Ah, this one introduces an old new character. He's a character from a single episode of the show. The episode is called Kindergarten. Let's see who has watched the show and remembers him...

Butters had been so upset that he managed to conjure up his fever again, and Brooke had taken him home to explain to his parents that he wasn't feeling well. After taking his temperature, they determined that he should stay home from school the next day to rest.

"Don't worry, Butters." Brooke had walked him up to his room and was gently wiping his tears away. "We'll have it all fixed by tomorrow. Now, you ARE sick, so try to get some rest. Okay?"

He sniffed. "Okay."

After settling him into bed, she left to return to her own house next door where Lucy was waiting for her in the living room. Brooke patted Sniper's head as he moved to greet her.

"I was going to have…literally anyone else do it," Lucy told her, "but Charles and Lamar insisted that they could do this task just fine. Of course, I'll leave the final decision up to you, Princess."

"I think they'll do fine," she replied. "They're boneheads and jokesters, but they can do their jobs perfectly."

"Do you think they can get through the walls of a concrete prison?"

"They've done it before…"

Lucy sighed. "That's true. They're not like normal banshees."

No; Charles and Lamar were very special. All of the monsters of the Nether originally came from Sol, Brooke's late mother, but Sol had created Charles and Lamar especially for her daughter. They were made to be like living dolls, the Princess's special playmates that would never be too busy or preoccupied to play with her. They were to always, absolutely, without a doubt give all of their undying affection and attention to the Princess. All of the monsters were obsessed with the royal family, especially Brooke since she was the only Wechuge left. But those two banshees were even more obsessed than any other monster. In fact, they were so obsessed that if she didn't tell them to do other things, they would be right there at her side at that very moment and never leave. Of course, they did have a tendency to follow her anyway or hang around her general location.

Nonetheless, like all of the Princess's monsters, they were more than happy to do pretty much any task that she asked of them. So, ever since she could remember, Brooke relied on them a lot. After her mother and then her brother died, aside from Lucy, Charles and Lamar were the ones always at her side. They often even argued or fought over her attention, so it came as no surprise to her that they were the ones who volunteered for this mission.

"All right you two," Brooke said.

The two monsters popped their heads out from under her bed then pulled themselves out into the open. "Heyyyyyy!"

"Heeyyyyyyy!"

"You remember what to do?" she placed her hands on her hips.

"Yeah!" Charles said."

"Of course we do!" Lamar said. "We wait 'til after dark –"

"After everyone's asleep –"

"Then we pop into Riley's cell, wake him up, explain what's up, shove him in the magic sack, and then we pop outta there with him in tow."

"And we bring him back here," Charles added.

Lamar nodded. "All without making a big scene."

"Yes," she nodded too. "The 'big scene' part is important. The Guard already have a lot of memory changing to do. They don't need to add 'erase memory of banshees' to it."

"Gotcha! No problem-o!"

"Ooh," Charles said. "If we do good, can we get Princess pats?"

Brooke rolled her eyes but exchanged a smirk with Lucy. "Yes, if you do good you can get Princess pats."

"Hooray!" they cheered.

.

Who knows how long the ride was from the pond to the detention center? Riley was too lost in his own thoughts to know or care. He ignored the chatter between the two officers in the front and stared out the barred window at the passing town. He didn't even know how long he would be gone… Maybe forever? He just hoped that Butters would be okay. He'd get over it eventually, right? Maybe…

He sighed and turned away from the window, leaning forward to press his head against the cold cage wall that separated the back of the vehicle from the front. He could feel it vibrate with every bump in the road. As annoying as it was, he found himself close to dozing off before the vehicle finally pulled to stop and turned off. He jolted awake as his door was opened.

"All right kid," the officer who had opened the door said. "Let's go."

Without a sound, Riley complied and scooted sideways out of the vehicle, hopping down on his feet and looking up at the large concrete building. He glanced to the side and saw a tall chain-link fence topped with barbed wire and surrounding the entire complex.

"Yeah," the officer told him. "Don't even think about running. There's nowhere to go."

"I wasn't," he muttered and turned to follow the cop.

