Kyle would never have any idea of how he made his way to the waiting room. He felt as if he was being dragged by an alien force, as if he was watching a movie filmed in first person perspective. The white walls and tiles contributed to make it all seem unreal.

He found his parents waiting, their friends the Marshes consoling them as much as they could in circumstances like those. Crossing that door behind them, Ike was having urgent surgery.

His father stood up when he saw him and hugged him without saying a thing. Kyle then turned his head to his mother, and she burst out crying, Sharon patting her back sympathetically.

What to say...What to do...

«And with that it is seven the people that have been attacked in South Park after sunset ever since the Freedom Pals have been declared illegal. Like in previous cases, the victim has been attacked from behind and their blood sucked with sharp teeth. South Park's Police Department links these attacks to Mosquito and has reinforced the night patrols. It seems that now that they are in danger, the heroes have turned into criminals and are getting revenge on the people they used to protect. Let us remember that their community manager, Smuggler Maplebeard the Pirate King—whose identity has not yet been revealed—, was allegedly attacked by Human Kite in an attempt to silence them before they revealed any names. We highly recommend the population not to go to the streets alone at night and not to trust any person who flies or wears a mask.»

Clyde disconnected the radio integrated into his helmet. Why did he keep hearing these things? All news were bad lately. Why torture himself that way?

And why did he keep doing that, flying around in his uniform late at night? It was stupid and dangerous given the current situation, and he knew it. One of those nights someone would spot him, and he'd be in serious trouble.

But he couldn't help it, could he? It was like...To spread his wings made him feel free...A bit as if being Clyde Donovan 24/7/365 was oppressing to him and something inside of him fought to be released. Once he hated his wings, being a freak, now...There was a certain freedom in flying above South Park, leaving all the problems under his feet...

Also, he couldn't let everything going on between the two of them end up like this...

He had to see her...With all the attacks going on, he had to be sure she was okay...

Bebe was brushing her teeth when she heard a creak coming from her bedroom. She had left the window a bit open so the night fresh air could come in and refresh the room before going to bed. Now it didn't seem like a good idea. All she had in her reach was the toilet brush. That was better than nothing, and so she grabbed it and slowly returned to her bedroom.

She walked into the room to find that the window was fully open.

With her mouth open and breathing as slowly as she moved through it, she looked for the switch to be able to see, get rid of all those shadows...It was then when Mosquito jumped from the ceiling.

"Bebe."

Bebe tried to scream. Clyde quickly covered her mouth.

"Wait! Don't! It's me!"

That only made her try harder.

"Please, please, don't shout, I don't wanna...! Ouch!" Bebe didn't listen; she bit his hand and released herself, threatening him with the brush.

"Stay away!"

"Listen to me, I didn't come here to hurt you!" Clyde said, keeping a prudent distance.

"Liar! You came here to suck my blood!"

"No! That's not me! The guy who's been doing that is not me! I didn't do it!"

"And you expect me to believe you?"

She gave him a blow that stained his helmet with—he didn't even want to know.

"I don't hurt innocent people!" He said, approaching nevertheless.

"Why should I believe you? You're a criminal! All you guys have been doing and saying is a lie!"

Even if that meant getting another hit with the brush, he approached a little more. "Please, don't listen to what others say! You know me! We've been seeing each other for a long time now! You know I wouldn't hurt anybody who's done nothing wrong!"

"I don't know you!" Bebe replied. "You haven't even shown me your face in all of these years or given me a clue of who you really are!"

"You know me better than all these people on the Internet who don't give a crap about you!"

A noise reached his ears. Bebe was protesting and Clyde asked her to be quiet with a gesture. Bebe listened too. Someone had laid a foot on the creaking floorboard in the living room. They both went very quiet. Bebe lived alone and had no pets.

They exchanged a look.

"Hide. In the closet. Hurry." Clyde whispered to Bebe. She doubted, he pushed her. "Come on!"

Bebe ended up obeying, keeping the toilet brush well gripped in her hands.

She got in there just in time to see how the door opened and a figure slid inside the bedroom.

The room was dark but Mike found his way to the bed, attracted by the smell. A young, beautiful damsel who lived alone—could there be any snack better than this? She was all covered, and he didn't suspect a thing: women were always cold, even in summer.

When he moved the sheets away, though, he found more than what he bargained for.

"Hello, darling." Clyde said before punching Mike in the face.

