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

Authors note – And things are starting to get interesting o3o

Chapter 18

A reunion between friends...

"What aren't you happy to see me?" Cartman asked faking a hurt look on his face.

"How are you here?" Stan asked wincing as he pulled himself to his feet. Kenny shifted to put Butters and Wendy behind him. Kyle moved to Stan's side leaving the five friends in one corner of the room staring across towards this phantom from the past. "Everyone forgot you...that should mean you were destroyed..." Cartman just shrugged.

"I'm not entirely sure of the specifics to be honest...I don't remember much from that night, other than your father pointing a gun at my face and pulling the trigger." As he spoke he didn't seem to be care at all about that, he was just stating it as fact. "I didn't know at the time but it'd take more than a shotgun blast to the face to kill me. Maybe I died for a little while..."

"What are you talking about fat-ass?" Kenny asked tapping Butters on the shoulder lightly who whipped his hands out to the sides behind Kenny, a pistol appeared in the air a few feet above them and dropped to Kenny's outstretched hands. He immediately pointed them at Cartman.

"Kenny wai-" Kyle began to say but Stan had stepped forward and drawn his sword from its magical sheath. Both boys were sizing up Cartman and trying to move to opposites sides as much as could be done in such a tiny room.

"Now now, lets not have any of that." Cartman said as he swatted with his left hand his forearm seeming to expand and stretch catching both boys in the chest and flinging them into opposite walls. "I didn't come to fight tonight, if I did you'd already be dead. I just came to bring a friendly warning." Stan and Kenny were both reeling from the previous attack. Butters pulled Kenny up off the floor who began coughing up blood. Butters set Kenny on couch gently and smiled at him.

"Ken, I'm going to do that, K?" Butters said smiling at Kenny who just stared back before nodding gently. Butters turned around and skipped up onto the table in the middle of the room and gave Cartman the sweetest and yet creepiest smile. He had his hands behind him as he skipped forward towards Cartman.

"Really Butters why don't yo-" He was cut off as Butters nearly took out his throat with a large kitchen knife. He'd been hiding knifes in both hands behind his back and his first swipe took Cartman's tie off just below the knot. Butters next attack coming back the other way with the opposite hand should have torn the larger boy's throat out, except it never hit. Cartman had kicked out his left leg and like his forearm it extended and sent Butters flying hard into the TV on the far wall. "Oops...might have killed him." Cartman laughed scratching his head until he heard laughter coming from the boy he'd just launched across the room.

"Oh Eric look what you did to my arm...I'm seriously going to be grounded now!" Butters left arm was broken and twisted in several places. But what unnerved Kyle the most were his eyes. The whites had turned completely black and their usual blue replaced by a sickly yellow. He had a crazed look on his face and something seemed wrong about him to Kyle suddenly. The small blond launched himself across the room at Cartman swinging his one good arm in front of him. Stan and Kenny both bolted up to attack Cartman from opposite sides at the same moment. There was a terrible crash as the four boy's slammed into one another. Kenny had one gun pointed at Cartman's temple one at the center of his chest. Stan's sword point was pressed against Cartman's waist as he crouched on the floor. If he completed his thrust he'd run the sword up through the other boy's torso and out his far shoulder. Butters had driven his knife into the space beside Cartman's neck down to the handle. Cartman's mouth was open in surprise and a little blood trickled out. But he just smiled and licked his lips.

"And this is why I brought this little warning." He began to flex his arms but Stan and Kenny acted first. Stan stood as he brought his sword up into Cartman's torso making the other boy tense. Kenny began firing rapidly at pointblank. Smoke from Kenny's guns filled the room as he continued to fire for several seconds. His guns must magically reload Kyle thought to himself as he lost count of how many shots had been fired. Finally he stopped and all three boys retracted their weapons and stepped back. They expected Cartman to collapse in a heap as the backed up. But as the smoke cleared Cartman looked relatively unscathed. His clothes were severely torn up but he just stood their smiling. "Can I finish talking now?" He said smirking. Stan and Kenny looked at each other trying to figure out what to do when Butters leapt back in apparently still in a frenzy.

"ERIC!" He lunged knife leading but Cartman seemed to have tired of playing this game. He caught Butters leading wrist and squeezed it until the bones popped and his knife dropped. He lifted Butters up by that wrist as though he weighed nothing and punched both of the smaller boys knees in quick succession each resounding with a loud crack. The small blond's scream was deafening as it all happened in just a few moments and Cartman tossed his limp body at Kenny who stunned caught his broken boyfriend.

"Shit...Kenny stay calm he-" Stan started to say going to Kenny's side but it was too late. Kenny's eyes had gone black like Butters had. The room seemed to bend and twist sickeningly and Kyle felt as though he would lose himself in the movement.

