The next day at school, the boys slept through most of their classes, still tired from the night's events. Once Darren had returned home, he changed back into his superhero outfit and called Cartman.

"Good work last night, Butthole. Now, I need you to go over to Fastpass's house and interrogate Classi. Find out what she knows about the missing cats and about Scrambles. Any good superhero should know how to interrogate." He hung up.

Darren left his house and made his way up the street to Jimmy's. Inside, he found Classi sitting comfortably on the sofa and filing her nails. "Oh," she looked at him. "It's you again. Don't be fartin' in my face an' shit. Hey, Fastpass, one of your superhomies is here!"

Jimmy met them in the living room. "Oh, hey, Butthole. Coon said he wants you to question the witness, so h-have at it."

"Look," Classi said. "I know ya'll need my help 'n shit, but I ain't talkin' until I get my medication."

"Medication?"

"Yeah." She handed Darren a piece of paper. "I can't think straight without my medication. You gotta go pick up my prescription, a' right?"

"Ugh, fine." Darren took the paper and left. As he was passing through Main Street, he heard something in a nearby alleyway. It sounded like somebody calling for help. Curious, he entered the alley only to be blocked in by a bunch of Raisins girls from both sides.

"You made a real mistake when you crossed us," one of them said.

"Uh… Wait."

"You think you're tough shit?"

"But I didn't do anything!"

"Come say hi, Rebecca!"

A very large, sweaty girl stepped out from around the corner, pounding her fist into her palm. "I'm gonna break you in half and stick you up my butt!"

"Whoa, whoa!" Darren held his hands up. "Hold on! I wasn't the one who – AH!" She had grabbed him by the throat and lifted him from the ground.

"You're about to go someplace dark and smelly!" She tightened her grip but got distracted by her phone making an odd noise. She looked through it and then dropped him. "Oh my god. Oh my god!"

"What?"

"A thousand people just disliked my picture of me in ballet class on Instagram! I'm totally getting trolled right now!"

The other girls pulled out their phones as well. "I'm totally getting trolled right now, too!"

"What the fuck, what the fuck?! I just lost all my followers!"

"I have to get to a computer!" They all ran out of the alleyway, leaving Darren behind.

He watched them go then sighed with relief.

"Hello, Darren."

He jumped and turned around to see Wendy in a pink and purple outfit with a pink eye mask and several phones and devices attached to her via some belts and sashes. "O-Oh! Uh, hi." He had never really spoken much to her before.

"Don't worry," she told him. "I'm unfriending their Instagrams exponentially. They won't be back for a while. You've got to be careful playing superhero. You could make a lot of enemies."

"Yeah, I, uh, figured that out."

"Hm." She placed her hands on her hips. "Some boys think that girls don't make good superheros. What about you?"

"Me?" He shrugged. "Doesn't bother me. I mean, have you SEEN Brooke? She's badass! And scary…"

"Well, either way, you've got problems. Whatever you did last night got a lot of people's attention. BAD people. There's a crime boss who's been calling the shots here in South Park, and now that person is planning to run for office. I'm certain there's something much more to this, too. Whatever you did last night scared him. I'm tracking everyone's Instagrams and Facebooks, and will continue to cross-reference with Tumblr, while monitoring Twitter and Linkedin. If you need information, just know you can rely on…Call Girl." She jumped up onto the dumpster and up to the fire escape of one of the buildings. "Watch your back, handsome!"

"T-Thanks?"

Darren made his way through the alley and continued to the location written on the paper Classi had given him. He was a tad surprised to find Cartman waiting for him.

"Ah, finally."

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to assist in assuring Classi's cooperation. Please, after you." They entered the pot store. "Uh, hello? We're picking up some medicine for a friend."

"Oh," the man at the counter said, "is your friend looking for an energizing mental feeling, or more of a full-body high?"

"Uh, I don't know."

"Well, I'll send over our expert Budtender who can help you out." He entered a back room. Moments later, a blue towel walked out and met them at the counter.

"Hey, you wanna get high? Oh, hey, Eric!"

"Is that…a talking towel?" Darren blinked.

"Oh wow, Towelie! Thought you went to rehab."

"Yeah, I did, but now I'm back in South Park, clean and sober. Clean and sober, almost a year, no drugs at all. And I tell you what," he slammed his fist on the counter. "I DON'T MISS IT!"

"And you work here at a pot store?"

"Cannabis, Eric," he corrected. "And yeah, it's great! Now I help people cure their insomnia, back pain, migraines. I'm helping people combat all the modern stresses of a job and TAXES and TRAFFIC and a WIFE breathing down my neck about the APARTMENT and 'TOWELIE WE GOT A LEAK, WHY CAN'T YOU FIX IT?' 'I'M NOT A PLUMBER, BITCH, I'M A FUCKING TOWEL!"

Darren took a step back.

"Uh, o-okay," Cartman said. "We're here to pick up our friend's medicine. Her name is Classi."

"Oh, Classi. Yeah, she likes the banana kush for her back," he opened a container and reached in, "and some of the platinum OG to – Wait, what the fuck? WHO PUT THE CHILLAX KUSH IN WITH THE OG MELLOWBLISS?! WHAT THE FUCK, YOU RETARDS!? THEY'LL GET ALL FUCKED UP! FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!"

"Hey, whoa, Towelie, it's cool!"

"No, it is NOT FUCKING COOL! I'm trying to run a legitimate business here and my back hurts, I can't sleep, I got not appetite. This shitty town is so fucked up. We gotta buy it all from FUCKING SIXTH GRADERS! AND WHO KNOWS WHAT THEY'RE PUTTING IN IT?! And then to top it off, I got a couple of little dick-lickers coming into MY store, telling me to FUCKING RELAX! FUCK YOU! YOU RELAX! YOU'RE A TOWEL!" He pulled out a lighter and a can of some kind of spray. "You're gonna WISH you were a towel!"

The kids ducked for cover as he sprayed a flamethrower of fire at them, catching some of the displayed product on fire.

"Shit, now you're lighting my stock on fire?! Sure smells nice, though…"

Darren coughed. "It smells like skunk ass."

"Quick," Cartman coughed. "Light some more!"

Darren threw a fire ball at the shelves stocked with product, lighting them all and filling the room with smoke.

"Quit lighting my product on fire! I – I…" Towelie swayed. "Aw man…Oh, hey Eric. Ah, you're a cool guy, man… I'm psyched to see you, man."

"Uh, you good?"

"Aw, yeah, yeah."

