Hellsender: Thanks.
GBond007: Kyle and Wendy are similar, but fill different roles in Stan's life, hence why they generally don't compete. With Kyle gone, Stan needs someone to fill his role, hence why he turns to Nelly. Thus, Nelly and Wendy aren't really competing with each other.
WarknightXL216: Stan wasn't really scared, he just doesn't want to escalate things.
Captain Wendy and a few of her pirate comrades were heading towards their base in the woods, a small cave. It had been two days since the brief conflict with the Elf King, and the pirates wanted to stock-up on the treasures they had gathered early in the morning, before school started.
"Lovely ruby, Lola," Jenny complimented her friend's gem that she had acquired on their treasure hunt.
"Thanks," Lola replied. "I can't wait to place it next to the others."
As they reached the cave's entrance, however, they were perplexed when they saw a glowing light coming from deeper within the catacombs. "Hey, why is there a light in there?" Captain Wendy questioned. "Girls, did you leave one of the lanterns on?"
The girls shook their head. Concerned, they quickly bolted into the cave to see what was going on. They got their answer soon enough when they saw the unwanted occupants within.
Inside the cave, Dwarf King Clyde and several of his underlings were at work, fashioning weaponry. They were carrying around the pirate's treasures and piling them into a corner, using them to decorate their sword and spears.
The pirates gawked at the sight before them. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Captain Wendy shouted angrily, causing the dwarf army to stop their work and turn towards the visitors.
"Oh, hey girls," Clyde replied dismissively. "We were just readying ourselves for the fight with the Drow Elves. Do you mind, though, we're kind of busy. Could you get out of here?"
"This is our cave!" Lola protested. "That's our treasure you're pilfering! You get out of here!"
"No can do, miss," Dwarf Engineer Dougie replied. "Our weapons storage area got taken over by the Alien Queen, so we had to move up shop someplace else. This cave seemed ideal. It's far out of the alien's reach."
"You jerks!" Wendy shouted, pulling out her pistol. "If you don't get your asses out of our cave, I'll-"
"You do anything and we'll have the entire dwarf army on your ass," Dwarf King Clyde warned. "Just make things easier on yourselves and go hound a jewelry store or something."
Turning away from the girls, he rushed up to Dougie. "Nice work on battleaxe there, Dougie," He complimented, picking up the axe. "Could you polish the shaft a bit more?"
Infuriated, but knowing she and her comrades were at a disadvantage, Wendy let out a loud growl before turning and storming out the cave. Lola blew a raspberry before she and Jenny followed after her.
"Can you believe those assholes?" Wendy complained in the cafeteria later on that day. "They just stole our hideout!"
"And right after those kids in the Fantasy theme made such a huge fuss about us trespassing in their territory!" Lola added. "The fucking hypocrites!"
"Gee, that sucks, you guys," Red replied sympathetically. Wendy narrowed her eyes at her redheaded friend; she couldn't help but be annoyed at how Red wasn't bothering to address her role in Clyde taking their cave.
Next to Red, Annie waved her arm to get Wendy's attention. "You know, you could let me take care of things," She suggested.
"What do you mean?" Lola asked.
"I joined a team from one of the other themes," Annie revealed. "We're dedicated to helping those in need. Just place the order with our leader, and we can go there and show them the error of their ways!"
As she spoke, swinging her arms around to emphasize her words, she accidentally knocked over her milk carton, spilling it onto Red's dress. "Oops, sorry!" The blonde apologized.
"No worries," Red reassured her. Leaning back, she snapped her fingers and called out, "David, dear! Can you take care of this?"
From one of the other tables, David sullenly moved from his seat and headed over to the girl's table. His head lowered, he took out a paper towel and started wiping the stains from Red's shirt. The girls, particularly Wendy, watched on, perplexed. David kept his head lowered to avoid facing the girls, but Wendy could see dark marks on his face.
"So, Wendy, what do you say?" Annie asked, snapping Wendy back to attention.
"Oh, no thanks, Annie," She said. "I can take care of things."
"If you say so, Wendy," The blonde shrugged.
As David returned to his table, Red turned her gaze to Esther, who had remained silent throughout the conversation. "Hey, Esther," She said, getting the raven-haired girl's attention. "I was wondering when you were going to join one of the themes."
"Me?" Esther asked.
"Yeah," Red said, twirling her hair around her finger. "Pretty much everyone in school's joining one. I worry what it would say for someone's reputation if they were left out in the dust."
"Uh, I'll give that some thought," Esther said, before cautiously returning to eating.
Wendy grimaced. She wanted to say something, tell Red she didn't like what she was turning this "game" into, but she decided against it.
Instead, she decided she needed to speak with Stan.
"So, Cartman, how's your new Coon and Friends group coming along?" Kenny asked Cartman as they were exiting school that day.
"Oh, it's sweet," Cartman replied. "They're the best superhero team I could have ever hoped for. They dress like me, leave all the good ideas to me, and most importantly, they follow my orders without any complaints. Unlike some other teams. . ."