"CARTMAN!" Kenny screamed in a both higher and deeper voice than Kyle thought humanly possible. His voice echoed throughout the room, Stan, Kyle, and Wendy all covered their ears as best they could but it helped very little. Cartman moved back just a half a step squinting as it became hard too look at Kenny. Cartman made eye contact with Kenny for just a split second and the blond made him experience every horrible thing he feared all at once over and over. Stan lunged forward when he saw Cartman go rigid knowing Kenny had him. He swung his sword over and down planning to cut Cartman in half from left shoulder to right hip. His sword stopped though as his supposedly helpless victim caught the blade in his left hand. That hand had turned black and was big enough to wrap around Stan's head. It had tiny spikes at the knuckles and joints. Cartman's other arm shot out like a spear like it had when he'd first attacked Stan and slammed Kenny in the gut and back into the wall just to the right of where Butters had it. Before retracting his arm though he grabbed Kenny by the back of his shirt and lifted him up slamming into the ceiling and then slammed him down so hard he bounced. Kyle and Wendy just stared down at the two broken blonds on the floor. Kyle wasn't sure what to do, he'd hardly fought so far. His mind couldn't even comprehend what was happening. He'd just shut down. Wendy was shaking across the room from him, the expression on her face was one of confusion. She seemed terrified like a child for the first time.

"OK so now that those two have calmed down can w-" Cartman began but was interrupted by a foot slamming into his face. Stan using the leverage from Cartman holding his sword had swung himself up kicked out with both feet. His right foot catching Cartman just above the eyes and his left hitting the other boy in the throat. He hardly even looked stunned. "Really Stan? Can't be civil? I almost feel bad wailing on you, I mean even Butters is stronger than your magic-less ass." He flexed his hand and Stan's sword snapped clean in half and in one single motion he brought his knee up as Stan fell. He caught the dark haired boy just above the waist on his back, he bent backwards over Cartman's knee both his head and feet almost touching the ground. Cartman launched Stan back into the air in front of him and with a slight grunt sent him flying into and through the wall Kenny and Butters had been slammed into. "So Jew, Hippie, I did always think the two of you were the closest in intelligence to me so I guess you won-" Wendy finally got a hold of herself after Cartman launched Stan.

"Vanish!" She yelled jumping up and standing between her three injured friends and Cartman who looked both bored and annoyed. Kyle felt a slight buzz in the air for a moment but nothing happened.

"Yea I don't think that's gonna be happening..." Cartman said ignoring her. He turned to Kyle reaching out his hand. His arm extended and he wrapped his talon like fingers around Kyle's neck and pulled him in holding him off the ground at arms length without effort. "I'm getting bored now Jew, don't push me like those idiots."

"What do you want fat-ass?!" Kyle screamed clawing at Cartman's hand that seemed like it was made out of rock. Cartman smirked insanely.

"To crush you all at your most powerful!" He said laughing maniacally. "I mean whats the point of beating on you like this, fighting weak opponents who can't hurt me even If I don't fight back? It's boring."

"So why are you...?" But Kyle had figured it out already. Cartman wanted to show them how much they were lacking.

"I want a challenge Jew, I need you to know how powerful your enemies are and to know I'm coming for you, oh and the warlock. He might be even more powerful than me...for now." Cartman finished smiling he released Kyle's neck and let him fall the the floor to land on his butt.

"So you're here to give as a warning so what, we can get stronger to fight you so you can enjoy killing us more?" Cartman nodded smiling like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Exactly my Jewish friend! Oh and if you're thinking about just relying on the Sorcerer or the gods well...the screwed the pooch on that one." Cartman said pointing at Wendy who was cradling Stan's head in her lap in tears. She had broken down when she realized just how week becoming normal had made her. Had she still been a goddess she could have annihilated Cartman in an instant. "Seems the Sorcerer also expended too much power performing that ritual, and the last time she did something of that magnitude she was out of it for nearly six months so I wouldn't expect any help anytime soon."

"Why would your master want us to know about this?" Kyle asked receiving a chilling glare from Cartman.

"He's not my master, the only one who decides what I do is me!" He shouted in Kyle's face. "Also he doesn't want you to know, but that makes it even more satisfying going behind his back to tell you." he began adjusting his suit and tie which seemed to repair themselves darkening the room slightly before he light went back to normal. "So any questions?" He looked around as though he had just finished a big business proposal adjusting his lapels.

"How long do we have?" Kyle asked almost afraid of the answer. Cartman looked thoughtful for a moment.

"I can give you till Christmas, just short of three months. The warlock will like the imagery of defeating his hated enemies on a holy night. He's a sucker for that symbolism shit." Cartman turned to walk out the door when Kyle thought about one more thing.

"Wait! Who is the warlock? If you don't serve him then tell us who he is!" Kyle knew it was a gamble but if they could find out who it was maybe it would give them an advantage. Cartman turned around with an arrogant smile.