"Okay, so…can we get Classi's medication now?"

"Sure, man." He handed them a bottle. "I threw in a couple hash nuggets and granddaddy purple shatter on the house. Come by anytime for a hookup." He slumped back against the wall.

"Well," Darren said as he and Cartman exited the store. "That was a new experience. I'm kind of dizzy now."

"Make sure you get that to Classi," Cartman told him. "I have to go take care of something else, now."

.

"Well it's about motherfucking time!" Classi sat up straight as Darren entered and snatched the bottle from him. "Man, I need this shit, bad!" She quickly rolled up some of it and lit it, taking a deep puff and breathing it out slowly. "All right, all right, all right, that's MUCH fuckin' better. All right, listen. The place ya'll niggas need to go is U-Stor-It. That's where they takin' the cats."

"Great job, Butthole," Jimmy praised. "I'll contact the Coon. In the meantime, you should look over your character sheet or go around town."

Darren was just stepping outside when he started to receive a phone call. "Hello?"

"Oh, uh, hey, Darren?" It was Mr. Mackey. "Yeah, uhm, so it turns out gender is actually a little more, uh, complicated than what we talked about yesterday, mkay. Could you come back to my office so we can sort this out, maybe?"

"Oh, uh, sure."

"Mkay, thanks."

He hung up and noticed a text from Craig received a couple of minutes ago, telling him to meet him by Tweek Brothers' Coffee. "Well, I guess I'll go to Mr. Mackey first."

.

"Oh, hey, have a seat."

Darren sat in the chair across from the counselor.

"Now, I got some, uh, feedback from the principal that our discussion about sex – I mean, about gender wasn't precise enough. And, uh, well he gave me some guidelines on how to do a more thorough pass. 'Is the gender that you were assigned at birth the gender that you currently identify with?'"

"Yes, a boy."

"Right, mkay. So, as you know, that means that you are a cisgender boy. Now, another thing I want to talk to you about is your sexuality. Now, a lot of people think that gender and sexuality are the same, but no that's bad! Mkay. Uh, so how would you describe the sex of the kinds of people you find yourself, uh…sexually attracted to?"

"Eh, I don't know." He thought for a moment. "All?"

"All? Mkay… Are you attracted to both binary genders, male and female, or do you find yourself attracted to multiple genders beyond the binary definitions?"

Darren shrugged. "I'm not picky. All, I guess."

Mr. Mackey looked over his notes. "Pan…sexual. Mkay. Pansexual, got it!"

"Oh, I think Jake is pansexual," Darren mused. "And polyamorous."

"Uhm, that one is not in my no- oh, no wait! Here it is. Mkay, I see."

"Can I go, now?"

"Oh, uh, yes. Thank you for coming see me, I'm really glad we had this talk. Mkay."

"That was fucking weird," Darren muttered as he left.

.

"Finally," Craig said as he saw Darren approaching. "What took you so long?"

"I had to go talk to Mr. Mackey. What's up?" He glanced up at the coffee shop.

"All right look, Tweek still has my goddamn laptop. He's probably inside his parents' coffee house. I need you to go in there and get my laptop back."

"Uh, I don't know if I want to get in the middle of that."

"Just give him this and tell him that if he doesn't give the laptop back, I'm calling the fucking cops." Craig handed Darren a folded note that read, 'To: Traitor Dickbag' in red marker.

"All right…" Darren took it and entered the coffee shop. He made his way to the backroom and found Tweek wearing his apron and sampling several different cups of coffee.

"Ah!" He twitched. "I can't even taste the difference anymore! Huh?" He noticed Darren. "What are you doing here? Y-You're not supposed to be back here."

"Sorry, I was told to give this to you."

"Huh? What's this?" He took the note and read it. "Oh, so you work for HIM, huh?" He crumpled the paper and tossed it aside. "Well, you can go tell him he can HAVE his laptop back, when I get my FUCKING GUINEA PIG BACK! Ah! We bought him when we were together, but STRIPE IS MINE! I paid for him, and I have the receipt!" He slapped the receipt into Darren's hand. "You think it's right for HIM to keep Stripe while he's the one who didn't stand up for ME?! You tell him THAT!"

Darren looked startled. "O-Okay!"

"Well, what did he say about my laptop?" Craig asked as Darren exited the building.

"A lot of stuff," Darren replied and handed him the receipt. "But mostly that he wants Stripe back, first."

"The fucking guinea pig?! Ugh, fine!" He reached under his hat and pulled out the animal. "Here, give him to that fucking asshole and make sure that he knows that when you WALK OUT ON SOMEONE, you don't get to make up the rules anymore!"

"Um, okay, but…were you carrying him under there the whole time?"

"What's it to you?"

"N-Nothing, nothing." Darren took the guinea pig with him inside and met Tweek.

"Oh, he finally decided to be reasonable, huh? Fine." He took Stripe then went over and grabbed the laptop and handed it to Darren. "Here's his stupid laptop." He went back into the backroom and slammed the door.

"Oh, hello, uh, Darren, right?" Tweek's father went over to Darren and took the laptop. "Listen, I see you're really trying to get my son and his boyfriend back together and…well, I so appreciate it. Having a gay son is really good for the coffee business."

"Huh?!"

"I think all they need is a little relationship counseling. Could you give this to Craig, instead?" He gave him a counseling referral paper.

"Oh, yeah. That's probably a better idea…" He went outside and handed the paper to Craig.

"Counseling? Tweek wants me to go to counseling with him?"

"Yyyyes?"

"No way." He stopped and thought about it for a moment. "…Tell him there's no way I'll go to counseling unless YOU go too. I need my support team."

"Sure." He took the paper and went back inside, into the backroom, and gave it to Tweek.

"What now? Relationship counseling? Craig? Are you shitting me?" He seemed to be thinking it over. "Well, f-fine, FINE, I'll do it. As long as I can bring Brooke."

"Brooke?"

"She…" he looked a little embarrassed. "She always listens to me and calms me down when I'm upset."

"Oh," Darren smiled. "Yeah, sure. Uh, besides, Craig said I have to go too. For support, or something."

"Well, all right then. When's this for?" He looked at the referral. "Tomorrow? Okay. I'll be there."

"Great! Uh, I mean, I'll let Craig know."

"Okay…" Tweek said quietly.

Once more, Darren left the coffee shop to confirm the appointment with Craig before they headed their separate ways. Darren had received a message from Cartman and made his way back over to the other boy's house to meet him.

