horrified, as the Wechuge suddenly exploded in a burst of feathers and blood that splattered across the town.

"That's the second time I've watched my best friend die…" Darren said solemnly. Lucy stepped behind him just as the blood reached them and splattered across their bodies. "Aw!" He held his arms up, trying to get the blood off his face. "Gross!"

Lucy stepped out again, not a single drop of blood on her. "Dear, I wish it didn't have to be so gruesome."

The Grim Reaper returned, carrying the unconscious little girl in his arms. She didn't appear to have any blood or wounds on her, either. "All right, which one of you is going to carry her home?" Before giving them a chance to respond he said, "Eeny, meeny, miny – you," and dropped her onto Kenny, knocking him over.

"Oof!"

"Why aren't YOU bringing her home?" Kyle asked. "You're her dad, right?"

"Because I have COLD nachos to get back to." He seemed to have directed the shout over his shoulder at Cartman.

"You're more concerned about NACHOS?!"

"No," he said firmly. "My daughter is not injured, and her friends are not dead. Though, YOU were supposed to be by now."

Kyle winced and took a step back.

"There's nothing more that can be done here. She won't wake up until tomorrow, at LEAST. This is actually much less damage than what she did in Louisiana…"

"Wait," Darren thought aloud. "So that 'storm' that wiped out a whole city…"

"Normally," Grim said, "I'm very busy doing my reaper duties and can't show up like this to stop her."

"Yeah," the banshee said. "That time in Louisiana, he was busy in China, so we had to wait for a whole FIVE HOURS for him to get there and stop the Princess! We tried to slow her down but…eh, well, luckily she was too busy rampaging to actually try and destroy our souls, so we were okay in the end."

"Exactly," he nodded. "Make sure this doesn't happen again! Because chances are, I WON'T be able to come stop her soon enough. You're very lucky that I happened to be off today. I rarely get off days. I already had to deal with bringing Sniper to the vet…"

"But what if it DOES happen again?" Stan asked. "What do we do?"

He stared silently at the boy for a long minute then pointed at him. "DON'T let it happen again!" He turned to the banshee. "Helen, start rounding up the souls of the people she accidentally killed. I'm going back to my nachos."

"Yes Sir!" The banshee disappeared below the ground.

After he disappeared through another vortex of screaming flames, Lucy turned to the boys. "Did any of you get hurt?"

"I might've broken Cartman's nose," Darren admitted. He wasn't sorry.

"Oh shit!" Stan jumped. "Clyde!"

They hurried over to where Clyde was lying face-down in a pile of snow. "Oh dear," Lucy turned him over. "Are you all right?"

"I can't feel my face…"

She helped him up and slowly walked him back over to where Kenny and Brooke still were. "I'm going to take Clyde to my shed to make sure he's not injured," Lucy said. "Or frostbitten…" She looked to Kenny. "Could you take the Princess with you to your house? I'm sure that Sniper will gladly accompany you."

"Okay." He sat up and shook his head. "Why my house, though?"

"Er, well, I'm going to have to come up with something to tell our… 'parents' and I think it would just be easier to say that she went to sleep at your place tonight. Pixie!"

The little yellow and green creature popped up and looked over at Brooke worriedly. "The Princess had another outburst…"

"Yes, but don't worry," Lucy told him. "It was a rather small-scale outburst, so I don't think it will attract the attention of the Nightmares yet. Right now, I need you to go find Riley and Leopold and make sure they are uninjured and that they get home safely."

Pixie bowed to her then flapped his wings and flew off somewhere.

"This was SMALL-scale?" Kyle looked over at the town. Half of the buildings were collapsed and on fire, and several smashed vehicles littered the streets. There was even a police car that had been bitten in half, the siren still going but fading as if it was a creature slowly bleeding to death. Speaking of blood, there were several vehicles and spots where one could tell that she had smashed someone beneath her claws or tail by the splattered blood and entrails everywhere.

"Very," Lucy told him. She looked over as Kenny got to his feet with the unconscious girl in his arms. She was holding on to something in her right hand. Lucy walked over and took it. "I-Is this a rib bone?"

"Oh," Kenny glanced briefly at the bloody bone. "That's probably mine."

"Eh, do you…want it back?"

He shrugged. "I don't need it anymore."

"Right, well." She tossed the bone aside and wiped her hand on Clyde's coat. "Let's be off then. The Royal Guard will be here soon, and I'd rather not get in their way."

Sniper snatched up the bone in his jaws then pranced back over to Kenny, waiting for the boy to lead the way. "Hey!" Kenny said, seeing the bone in his mouth. "Ah, whatever."

They walked a while with the others, until they all reached their neighborhood, at which point Kenny and Sniper went their separate way from the group. The rest of the walk was silent, aside from the sound of his own footsteps and Sniper's claws tapping on the sidewalk. And Brooke was so silent in her sleep that he actually stopped at one point to make sure that she was actually alive. It began to snow halfway there, which muffled what little sound was left.

