Disclaimer - Don't own south park or any of the characters, just bored and wanted to write something fun.

Authors note – Chapter 6 and already longer than my longest fic previously, also I am planning to take a look at the others and see if I wanna salvage them, I wrote most of them several years ago and while my writing hasn't really improved I'm thinking about redoing them from the beginning if you like any of them let me know in some reviews which ones you'd like to see continued and which you don't care for.

Chapter 6

A few hours later at Jimbo's range...

Kyle still wasn't sure what he was going to be expected to do but so far they just had him trying out different weapons, guns mostly to see if they felt right. He wasn't sure how a weapon was supposed to feel but Stan said I'd know when I found the right one. There was a table set out with several different guns, a sawed off, a sub machine gun, several hand guns and larger revolvers. On the other side of the table were close combat weapons, he supposed he should give them a shot since none of the guns felt right. He didn't really see himself as the up close and personal combat type but he'd give it a try. There were several machetes, a katana similar to the one Stan carried, a rapier, a pair of tomahawks, at the end was a short rod of varnished wood. Kyle picked it up and examined it closely and carefully, he half expected a blade or some sort of acid to shoot out. But no it was just a 3 foot piece of wood, it looked like a cane or a walking stick. "What is this?" Kyle asked showing it to Jimbo who was messing with one of rifles.

"That? Oh that's a fighting cane, very deceptive as a weapon." He said walking over and taking the cane from Kyle and showing him how to hold it. "Its meant to be used in the martial art Bartitsu." Kyle perked up at that.

"Like with Sherlock Holmes?" He smiled holding the cane. He'd always been fond of Sherlock Holmes he remembered reading something about that in one of the books. Jimbo looked at him and shrugged.

"Don' know, never read them. I set that cane out because it happened to be sitting there when I was gathering up the other weapons. I'm not sure how effective that will be against shells though...It's more of a self defense weapon than one for slaying." Kyle understood what he meant but holding the length of varnished wood he liked the feel. It was cool to the touch and light but he could tell it was sturdier than it appeared. He knew then what Stan meant when he said he'd know.

"I think I like this one..." He said holding up the staff in front of him. Jimbo just nodded his head and began collecting up his weapons.

"Well you'll be training with Stan then, I'll never understand you boys and your obsession with martial arts." he continued muttering to himself as he took his guns back inside. Randy and Stan came out of the barn that Jimbo used as an armory. Stan was holding a wooden sword meant for kendo and wearing a plain blue track suit with a white shirt underneath, he'd taken off his glasses again and tied his hair back in a short ponytail. Randy came over carrying what looked like some kind of padded armor and set it on the table where the weapons had been.

"You're gonna need this Kyle, you definitely picked a tough one to learn but Stan has a talent for the martial arts, he'll get you into fighting shape soon enough...though it's probably going to hurt first." Kyle just gulped and put on the big bulky padded armor. Stan motioned for him to come over to a small clearing they'd set aside for practice.

"Alright then Kyle, first thing we're gonna do is see how good your instincts are." Stan said standing lazily about 10 feet from Kyle with the wooden sword on his shoulder. Kyle just looked at him dumbfounded.

"Uh what do you me-ahh!" He didn't get to finish and yelped as Stan dashed forward and swung downward hitting Kyle in the shoulder. He grimaced as Kyle fell on the ground completely surprised, so much so that he had even dropped his cane.

"Well...everyone has to start somewhere..." He said walking back into position. "Alright this time I'm going to do the exact same move. I want you to try and block it." Kyle nodded standing back up, he doubted he could move fast enough even knowing what Stan was going to do. Then Kyle realized something odd about Stan.

"How come you aren't wearing armor Stan? What if I hit you?" Kyle asked though in hindsight he should have guessed at Stan's answer. The other boy gave him a skeptical look before answering.

"Kyle your training will be over when you can hit me" Stan smirked before attacking again. It went on for many hours just trying to get Kyle to block the one attack over and over. He never even got close. It was mid afternoon when they finally stopped. "You're thinking too much Kyle. I can tell." Kyle wasn't sure how much was too much.

"Well what am I supposed to do? I can't act if I don't think." Stan frowned and turned towards Kyle after putting his training sword back onto the rack.