"Ah, there you are! ButtLord, I just wanted you to know that we've decided to let you have your own Netflix series right after the Fastpass Fox miniseries and the third Coon and Friends United movie. Congratulations."

"Oh, um, sweet!"

"Yes, now –" He was interrupted by the tablet ringing and turned to answer it.

"You guys," Jimmy said. "One of the Freedom Pals is calling us out! Get to the park, quick!"

"Not again," he growled.

Darren and Cartman made their way over to the park, meeting Jimmy and Kyle there. They stood there for a few minutes with nothing happening.

"Are you sure one of the Freedom Pals wants to meet with us?"

"Yes," Jimmy told him. "The text said it was very urgent."

"But why would they want to meet with US?"

"Unless," Kyle said, "this is some kind of trap?"

"Relax, Coon Friends," Stan stepped out from around a tree, brandishing a power drill. "I didn't come to fight."

"Toolshed," Cartman stepped forward. "Long time, no see." He looked him up and down suspiciously.

"Toolshed is a gadgeteer class visionary archetype," Kyle explained to Darren. Darren had no idea what any of that meant.

"AND a buttfucking traitor," Cartman added.

Darren knew that one.

"Just listen," Stan said. "I understand that the newbie helped take my dad's keys last night. I don't know why you were looking out for my dad, but… I owe you one. That's all I came to say. You might be in the wrong franchise, but if you ever need help, I'll return the favor."

Cartman laughed. "You think that ButtLord cares about YOU? You belong to a loser, zero-income franchise run by a douchebag in a wheelchair!"

"At least he's not a fat little phone stealer," a voice echoed in their heads.

"Oh, not him again…"

"Timmay!"

They turned around to see Timmy, Token, and Mysterion. "You call us losers when the only way you can get a lead is to STEAL IT?" Mysterion snapped. "Where is Doctor Timothy's phone?!"

"Sorry, Freedom Pussies," Jimmy replied. "That info is classified."

Cartman laughed.

"You guys need to stop investigating the Chamber of Commerce and leave it to the professional superheroes!"

"Oh, yeah, because YOU guys are the professional superheroes," Cartman rolled his eyes. "It just so happens, Mysterion, that we already have a connection with Netflix."

"No, you don't."

"Yes we do. We're just about to get the Human Kite Netflix series off the ground, so… N- Timmy, no! No, stop it! Agh! He's trying to rape my mind!"

"They don't have a connection at Netflix," Timmy announced.

"Freedom Pals just totally raped my mind! Let's get these pedophiles!"

"Not so fast!" Mysterion pointed at them. "Coon – meet dog. Sniper! Sick 'em!"

Cartman shuddered at the distant barking growing louder and closer. "No, not again!" He panicked and jumped up the nearest tree, managing to climb up before the Doberman got to him. "AH! No, bad dog!" Sniper was barking and jumping at the tree, snapping his jaws dangerously close to the fake tail dangling off the edge of the branch.

"Since when does Sniper listen to YOU?" Kyle asked.

"Since I said so." They turned to see Brooke sitting and watching them from the top of the restrooms building. She looked quite amused at seeing Cartman clinging to a tree like a terrified animal.

"Oh, uh, hey, Broo- Angel!" Darren waved.

"Hello…Butthole."

"Eh, yeah…"

"Sniper." At the simple word from his true master, the dog ceased his antics and ran over to her as she jumped down from the building. She used her broad wings to slow herself and land gracefully on her feet then folded them back neatly behind her.

"W-Wow," Clyde said.

"What the-" Darren jumped at finding him standing beside him. "Where did you – Were you here the whole time?!"

"Yeah."

"The fuck?!"

Brooke walked over to them, stopping a couple of feet away, then stretched one of her wings out, wrapping the tips of her longest feathers behind Clyde, and using them to pull him closer. The boy let out a surprised squeak and gulped as he was pulled against her side. "Hello," she cooed.

"Uh, h-h-hi," he stammered nervously.

"Hey," Cartman said from the tree. "Stop trying to charm Mosquito!"

"Y-Yeah," Mysterion said. "We don't need to bother with these guys. They won't try anything with the Angel of Death here."

"Now who's the pussies?" Token scoffed.

At the nervous tone in Mysterion's voice, Brooke suddenly remembered a promise she had made to Kenny a while back and quickly released Clyde; the force from her wing's sudden movement almost knocked him down. She walked between the two opposing teams and all the way over to Mysterion, stopping so close to him that their arms were pressed against each other.

Feeling a little excited by the soft feeling of her hand brushing against his, he cleared his throat and resisted the urge to grab her hand. Instead, he relished the warmth from her presence.

"We only came to backup Toolshed in case you assholes tried to jump him," he said. "Now, we'll be taking our leave."

"My offer still stands," Stan told Darren before turning to leave.

"Racoon better watch his tail," Sniper growled. "Sniper needs a new chew toy!"

"Sniper, come!" Brooke called and the dog darted after her.

"Fucking assholes," Cartman muttered as he climbed down from the tree. "They're just lucky they got to Angel first. Come on, let's get back to the Coon Lair to discuss tonight's mission."

.

"How are we going to get into the U-Stor-It?" Clyde asked. "The gate's not locked but it's barricaded by lava, and it's too high for Kite and I to fly over."

"Stupid potion limits," Cartman muttered.

"Yeah," Jimmy said. "P-Professor Chaos took it over, I heard."

"Toolshed has an ability that can clear lava," Kyle said.

"Psh. Good for him."

"No, I'm saying, didn't he say that he owes Butthole a favor?"

They all looked over at Darren. "H-Hi?"

"That's right," Cartman mused. "Okay, ButtLord. We need you to send a message to Toolshed asking him to meet you at your place tonight so you can go over to the U-Stor-It. The rest of us will meet you there."

"Got it."

.

Darren was just about to open the front door to leave that night when he encountered his older sister sneaking in through the window. "What the- Sadie?!"

"Sshhh!" she hissed through her teeth.

"Where were you?"

"None of your business. And if you tell mom, I'll tell her about what you're doing right now! I KNOW you're about to sneak out, just like you did last night."

"Wha- …Okay, fine." They glared at each other as she passed him to head upstairs and he left through the door. "Dumb bitch, could've just used the door like a normal person…" He turned around in time to see Stan jump out from the bushes.

"So, we meet again. I have to put our petty differences aside. There's something happening to this city and it needs Toolshed. Well, follow me to Professor Chaos's lair. You'll probably want to know about my superhero backstory," he said as they walked. "You see, when I was just a child my father was in the garage, working on a project. There was a huge storm and lightning blew my father off his workbench. I ran to help him, but at that moment another blast somehow fused his power tools onto my body. I became a superhero, while my father was left mentally impaired."