Once they had arrived at his house, he shifted her in his hold, careful not to drop her as he awkwardly lifted his hand to twist the front doorknob and allowed the door to open on its hinges. Sniper didn't hesitate to push his way in first and shake the wet snow from his pelt, flinging droplets on the face of the man passed out on the sofa. Kenny stopped and watched a moment as the dog sniffed at his drunken father's face, and had to stop himself from laughing when the dog shook his head with a disgusted snort at the smell of the man's breath.

He carried Brooke through the house and into his room where he carefully placed her on the bed. He took a step back to look at her then looked down at the dog sniffing at his clothes. He looked down at himself; his clothes were plastered with a streak of blood like someone had thrown paint at him.

Sniper watched the boy leave the room then went over to the side of the bed. He sniffed at his master, giving her a quick lick on the cheek that made her grunt and turn over, then he turned and went to find Kenny.

Kenny had gone further down the hall to the bathroom, where he was trying to get a rusty old washing machine to work. The dog sat and watched curiously. He turned the dial, it clicked, but nothing happened. "Fucking piece of shit," Kenny muttered. After a few minutes, he got fed up with it, kicked the machine out of spite, then retrieved his bloody clothes and threw them in the bathtub.

Sniper lowered his head, ears pricked, as he heard the water being turned on. He waited a moment, making sure that the bath wasn't for him, then entered the room and sat beside the boy.

The water was barely getting warm. Kenny sighed and sat down on the tile floor as he waited, hoping it might get warmer. He leaned on the edge of the tub and rested his chin on his hand then glanced at Sniper beside him. The dog's tail thumped on the ground as they made eye contact and he edged closer. "You want me to pet you?" He reached his hand up and the dog happily moved his head towards him. "Do you know that your master's secretly a monster?"

Sniper let out a very soft bark that was more of a huffing sound.

"…Are YOU secretly a monster?"

Another huff, his tail still thumping against the floor.

"Man, how are all of you cute things actually scary monsters? Brooke's a giant monster, Lucy's a werewolf, and now you're telling me that YOU'RE a monster, too?"

Sniper whined and licked at the boy's face.

"I guess 'monster' isn't really a negative thing. At least, not where you guys come from. Still," he turned the water off and poured some laundry detergent into the tub. "The girl I like is actually a giant scary monster that breathes fire… That's fun, right?" He looked to the dog.

Sniper barked happily.

"Shh!"

He lowered his head and made a much quieter barking-huff sound.

"Wait can she understand you?"

The dog tilted his head at him.

"You better not tell her I said that!"

He turned his head the other way, tipping it deeper.

"Because!" He suddenly realized that he had been having a conversation with a dog. Then, he realized that this 'dog' very clearly understood everything he was saying. He looked away and started scrubbing at his clothes in the tub. "The monster thing doesn't bother me at all," he said. "But she's a fucking princess! I'm just… I mean, I'm washing my clothes in the fucking bathtub because the washer doesn't work! Then, I'm going to have to hang them outside to dry because we don't have a dryer. You'd think that's not that big a deal, but I have less than a handful of clothes, and these were the last clean ones!"

Sniper whined sadly, wishing he was capable of speech so that he could tell the boy something important. He had no way that he could think of to express it, though, so he laid down on his belly and touched his cold wet nose to Kenny's leg as a gesture of comfort instead.

After scrubbing the hell out of his clothes and hanging them out in the backyard, he hurried back inside and shivered. It was still snowing lightly outside, and he was only wearing underwear. Luckily for his wet clothes, the snow was already slowing down and was soon to stop. Of course, it was still cold.

He ran silently back to his room, Sniper getting excited and chasing after him like typical dogs do. Once he reached the door he stopped, turning just in time to see the big dog crash into him and slam him against the door. "FUCK!" He shouted, and they both froze, listening for any signs that someone had woken up. After a breathless minute, Kenny shoved the dog off of him, "You fucking asshole," then opened the door.

He went over to the bed, watching Brooke to make sure she didn't wake up as he awkwardly clambered over her to the other side, then held his breath as he lost his balance and rolled over onto his back beside her so hard that the bed shook. He laid there, unmoving, and watching her from the corner of his eye before reaching to pull the sheet up over them. He saw Sniper shoving his snout into a rathole at the base of the wall and rolled his eyes at the dog then turned over onto his side to face Brooke.

She was still asleep, but she looked tense and was clinging tightly to the bedsheet, muttering something very quietly that he couldn't make out. She curled up tighter and a strand of her long dark blonde hair fell across her face.

He reached his hand out, hesitated, then continued and lightly brushed her hair aside, faintly running his thumb across her cheek. She grunted quietly and her muttering suddenly ceased. He froze, afraid that he had woken her up, but she still not wake up; though, she did visibly relax and even released her grip on the bedsheet. He slowly took his hand away and placed it on top of hers, watching her carefully as he moved closer and lightly pressed his forehead against hers.

"I'll be right here," he whispered and closed his eyes.

.

Brooke awoke in the morning to find herself face-to-face with Karen, who was smiling broadly at her. She jumped slightly. "Karen!"

"Good morning!" the younger girl said cheerily.