"With martial arts you don't think, you act. If you have to think about a move then you don't know it well enough, your body should move before you realize it, and once you can do that, then you can think about what you're going to do. But right now you need to just react." Kyle just nodded not sure he really understood all this, he'd never been all that coordinated, he had no sense of rhythm. Even as children when they took karate Stan had been a natural seemingly mastering every move in just a few tries where Kyle could work on a single one for days and never get it right.

"Maybe I'm not cut out for martial arts then, maybe I should try a gun instead." Kyle said looking at Stan who seemed disappointed. "I'm not strong or coordinated like you are, I'll just end up getting my ass kicked." Stan shrugged and put the last piece of armor back and picked up the fighting cane. He walked over towards a striking post he'd put in himself a year ago it was probably about time to replace it.

"If that's what you want but come here I want to show you something." He motioned for Kyle to come over and feel the post. "How's that feel to you?" Stan asked as Kyle ran his hand along the blemished sides of the post.

"Uhh sturdy?" Kyle answered not sure what he should say. Stan nodded.

"You're right, this is a post I use to practice my unarmed strikes against. It has to be sturdy or I'd break it after a few minutes of using it." he held the cane out for Kyle to take from him. The red head took the cane and held it out in front of him in the guard Stan had shown him earlier. "Hit the post." Stan stepped back and crossed his arms waiting expectantly. Kyle just looked from him to the post for a few moments before swinging the cane like a baseball bat. The impact was jarring and Kyle whimpered from the pain. Stan chuckled and moved over to the striking post and examined the new blemish. "Not bad, more than I thought you could do. Your form sucked though, that's not a bat its a cane." Kyle just nodded, his hands still stinging from the impact. "See this blemish, this post is sturdy and you did that with hardly any training." Kyle failed to see the point, he'd hit a piece of wood with another piece of wood of course there would be a mark.

"Anyone could do that." Kyle said not seeing where Stan was going with this. His dark haired friend nodded.

"You're right, anyone can do that, take a look at your cane now." He nodded towards the weapon still in Kyle's hand. Kyle looked down expecting to see it mangled and destroyed or at least dinged surely. To his surprise there was hardly a scratch on it, other than the varnish being chipped the cane was completely unharmed. How had something so small done so much damage and taken so little. He looked to Stan who was smiling. "Surprised? You really shouldn't judge something by its appearance, that cane is ash, potentially it could stand up to my real sword." Stan said admiring the workmanship of the cane, he always had an appreciation for well made melee weapons. Kyle shook his head and began to walk away.

"Just cause the cane is strong doesn't mean anything Stan, I'm weak and no good at this! You said yourself my form sucks!" Kyle was getting frustrated now, he hadn't expected it to be easy but he hadn't expected to suck so spectacularly.

"Yea your form was pretty atrocious, I've only dabbled in fighting stick arts but that is not how you strike." Stan said rubbing his chin thinking back to some of the things he'd read on cane fighting. He'd never been formally taught anything other than karate and kendo but he was a bit of a savant when it came to melee combat he seemed to be able to replicate almost any movement he saw with little practice.

"So why are you trying to convince me to keep using the cane." Kyle asked flat out pissed at this point.

"Because your understanding of martial arts is broken." Stan said matter of factly. Kyle just stared at him not understanding what he meant. "Martial arts aren't meant for people who are strong." Kyle just shook his head at his friend not sure what martial arts he'd been seeing.

"Most martial artists I've seen on TV and the internet have been pretty damn strong Stan." the agitated redhead replied. Stan nodded crossing his arms again.

"Yea probably, but they didn't start out that way. Martial arts aren't for meant to be done only by the strong, in fact their original purpose was so that the weak could fight the strong. Hand to hand martial arts in particular were almost all developed because of weak peasants needing to defend themselves against strong tyrants and soldiers." Kyle wasn't really sure what Stan was getting at with the history lesson. "Kyle, you are right you're weak and uncoordinated and just a mess when it comes to this, but that is why the martial arts are perfect for you." Stan said approaching his friend and putting his hand on the others shoulder. "The strong don't make martial arts, the martial arts make the strong." Kyle's rage cooled at this. Stan hadn't been trying to annoy him or antagonize him, he'd seen potential in Kyle that he hadn't been able to see himself and was trying to coax him into not giving up.

"Stan...I'm sorry dude, I shouldn't have gotten angry with you" he held the cane up in front of him for Stan to take. The other boy frowned thinking his friend was still going to give up. "Alright I'll give it a try but you've gotta show me how It's done." Kyle smirked as Stan's smile burst back onto his face and he practically pranced over to the striking post. "Dude gay..." Kyle said snickering at his friends excitement. Stan just shot him a questioning look with a smirk of his own.

