It was always the same crap. When they were children they had to put up with it; when they grew up, they had to witness it. Once more, the school was shot up.
«OUR SCHOOL IS BEING SHOT UP RIGHT NOW. WE ARE LOCKED INSIDE THE COMPUTER LAB.»
«THERE ARE PEOPLE LYING DEAD ON THE HALL, OH MY GOD.»
«IF I DON'T MAKE IT, I LOVE YOU, MOM, DAD, BAXTER.»
«THERE IS A SHOOTER ON SOUTH PARK ELEMENTARY!»
Wendy was the first to read the desperate posts students got to write. She perceived the anguish in their messages and was willing to fight. If she got late to work it didn't mind: too many people didn't give a damn about these things happening. If she had to deal with her boss barking at her, so be it.
«School shooting, guys. I'm taking charge.», She said in a message to the rest of the Freedom Pals.
She ran to the closet to put her Call Girl costume and devices...But she had to stop and even hold onto the door frame for balance. She felt so dizzy, like all her energy left and the run had not done any good to her.
«No, no, Wendy, don't do that in your condition. Someone else please handle this.» Ike replied to it, so well timed it almost seemed he knew what was happening to her at that moment.
Wendy wanted to reply that she was okay. She was pregnant, not handicapped (she hoped her challenged friends wouldn't mind the expression)! But she didn't say anything in the end. The truth was that she didn't feel well enough to deal with crazed people with guns. Although it made her feel incredibly frustrated, she had to obey and stay at home.
Also, wasn't it very irresponsible, risking her life and her baby's like that? She also felt like a terrible mother, willing to sacrifice her own child's safety for the lives of kids she didn't even know.
Her mother and mother-in-law had "given her the talk", since this was her first child, told her everything she needed to know about pregnancies and babies; they said that she would feel uneasy very often, being pregnant was worse than the actual labor. But Wendy could never imagine it felt that bad.
And so, another Pal had to take care of the situation.
Tweek Bros. didn't interrupt its activity. There were too many customers to worry about something that didn't concern them anymore, since Tweek graduated from school long before. A lady, apparently mother of a second-grader, made a scene and the Tweaks had to politely ask her to take her hysterical screaming and crying outside, where she wouldn't bother anyone
"Two lattes, Tweek." Mrs. Tweak told her son.
No response.
"Tweek?" Mrs. Tweak tiptoed to see if he was cleaning the tables, or serving the customers, but she didn't find him among the clients.
Tweek was actually thankful that Wendy was in no condition to do this and the others were kind of busy. He was too busy and needed a break. He needed times like these when he said got rid of Tweek Tweak for a while and let Wonder Tweek take control.
Oh, the memories it brought him to be back to the old halls! The running for your life, hiding under the desks, locking the doors, the smallest children running around like headless chicken, the ones who panicked and called their moms...His heart raced just like back in the days when it was him the one running away from the bullets.
There was blood on the floor, all over the lockers, everywhere. He found a three-grader girl lying on a pool of blood who pretended to be dead when she heard someone approach; Tweek used his powers to heal the hole in her shoulder and put her somewhere safe before continuing his path. Everything in a way that no one could interpret as harassment, barely touching her and everything...Just in case...On the way he found two boys who were past helping, unfortunately.
He remembered that Timmy worked at the school as a teacher assistant in Special Ed. Would he be alright?
"Timmy, can you hear me? I'm here...Please, tell me you're not dead too, please..." He thought as loud as he could.
And the response came. ["I'm here, Tweek, I'm okay. We barricaded ourselves. As for what you're thinking right now, I would like to help, but I can't leave the children alone. I don't even have my costume with me."]
"It's okay. I'm here. I can handle this."
["I sense two minds filled with sadistic thoughts and rage. Be careful: they will shoot you the very second they spot you. And, Tweek..."]
"I can do this.." Tweek muttered, and left no room inside of his head for anything that wasn't studying his surroundings, every sound and move, and self-talk. Timmy tried to telepathically tell him to be careful, because he was sensing too much stress inside of his head and feared that would get him killed, but little Sally, autistic, was so utterly terrified she was suffering a meltdown and wouldn't stop screaming at the top of her lungs, and he had to help her. All those children under his care needed him probably more than Tweek did.
The news that the Freedom Pals were there to help spread around social media and brought relief to many.