Mike leaped on him and they struggled on the bed until both rolled to the floor. Clyde punched Mike three times in the stomach; when he was going to deliver the fourth punch, Mike grabbed his hand and got him off him kneeling him in the chest. He pounced on his neck, Clyde grabbed him by his long hair and punched him in the face, sending him back to the floor. Mike stood up quickly and grabbed him by the helmet to make him hit everything around them with his head: the walls, the dressing table, the headboard, the window, the frame of the door...Mosquito fell to the floor, unable to stand up.

"What a pathetic blood sucker...Vampires eat mosquitos, per se..." Mike grinned. "I'm gonna enjoy sucking you dry..."

And right when he had Clyde's neck exposed, Bebe ran out of the closed, grabbed the stool she had for her dressing table and hit him with it. Mike turned around and snarled at her, to which Bebe responded hitting his face.

"You know what you can suck? Huh? Want me to tell you?"

Before losing conscience, a question popped into Mike's mind, a question his childhood friends had asked themselves long before. A question which had been chasing him and he had always ran away from:

What am I doing with my life?

Bebe hit him again, even though he wasn't moving, just to be sure. She had seen vampire movies and she knew those bastards couldn't be trusted. She then turned towards Mosquito.

"...I just wanted to stop this guy from destroying my room, okay? It means nothing..."

Clyde got up groaning.

"...Are you okay?" She asked, approaching. She didn't want him to know she was perhaps a little worried about him.

The helmet of the vigilante was a wreck. That last punch made it crumble with the tiniest movement. He had blood flowing out of his nose, which he wiped with the back of his hand and couldn't help tasting.

He turned around to face Bebe. Her jaw dropped.

"...No way..." She muttered.

"Uh..." Clyde bit his under lip.

"Clyde?! Clyde Donovan?! Seriously?!"

"Please, don't freak out..."

"Don't freak out?! But you...You're Mosquito! You're a wanted criminal!" Another realization hit her and her eyes opened even more, if that was even possible. "You...You and I have kissed!"

"Are you...disappointed?" Clyde rubbed his arm, looking bashfully at her.

"Disappointed? No! I don't know...I...I need to sit down, I feel I'm gonna faint..." She sat, but she didn't faint. All she felt was that her brain was frozen. "Since when do you have bug wings?!"

"Well, remember the accident at the fair two years ago?" Clyde sat by her side. He needed it.

"And it...made you like that?" Bebe was staring at his wings when yet another realization came to her. "Wait. Does that mean that Wendy and the others, all those who got in the ride with you...? They all sprouted wings too?"

"No, but..." Clyde made the tip of his index fingers touch.

"Don't tell me they are..." Clyde nodded and Bebe slapped her own face. "Holy shit! I can't believe it! All of this time...I knew you all! I went to the same class as you! I see Wendy almost every day and thought she...!"

"You won't...tell anybody...right?" Clyde looked at her timidly.

"Of course I will! Do you want me to go to jail for covering you guys up? Or not...I-I don't know..."

"Please, Bebe..." He took her hands and looked at her to the eyes. "For the old times?"

Bebe tried to avoid looking at him, but ended up turning her head to him. He seemed genuinely scared of her telling the police, and it was no surprise: they would be in good trouble if someone found out. She started to believe him: she just couldn't see him attacking people so viciously. Also, Wendy was her best friend since they were both small, and she was pregnant. She didn't want anything bad happen to her...

...She had to admit...all that hero-damsel in distress game had been pretty fun and exciting...

Who would have said Clyde would make her feel so good?

"...Go away, before someone catches me with you. And take that bastard with you." She finally said, sighing.

Clyde smiled in a way that reminded her of the days when they were both kids and he was just so glad to be her boyfriend.

"Thank you, Bebe!"

He tried to kiss her, she backed out.

"Not tonight, Romeo. I'm still mad at you for lying to me."

"Okay, okay, I understand..." Clyde shrugged, and walked to Mike. Luckily, he was regaining consciousness. That way they could be able to talk.

"You attacked Ike Broflovski, didn't you?" Mike didn't reply, so Clyde hit him with his boot. "Didn't you?!"

"Yes! God damn it, yes!" Mike replied.

"You're going to tell the police. You will tell them because if you don't, I will find you and kick your ass so bad you're gonna wish you weren't born!"

"Listen, I have nothing against that boy. I didn't even know he existed! I...I did it because someone told me to!"

"What?"

"I wanted victims, he paved me the way, told me who to bite!"