"You're one to talk, I remember a certain someone curled up in my covers this morning trying to paw at his sexy best friends bare chest." Stan flashed his best shit-eating grin. Kyle just turned red and slugged him in the shoulder again.

"Shut up, ass..." Kyle was smiling though, he was still scared about the things he was going to have to go through, but he was hanging out with Stan again, and with his training he realized he'd be getting to hang out a whole lot more. Stan continued showing Kyle a few different stances and simple strikes and then had his friend practice against the striking post. Maybe it was wishful thinking but Stan thought his friend might have gotten just a bit better by the end of the day.

Later that night at the Marshes...

Kyle was happy to have spent an entire day with Stan and now was getting to eat dinner with his family again. Not that he didn't like having dinner with his own family but Stan's parents always seemed so at easy at dinner. Kyle realized this was probably because they were always fighting monsters they wanted to make the most of the time they had together. The dinner itself was relatively uneventful everyone from the morning had made another appearance. Most of the conversation centered on Randy and Jimbo lamenting the boys choice of using martial arts weapons instead of a good old fashioned piece. Stan and Kyle snickered passing jokes about red necks and drunks between them. Sharon hushed them several times. When dinner was over Kyle figured it was probably time to head home. As he headed for the door Sharon stopped him. "Oh Kyle I had your mother bring over a change of clothes and your school books, you're staying the night here again, and I'm sorry to say but the hard part of your training starts now." Kyle just looked at Stan who rolled his eyes and plopped down on the couch.

"Stanley don't roll your eyes at your mother and this is the perfect chance for you to improve your own lacking skills!"

"Umm what will we be learning now?" Kyle asked, wondering what it was that Stan could possibly be bad at. Mrs. Marsh turned around a huge smile on her face and the charred rod in her hand again.

"Magic Kyle, Magic." Kyle couldn't hide the excitement on his face at this. He had not even considered that he might get to learn magic. It had been a childhood dream ever since he'd read all the Harry Potter books and sword and sorcery books he could get his hands on. He always loved stories about magic.

"So I'm going to become like a wizard or something...?" Kyle asked suddenly embarrassed by what he was saying. Stan just sat on the couch with a bored expression on his face. Sharon smiled at Kyle's question happy to finally have someone interested in learning from her, it'd been a few years since her last apprentice other than Stan who always had it in his mind he didn't need to learn magic.

"Potentially, every hunter has the ability to use magic, many hunters exclusively use magic for the job, but only a rare few ever become what we would call a sorcerer, a mage of the highest degree. It is seen as an achievement of tremendous proportion to be given the title sorcerer." Stan laughed, and Kyle and Sharon turned to regard him.

"There she goes bragging again." Stan said smiling as Kyle whipped back around to look at Mrs. Marsh. She had a bashful look on her face. "My mother the first female sorcerer ever and by far the youngest to ever achieve it and yet you marry an outcast hunter like dad!" Stan laughed at his parents expense but Kyle could hear the pride in his voice, he obviously was very fond of his parents.

"So you're like a really powerful mage then?" Kyle asked the wonder building to the point he could barely contain it. He felt like he had just arrived at Hogwarts. Sharon nodded and smiled sheepishly.

"That's what they keep telling me, I don't feel all that special though to be honest, I just truly love magic. I would spend hours practicing spells until the break of dawn growing up and when I turned 18 I was given the honor of being a sorcerer." Stan spoke up again at this.

"She's trying to play it down but there have only been, 35 true sorcerers in the past thousand years, and my mother is one of only two currently alive." Stan said, now who was bragging? Kyle thought as he watched his friend heap praise on his mother.

"Yes one of the most powerful mages around with a son who can barely cast a simple spell of light." Randy said walking through the living room laughing clearly drunk again. Stan just frowned and turned away from his father.

"I don't need magic, my sword skills are more than enough to get the job done." Stan's mother huffed and put her hands on her hips.

"Well I hope you take to this better than Stanley did Kyle, I do truly enjoy teaching, and it has been a few years since my last student." She said disappointed in her son's obvious lack of interest. Kyle perked up.

"Are you talking about Shelley then?" Kyle asked wondering what kind of hunter she was. Sharon smiled.