"You sure that's a good thing, though?" Kenny inquired. "Just being surrounded by yes-men who never question things?"
"Uh, yeah," Cartman like it was obvious. "What's the downside to that?"
Before Kenny could respond, Scott Malkinson rushed over to him. "Cartman, I received an anonymous tip about where one of Professor Chaos' minions is going to strike! It's outside of Raisins at sundown!"
"Excellent work, Coony!" Cartman replied. "We can capture him and get him to reveal Professor Chaos' location! Then, we can finish things once and for all!"
Turning to Kenny, Cartman said, "See ya Kenny, I've got business to attend to. Superhero business!" With that, he and Scott took off down the sidewalk.
Kenny sighed. He was about to head home when he heard Stan calling out his name from a distance away. He turned around to see Stan and Wendy, rushing towards him.
"Oh, hey guys," Kenny said. "Um, Stan, it's not your shift today."
"Never mind that," Stan replied. "Kenny, we need to talk to you. Wendy just told me that Clyde and his dwarves kicked her out of her hideout."
"Yeah, so?" Kenny asked. "What does that have to do with me?"
"The reason Clyde took over Wendy's hideout is because Red's aliens stole their weapons storage area at the junkyard and made it into another hive," Wendy explained. "Since you're the leader of the Space Marines, we were hoping you could go and destroy the hive. Then, Clyde's men can return there."
"Oh," Kenny said. Rubbing the back of his head, he muttered, "I don't think I can do that, you guys."
"What?" Stan asked. "Why not?"
"The junkyard is in the Fantasy territory," Kenny explained. "Bringing my Space Marines there would disrupt the kids already playing there."
"Ah, dammit," Stan said, irritated. "That's probably why those stupid aliens established a hive there. It's so you wouldn't be able to reach them."
"Well we've got to them out of that junkyard somehow," Wendy pointed out. "Without my hideout, it'll be harder to assist Many Moon's people, and without Clyde's weapon storage area, it'll be harder for the Fantasy kids to play their game."
The three stood there, deep in thought. It was then that Wendy and Kenny noticed Stan's face melt into a grimace. They could tell he had an idea, albeit not a pleasant one.
"What is it, Stan?" Kenny asked, even though he already had an idea of what Stan was thinking.
With a sigh, Stan turned to face Kenny and Wendy.
"We have to talk to Kyle."
"Get out of here, stupid dwarves!" Heidi snarled as she dueled a squire at one of the elven outposts. A small band of Clyde's followers had entered the Drow Elves' territory, and Heidi and the other guards were attempting to fend them off.
"Pointy-eared freak!" Another squire shouted, swinging a flail at Heidi, who agilely ducked under the weapon. Her foot shot out, kicking the flail out of his hands, before headbutting him to the ground.
On the towers, several Castle Defenders launched arrows at the enemy band. At that moment, Catapult Timmy rolled into view. One of the Native Hunters placed a ball of rats into the catapult. "Fire!" He shouted, and Timmy launched the rats at the nearest tower.
"I'm hit!" One of the elves shouted as he was swarmed by the rats, who scurried all over his body. In his panic, he accidentally toppled the tower, who knocked over the tower next to it. This triggered a domino effect, sending several of the towers crashing to the ground, leaving the outpost in ruins.
The dwarf army laughed. "Losers!" One of them shouted. "Once the rest of the Dwarf King's army is mobilized, we're gonna crush you dumb elves once and for all!" With that, the band retreated, their work done.
"You come back here and say that to my face!" Heidi called out as the dwarves vanished down the street. With a sigh, she turned and headed back to the outpost to help the other elves repair the damaged outpost.
As she bent over to pick up one of the towers, she noticed a shadow behind her. In front of her, several elves let out hushed gasps, and Heidi initially thought the dwarves had returned. Quickly, she grabbed her sword and spun around, ready for a fight.
"Wait, stop!" The figure behind her shouted, raising his arms. Heidi saw that it was Stan of Many Moons, and behind him was Captain Wendy and Cyborg Kenny.
"What do you guys want?" Heidi asked, not lowering her sword. "This place is off-limits to other themes."
"We know that," Stan reassured her. "We just need to talk to Kyle."
"What makes you think the Elf King has anything else to say to you?" Heidi asked skeptically, folding her arms.
"Please," Captain Wendy pleaded. "This is important, and it affects all our games. We have to speak with him."
Heidi's stern gaze softened as she realized that the arrivals must have something important to inform Kyle. "Alright," She relented. "I'll take you to the Elf King. But I don't think he'll be very happy to see you."
Stan, Wendy and Kenny all sighed in relief. Heidi cocked her head, gesturing for them to follow her as they headed for the Elven Sanctuary. Even as they resumed walking with her, however, a knot of doubt twisted in their stomachs.
Speaking with Heidi had been the easy part. Talking with Kyle would be another story.
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