Cartman was eating the Cheesy Poofs his mother gave him, watching, but seemingly not understanding anything that was going on, like he was watching a theatrical play taking place in front of him, something that didn't concern him at all. He watched as Liane placed Stan and Kenny on the sofa, in a sitting posture, and removed their masks. She put so much care into it she even licked her fingers to arrange Kenny's hair.
The high was still there, making it very difficult to move, but, slowly, Stan and Kenny recovered some control over their tongues.
"What are you doing?" Kenny asked, as clearly as the paralysis allowed him.
Liane said nothing. She just took a picture of them with her phone and typed for long.
"There. That should do." She said after a while, finally looking at them. "This interests you, so I'm going to tell you, boys: I just posted your identities on the Internet. Television channels and the press will soon spread the news too. In no time, there won't be a single person on the planet who doesn't know you are Toolshed and Mysterion. Everyone you come across will know you are mutants. You will be given the same treatment your little friend Scott. You will have nowhere to hide...Nobody will ever see you the same way ever again..."
It was all gone, just like that...That life they had built with so much effort...It would be exactly as she said...And also, now that everyone knew their names, all those criminals they had put in prison would use their family and friends to hurt them, they would know where to find them...
"Fuck..." Kenny muttered.
Liane looked at the screen of her phone and smirked.
"Look, boys, here are your friends right now! And your girlfriend, Stan!" She said, showing them the phone.
Some people were livestreaming from the Main Street...There was a big crowd beating up their friends. Why didn't they defend themselves? Why, of course: because the people attacking them were people they knew, friends they grew up with, their own parents, neighbors they always stopped to have a conversation with when they passed by. A group had trapped Wendy inside a circle and, armed with phones, were...Stan and Kenny didn't notice immediately what they were doing, but it hurt Wendy so much she fell on her knees. She almost looked like she was being mowed down by invisible bullets.
"Wendy!" A cry escaped Stan's lips.
He raised his eyes to the man eating snacks, apparently indifferent. But his eyes were on them, and he knew it was all a facade, he knew him for so many years he knew he was smiling on the inside!
"Are you happy now, Cartman, you piece of shit?!" He shouted, dragging the words. He tried to get up and whoop his fat ass but all he managed to do was get his butt from the couch a little bit.
Cartman looked at him and kept munching the Cheesy Poofs with apparent calm.
"Oh, please, don't act like you didn't know this would have happened some day." Liane shrugged, leaving the phone on the table by the couch. "If I hadn't done it, someone else would have."
"Your son is controlling you, Mr. Cartman, can't you see?" Stan faced her. "He's using you! She would sell anyone, even his own mother, for a profit, just the profit of getting even. You've got no idea of the monster you've raised..."
Liane turned her head to Cartman. Then, she approached Stan to talk to him slowly.
"...I heard you're going to be a father...People are so angry at you Freedom Pals that I can't assure you that you will get to meet your child...But if you do...I hope you realize...just how difficult it is to be a parent..."
She turned around and walked to the other side of the living room.
"Specially when you're on your own..." She added in a mutter.
Wendy...His baby...Her words hurt Stan way more than if she had just stabbed him in the heart. Wendy was dying as they were speaking, and she would take their child with her...
Wasn't that what you wanted, Stan? Didn't you want to get rid of the baby? Didn't you just want it to disappear and live your life?
No! He wanted his kid! He loved her! He was scared before, but now...! He couldn't let that happen! He wouldn't! There was something he feared more than becoming a father: losing his child.
Using forces not even he knew he had, he fought the drowsiness and stood up with trembling legs.
Liane turned around to find him just a couple of feet away from her, teeth gritted.
She wasn't intimidated. She smiled instead. She had his drill in her hands—she presented it to him.
"Take it."
Stan doubted, then he grabbed it and threatened her with it.
"Go ahead." Liane said then, not moving an inch from where she was.
"No, Stan, that's what she wants...!" Kenny said, trying to get up.
Liane turned her eyes to Kenny and smiled, leaving no doubt about it.
Human Kite was exactly where Mrs. Cartman said she had left him. Sheila didn't question how she had managed to leave him in that state, how had she survived him. He was vulnerable and that was enough for her.
The knife Gerald had inside the glove box of the car for all those times when they went camping and the little necessities would be perfect. She took it and got out of the car.
She couldn't be sure of her victory. He could be faking weakness. He could fly away, attack her with his lasers the very second he saw her approaching. She would have to kill him fast. But what was the point of it all if she did it fast? He deserved to suffer for what he did to Ike.
She knelt down in front of him. His chest moved fast, from his open mouth came out a moan.
"Mo...Moo..."
He seemed to be suffering—Sheila hoped he was.
What was the best way to proceed? Perhaps it was best to blind him with the knife before he thought of using his lasers against her. She was so impatient she could barely see straight; she wanted to kill him with no second thoughts.
Kyle managed to raise a hand towards her, then his body, like an attempt to get up. It felt like he was being dragged backwards, like Earth's attraction had become unbearably powerful. It was a titanic effort, but he had to do something, he had to tell her...!