"Who?"

"He said his name was...Mitch Conner..."

Clyde narrowed his eyes.

"Good boy. Now let's go." He forced Mike to stand up, and he followed obediently, feeling so stupid, so ridiculous...

They were about to fly away from the window when Bebe ran towards them.

"Wait!"

Clyde turned around, Mike in his arms like he was a bundle.

"...Be...Be careful, all right?" She removed some hair from her face. "I mean...not that I think you're my warrior in shining armor, but...Playing to date you at school was fun..."

Clyde smiled.

"Best years in my life." He said, before parting to leave a surprise at the police station's door.

Bebe, in spite of the hell of a time she had had, the mess those two jerks had left behind for her to clean up, couldn't help smiling.

"Heh, that Mosquito bastard really thought he could fool us." Clark was reading the newspaper. "He beat a guy up, one who looks like something out of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, then leaves him at the door of the police station with a note, and makes him confess all of these crimes he and the other Freedom Pals have committed..."

The thing is, he should have been helping Scott. At least hold the stairs, which were swinging way too much. But there he was, reading the newspaper and commenting it out loud.

"Does he think we are stupid or something? He must think we all have the mental age of a toddler."

"Dad, can you pass me the plier?" Scott asked, but Clark didn't hear him, or wanted to.

"If a mutant like him beat me, I would claim I am the Pope..."

Scott sighed and had to come down to get it himself. His dad had been too comfortable in his job at the cable company and it ended up with an inevitable firing. If he was working at Scott's company, it was because he had managed to convince his boss...Was he grateful for it? Nuh-uh...Oh, well, nothing new...Their usual dynamics...

Clark kept talking to himself (because, after certain responses he had been getting in previous occasions, Scott came to realize that his father considered his points of view immature and/or stupid, no matter the subject), Scott kept doing all the work for both of them.

They were not the only ones who were working in the street. Bijou Cinema was going through a complete remodeling, to make it more appealing to a public way more attracted to streaming platforms. A scaffolding covered all of its facade.

There was a boom and when Scott turned around, instead of it, he found a jumble of metal and debris. A cloud of dust took over the street.

"HEEELP!" He heard some of the workers scream.

"Damn..." Clark muttered, but he did nothing. Nobody was doing anything, except calling emergencies—some just recorded the collapse with their phones, to be the first to upload it to social media.

Scott felt the instinct to act, but stopped himself. He couldn't...

"MY LEG! OH, GOD, MY LEG!"

"SOMEBODY HELP US, PLEASE!"

"AAAAH!"

But what if emergencies came too late for those men?

Scott shook his head. His dad was by his side...The street was crowded...

"HEEELP!" The workers kept screaming in agony.

He couldn't take it...He couldn't just focus on his job, pretend that didn't happen, or just stare, knowing that he had the power to help them...

He still had candy in his pocket. He always had it in case he needed it...

No, he shouldn't...But...He couldn't just stare...He wouldn't forgive himself...

"Dad...I'm sorry..." He said.

For what, Clark was about to ask when Scott ran towards the accident. He called his name, told him in vain to stay away. He saw him put his hand inside of his pocket and take something he munched; he couldn't see what.

"Scott!" He called him. "What do you think you're doing?!"

Then something happened...His son started swelling...His body fat turned into muscle, his clothes became too small for him and tore up, leaving him almost naked.

"Is that...?!" A woman covered her mouth.

Using his new force, Scott got all the rubble off the workers he found, moved it away to find more victims.

"It's Captain Diabetes!" A man exclaimed, pointing at him with a finger.

Clark shook his head. It...It couldn't be! Yet he was seeing it with his own eyes! He saw how Scott, his wimpy, diabetic boy took seven men in his arms and put them in a safe place, careful with their wounds in spite of his big size, double or triple his usual. More and more people were approaching to watch him in awe and a bit of terror, as he kept rescuing all of those people.

"It's Captain Diabetes, get him!"

There was still a man trapped in there, with his leg impaled by a metal bar, but they didn't let him reach him. First two men pounced on him, then three more, five. Scott pushed them away with barely any effort, but soon most of the street was shouting and running towards him, and he found himself buried under dozens of people who were not that strong but outnumbered him.

Clark couldn't move at first from where he was. He could barely take one step.

"Wait! Now wait a second! S-Scott!" Was the only thing he was able to say.

He couldn't see his son under all the people who jumped on him.