They stopped to watch Randy drunkenly keying at the car again. "Randy," Stan's mother said through the window. "Get in here right now and stop keying my car."

"Okay." He stumbled into the house.

"But this is different," Stan said. "My father's acting even stupider than ever before. Perhaps Toolshed wants to help his father because he feels he could have saved him all those years ago."

"That's a pretty cool story."

"What is your backstory? Did something happen with your parents, too?"

"Uh, I'd rather not talk about it," Darren kept walking.

"That's okay. It must be very painful."

"Uh, right."

They kept going further down the street and all the way pass the old tracks. "This is the home of Mysterion," Stan said as they stopped by Kenny's house's front window. It was broken, with hardly any glass left, and two large wooden boards shabbily screwed over it. "He has a shortcut to the north of town." He used his drill to unscrew the lowest board and remove it, then climbed in through the window.

Darren made a face as he looked around the inside of the house. He had almost forgotten how disgusting it was, but, honestly, he had seen worse. He followed Stan around and into the hall, then into Kenny's room, pausing a moment to look it over. He didn't recall ever actually seeing Kenny's room.

The walls were cracked and peeling, and the carpet was shabby and stained. The light bulbs on the ceiling had no cover and were broken, looking as if something had hit and shattered them long ago. The only other possible source of light, aside from the window, was the shade-less lamp sitting on the bedside table. The bed was just a box spring and a mattress on the floor with a flattened pillow and an old blanket. The curtains on the window were torn and tattered, and the only decorations on the walls were two posters, one of a golden-tanned woman in a bikini and the other of a monster truck. Other than that, there wasn't much to be found. He did have a small dresser in the corner with an empty tank of some kind on top of it, a large trunk beside it, and a skateboard that was snapped in half. Other than Darren and Stan, the only souls there were the small white Oracle Stone resting on the bedside table and a sleeping banshee that was curled up on the bed like a cat.

Darren felt bad for Kenny, but he could see why Lucy did not like to be here. Brooke, on the other hand, well, Darren figured that she just liked Kenny too much to really be bothered by it. Though, he was aware that Kenny usually preferred to go to her house, instead. The next thing on his mind was this banshee.

It was hard to tell if he knew the creature or not. They all looked the same aside from having different colored eyes, and he was sure that some of them had the same color eyes, too. Plus, this one was asleep. Although the skeletal monsters did not have eyelids or actual eyeballs, they had these odd glowing orbs for eyes that retained the ability to blink or 'close' and disappear completely from the sockets. He went over to the monster and poked its shoulder blade.

The banshee's tail twitched and the orbs blinked back into its eye sockets as it woke up. It turned and gazed sleepily at him with purple eyes. "Oh, hey."

"Joey?" Darren did recognize the voice. "What are you doing here?"

"Sleepin'. Or…I was." He opened his jaws in a wide yawn, showing the only flesh part of a banshee's body, the long, pointed, blue tongue. He rose to his paws and stretched like a dog, lowering his front half and curling his long tail over his head before shaking himself and appearing wide awake.

"Er, no, I meant, why are you sleeping HERE, in Kenny's house?"

"It was closer."

"R-Right."

He tilted his head, causing it to slowly tilt further before he jerked it back into place. "What are…YOU doing here?"

"We're heading for Professor Chaos's lair," Stan told him.

The banshee's eyes widened. "Who?"

"We're superheroes," Darren explained. "Charles and Lamar gave us and some other kids Sub-Shadow Potions so we could play with actual superpowers."

"Cool, cool… Eh, wait, no. That's not allowed."

"Too late now, I guess. Besides, Brooke knows. I mean, I don't know if she approved, but at least she knows. Do you want to come with us?"

Joey thought about it for a moment. "Mm…all right. I'm down for a round. Lead the way, superdudes."

"The shortcut's through the closet," Stan said.

They entered the closet where Stan slid open a small secret door then slipped on through. Joey had to lower himself to get through, but managed to follow them outside. They exited through an old broken dryer and into the backyard, passed through the hollowed remains of the sodosopa ruins, and made their way around the old abandoned train station all the way to the U-Stor-It storage facility.

"They're here! Coon Friends, assemble!" Cartman jumped down from the top of a nearby parked car. Scott, Craig, Kyle, Jimmy, and Clyde all gathered around, posing dramatically. "Well, well," Cartman said. "The buttfucking traitor actually showed up."

"Hey, whoa, whoa, nuh-uh. I said I'd help him, not you losers."

"Yeah, well, Butthole is a Coon Friend and Coon Friends work together, douche."

"Come on," Craig said. "We need to get inside this fence."

"Yeah, Toolshed," Jimmy added. "That's what the newbie wants."

"FINE." Stan went over to a large generator sitting beside the entrance and plugged something into it. He noticed Joey watching confusedly. "As long as there's a power generator nearby, I can use my dad's sandblaster to clear almost any obstacle." He used the tool to blow away the large pile of red Legos blocking the entrance.

"Cool, cool," Joey nodded.

"All right," Kyle said as they entered. "Classi said the cats all go to one of these storage facilities. Everyone fan out!"

The kids started to search around the area, clicking their tongues and calling for any potential cats hiding nearby. Joey watched them curiously for a moment before spotting something glinting on the ground. He went over to it, sniffed at it, then picked it up in his broken jaws to bring it over to Stan.

"What'd you find?" Stan took the aluminum mask from him.

The lights all around the facility suddenly switched on with loud clunks and the gate locked shut behind them. The whole place was revealed to have been decorated with Halloween decorations and aluminum foil spikes along the tops of the units. The large monitor atop the nearest unit displayed a live feed of Butters wearing his villain costume.

Butters laughed manically. "Hello, Coon Friends."

"Coon AND Friends," Cartman corrected on account of Stan and Joey being there.

"Come into my parlor! I've bought more tinfoil and more minions than you can possibly fathom! I've been given twenty-thousand dollars to keep nosy people away from this place."

"What?"

"Twenty-thousand just to keep people from snooping around! But I only need a few hundred for that." He picked up a little costumed hamster and stroked it. "So, you know what I'm gonna do with all the rest?"

Craig was the one who responded. "Go to Paris and get a penile enhancement and fuck French chicks?"

"Super Craig…" Cartman said disappointedly.