"Shelley does have quite a bit of natural talent for magic, though sadly she has a mind more like her father when it comes to the job and was more interested in how to kill monsters than anything else." Kyle wondered then if there had been another student, he didn't think Shelley was who she had meant. "Well enough of my prattling, lets have you try a simple spell, It really is quite easy." She had him come over and Stand on one side of the living room and then moved to the other and held out her hand which contained a single reeses peanut butter cup. Kyle looked at her questioningly. She just smiled. "I believe in positive reinforcement, alright so what you are going to do is move this across the room to you without taking a step." Kyle's eyes widened in excitement his mouth watering from more than the thought of the reeses cup.

"H-how?" He asked eager to give it a try.

"Magic, is not as supernatural as most books and movies paint it, it is a natural part of the world and a part of us." She began and Kyle could tell she truly was passionate about the subject. "Magic is the essences of life, but It's more than that, It's what makes the world tick." Kyle thought about this for a moment before asking a question.

"It sound's like physics..." Sharon smiled as Kyle seemed to catch on.

"Exactly, magic is just the manipulation of physics through sheer force of will. Fire, ice, lightning natural phenomena, easily replicated by even the most novice wizards...well most of them." She said poking fun at her son who had never been able to produce more than a small spark. He simply had no talent for elemental magic and though he had In truth had very little talent for any kind of magic. Stan just huffed and sank deeper into the couch, this was why he didn't like practicing magic, his family were all very accomplished mages, even his drunk of a father could cast complicated spells Shelley, had been a bit of a savant when it came to combat magic and his mother was a sorcerer. Stan on the other hand could barely do even the simplest of magic and it made him feel left our whenever topics turned to magic.

"So what do I do to manipulate it? Is there some specific spell?" He expected her to give him some latin sounding phrase or mystical chant to cast the spell like in the books. But she shook her head.

"Spells aren't so much words as they are feelings, when it comes to magic it truly is the intention that counts." Kyle listened as she continued not sure what she was getting at. "The words you've probably heard myself and my husband muttering are more statements of intent, they're designed to focus the mind on a single thing the last word being shouted with emotion to put the actual umph, into the spell." Kyle nodded slowly, this actually made more sense to him than Stan's philosophical martial arts talk earlier.

"So as long as I can imagine it, it'll work?" He asked curious. She shook her head.

"Not necessarily, there is a limit, magic requires life force, so using it will tire you, but it also acts like a muscle, the more you use it the more you can use it." She started a rant on how remarkable the human soul was that it could grow from such stress rather than diminish. "Oh, and using a spell is not as simple as just imagining it, you must truly know that you can do it, as well as having a very specific thought in mind." Kyle scratched his head and nodded. "Well go on give it a try!" She was excited to test her new student's capability. Kyle shifted uncomfortably and thought very carefully about what he wanted to happen. Did he want it to fly across the room to him? No that mind be dangerous, what if it went to fast, well what if he made it fly slow? Would it take two individual thoughts one to lift and one to give it thrust? Kyle had always been good with physics, they just made sense to him, and this just seemed like applied physics though through an unusual medium. Kyle finally made his decision on what to do and held out his hand. Stan visibly tensed up as did Mrs. Marsh, but Kyle didn't pay it any mind and began muttering to himself exactly what he wanted to happen. The air in the room began to shudder and the house creaked. Sharon's eyes widened at the amount of magic Kyle was tapping into, it was more than Stan or even Shelley had access to. Stan's eyes were wide as well, he'd only ever seen this kind of magic reaction from two people. His stomach felt sick and his eyes watered.

"Come!" Kyle shouted putting as much feeling into it as he could. Sharon gasped as the reeses cup didn't float up out of her hand but instead seemed to be pulled inside out and vanish. There was a moment of stillness in the room and then all the sudden the reeses cup violently reappeared and pelleted Stan's cheek.

"Shit!" He yelped more surprised than hurt. Sharon just stood staring at her new student across from her. Teleportation magic? That kind of spell would be difficult for most regular mages and impossible for someone at Kyle's level. And though it certainly hadn't worked as expected, he had teleported it, on his first try even. In her mind she knew then and there, Kyle was a magic prodigy, more than she had ever been, he might even be able to rival her old apprentice, not in power of course, but in sheer imagination and ingenuity. Most mages wouldn't have considered simply having the chocolate appear and would have tried to fly it across the room. Usually to disastrous effect on the first try.