They led him inside to a man sitting at a desk behind a plexiglass wall. "Okay," the man said through a speaker in the glass. "Any items on his person to turn over?"

"Nah," the officer escorting Riley replied. "He doesn't have anything except the clothes on his back."

The man behind the wall hummed, eyed Riley suspiciously, then pressed a button that caused a nearby door to unlock with a clunk. "Take him in."

Riley wasn't sure why they bothered calling the place a different name. The other side of the door was exactly what he had always seen prisons depicted as. He followed the officer up some stairs and along a railed balcony, passing many cells with children and teenagers inside. Most of them merely looked over curiously at them as they passed while others completely ignored them, and there were the odd few that would mean-mug them and shoot Riley threatening or rude gestures.

"Typically we only keep two to a cell," the officer was saying. "Three if we really need to… But we've got a lot of you little hoodlums in right now, so unfortunately for you, you get to share with one of our worst cases. He came in at only five years old. We let him out at ten, but I guess some people never change, because he got himself put right back in here for another five years for the same shit." He stopped at one of the cells and shoved a key into the lock. "Last kid that shared a cell with this guy ended up having to go to the hospital. Good luck." He slid open the cell door.

Riley shot the cop an odd, curious look as he passed him to enter the cell. He paused inside to allow the cop to remove his handcuffs before the door was slammed shut again and locked. He rubbed at his wrists and briefly glanced around the cell before locking eyes with another boy across the way.

The other kid was bigger, rather muscular, with tattoos on his upper arms, and held a permanent scowl on his face. His hair was short, wild, and blonde, and he wore black pants, a black muscle shirt, and a tattered red vest that may have once been a typical plaid shirt but the sleeves were torn off.

"Hmph," the other boy huffed. "Been a while since they gave me a cellmate. Who the fuck are you?"

"Riley," he replied and went to sit on the floor in the corner.

"Never heard of ya," he scoffed. "Where are you from?"

He really didn't feel like talking right now, but the vibe this kid gave off told him not to piss him off. "I started going to school in South Park, but I'm from Locke."

He almost looked surprised, or maybe just curious. "Locke? I heard that place is a bigger shithole than South Park. So, what, you in here for something stupid like drugs or something?"

Riley winced a little and pulled his knees up to his chest. "No," he mumbled and stared at the floor. "They arrested me for…murder."

"Did you do it?"

"…Not on purpose."

He huffed again and leaned back against the wall. "I got thrown in this joint for some shit a buncha other assholes did. Got my revenge on one of 'em…just four more to go."

The menacing tone in his voice caused Riley to look up at him, but he quickly lowered his gaze back down to the floor.

Later, after all of the lights had been shut off for the night, the other boy had climbed into the bottom bunk of the bed in the back corner, but Riley had not bothered to get up from the floor since he got there. On one hand, he didn't want to move, on the other, he really didn't want to try getting into the top bunk and risk the bigger kid challenging him or something. So, he came to the conclusion that it was pointless to bother sleeping anywhere else and leaned in to the corner where the walls met and closed his eyes.

.

"Why'd this whole joint have to be made entirely of concrete?!" Lamar complained aloud. He and his brother could normally use their magic to pop through the walls and floor of most places, but more solid things like concrete and metals were a bit more troublesome to move through. They weren't able to simply poof in and out of places like pygmy dragons, at least, not without a very clear path. Magic is…complicated.

They were currently using their magic to burrow through the concrete floor of the prison. It was almost equal to a pair of moles tunneling through tough roots and rocks in the soil.

"What time is it again?" Charles asked.

"I don't know! When did we start?"

"Midnight."

"How long have we been going?"

"Uhhhh…an hour?"

"Beats me," Lamar said. "At least the scent is getting stronger. We're getting closer to whichever cage they have Riley in."

"Good thing we bothered to remember his smell," Charles smiled. "Ah, his soul smells like cedar. Too bad there's a hint of stress."

Lamar shook his head. "Yuck! Someone around here smells sour! …But with a hint of hay."

.

Riley jumped a little as something touched his foot and startled him awake. It took him a moment to adjust to the darkness, but he could clearly see a pair of glowing green orbs beside a pair of yellow ones.