"Wrong!" Butters placed the hamster in a ball. "I'm going to destroy this town and prove that I'M the bad guy! Not this new kingpin jerk-head! So long, Coon Friends! Go, my minions! Destroy them!"

They watched, horrified, as the nearest storage unit opened and about twenty or thirty hamsters in balls rolled out. They soon relaxed into a more bewildered state, though, as the little animals ignored them and rolled around aimlessly.

"Minions? No, minions. You gotta kill 'em! Aw, dang it…" The monitor shut off.

Cartman sighed. "Let's just find what we're looking for and get out of here."

"Huh," Joey watched one of the hamsters roll by. "This wasn't what I was expecting to happen. I guess it's true what they say. The world is an oyster. So, lets go find the pearl." He walked off.

"Uh, what?" Stan said.

"Sometimes Joey speaks in metaphors or something," Darren said. "Come on."

The kids and the banshee made their way through the storage facility, every now and then encountering motion reactive decorations that would jump or make noise at them. They went around several of the units and came to an open spot between some of them where eight or so television screens had been hung up on the units. Butters' face appeared on all of them.

"III seeeee youuu! You didn't really think I wouldn't have a backup plan, did you? Do you not comprehend how many minions twenty-thousand dollars can buy?"

"Butters, actually," Cartman shouted, "if somebody gave you a bunch of money, by law, that money belongs to our franchise. All of us!"

"Oh-ho, no. You see, more cash means, MORE MINIONS! Let's see how you handle this!"

Four kids wearing black eye masks and aluminum outfits jumped out at them, along with two large dogs that were also decorated with foil and made to appear as if they were robots.

"Chaos or die!" One of the kids threw a CD at Cartman, striking him with it like a blade.

"Fucking Chaos Minion!"

"Screw you, Chaos!" Stan threw a screwdriver, one left and one right, with a powerful force behind them. They struck the kid and one of the dogs, causing the animal to whimper and run away.

"Hm," Butters said. "You've merely removed a grain of sand in the hourglass that is your doom!"

"Your minions are no match for my claws, Chaos!" Cartman slashed at the kid that had hit him.

"Draw!" Stan pulled out his power drill and activated it, pressing it into the ground. Several magical, spinning screw tips, bigger than each of them, drilled out from the ground in an X-shaped pattern and harmed two of the other kids and the remaining dog.

"You guys are fucking cool," Darren smirked. He slashed at the last Chaos Kid, but other than the force of impact, the fire itself did not seem to harm him.

"Our armor is impervious to fire and lava!" Butters laughed.

"Come on," Cartman said. "It's the last one!"

"Wrong again, Coon! With all my new funding, I have found an even greater source of minions, all who are willing to work for extremely reasonable salaries!"

Several Hispanic men dressed in similar outfits to that of the Chaos Kids, stepped out from one of the units, looking highly confused.

"Vamonos minions! Destroy them!"

"Caos ninos, agachense!"

"Un job es un job," one of the men said as he whacked Stan with some kind of dog toy.

"I hit the child, si?" One of the others kicked Darren.

"OW! Fucking shit, man! Joey, do something!"

"But I'm a pacifist."

"Then help by being a pacifist!"

Joey looked confused for a moment, then seemed to think of something. He dove, disappearing below the ground, then popped back out over Kyle just before he was going to get hit. The attacker had ended up striking the banshee's hard skull instead of Kyle. Joey shook his head a little but otherwise seemed unbothered.

"Es un diablo!" The man ran away.

"No, no es un diablo," Joey said. "Es un monstruo."

The other men dropped their toy weapons and ran away screaming.

"Wha- Minions, come back!"

Darren laughed. "Great job, Joey!"

"Uh, thanks?"

"Aw, jeez." The televisions all around went back to static.

"Quickly, let's go," Cartman said.

They continued through the facility until they encountered Craig observing a truck that appeared to be in the process of being completely wrapped in foil. "Why would Chaos want to wrap an entire truck in aluminum foil?"

"That's not the problem!" They all looked up to see Wendy, Call Girl, looking down at them from the top of the units. "Is aluminum foil really what you guys are concerned with?"

"Oh," Joey said. "There's a female."

Stan looked at him oddly.

"Who the fuck is that?" Cartman asked.

"You were right about the Italian restaurant, Butthole," she said.

Darren blinked. "I was?"

"The owner is a part of a new crime syndicate."

"Who the fuck is that?!"

"I have no idea," Stan replied.

"Well she's not in the union! Excuse me! Are you on Coonstagram?!"

She ignored him. "There's someone new in town who's bringing all the crime families together."

"You mean, like a kingpin?" Jimmy asked.

"You guys, do not say anything!" Cartman said. "We're not playing with her."

"Check out storage facility 56-D, Butthole." She left.

"So," Cartman huffed. "I guess any fucking asshole thinks they can be a superhero?"

"Sure, sure," Joey said. "If you've got the capabilities and the guts to do it, then why not? You pickin' up what I'm layin' down?"

"…What are you, a hippie?"

"Let's just find Scrambles and be done with it," Stan said.

"What's a Scrambles?" the banshee asked as he followed.

"A fat, old cat," Darren told him.

"Oh, I've been smelling some cats around here."

"What?" Kyle said. "Why didn't you say so?!"

He shrugged. "It was not pitched to me what the goal was, so I couldn't catch your drift. Ya know?"

"Uh, r-right. So, lead us to the cats!"

Joey nodded then started sniffing the air. He lowered his head and began to follow an invisible trail through and around the units until they reached a larger one. He bumped his head against the door then lifted his head. "Gotta go through this one."

They lifted the door up to get inside, jumping as an excessive amount of red Legos suddenly poured down to trap them inside.

"Oh shit, lava!" Stan said.

They heard laughter.

"Stop fucking around, Chaos!"

"Not Professor Chaos! His partner in crime – General Disarray!"

They turned around to see a smaller, curly-haired boy holding some kind of remote control.

"And the newest partner – General Discord!"

They followed his gesture up to see Riley leaning over the railing of a balcony above them that wrapped around the room. He had his head resting in one of his hands, while the other hand dangled an odd controller over the railing. "Uh, hey," he waved lazily.

"Riley?" Darren smirked. "Butters got you to play, too?"

He sighed. "Yeah…"

"Do you know what Professor Chaos has planned for this city?!" Disarray said.

"You're taking this too far," Stan said.

"Yes," Cartman agreed. "It's time to teach you two a lesson!"

"That won't be as easy as you think! Discord!"

