So, I've been on hiatus for a while due to film school and all. Now that my term is up, and after watching the Vaccination Special, I've decided to go back to writing. Without further ado, here we go.
Divided We Fall
A small group of cowboys sneaked through the woods on the outskirts of South Park. The boy at the front, DogPoo, raised a hand, signaling for the others to stop. After a brief pause, he motioned for the other cowboys to spread out. They each took their positions, hiding in the trees and bushes.
Carefully pulling out his pistol, DogPoo raised it in the air, aimed, and fired. There was a grunt of pain, followed by an Indian Hunter falling out of a tree an hitting the ground with a thud.
With the scout neutralized, the cowboys could carry forward to their target: a small Indian encampment out in the woods. A tipi was strewn out in the center, guarded by a few braves.
"The Indian base is in sight," DogPoo whispered to his comrades. "Tweek, are you in position?"
"Y-Yes," Tweek said, dressed as an outlaw. Taking his slingshot, he took careful aim at the tipi. "On your command."
"Ready. . . fire!" DogPoo ordered, motioning with his pistol.
With a shout, Tweek launched his stick of dynamite at the tipi. The tent was shattered, causing the Indian guards to scramble, shocked at the sudden attack.
With their enemies in disarray, the cowboys struck. Letting out a shout, they descended from the hills, shooting at the Indians. Some of them tried to fight back, but were quickly gunned down. Two cowboys, Bandita Sally and Brimmy, tore the Indian tipi to shreds.
"Retreat!" One of the Indian braves shouted. He and his allies fled, vanishing into the woods, evading gunfire from the cowboys.
"Yes, we've captured the base!" DogPoo shouted, firing victoriously into the air. "Now we're one step closer to taking Many Moon's Stronghold!"
As the cowboys cheered, one of the felled Indian braves' eyes peaked open. He eyed the cowboys and covertly reached out to grasp his battleaxe. The cowboys were too busy celebrating their victory to notice the brave raise the axe, aiming for Outlaw Tweek.
Bandita Sally noticed the brave aim the axe. "Look out!" She cried, causing the cowboys to whirl around on the brave, but it was too late.
With an angry grunt, the brave hurled the battleaxe, striking Outlaw Tweek in the throat. With a pained gasp, he flew backwards and hit the ground, lying motionless from the blow.
There was a tense silence as the cowboys stared down at their fallen comrade. Then, DogPoo whirled around on the brave.
"No fair, Fosse!" He shouted angrily. "I shot you! You were dead!"
"Nuh-uh, I only played dead!" Fosse retorted. "So I could sneak attack you!"
"That's not how it works, asshole!" Brimmy shouted. "We're gonna tell Stan of Many Moons on you! He's gonna kick you out of the Adventure game, and you'll have to join the lame-ass Fantasy or Sci-Fi game!"
"Whatever!" Fosse shouted. "This is gay!" With that, he took off in the direction of the other fleeing Indians.
With the Indians gone, the cowboys turned to Tweek, who was still in pain from the sudden blow. "Are you alright?" Brimmy asked as they pulled him to his feet.
"Yeah," Tweek said, rubbing his sore neck. "I can't believe Stan let that asshole become an Indian."
"Stan will let anyone become an Indian nowadays," DogPoo said, rolling his eyes. "Ever since the. . . incident, it's like he's lost all his standards for who he associates with."
There was a brief pause at the mention of the "incident". The cowboys shuffled awkwardly, recalling the behavior of the boys in the aftermath of said incident.
"Well," Brimmy said, hoping to change the subject. "I guess we should set up base. Then we can move on to bigger matters."
"So how do you think you did on the exam?" Heidi asked her friend Isla as the two walked down the sidewalk, clutching their folders.
"I think I did okay," Isla replied, shrugging. "I'm not gonna lie, the first few questions kind of tripped me up, but eventually, I got the hang of it and-"
THUNK!
An arrow was fired at the ground before their feet, causing the girls to stop in their tracks. Isla let out a surprised yelp, dropping her folders. She was about to pick them up, but stopped when she saw the Arrow Tower looming above them, an elf standing guard at the top. It was only then that the girls saw that the street had several towers built across.
"Trespassers!" The elf guard accused, his bow drawn. "What business do you have here?"
"Uh, excuse us, we're just passing through," Heidi explained.
"The Elf King has decreed that this area is off-limits to humans," Another elf guard informed them. "You're not welcome here."
"We're just going home," Isla said, nervous at the weapons the elves had at their disposal, regardless of how lethal they actually were.
"How do we know you're not spies?" The first elf guard said suspiciously. "Sent by the Dwarf King in preparations for his upcoming attack on the Elven Kingdom?"
Heidi moved forward and raised her arm, shielding her friend. "We're not spies. Look, we'll just take a different path home."
Placing a hand on Isla's shoulder, she prepared to turn away, but several elves moved and surrounded them. "Hey, we were leaving!" Heidi protested.
"We have to make sure you're not spies!" One of the elves declared. "Check them!"
Isla let out a frightened cry as she was violently jerked around by the elven guards, who checked her bag and folder for any weapons. "Leave her alone!" Heidi snapped, moving to try and defend her friend, only to get knocked to the ground as well.
As Heidi tried to get up, a dark figure suddenly burst out of hiding, striking the elven guards with stunning speed and ferocity. The elven guards stumbled backwards; one of them raised a sword and lunged at the figure, but was knocked onto his back in seconds. A knife was aimed at his throat.
"Leave the girls alone," Rogue Token warned, removing the knife from the elf's neck. He aimed it at the other elf guards, who retreated back to their posts. Then, he picked up the girls' bags and handed them back to Heidi and Isla. Shielding the girls, he led them out of the area.