"Heeyyyy," one of them said quietly.

"Heeeyyyyyy," the other said at a similar volume.

He realized who they were just as his vision fully adjusted on the skeletal monsters halfway protruding from the floor. "Wha-? Lamar? Charles? Is that you?"

"You betcha," Charles smiled.

"We came to bust you out!"

"What?" Riley sat up.

"Yeah," Lamar continued. "The Princess told us to come get you."

"We're gonna bring you back home!"

"Home?" he felt a strange feeling at that. A pang of anxiety washed away with excitement. "B-But, what about –"

"Don't worry about it."

Charles nodded. "Yeah! The Princess will have it alllll fixed in a jiffy. Eh, but we gotta go before the Royal Guard gets here."

"Yeah, last time we were in the way, we got stepped on."

"My poor tail…"

"What the hell is going on?"

They turned to look at the other boy. He had woken up from the chatter and gotten out of bed to see what was happening. He was staring suspiciously at the two creatures sticking out of the floor, his eyebrow cocked quizzically.

"Uh-oh," Charles said.

"Riley," Lamar said. "You didn't tell us you had company."

"Eh…"

"What the fuck are you things?"

"Ahem," Lamar turned back to the boy. "We're banshees."

"Why are you guys telling him?" Riley asked worriedly.

"Eh, who cares? The Guard'll wipe his memory anyway."

"Didn't the Princess tell us NOT to add that?" Charles asked his brother.

"Oh, yeah…"

"What are you freaks talking about?" The boy looked at Riley. "You know them?"

"Uh…"

"We're talking about how we're gonna bust Riley outta here," Charles told him. "OW!"

Lamar had punched him in the shoulder.

"Really? Well take me with you!"

"Huh?!" the banshees flinched.

"Why?" Lamar eyed him.

"I was framed! I don't belong in here!"

"A likely story…" he tapped a claw to his chin. "Hmm. I guess we could take you with us, but only if our boss says so."

"Who's your boss?"

"The Prin- er, her name is Brooke."

"I don't think I know her," he thought aloud. "Well, ask her!"

"Hey, we don't take orders from you! But okay." Lamar disappeared then immediately reappeared. "Eh, what's your name?"

"Trent."

He disappeared again.

.

Brooke was sleeping soundly when she was awoken by her dog barking at something.

"It's just me!"

Sniper stopped and sniffed at the banshee then wagged his tail and licked him.

"Sheesh," Lamar sighed.

"Lamar," Brooke groaned and sat up. "What are you doing? Where are Charles and Riley?"

"Oh, about that… So, we found Riley, Charles is back with him. We were about to get him out, but then there's this other kid in the cage with him –"

"Cell," she corrected.

"Same difference. Anyways, he's this angry-looking kid named Trent who says he was framed. He wants to come, too."

She stared at him. "…What was he framed for?"

"Eh, hold up." He vanished then reappeared after a minute or so. "Okay. He said that in kindergarten, these kids wanted him to start a fire so they could play firemen and put it out, and they ASSURED him that they could put it out, so he started a small fire. But they didn't put it out, so the WHOLE classroom caught on fire and totally messed up the teacher lady real bad and almost killed her or something. Then, they wouldn't tell the police the truth because they were afraid of getting in trouble, so they got him sent to juvie for five years."

"Okay –"

"THEN," he continued.

"Oh, there's more…"

"He got released and went to get revenge, BUT a similar situation occurred to the SAME teacher lady and they got him sent to prison AGAIN for five more years."

"That's…pretty messed up."

"I KNOW right?"

She sighed. "Okay. Fine. Take him, too. But DON'T let anyone else see you… And don't make me empathize with anymore criminals!"

"Okaaay!"

.

"So," Charles said in the awkward silence. "Nice cage ya got here."

Lamar popped back into the room.

"Oh, thank SOL you're back! I was afraid I'd have to start making jokes or something."

"So, what did your boss say?" Trent asked.

"Oh, she said you can come. Now," he produced a large brown sack. "Both of you, get in the magic sack."

Riley and Trent exchanged odd looks.