"MKAY, CHILDREN, COME THIS WAY, THIS WAY!" Mr. Mackey was shouting, guiding confused and astray students to the cafeteria, preventing them from running right where the shooters were. When he saw Tweek coming, he breathed deep. "Wonder Tweek! Thank goodness you're here! I think one of them's on the second floor!"
"On my way, sir!" Tweek replied and was about to ascend when Mackey said:
"Uhm...And if you wouldn't mind, could you please not kill these ones, mkay? These children have seen enough blood for today..."
"Uh, sure..."
Okay, he had to stop them without killing them...Would they be okay if he just hurt them bad? Ah, this was an extra pressure on him! But he could do this, he could do this...
Yes, the shots getting louder with each step he took told him he was getting closer to their source. He moved slowly, carefully, almost like a cat, in order to take them by surprise. He saw the face filled with tears of a teacher through the window of one of the classrooms; Tweek made a gesture to her to stay right where she was and not make a sound.
A bump. One of the shooters was kicking every door he could open and looked into every closet, under the tables, looking for victims. He groaned in frustration when he found abandoned backpacks and books, but no one inside.
He turned around to find Wonder Tweek standing there. He had no time to grab his rifle properly and shoot: Tweek gave him an electric shock, not powerful enough to kill him but enough for him to become paralyzed and drop the gun. He kicked it out of his reach and then joined his hands together to freeze them inside an ice block.
"Dude, my hands! It hurts! I'm gonna lose them, dude!" The guy whined. He had to be sixteen or seventeen, no older. He was growing such a pathetic-looking mustache in order to look older, probably.
"Shut up, you little piece of shit." Tweek spouted. But deep down he was worried about what would happen if his hands did have to be amputated. He didn't want another scandal ruining the Freedom Pals' name...
"TEEED!" The shooter started screaming suddenly. Of course, he warned his partner-in-crime.
"I told you to shut up!" Tweek grunted, and slapped the fucking kid.
It seemed Ted was dealing with a hero upstairs, because Tweek heard an argument, then a shot and silence followed. He gave up the stealth because that idiot probably betrayed his position and had to be quick, he didn't want any more people dying after his arrival. He went up the stairs three steps at a time, running, and found him face to face, another sixteen-year-old with a face that probably attracted a lot of bullying in his Elementary days. The guy had his gun ready and shot; Tweek got to throw himself onto the floor in time, the bullet just grazing his scalp.
I can do this, I can do this!, he thought. His heart raced like he was about to have a heart attack. He thought of what he said to Craig the other day, the possibility of being killed during a mission, and wished he had woken up Craig with words of love or something that morning, instead of some grunts that were supposed to be English.
Don't kill this, as much as he's a murderer and an asshole and human trash...
God was in his favor. The other had shot his last victim too many times out of sadism and now ran out of bullets. He had to recharge, and that gave Tweek a chance. He dropped on his knees and touched the floor, turning it into a great ice rink. The boy slipped and fell on his butt. When Tweek approached, moving gracefully in his element, he tried to hit him with his unloaded gun, and Tweek threw him a punch instead.
That was the end of it, and Tweek felt relieved for a second there.
"It's over, it's all over, kids." Strong Woman returned to the office where the children were hiding with their father and some other boys and girls they had found. She was so strong she had been out for most of the time trying to save as much lives as possible, and the children were so worried about her they ran to hug her as soon as they saw her back safe.
"Phew! I thought the police wouldn't come this time..." Mr. Adler sighed in relief.
"Wonder Tweek got here first and dealt with the shooters." Strong Woman informed him.
And the glee of the rescue vanished quite a lot.
The police came in time to finish what Wonder Tweek had started. They took the shooters away and evacuated the students and staff. Wonder Tweek stayed to use his powers to heal as many injured as possible. He could feel the glare of the EMTs, whose job he was stealing, but he couldn't just leave. There were people here who wouldn't have made it to the hospital...
"Thank you, Wonder Tweek. You are my hero." A little boy who's stomach was intact after his blessed touch, wrapped his arms around him. His mother, who had just showed up, also hugged him in tears.
"It was nothing, really..."
So many people started surrounding him. None of them were victims, but reporters.
"Wonder Tweek, Wonder Tweek!"
"Over here, Wonder Tweek!"
Timmy, still not leaving his class, couldn't see his friend among the crowd of reporters and photographers that appeared almost out of nowhere. The ones who did see him were those who were watching the television at that moment.
"Hello, Larry, here's the keys. Thank you so much." He said to the custodian, giving him a set of keys back.