"I enjoy watching you agonize too much to tell you something like that, but I will tell you that you know him already, you went to school together for a time." With that Cartman was gone from the room and the only sound was Wendy crying in the background and the static from the broken TV. He stood and looked around the room. This was horrible. His friends had been summarily beaten and thrown down quite literally. How could they hope to beat Cartman in just three months? Kyle rushed to Butters first and was happy to see that all three of his friends were still breathing. Butters arm was horribly mangled. Kyle winced, even with magic it would take a while to heal. Once he was sure his friends were still alive he pulled Stan's phone out of his friends pocket. Wendy hardly noticed just cradling his head and crying. Stan was still holding the broken hilt of his sword. He had a death grip on it as Kyle tried to ease it out of his hands. He went into the hallway and began dialing the Marshes.

Later that night at Stan's house...

Mrs. Marsh seemed even worse than before when Jimbo, Ned, and Randy finally carried the three battered boys in to lay on the blankets that had been laid out for them. She had needed both Wendy and Kyle to help her in healing Stan and Kenny. She'd had to take care of Butters on her own because of the extent of the damage to his arm. But she could only get it back to the point where it would heal on its own. He would be down an arm for at least a few months. They'd put it into a sling and laid him on the couch. Stan and Kenny had been battered and bruised but other than slight concussions they were fairly unharmed. "That was a good idea, trying to play him for the warlock's name Kyle." Randy said sipping a coffee, he was in no mood for a beer. Kyle had just finished relaying them exactly what had happened.

"I didn't do anything though, when Cartman attacked I just sat there as stunned as Wendy." He said mentioning the girl of their group. She was sitting in the living room watching over the boys. She had her knees pulled in under her chin and she was crying lightly.

"I can't argue with his assessment of me though." Mrs. Sharon said smiling tiredly. "It will probably take me several months to recover to full strength I doubt I could defend myself against mere shells at the moment."

"Speaking of that, what's wrong with Wendy? You said you suppressed her powers as a goddess but she seems like a completely different person now." Kyle asked wondering why Wendy had seemed so all over the place today. She always seemed cool, calm, and in control. But today she was nothing like that.

"I suppressed everything about her that made her a goddess. I'm sure you've noticed the differences between Kenny and Wendy. Even though they are both goddesses they are both fundamentally different. Every god or goddess has an essence in them that defines them. If I had to define them in a word I would say Kenny's essence is...chaos" She said though Kyle thought she was going to use a different word for a moment. "And Wendy's essence is knowing, those essences manifest differently. Wendy was born with eyes that knew everything about what she saw, she never forgot anything and she was never unsure. She has never felt indecision before. She has never faced an unknown before. But because of all that information always flooding in her emotions were also suppressed which is causing her extreme expression of emotions she's never handled them before."

"And Cartman said you've performed magic like that before...that's how he knew you wouldn't be able to help us for a few months." Mrs. Sharon frowned for a moment.

"I'm not sure how much I should tell you, if they haven't told you already. But I once helped Kenny a few years ago. I was far less prepared than I had been with Wendy and almost died if I'm honest. But I can't tell you anymore than that. You need to talk to Kenny about that." Kyle sunk down into his chair. He let his head rest on the back of the chair so he was staring at the ceiling.

"Things are going to get crazy now." He said to no one in particular.

"Yes you boys are going to have to work hard over the next few months. I'm going to contact the school and your parents and come up with some excuse for why you can't attend. We can't afford to have you waste a second. If they decide to attack while Sharon hasn't recovered we are going to be in trouble now that we don't have a goddess in town. Speaking of which I need to call those two over at Wendy's house. They probably don't know what's happened yet but we'll need them on board." Randy said rambling as he started going through his contacts on his smart phone he walked out the back door to make some phone calls.

"How can we beat him. Cartman wasn't even bothered being shot in the face, stabbed, slashed, Wendy even tried to use magic on him. Nothing worked." Kyle said hopelessly. If Wendy couldn't hurt Cartman how could Kyle?

"You boys just keep training like you have been, Randy, Ned, Jimbo and Wendy's parents will all take care of all the shells for the next few months and you won't be fighting alone. We'll all be there when the show down happens. And believe it or not you kids haven't even scratched the surface of what you are capable of. I...know it..." Mrs. Sharon said sinking down slowly before unceremoniously slamming forehead down on the table. Kyle was afraid for a moment until he heard the loudest snore he'd probably ever heard, and Stan was pretty bad so that was saying something.

"I guess we better make the best of the next few months either way, since they could be our last..." Kyle said as he stood up and went to walk out of the kitchen. He stopped though when he saw Stan standing in the doorway leaning on the wall as he held his ribcage gingerly. He looked like he could barely stand. What caught Kyle's eye though were the tears running down his best friends face.

"I'm sorry Kyle, I don't think I can protect you anymore..."