"What?" Lamar said. "Banshee magic's complicated. If you aren't in the sack, you might lose a limb or two while we…travel."

Trent shrugged. "Whatever. Not the weirdest shit I've ever had to do."

Riley sighed. "Unfortunately, same."

"That's the spirit!" Lamar smiled.

.

Once again, Brooke was woken up that night, and not even a full hour after the first interruption.

"Ugh," she groaned. "Damnit boys, it's a school night!"

"Eheh," Lamar lowered his head. "Sorry, Princess, but…"

She sat up and was surprised to see a stranger in her room standing beside the two banshees and Riley. Sniper had his head forward, staring at the stranger as if confused whether or not he should be threatening him. She quickly turned her attention on Riley, though.

"Riley," she hopped out of bed and hugged him. "Are you okay?"

"I – yeah." He was enjoying the embrace. The familiar warm, calm feeling of the house swept over him. It really was home.

She let him go and turned back to the others. "Okay. Why did you bring that kid here?"

"Well," Lamar said, "you see…"

"We tried to bring him to HIS house," Charles took over. "But apparently his family moved or something. They're not there anymore."

"Actually," Lamar said. "I remember that house. Weren't they the souls Jamie and Lou had to collect a few months ago?"

"Hm? Oh! You mean the car-crash victims."

"Yeah!"

"Yeaaah!" Charles turned back to Brooke. "Yeah, they're dead."

"Wha- Oh for the love of –!" she threw her hands up. She sighed and turned to Trent. "I'm…sorry for your loss."

He shrugged.

"Right… Well, if you have nowhere else to go, I guess you can stay in the basement. It's a finished basement. Really nice."

He seemed a bit surprised. "Oh. Thanks. Who are you, anyway? I don't remember you."

"You've been locked up for five years," she told him. "I moved here a couple months ago. Uh, my name's Brooke and these two are my idiots." She gestured to the banshees. "Charles and Lamar."

"Hello!" they sang.

"Just, uh, make yourself at home, I guess. But not in my room. Get out. All of you."

.

The next morning, Brooke growled into her pillow as her not-mother woke her up to get ready for school. She angrily threw her blanket off, accidentally covering Sniper with it, then got dressed and went to the bathroom to brush her hair and teeth.

Lucy met her downstairs. "Brooke," she said urgently. "Who is that angry boy in the kitchen?"

"Oh, that's Trent. Charles and Lamar brought him back with Riley last night."

"But why is he HERE?"

"Turns out his parents died while he was locked up, and he has nowhere else to go."

Lucy let out an exasperated sigh. "Princess! You can't just let a criminal stay here!"

Brooke shrugged. "I'm the ruler of an entire world of monsters and man-eating beasts. I'M a monster and a man-eating beast."

"Yes, but –"

"Lucy, I know you're my royal advisor, but you worry too much about my decisions."

"Incorrect."

"Whatever. What are you afraid for? You're a werewolf."

"Oh, I assure you, I am NOT afraid of him. But he…disturbs me."

Brooke left her in the living room and went into the kitchen where Trent was sitting at the table and angrily munching down a bowl of Cap'n Crunch cereal. She paused to watch him for a moment, making a face at the mess of milk splatters on the tabletop, then walked around to the other side and sat across from him. He paused briefly to look at her.

"Uh, so we have school today," she told him. "I guess you can just do pretty much whatever. But stay out of my room!"

"Fine."

She watched him for a minute, annoyed by his tone, then bent over to whisper to Sniper under the table. "If he tries to hurt any of my animals, kill him."

Sniper let out a confirming snort.

She straightened herself back up. "So, what do you plan on doing today?"

He slammed his fist down on the table. "Getting my revenge! It's long overdue."

"Right. Have fun with that." She hopped down from the chair. "See you later."

.

"Guys, I'm telling you," Darren was saying. "Mr. Squirrel IS real!"

Stan rolled his eyes. "No, dude. You didn't start seeing him until you used that Soul Powder crap."

"Yeah man," Kyle said. "It's all in your head."

"No! He's –" he stopped and turned to look at a bush behind them. "I hear you!" Darren jumped into the bush.