Larry seemed much more interested on what he was watching on his tiny, old television than his job. He pointed at the screen with a movement of his head. "They've got him by the balls." He chuckled. Token didn't laugh, but watched with worry.
"Has Fastpass being expelled from Freedom Pals?" A reporter was asking Tweek.
"Why are you protecting him?" Another one asked.
"Will you help the police identify Doctor Timothy so Melman Ackroyd's family can take him to court and finally be at peace?" This one almost shoved the mic down Tweek's throat.
"One of the shooters might lose both hands to frostbite, do you think your intervention has been correct?" A lady was so close Craig could have gotten jealous.
The PC children approached. Harper took out his phone and recorded. He wanted to have Wonder Tweek's responses.
The camera witnessed how pale he looked, how his eyes avoided everyone.
"F-Fastpass is innocent and Doctor Timothy had to make a very difficult decision. No more questions..." Tweek said, and tried to get away.
But he had to know this would not satisfy them...
"Are you defending your teammates' behavior?"
"Is your posture the official from the Freedom Pals?"
"Melman Ackroyd had nothing to do against Doctor Timothy!"
"Do black lives matter to you, Wonder Tweek?"
"Is Fastpass linked to Jeffrey Epstein, as some media claim?"
"Is killing the criminals a common practice in your team?"
Wendy, sat on the couch, watching the news online, bit her under lip. Poor Tweek, he looked so overwhelmed...They had put a trap on him! That wasn't fair!
"Please, I have to go now..." Tweek muttered, and tried to push people away, and that seemed to rude people gave him a bad look.
"You can't just run away, Wonder Tweek! South Park needs answers!"
"Freedom Pals can't keep avoiding these issues!"
"Look how he is trying to escape, like a rat!"
The one who just a while before was received like an angel sent by God to help them now was being frowned upon. Tweek just couldn't stand it, the way everyone looked at him, the questions coming out of the reporters' mouth like bullets with a machine gun, the parents moving their children out of his reach, the confused look on those kids who normally admired him and wanted to be like him...His heart...it felt like it was going to explode! This was too much pressure! What to say? What to do?
And then, someone threw a rock at him.
That was the last thing his body could take.
The clouds above their heads took suddenly darker. The street got as dark as if nighttime had come at eleven in the morning. A thunder made the earth tremble at their feet.
A fine thread of blood ran down Tweek's forehead, then it fried when the temperature rose. His muscles contracted, his teeth gritted. Sparkles came out from his eyes.
And then, lightning started to strike around him.
People started to scream, because there was no way to avoid all those bolts coming right for them. PC Principal was almost struck while grabbing his children and running back to the building, but others were not as lucky. Several men, women and children fell to the ground like dead. Everyone tried to run and most couldn't make it to a safe place. There was such confusion those ten seconds felt like ten minutes.
"Holy shit! Did you see that, boy?" Larry exclaimed, but Token couldn't speak. He could just watch in horror. When the camera showed Tweek again, he was standing there, among all those dark spots on the grass and the pavement, trembling, his eyes open as wide as possible. He seemed to have trouble breathing. Then, he ran away, with all those who were safe shouting at him.
Craig was tired as hell, and he had to make dinner, oh God. Couldn't they just order a pizza?
"I'm home!" He shouted, but no one answered. Probably Tweek was doing extra hours at his parents coffee shop—they thought their son was like an elf from the North Pole or something, a worker who never got tired and had no life outside Tweek Bros.
Since Tweek was not around, he allowed himself to take off his clothes (it was a really hot day and he wanted to be comfortable) and lie on the couch, relax for a bit. He took a look at his phone for the first time in hours.
Wow, he had never gotten so many texts at once. There were also a good number of missed calls. What drama was going on that day?
He opened the chat app and saw all those texts were from the Freedom Pals. That meant it was something related to their side job.
Tweek.
He changed his posture. Why was Tweek's name all over it?
He didn't read all the messages. As soon as he understood what had happened, he dropped the phone and ran to put his clothes back on.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit...!"
He left the house not even locking the door. That didn't matter. Tweek was not alright. He had harmed others, then fled. No one knew where he was now. No one knew what he could have done after striking all those people with lightning.
Where did he go? Where was he? He had to find him! He had to find him and calm him down, before he thought of...! He wouldn't, right? Right?
"Tweek! TWEEK!" Craig's voice echoed through every corner of South Park.