"Damn I'm sorry dude! I really thought I had it!" Kyle said going to his friend to see if he was ok and help him get the chocolate off his face. Sharon was glad that neither of them had seen her so flustered by Kyle's spell. She silently began casting a spell of sealing, she had to be careful, she didn't want the boy's to know but Kyle had just accessed more power than most average mages ever would even after years of training drawing on so much was not something done lightly. She finished her spell without a sound, she doubted the boys could see the difference but she had suppressed Kyle's magic, he'd only be able to draw on a fraction of his power, more appropriate to his skill. She doubted he would notice the difference in his aura though now that she looked at the boy, his aura seemed remarkably similar to Stan's almost as if...She didn't let herself finish the thought.

"That was a very good first attempt Kyle dear! How do you feel?" She put on a fake smile shaken by what she'd just considered. The boys probably could feel the aura's of magic more than they could see it, it was a rare ability to actually be able to see magic flowing in the air in its natural state. Kyle looked over at her smiled and nodded.

"I feel great, that was awesome...though not what I wanted to happen haha." Stan glared at him still trying to get the smeared chocolate off his face.

"Well why not try a simpler method?" She said pulling out another chocolate.

"Alright then, the obvious approach it is." Kyle replied and began muttering again. "Rise!" his intent this time was very different, the chocolate flew straight up from Sharon's hand in the air. "Move!" He had surprised her again, in the midst of one spell he had cast another, this something that Stan certainly couldn't do and Shelley had struggled with for a long time. The chocolate floated just over Kyle's hand and then dropped into it. His smile from ear to ear he quickly unwrapped it and at the candy. "Dude I don't know what you are so upset about, this chocolate is delicious!" Kyle said poking fun at Stan who having finally gotten his face clean rolled his eyes.

"Excellent Kyle! Dear, you are going to be a fine mage in no time!" She said praising her new prodigy.

"Stanley, would you like to give it a try?" Stan shook his head and went into the kitchen.

"No point, we both know I can't do it, I've been trying since first grade and I can't get the chocolate to do anything more than shudder." Kyle was wondering if Stan was bitter that he had gotten it so easily, too bad he couldn't see the smile on his friends face. He was happy for and proud of Kyle, he always knew his friend was talented, and knew this success was a good thing considering his struggle earlier.

"Alright then Stanley, are you going to watch your friend at least?" She was hoping maybe Kyle would inspire him to try again, she had always felt guilty for Stan's lack of magical ability. Early on his sister had taken to magic quickly and they had put a lot of pressure on him to do the same but it became quickly apparent his talents lay elsewhere. Sharon and Randy had caught him watching a Bruce Lee movie when he was 7 year old and watched amazed as he perfectly mimicked all the moves on the TV as though he had practiced them for years. They had been worried about Stan's safety up until that point. As a hunter without being able to use the very magic that would make him a target, he would have been at a disadvantage, but if had physical talent to such an extent then maybe he would have a chance. She had always been amazed at Stan's coordination and physical aptitude, he seemed to defy gravity when he fought. She just wished he had possessed the love of magic she did, and hoped he didn't resent his lack of magical talent.

"Yea sure why not" he sat down on the couch and got comfortable again, adjusting his glasses that had slipped down slightly. They continued for several more hours until Sharon noticed Stan was already asleep and Kyle who was standing was starting to droop and slur his words. He probably had exhausted far too much magic. She had gotten carried away, but she had just been so excited, he could already produce a small controlled flame!

"Kyle dear, take Stanley upstairs, It's time for bed for both of you, you've got school in the morning." Kyle froze at that. He'd forgotten, what was going to happen when Clyde didn't show up at school tomorrow, were his parents looking for him? This fear ate at Kyle as he tucked his friend into bed for the second night in a row.

"Don't get too use to this..." He muttered to his friend before crawling over him to lay on top of the covers. He stared at the ceiling wondering how he would tell their friends that Clyde was gone. What would they say? Oh yea sorry guys turns out Clyde was some sort of evil undead monster and Stan cut him in half. His eyes drooped as he fretted and he started to think about all the amazing things that had happened today, he was learning martial arts and magic! Best of all though, he had his best friend with him the whole time. There was a smile on Kyle's face as he finally drifted off and rolled closer to his friend.

Authors note – And so Kyle's training has begun! So what do you guys think so far? Next time, the dreaded school!