Stan, Kyle, and Cartman all watched as the bush shook violently as Darren wrestled something within it. There was a strange chittering animal sound and a raccoon suddenly burst free of the bush and darted across the street.

"Fuck you," Darren shouted after it. "This is MY bush!"

"What are you idiots doing?" Brooke asked as she joined them with Lucy and Kenny.

"We weren't doing anything," Stan said. "Darren just fought a raccoon for a bush."

"And I WON!"

She rolled her eyes while Lucy and Kenny shot Darren odd looks.

"So, how'd it go last night?" Kyle asked. "Did you get Riley out?"

"Of course," Brooke said. "Well, Charles and Lamar did. The guards took care of the rest."

"Oh, so Riley won't have to worry then?"

"He got away with murder," Cartman said. "Nice."

"Shut up."

Darren wiped leaves and snow off of himself and rejoined them at the bus stop. "Cool. I bet Butters will be happy."

"We also have a…guest," Lucy did not look pleased.

"What? Who?"

Brooke shrugged. "Some boy my dummies brought back with them last night. Said he was framed by some jerks in kindergarten or something."

Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny all tensed and exchanged glances. "W-What's his name?" Stan asked.

"Called himself Trent."

The boys cringed and looked horrified, aside from Darren who had no reaction whatsoever.

"Tr-Trent?" Cartman said. "As in, Trent Boyett?"

"I don't know. I didn't get his last name… Why?"

"Oh. My. GOD!"

"He's gonna kill us, dude!" Stan shouted.

"What?" she cocked her head at them. "Oh – don't tell me – YOU guys are the assholes that got him locked up?"

"Language," Lucy scolded.

"Yes!" Kyle squeaked. "Jesus, dude, we're gonna GET it!"

"You let Trent Boyett FREE?!" Cartman screeched.

She shrugged. "YOU pissed him off."

"Really, Princess!" Lucy scolded her again.

"Oh, hey," Darren looked over at someone walking towards them. "Who's that?"

"IT'S HIM!" Cartman knocked Stan and Kyle aside into the snow as he ran away.

Lucy took a small step back as Trent passed and watched him warily.

"Finally," he cracked his knuckles. "Don't even bother trying to run like that fat ass. I'll get him, too. You assholes are gonna regret even EXISTING!"

"We already do," Stan gulped.

Brooke watched curiously for a moment. The instant Trent took a step towards a frightened Kenny, she stomped her foot down, melting the snow around her boot, as she stepped between them to glare at Trent.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked angrily.

He was a little surprised by her interference. "Get outta my way! I ain't against hitting a girl for getting in my way!"

A rush of pure fury passed through her, releasing a wave of powerful heat from her body that quickly melted all of the snow within a six-foot radius of her. She snatched him in her fists by the front of his shirt, easily lifting him from the ground as her red eyes glowered, her fangs appeared, and her large feathered red wings burst from her shoulders.

Her voice had become frightening and snarl-like. "If you even DARE touch him, I will RIP your soul right out of your body and DEVOUR it right in front of you as the light leaves your eyes!"

"What the fuck are you!?"

"I can easily be your biggest ally or your worst nightmare," she growled. The grass, once covered by snow, around her was beginning to catch fire from the intense heat. "I let my servants free you, AND I allowed you to stay in my home. You will NOT challenge me! You will NOT lay a FINGER on Kenny!"

"Okay, fuck! Put me down! You're catching my clothes on fire!"

She dropped him and closed her eyes, taking in a slow, calming breath as her wings disappeared in a burst of feathers and smoke. The air around her cooled, and Lucy quickly stamped out the little flames in the grass.

"I understand why," Lucy muttered, "but you know better than to allow your rage to fuel your powers. You could have –" she stopped herself.

"You're lucky your girlfriend was here to protect your sorry ass, McCormick!" Trent pointed at him.

"And you won't harm Stan or Kyle, either!" Brooke snapped.

He clenched his teeth so tight that he could've locked his jaw that way. He shook a little as he clenched his fists, digging his fingernails into his palms. "Fine!" he snapped loudly at her.