"Uh-huh." Riley started fiddling with the controller. There was a large crane on the ceiling that had been completely covered with a mass of foil that was, rather impressively, designed to resemble a dragon's maw. The dragon head moved across the ceiling and opened its jaws to drop a mass of Legos.

"Coon, look out!"

Cartman leapt forward to dodge them.

Disarray laughed. "The floor is lava! Or soon it will be! How would you like a brief serving of chaos, kite boy?" He threw a CD at Kyle.

"Ow, fuck!" It had cut his cheek.

"Shit, Joey!" Darren shouted. The banshee had been covered under the pile of Lego bricks. "AH!" He had barely noticed the dragon head moving into position above him, but luckily managed to run out of the way in time.

Riley smirked a little.

"Bring the terrifying death machines known as the Mecha Minions!" Disarray pressed the button on his remote.

A door swung open and two Hispanic men wrapped together in a large cardboard box covered with foil stepped out. "Estamos colocados en el modo."

The Mecha Minion swung a burly arm at Cartman, catching him in the chest, winding him, and throwing him against the wall before charging at Kyle. He yelped and ran out of the way, stopping on his toes and trying not to fall face-first into the Legos that were blocking him.

"We'll deal with these guys," Stan told Darren and Jimmy. "You guys get up there and take that controller from Discord!"

"I'll get you there f-f-fast!" Jimmy grabbed Darren's wrist and bolted across the battle area. He had to zigzag a few times around Legos as he made way for the ladder leading up to Riley. However, Riley had already gotten the crane back over to himself and had it spew bricks in the way of the ladder, causing Jimmy to skid to a halt. "F-f-fucking dicks!"

"I got you!" Clyde flew over, grabbing Darren by the shoulders, then tossed him over the Legos to the ladder.

"Ah!" Darren had not been expecting it, but he managed to catch himself on the ladder and climb up before the dragon crane released another batch of bricks. He ran over to Riley, stopping when the other boy turned to face him. Darren suddenly remembered Riley's old reputation as the aggressive kid that would beat people up for bothering him. Then, he had an idea. He moved closer and bent over with his rear facing Riley. "Drop the remote or I'll fart on you!"

He visibly flinched. "Wh-whoa, hold up."

"Drop it!"

"Okay, okay!" He tossed the controller over the edge. "Oh, shit…"

They both leaned over to watch it fall and smash on the hard ground. The crane jerked and flung itself back, hitting the waiting containers of bricks that were sitting on the balcony and causing them to spill out onto the ground below.

The bricks poured heavily onto the Mecha Minion, and Scott managed to take down Disarray. "I think that's it," Stan said.

"I wouldn't count on it," Cartman said. "We should – wait. Super Craig? Oh my god, Super Craig?!"

Darren slid down the ladder to meet them and run over to Craig. He was trapped on the other side of an ever-growing river of Lego bricks.

"Shit," Stan glanced around frantically. "There's no air compressor. I can't remove that lava!"

"Hang on, Super Craig," Cartman told him. "We're gonna find something to plug Toolshed's sandblaster into."

"You and I both know I'm already dead."

"No, Super Craig! We're gonna find a way to save you! Do something Toolshed!"

"There's nothing here! My sandblaster needs compressed air to work!"

"It's okay guys," Craig said. "We all knew that when we signed on to be Coon Friends that it might end like this. Sorry, Coon, but it looks like this was a one-way trip."

"No, Super Craig, NO!"

Jimmy had to pull Cartman back from the bricks.

"I'm starting to remember things in my past," Craig said. "Things I regret, people I wish I'd been kinder to…"

"Somebody get a goddamn air compressor! Kite, Mosquito, fly over there!"

"We can't," Kyle said. "My kite and his wings got fucked up from the Mecha Minion!"

"Ooh!" Darren grabbed the tube of Stan's sandblaster. "I have a weird idea." He pulled his pants down and shoved it in his butt. "I can't use my farts!"

Stan blinked at him. "Are you crazy? Do you know what kind of fart power somebody would need to make that work?"

He closed his eyes and tensed, feeling his stomach rumble. Stan looked startled as the sandblaster started to shake. He pointed it at the lava just in time for it to release a blast that blew a large chunk of the bricks away and knocked Craig over.

"Jesus Christ," Clyde said. "That's an asshole?!"

Cartman went over to Craig. "Super Craig!"

"What – What happened?"

"ButtLord shoved a tube up his ass and cleared away all the lava."

"Oh!"

"You guys go get Chaos. I've gotta try and stabilize Super Craig." He pulled a large syringe out from his pocket and used his teeth to remove the cap covering the big needle. He spit it out then jabbed the needle into Craig's chest.

"OW! Fuck!"

"It's cool."

"What the fuck was that, you asshole?!"

"It's an intracardiac injection, Super Craig. I had to stabilize you."

"Are you fucking serious right now?!" Craig sat up. "You could've fucking killed me!"

"Where the fuck did you get that, Cartman?" Stan asked.

"Online. Super Craig just stay still. You've suffered a lot."

"Fucking get away from me!"

Joey suddenly burst from the Lego bricks in the corner and shook himself, sending little bricks flying from his ribcage and skull.

"Joey!" Darren hugged the banshee. "You're okay! Oh thank god! I thought I was going to have to explain to Brooke that I got her banshee crushed under Legos."

"Nah, I just took a nap, is all."

"A nap?!"

"Hey," Kyle said. "We have Disarray but…where'd Discord go?"

Darren looked around. "Goddamn it! I got distracted and let him escape!"

"We'll deal with him later," Stan said. "Joey, can you still pick up the trail of those cats?"

"Oh, sure, sure." He sniffed around. "Yeah. Follow me."

They continued to follow Joey through the facilities until he stopped again at one of the units. This one was labeled with the number that Wendy had given them earlier. Joey stood on his hindlegs, grabbing the door with his hands, then pulled it up and opened it. Inside were four men who looked like meth heads extracting urine from funnels strapped to cats' butts.

"What the fuck?" One of the men said. "What the hell are you kids doing here?"

Cartman showed them the poster of Scrambles. "This cat. Where is it?!"

"That's some real high-grade shit there. Cat like that would go to the boss man himself."

"We're not supposed to talk about him!"

"He don't even do it for the money, man. It's like he wants more crime in the streets."

"You fucker! We're gonna die if you don't keep your mouth shut!"

"We're already dead anyway!" He grabbed a cat and shook it, causing it to spray his face with urine. He collapsed, knocking something over that caught fire and trailed the flames over to a barrel marked as explosive.

The kids and Joey ran out of the unit just before it blew up, setting off several car alarms across the town.