"Thank you," Isla whispered meekly as they headed down a different sidewalk.
"No problem," Token replied. "You'll always find me in the shadows, protecting the innocent." With that, he vanished as quickly as he had appeared.
Isla quickly headed down the sidewalk, eager to get out of there as quick as possible. Heidi, meanwhile, stayed a while longer, staring at the elven outpost with a blank expression.
Then, she, too, joined her friend.
A group of space marines, led by Craig, advanced towards their target, an abandoned warehouse near the SoDoSoPa area. They pressed their backs against the wall as Craig checked the entrance door.
"Alright men, this is it," Craig told the rest of the marines. "Our sources say the Alien Queen has established a hive here and is using live victims as incubators for her brood. You know our orders: sanitize the area and rescue the hostages. . . before they're infested."
"They got my sister in there," One of the gunners said. "We have to save her."
"We well, Kevin," Craig reassured him. He placed a hand on the doorknob and faced the rest of the marines. "Alright, guys, be prepared: this is gonna get ugly."
Quickly, Craig burst open the door and he and the other marines flooded into the dark warehouse. They advanced through the narrow passageway, ready to fire their weapons at the slightest hint if movement.
"I think I hear something inside that room," One of the marines noted, pointing at a door down the hallway. Indeed, the marines could hear slight breathing on the other side of the door.
Slowly, Craig opened the door and the marines filed inside. Immediately, they covered their noses at the noxious smell filling the room. Toxic Pylons had been placed across the room, poisoning the air.
The marines could see several hostages inside the room. They had been glued to the wall by a sticky substance. A few of them looked quite battered, as if they had struggled while being taken. They were all motionless, although a few were conscious.
"Esther!" Kevin cried out in horror, recognizing his sister among those taken. He rushed to his sister's side, tearing through the substance holding her against the wall.
"Get these victims down from there!" Craig ordered the marines. They rushed to tend to the hostages.
Kevin saw Esther's lips move ever so slightly, but he couldn't make out what she was saying. "What?" He asked. "Could you speak louder?"
"I. . . I said. . . watch out!" She whispered, ending her sentence with a shriek.
Suddenly, one of the pylons was knocked over, spilling the purple toxin onto the ground. "Get away!" Craig shouted as the other marines quickly moved to avoid the toxin.
At that moment, several aliens sprang out of hiding. They hissed angrily as they moved towards the marines. The marines raised their guns and fired at the oncoming aliens. Their dying hisses filled their air as they collapsed onto the ground. One unlucky marine was tackled to the floor, his gun knocked out of his hand before he was dragged, kicking and screaming, out of the room and deeper into the warehouse. Craig continued firing at the alien, but it vanished into the darkness.
With the aliens gone, Craig turned back to his men. "Alright, get the hostages down," He ordered them. "Quickly." The marines obeyed, tearing down the gooey substances, freeing the victims.
"Are you alright?" One marine asked one of the female victims.
"M-More. . . in the warehouse," The girl, Millie, whispered, barely able to speak.
"Alright, some of you, get the victims out of here," Craig ordered. "Take them to Cyborg Tower. Cyborg Kenny will make sure if they're infested or not. The rest of you, follow me. We have to destroy this hive."
The marines picked up the victims, carrying them out the door. Kevin was one of them, carrying Esther until they were safe outside the warehouse.
"Are you alright?" He asked as he gently rested his sister onto the ground.
Esther looked like she was trying to say something, but all that came out was a few painful murmurs. "Seriously, speak up," Kevin said. "I can't hear you."
Esther shut her eyes tight, wincing in pain, before finally managing, with great effort, to speak.
"I told them. . . I didn't want to play."
"Give it back!" Annie shouted as she tried to take the Justin Bieber doll from the aggressor who had taken it.
The 5th grade girls laughed and surrounded their victim. "Why don't you make us?" One of them sneered, giving the smaller girl a hard shove that nearly toppled her over. As she tried to regain her balance, one of the other bullies kicked, finally bringing her to the ground. The girls continued laughing as they loomed over Annie, who was too cowed to even try to get up.
Suddenly, a shuriken was flung through the door, catching one of the girls on the cheek. She let out a pained shriek as blood began to ooze from the cut.
The girls whirled around in the direction from where the shuriken was flung. Annie raised her tear-streaked eyes as well, and saw a boy, wearing a raccoon mask, holding several other shurikens.
"Why don't you leave the girl alone?" The masked boy said. "If not, you'll have to face the wrath of the Coonies!"
Several other kids, also wearing raccoon masks, sprang into action. They hurled shurikens at the girls, who screamed and began to flee. Some of the shurikens became imbedded in their skin even as they fled, blood dripping from their wounds.
Annie slowly got to her feet as her assailants fled, sniffing and picking up her doll. The "Coonies" rushed to her side. "Are you alright?" One of them asked.
"Yeah," Annie whispered, hanging her head low. "I wish they would stop picking on me. But I'm too weak to do anything."
The Coonies exchanged glances. "Are you tired of being bullied, Annie?" One of them asked.
Annie nodded.
"There's a way to make sure it never happens again," The boy said. "To become strong and brave, so nobody ever dares to mess with you."
"How?" Annie asked, intrigued.
"Our boss has been forming a new team," One of the female Coonies explained. "He's dedicated himself to enforcing truth, justice and authoritah to these streets. You can become a part of that movement, Annie."
Annie's eyes widened. "Really?" She asked. "I'll join, then."
The Coonies grinned. "Excellent," One of the male Coonies said. "Well, Annie, welcome to the new and improved Coon and Friends!"
Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Read and review.