"Remember me, Human Kite? I am Ike's mother." Sheila said.
There were so many things she wanted to tell him, but why wasting time? There was no need to. He sure remembered her. And if he didn't, she would make him.
"Mooom...Wait..."
She made up her mind. First, she would cut his eyes out of their sockets to neutralize the threat. Then, she would skin him alive, and she would do it slowly. Any mother in the world would have done that to the person who hurt their children the way that scum hurt hers.
"Mom...!"
Mom, he said? Was he calling his mother, like a scared child? Sheila couldn't say she wasn't cruelly satisfied.
No more delaying. No more thinking.
She breathed deep and removed his cyclops glasses.
She wanted to do things quick, not give him the chance to attack, but Kyle's hand managed to take hers.
"Mom! Wait...! Don't...It's me...Wait, Mom...Don't do it!" Those brown eyes she found, which were looking at her with desperation, didn't shoot lasers. All he did was plea and take her hand.
Sheila was so obsessed by her goal that the realization needed a bit of time to penetrate her brain. It took her several seconds to realize that she knew those eyes and that shaky voice.
...It was a trick...It had to be a trick! Sheila paused, then removed the grey hood, revealing a curly, red mane, a very difficult kind of hair to comb—she knew because her own was the same, and because she had passed it to...
Kyle was able to make her drop the knife, when she looked at him almost looking like she was going to drop dead.
"It's me, Mom...Please..." Kyle repeated, both hands on his mother's.
"K...Kyle?!" For a second, Sheila didn't know what to do, her body suffered spasms, her words were incoherent. "What...You...?! What is the meaning of this?! What are you doing here?! W-Who dressed you like Human Kite?!"
"I'm Human Kite, Mom..." Kyle said.
"No!"
"It's true, Mom..."
"No, it can't be! It's impossible! It can't be you!"
In order to show her, Kyle turned his head to one side and shot his lasers to the pavement, making a hole. Sheila jumped backwards.
Kyle tried to get up; all he managed to do was sit on his knees.
"Don't be scared, please..."
"Kyle...! Does that mean...? Y-You hurt your brother?! You tried to kill your own brother?!" Sheila asked, horrified.
"No, Mom, I didn't do it! I...It's a bit long to explain, okay? But it wasn't me...I only tried to help Ike...For the love of God, Mom, you know I'd never hurt Ike!"
"I...I don't know what to think anymore!" Sheila exclaimed, her eyes getting filled with tears. "You are Human Kite! You are...I don't even know what you are!"
"I am your son! I still am your son!" Kyle made a great effort to walk on fours towards her and take her hands. "It's still me! I just...can do some things I couldn't two years ago...But it's still me, Kyle Broflovski, your son, okay?"
"You didn't...try to hurt Ike?" Sheila asked, drawing back a little bit, but not letting go of his hands.
"Of course not..."
"And Mrs. Cartman? She said you..."
"It was all a trick! She knew you were mad at me and wanted to kill me!"
Sheila didn't understand anything. She shook her head extremely confused.
"Why are you doing this, Kyle? Is it true what Ike said before he ran away? Am I that unbearable? Are you punishing me somehow for...?"
"No! Of course not! I just do this because...because I want to make justice my way..."
"I wanted you to grow up safe, have a good life, and here you are, dressed like that, beating criminals up, fighting the world...!"
"I know, and I will always love you for that, but Mom, I'm old enough to decide the kind of life I want. I don't want to be protected and secure all of my life. I like protecting others. If I have to risk my life to save someone who's life is in danger...I will do it. I don't want to disrespect you. I don't want you to think I don't value your efforts...I just...It's something that's inside of me...A voice I can't ignore, understand? I need to fly. I don't want to be one more legal assistant. I want to really impact people's lives. I want you to be proud of me..."
Sheila let out a sigh and placed her hands on his face to kiss it all over.
"I have always been proud of you, bubbe...No need for costumes or superpowers...Maybe...If I hadn't been all over you and your brother, you wouldn't have..."
"It just happened, Mom...It's not your fault..." Kyle said, and hugged her.
"My God, you look and smell like...have you been smoking?" Sheila exclaimed.
"No, it was..."
He remembered Stan and Kenny. They were still in Liane's power. He had to find them!
"I have to go..." Kyle said, standing up with difficulty.
"But you can barely move! Where are you doing?" Sheila said, helping him.
"My friends are in danger!" I will tell you everything when it's all over, okay? But now I've got to go! I love you, Mom!"
There was nothing Sheila could do. As soon as Kyle got some stability, he set off. Sheila covered her face from the air that lifted dirt from the ground, then watched as her firstborn flew like a missile, her hand on her chest, a prayer on her lips.
Stan's finger was on the trigger, but he couldn't take the decision to pull it. Liane kept staring at him defiantly.
Stan put the drill down.
"...I have nothing against you, ma'am. You are just a puppet in your son's hands." He finally said, and turned towards Cartman.