The other boys gasped and stared at her, expecting her to react angrily. But she only sighed and reached her hand out to gently stroke his cheek. He winced, looking quite surprised, and felt a weird wave of calm wash over him.

"I understand why you're so angry," she said softly. "Believe me, I do. They clearly regret what they did, they're just stupid. But you must understand that I will NOT allow you, or anyone else, to harm my friends." She shot them a glare over her shoulder. "Even if they deserve it."

The boys gulped.

He blushed a little and pulled away from her. "What the hell even are you? …W-Whatever."

She smiled. "Oh, but you can do whatever you want to Cartman. I hate him."

"Good." He turned and stomped away in the direction Cartman had ran.

"Holy shit," Stan said is disbelief. "You scared off Trent Boyett."

"How is that even possible?" Kyle breathed.

"Damn Brooke," Darren said. "You scary!"

She was about to respond but was thrown off when Kenny suddenly latched onto her in a tight hug. "Ack! This is almost as constricting as a hug from the Basilisk!"

.

Butters woke up pretty early, but he only left his bed to go use the bathroom. After, he immediately returned to his room, closed the door, and crawled back into bed. It wasn't because he felt sick or anything; in fact, his fever had gone completely and he was no longer fatigued. He was just too depressed to do anything else.

He was turned over and facing the wall with his back to the door. When he heard the door open, he didn't bother to turn and see who it was. Just one of his parents checking on him. The door closed, and he assumed they must have thought he was asleep and left.

"Hey, Butters." He heard a gentle, familiar voice right behind him.

Butters held his breath. Should he turn to see, or was it just his mind playing tricks on him? He decided to risk it and turned his head to look back over his shoulder. He jumped up, getting tangled in the bed sheets as he tried to climb out of the bed as quickly as possible, and almost fell face-first onto the floor but managed to catch himself.

"Riley!" He finally managed to shake the sheets off and got to his feet. He paused, staring worriedly at Riley. "You – I mean, is it really you?"

He laughed. "What do you mean? Ah!"

Butters had practically thrown himself at him and was hugging him so tight that Riley could feel his ribs resisting the pressure.

"B-Butters!" he gasped.

"Sorry!" Butters released him and stepped back. "I-I'm just so happy you're back! I thought I'd never see you again! I was… I was really sad."

He smiled softly at him. "Me too."

"But you're here now!"

"Yeah. Uh, Butters…I'm sorry that I didn't tell you the truth about what happened. A-About my dad, I mean. It was just so…" he glanced at his feet. "I just wanted to get it out of my head. I thought not talking about it would work, but I think it just made it worse. Sometimes I have nightmares…"

"Oh, well that's okay. I mean, you were just defending yourself. At least…he can't hurt you anymore, right?"

Riley looked up at him. "Yeah…"

There was a sudden awkwardness between them.

"Uh, so," Butters twiddled his thumbs nervously. "Before you left…y-you said…that you… And then that one night you…kissed my cheek… Um." His face was turning red. "Riley, do – do you really love me?"

He blushed furiously. "Ah, well…y-yeah. I do."

"O-Oh!" he smiled a little to himself. "Well, I-I think I love you, too."

"Oh!" Riley's voice almost cracked and he cleared his throat. "Really?"

"Mm-hm." He stepped closer to him.

"Oh. Okay." Riley stared at him. Butters had suddenly gotten very close to him. He moved closer to him, too, closed his eyes, and softly pressed his lips against his for a long time before slowly pulling away.

They stared at each other, surprised, then blinked and laughed before hugging and nuzzling each other happily.

To be continued…

Aw, such a cuuuute! Finally, my cute boys have admitted to each other. I got a lot of romance shit goin' on, especially in later chapters to come. Lol, if it wasn't obvious, I'm quite fond of trauma as well as romance.

The reason why Trent decided not to challenge Brooke is because, well, yes, she is a bit frightening, but Wechuges, being basically gods here, have a very intimidating air of authority about them, especially when they're mad. Also, he is secretly very appreciative of her allowing him a place to stay and doesn't really want to mess that up. So, yes. Trent lives in the basement now.