"Wha-" Brooke quickly took in her surroundings. She was in Kenny's room, it was daylight outside the window, and Karen was standing at the side of the bed watching her.

"Kenny said you came to sleep over last-minute," Karen told her. She held up a plate with two half-defrosted waffles on it. "I brought you some breakfast!"

"Uh, thanks?" She gingerly took the plate and picked up a cold waffle to examine it.

"I don't think they finished defrosting all the way," Karen said. "Our toaster is broken, and I only just learned that you were here, so I guess I didn't give them much time…"

"That's…okay." Brooke didn't really want to eat the cold waffles, but she felt bad and took a bite anyway. She resisted the urge to make a face at the taste.

"They might be expired."

"Mm," she swallowed. "No, I think they're freezer-burnt."

"Oh, thank god you're awake!" Kenny said from the door. He was zipping up his parka as if he had just put it on. "Uh, do you remember what happened?"

She thought for a moment. "I remember…being really mad at Cartman." She was remembering what he had said, and a slight wave of heat passed from her body and warmed the waffles on her lap.

"Wow," Karen looked down at the food. "Those defrosted really fast!" She looked around. "Is the heater working again?"

"Huh?" Brooke looked at her, distracted from her anger.

Kenny walked over and sat beside her on the bed. He watched Karen go over to pet Sniper, who had just entered the room. "I'll tell you later," he said quietly.

Brooke had a feeling she already knew what had happened, despite not remembering anything after Cartman's remark.

A few hours after entertaining Karen, Kenny and Brooke left his house with Sniper in tow and headed in the direction of her home. They passed Cartman's house just as he opened the front door. Upon seeing Brooke, he gasped and ran back inside, slamming the door behind him.

"Darren punched him in the nose yesterday," Kenny told her.

"Good," she muttered, not looking up from the ground as they walked.

Upon reaching her house, they encountered Darren outside, and he quickly came over to meet them. "Brooke! Are you okay?"

She glanced up at him, but didn't actually say anything in response.

"Do you remember what happened?"

"I was about to tell her," Kenny said.

"Aw, Cartman made you so mad," Darren said with excitement. "You turned into a HUGE monster and started smashing and burning everything and screaming REALLY loud!"

"Gee," she rolled her eyes. "That totally makes me feel SO much better…"

"Sorry… But you almost ATE Clyde!"

"What?!" She jumped.

"Yeah! But some guy accidentally hit you with his car and distracted you."

"Is Clyde okay?!"

"Eh, he's fine," Darren shrugged. "He landed in a big pile of top snow. Lucy took care of him last night and he's in the shed. Watch!" He led them over to her own backyard and into the shed.

Clyde was sitting on one of the black sofas, wrapped up in a big throw blanket, and watching the television while Lucy fiddled with something under a microscope in the corner.

"Oh," Lucy stood up as they entered. "Princess, you're back. Good."

Clyde turned to look at them and jumped a little. He watched warily as Brooke approached him, then soon relaxed as she suddenly hugged him.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" she said.

"Uh," he blushed. "Th-That's okay."

"I can't believe I almost ate you!"

"That's a funny thing to say," Darren said.

"Hey!" Kenny stamped his foot. "I'M the one who got crushed yesterday!"

"What?!" Brooke looked at him.

"Oh yeah," Darren smiled. "You killed Kenny last night. Crushed him in your fist, just like a tiny tomato." He made a crushing motion with his right hand.

"Yeah – wait, what?" Kenny looked over at him oddly. "You remember?"

"Only because I accidentally recorded it on my phone and watched it this morning."

He looked very un-amused. "Accidentally?"

"What? I was tired of being left out, okay?! I wanna remember, too!"

"Eh," Lucy made a face. "I feel it would be better NOT to remember that scene…"

"What are you guys talking about?" Clyde tilted his head.

Feeling even worse than before, Brooke ran over to Kenny and hugged him tightly. "I'm so sorry!"

"Oh," his face grew hot. "I mean, it wasn't THAT bad. I've died worse ways."

"That doesn't make me feel better! You poor thing!"

"Oh…my bad." He felt both very nervous and extremely pleased to have her clinging so tightly to him. But he also didn't want her to be upset. He hugged her back. "I mean, I'm here."

Surprised, Lucy blushed a little watching them then carefully tucked some of her hair behind her ear. "Ahem, yes, well… Princess, the Head of the Council has requested an audience with you today."

She let go of Kenny and looked over at Lucy.

"You are not in trouble," Lucy told her. "He just wants to check up with you."

"Right…" she looked down.

To be continued…

Aw, woo! We got to see Riley starting to interact more with others, we got to learn about Darren's permanent (mild) psychosis, we learned what the great Wechuge looks like, AND we learned a little about why Kenny is so unwilling to express to Brooke his feelings for her. Hooray!

Oh, btw, I cannot remember what I ever say or have yet to have said in these, so if I've mentioned it already before...whoops. Anyhoo, Lucy is not only a werewolf, but also an Oracle (on her mother's side), so she has this lovely ability to tell if someone if lying. And Sniper is a Hell hound in a disguised form.