Cartman, seeing the way he was looking at him, dropped the Cheesy Poofs and drew back to the kitchen. Stan advanced towards him.
Liane's fist impacted against his cheek and made him stumble.
"Maybe I didn't explain myself clearly...I told you to stay away from Eric!" She shouted, placing herself between them.
"Get out of the way. Last warning." Stan grunted, threatening her with the drill.
"No, Stan! That's what she wants...That's what she did to Tweek...These people...when one loses control...they use it against them..." Kenny stood up and walked towards them, having to support himself on everything he found. Stan kept threatening her, so he had to insist. "You will only give them arguments, Stan!"
"And what should we do? Just let them get away with everything?" Stan protested, turning his back on him.
"We will make her confess. We will expose her lies." Kenny replied after a second of meditation.
Liane let out a chuckle.
"Dearie...You know that will change absolutely nothing. What has been done cannot be undone. Lie or truth, everything said about you now has become your reality. You cannot escape from it. It will chase you all your life."
Stan and Kenny exchanged a look. They knew she was right. There was nothing she or them could do to fix things.
...The only thing they could do was get even...
...But even that would only make things worse.
"As I said, I love you boys enough to show you some deference." Liane said. "...What your families never had with Eric and me. I will now let you go. You are free to leave South Park, hide from everyone. Start a new life away from all of this. Or rescue your friends, if you like and someone survived the mob. It will be our little secret. You won't lay a hand on Eric, because if you do, I will make the government, the NATO if it's necessary, to hunt you down and destroy you...I think I am being generous."
She had barely pronounced those words then the window exploded in a million pieces and Kyle appeared in the room.
"Kyle! Oh, thank God!" Stan exclaimed, seeing him landing by his side.
"Are you all right, you guys?" Kyle asked his friends.
"No, the other Pals are in deep trouble. They need all help possible."
"Then let's get this over with quickly."
"Kyle...You are alive...How dare you? Your mother was supposed to kill you!" Liane frowned. "I knew I couldn't trust that bitch!"
"Don't call my mother that!" Kyle replied, taking a step towards her, his eyes glowing, preparing to shoot his lasers.
Guessing his intentions, Liane got in the way, to prevent him from hurting Cartman.
"We're fucked. Whatever we do, we'll make a mistake." Stan grumbled.
"Then we'll have to choose the least bad of our options..." Kenny said, getting in position to attack.
"I'm not leaving this house until that fatass is dead." Kyle declared.
"You won't touch my boy! Haven't you hurt him enough?!" Liane exclaimed.
His options, as they saw it, were taking Mrs. Cartman's advice and just leave, leaving Cartman and his mom unpunished; kill that disgusting ball of grease, which would mean they would have to kill his mother first, and that was something none of them wanted...Or...
Kyle pounced on Liane at high speed. It was three men with superpowers against a common woman. They would neutralize her.
But they knew nothing about what motherhood turned a woman into.
Liane knelt Kyle in the stomach and jumped on Kenny before he thought of touching her son. The two of them struggled, rolled on the floor, knocked down several items around them, broke some glasses. Kyle and Stan tried to get her off Kenny, she punched them, scratched them like a tigress, bit them. They had never encountered a person who fought in such a ferocious way. The three of them couldn't hold her.
Liane escaped from Stan's arms. The impulse made her fall backwards, hitting the dining table with the back of her neck. After the fall, her leg was left in an extremely painful angle, but she did not complain.
There was no more fight. No more movement. No more sounds.
"...Mrs. Cartman?" Kyle called her and took a cautious step towards her.
Kenny approached and took Liane in his arms to place his hand on her neck, to check the pulse. He found something else.
"...She's broken her neck..." He announced to his friends.
"Oh, crap..." Stan placed both his hands on his head and turned around.
"I-I didn't want her to die...She didn't have to..." Kyle muttered.
But there was nothing they could do to help her...
The three of them went very quiet, just looking at the corpse of Mrs. Cartman, wishing they had the power of turning back the clock, preventing this...She didn't have to die, they didn't want to kill her. It was Cartman they were looking for, not her.
An unexpected sound brought them back to reality. Cartman's heavy steps, approaching them. His eyes were on his mother lying lifeless on the carpet.
"...You...killed my...mom..."
There were no more lascivious smiles, no more dirty suggestions. His expression was serious.
"You killed my mom..."
His eyes turned to them, and they could see him recovering his sanity—if it he had ever been sane—, as he took deep air to shout:
"You-KILLED-MY-MOM!"
A pause. Cartman sneered.
"Now I'm gonna kill all of you..."
"This is what you wanted, wasn't it, you fucking psycho? An excuse to get us killed..." Stan said. "You were the kind of kid who would always recur to his mom to save his skin...You've used her as a shield..."
"You're unforgivable..." Kenny grunted.
"She should have aborted you. Someone should have freed the world from someone like you long ago." Kyle floated a couple of feet in the air. "We will be the ones who will finally do it."