"Aw man, kick ass," Cartman said.

"Welp," Joey shook himself. "Looks like I got some little kitty souls to collect. Hm, wonder who's gonna come for those humans? Ah well, I'll see who in a bit." He looked at Darren. "Thanks for inviting me to watch violent children. Was real fun… Until it wasn't. Anyways, work is work, ya know? I'll catch you another time and place."

"Okay, see you, Joey."

The banshee entered the burning unit as the children continued forward. They ended up coming across a large unit with a huge foil mask plastered to the door. Inside, at the back of the room, was a foil-wrapped recliner sitting on top of a small stage. It had all been decorated with foil to look like a throne. They had expected to encounter Butters here, but instead, they found Jake sitting comfortably in the throne while Riley stood beside him talking to him. They both stopped and looked over at the heroes as they entered.

"Discord!" Stan said. "There you are!"

"Fucking hell," Riley huffed.

"And who is this? Another accomplice?"

"Huh?" Jake tilted his head. He was not actually wearing a tin foil outfit or anything. He only had on his typical black shirt and black duffle coat, though it didn't appear to be carrying all the stuff he used to have in it. His shirt was noticeably looser, likely due to weight loss from cancer.

"Oh," Kyle said. "Are you not in this?"

Jake smiled at him. "Not at all, cutie."

Kyle flinched a little.

"Where is Professor Chaos, Discord?" Cartman demanded.

Riley flipped his middle finger at him then climbed a ladder off to the side that led to the roof.

Cartman looked offended, then ran over to Jake. "You! Tell us what's going on!"

He shrugged. "No idea, pal. …I like your outfit, though."

"Oh, uh, thanks. But I KNOW you know something! After all, you're one of Chaos's playthings!"

Jake looked surprised for a moment then burst out laughing before a fit of coughing stopped him. "Ah – ah, dude, don't make me laugh so hard."

"Then tell us what you know about his plan!"

"Nothin' to tell."

"Goddamn it!"

"Dude, Cartman," Stan said. "Lay off, he doesn't know what's going on."

Cartman turned on him. "He may have YOU fooled, but not The Coon! Abandoned and then cheated by life with cancer, that's all a recipe for a villain."

"Dude," Darren hissed. "Don't bring that shit up!"

Jake, on the other hand, didn't look bothered. He only watched them, amused. "Look, pal, I don't know what Riles and that cutie are up to. Why don't you just go ask? I mean, they're on the roof, I think. Oh, uh, I heard something stompin' around up there earlier."

"What is it?" Darren asked.

He shrugged. "Don't know. I was askin' Riley, but then you guys showed up."

Cartman pointed a claw at him. "You better not try anything funny."

"Dude, I literally can't even stand up for more than a minute at most. Relax." He watched them climb the ladder, looking particularly friendly towards Kyle then smiling at Darren. "See ya, cutie."

Darren winced. "O-Oh, uh…o-okay."

On the roof, they gained a perfect view of the many dump trucks being filled with red Legos by the Hispanic minions. "What the fuck?" Stan said.

"Oh my god," Cartman said. "He's gonna declare the entire town lava."

"Well, well." They jumped at the voice. "You actually made it to the end, Coon Friends."

"Coon AND Friends! Butters, GODDAMN IT!"

"And now you know that you are too late," he continued.

"Come out and fight like a man, Chaos!" Clyde called.

"Oh, I am much more than a man now, Mosquito. I have finally bought enough tinfoil to piece together my greatest weapon yet… GREETINGS!"

They felt stomping and turned to see Butters sitting in the makeshift cockpit of a huge tinfoil monstrosity composed of two dogs, several people, a man for each an arm, and hamsters in balls attached to the feet, and several firework mortars on the shoulders.

"I'd like you to meet MECHA MINION CHAOS SUPREME!"

"Es un trabajo…" one of the Hispanics said.

"Oh shit, bro," Stan said. "Well that's a – that's a hell of a construction project."

"Thanks! Check out my missiles fellas. Aren't they cool?" The mortars shot rockets up into the sky that turned and dropped back down towards them, exploding as they landed.

.

Jake was playing with a hamster in his lap. "Aw, lookit your little cape." Suddenly, something like explosions sounded and shook the roof. He jumped, causing the hamster to squeak with surprise. "What the heck's goin' on up there?"

.

"BUTTERS!" Darren shouted. "Are you trying to KILL us?!"

He laughed. "Yes, be afraid!"

"Draw!" Stan said.

The magical drills shot out and grinded into the legs of the Mecha Minion, leaving them unsteady. Craig and Scott charged him, ramming into the foil monstrosity and causing it to collapse.

"Tiene que enviar mi cheque!" Several of the men took off.

"Well okay, fellas, that was a minor setback, but Chaos cannot be stopped so easily. Initiate phase two!"

There were three men left. The one in the middle lifted them and swung around, allowing the other two to swing their fists at the kids. Kyle and Clyde were hit, while Jimmy managed to dodge it and attack the man in the middle, forcing him to stop and fall on his knees.

"Time for my best attack," Stan skillfully spun his drill in his hand then raised it high. "Gun slinger!" The drill bit glowered and extended, growing large. As it began to spin, an orange beam surrounded it and began to spiral as well. He lowered it, allowing it to drill into the Mecha Minion until it fell apart again.

All that was left now were the two dogs carrying Butters in the cockpit. "Man," Butters said. "I'm really glad I opted for three phases. Mecha – Mega!" The dogs began running. "Chaaarge!" They dashed forward with the weight of the cockpit and barreled into Stan and Scott.

Darren lashed out with his fire claws in time to hit them and make them stop in their tracks. Cartman came up behind the Mecha Minion, leaping onto it and tearing away the plastic cockpit before he was thrown off and Craig charged in to strike. Finally, the rest of the foil and plastic fell apart and the dogs bolted in opposite directions to escape, leaving Butters collapsed on the floor.

"All right, Chaos," Stan said. "Talk! Who gave you the money to do all this?"

"Butters, wake up!" Kyle shook him.

"I think he's dead, dude," Craig said.

"He's not dead." Cartman kicked him, getting a grunt out of the other kid.

"Uh, fellas," Jimmy said. "I think we better get him back to base."

"All right, we'll take him to the holding cell." Cartman pulled him to his feet.

"Holding cell?" Butters looked around dizzily. "Oh jeez, it's kind of late, fellas. I should get home or I'm going to be grounded."

"You should've thought of that before you tried to lava the town, Chaos." He dragged him away.

The others followed, aside from Kyle and Darren who had noticed Stan heading the other way. "Hey, dude…" Kyle said.

Stan stopped.

"It was great working with you again, man. It was like old times."

He took a deep breath then turned around. "Yeah, well, I told you – this was a one-shot deal. I only helped out because I owed Butthole a favor."

"Come on 'Shed. Come back to the team."

"Can't do that, Kite. Freedom Pals is going to make way more money with their franchise."

"You're wrong! We're gonna make like a billion dollars."

"We're gonna make like a zillion dollars," he sounded upset and turned to leave.

Darren glanced between the two, not sure if he should say anything, before he spotted Riley about to go back down the ladder. "Hey, where were you?"

Riley looked at him. "Huh? Oh, uh, I just came to make sure you guys didn't actually hurt Butters." He blushed and looked away. "Uh, anyways, I gotta get Jake back home, so…just, uh, make sure they go easy on Butters for me."

He smiled. "Heh, sure, Riley."

.

"What if the person paying Butters wasn't a kid?" Kyle suggested.

"I-Is that it, Chaos?" Jimmy called. "Were you paid by an adult?"

Butters was locked inside of a dog kennel in the corner. "I'm tellin' ya: I don't know his name, fellas! Nobody does! He's just trying to unite all the crime families in town. He's everywhere! He's nameless. Faceless. He can change his appearance like the wind changes direction!"

"Wait, what did you say?" Cartman looked at him.

"He says there's a revolution coming and the darkness of our own hearts will bring about our undoing!"

"Oh my god…" Cartman got up from his chair. "Could it be? No, it's impossible…"

"What's impossible?" Kyle asked.

"There's only one person I know of who can disguise himself so easily…and it's the same person who might have a motive for tearing South Park apart."

"Who?" Clyde asked eagerly.

"Mitch Conner."

"Mitch Conner?" Craig echoed.

"Oh, no." Kyle waved his hands. "No, no, no, no, no, no."

"Who's Mitch Conner?"

"It's Cartman's dumbass hand puppet!"

"You know DAMN WELL that Conner was just USING my hand to suit his needs! At first, he disguised himself as Jennifer Lopez, who loves tacos and burritos. When his cover was blown, he was arrested by the police but escaped."

"But why would he want to take down South Park?" Jimmy asked.

"SHUT UP!" Kyle snapped at them. "It's not Mitch stupid fucking Conner!"

"How do you know?"

"No, Kyle is right, you guys," Cartman said. "It couldn't be Mitch Conner. Conner died in an oil-rig explosion in Northern Alaska."

Kyle slowly slid his chair away from the table. "Fuck this. I'm going to bed." He started to make his way upstairs.

"Yes, yes. Good idea, Human Kite. Everyone get back to your homes. It's getting late. Let's all reconvene tomorrow. After…school…"

Outside, the other boys encountered Lucy on her way back home. "Oh." She stopped to look them over. "Er, hello, boys. W-Why…are you dressed like that?"

"L-Lucy!" Kyle jumped and stepped a little behind Darren. "W-What are you doing out so late?"

"I'm…a werewolf," she reminded him. "Er, I was…well, I was hunting."

"Oh! …Did you…catch anything?"

"Of course. Now, what are all of YOU doing out at this time and dressed…like you are?"

"We're superheroes investigating the crime syndicate in South Park," Scott told her.

"I…see."

"Lucy," Darren glanced at Scott and Jimmy. "Did you just talk about monster stuff in front of…you know?"

"Oh, I am well aware that all of you present know all about it," she told him. "I am also well aware – WELL aware – that Charles and Lamar went around distributing Sub-Shadow Potions to you all." She eyed Kyle. "And that you all used them."

He looked down, avoiding her piercing blue gaze.

Lucy sighed. "Still, I must ask you all to be careful. Do not take anymore of the same potions before the effects of these wear off. Otherwise, you'll experience…unpleasant side effects."

"Noted," Darren said.

"Hey, L-L-Lucy," Jimmy said. "Have you ever heard of someone who is everywhere, nameless, f-faceless, and can change his appearance like the wind changes direction?"

She thought for a moment. "Hm. There are only three that come to mind."

"Mitch Conner?" Scott asked. Kyle shot him a glare.

"I am not familiar with that name," she replied. "No, the three I'm thinking of are not actually individuals. Rather, they are what you might call three races or species. One would be the Shadow Clan. They do not have true physical forms, but are capable of taking any shape they wish and changing it on a whim. They are also very unique, intelligent, and stealthy. They can be anywhere at anytime and few would know. Either in the physical form of something or someone, or in the shadows themselves."

"That's pretty badass," Craig said.

"And s-s-spooky," Jimmy added.

"Fear not," Lucy said. "Though they are Nether monsters, they are not actively aggressive and prefer to keep to themselves. They rarely show themselves or interact with mortals. Actually, they don't often appear to other monsters, either. After the first war, their kind became scarce. The other species of monster that I thought of would be the tanukis."

"The what?" Clyde asked.

"Another rare and unique race. A tanuki has the appearance of a bipedal racoon, about our height when fully grown, and often carrying a large sack upon their shoulders."

"A sack?"

"Yes," she said. "Eh, they are natural thieves and pranksters. Tanukis thoroughly enjoy teasing and taunting and see their antics as little more than a game. Their preferred targets are mortals, particularly humans. Tanuki are also shapeshifters. They can use their magic to change their appearance into other beings, but not inanimate objects. Though, they are capable of turning objects into leaves and leaves into objects."

"What for?" Kyle asked.

"Turning large items into leaves makes it much easier to carry and transport them," she explained. "And turning a leaf into an object is good for trickery and deceit. As they are known for. Of course," she said quickly, "they are not evil! Just…troublesome. Actually, I believe I caught the scent of one earlier. Do be on the lookout. I'm certain it would not be shy about confronting any of you directly considering you all know about the Nether and its residents."

"What about the third thing?" Darren asked. "You said you thought of three things."

"Oh, yes, well… The third would be the Nightmares." She looked away very briefly. "Yes, they, like the Shadow Clan, are also capable of hiding in the darkness and changing their appearance on a whim." She quickly straightened herself. "But! Don't worry about that."

"We don't have to worry about the Nightmares?" Kyle asked.

"N-" She paused, as if the word got caught inside of her and didn't want to come out. She looked away from him. "…No. No, you do not." She said it firmly, as if trying to convince herself more than them. "Now, if you'll excuse me…"

To be continued…