Disclaimer - I don't own south park, never will...don't sue me bro…

AN - Woo passed 5000 views with the last chapter! Let's keep that going!

and let me know what you guys think about this story. Am i too inconsistent on some aspects of the story? I feel like there are little things i messed up at the beginning that are going to plague this story later on. But well i didn't plan this out very well ^^; kinda just daydream about it when i'm bored so yea...on with the story?

Chapter 25

At the Marsh's house…

"Kyle wait!" Stan yelled rushing out of the kitchen to follow him. As he exited the kitchen he just caught the front door closing. He ran towards it grabbing his leather jacket off the banister, whipping it around behind him and slid his arms into it as he went. "Dude wait up!" Stan yelled seeing the red patch of hair disappear around the corner at the end of the street. Stan burst after him. Stan caught up with him at Starks pond, he was sitting on the bench with his head down. Even from where he stood several yards away, Stan could see he was shivering. Stan sighed as he approached behind him silently, taking off his Jacket and wrapping it around his friend from behind, surprising the other boy.

"Stan?" Kyle said, sniffing he looked up. His eyes were red and his teeth chattering.

"Dude, you're a mess." Stan said laughing but with a sad look in his eyes and brought his fist down on top of Kyle's head playfully. Kyle said nothing and put his head back down pulling the jacket tighter around his shoulders. Stan walked around the bench and slid down onto the cold damp wood next to Kyle. "Wanna tell me what's bothering you?" he asked, looking up at the night sky and wishing he'd grabbed Kyle's jacket alongside his own, because now he was freezing. Kyle shook his head wordlessly, or at least Stan assumed that was probably what he had done. "Dude if you don't tell me what I did, I can't exactly apologize for it can i?"

"You didn't do anything wrong…" Kyle said, almost too quiet for Stan to hear.

"He speaks!" Stan said looking over at his friend who was bent over his own knees looking at the ground mostly covered by Stan's very warm looking jacket. "You say that, but your reaction to the dinner conversations say's otherwise."

"It's nothing don't worry about it." Kyle began, Stan could already tell he was just going to be stubborn about this. "I just want to be alone for a while." Kyle said jumping up and beginning to walk away. Still covered by Stan's jacket. Kyle had to admit it was warm, and he liked the way it smelled. Like leather, and Stan. That thought made Kyle turn red embarrassingly.

"Dude, you know that isn't going to happen." Stan said, hopping to his feet and trotting to catch up and walk beside his friend in silence. "You can be alone, but i'm going to be there next to you." Stan said with a smirk.

"That kind of defeats the purpose…" Kyle said after a moment. He wouldn't look in Stan's direction and they just walked around the town taking random turns. Kyle was sure Stan would get too cold to follow him, since he'd given him his jacket. "Go home, before you freeze to death, dumbass." Kyle said huffing and walking a bit faster.

"Says the dumbass who ran out of the house at night without his jacket, that was hanging on the banister by the very door he left from." Stan said dryly. he was worried about Kyle, but he wasn't going to let him off easily. "Dude, you can't just mope out here all night walking the empty streets."

"Why not?" Kyle hissed. "It's not like i'm in danger from any idiots who try to jump me." To make his point more clear Kyle glared in Stan's direction and whispered something, a strong gust of wind kicking up some leaves and chilling him to the bone. What a dick, now Stan was getting pissed.

"I'm not worried about you getting mugged and you know it. It isn't safe out here at night alone, unarmed, even as skilled as you are. You aren't ready to fight shells alone, let alone whatever that warlock might have up his sleeves. Just because he's followed Cartman's agreement so far does not mean he will stick by it." Stan said hoping to catch Kyle with some simplistically airtight logic. Kyle just shrugged it off. And then stabbed a dagger into Stan's heart.

"So what? Doesn't that make it even more dangerous for you to be out here then? Since you've got no magic, you're useless without your weapon." Kyle stopped at that and covered his mouth turning to his friend who had stopped following him. He had a very defeated look on his face. "Stan I'm sorry i didn't me-" Stan put his hand up for him to stop.

"No it's ok. You're right. It is dangerous for me to be out without my weapon, i don't even have the magic items my mother gave me to store them. I would be almost completely helpless if i were attacked by a shell right now." Stan walked up to Kyle purposefully. Grabbed ahold of him and hugged him tight. "But i am not leaving you out here alone. Got it?" he asked as he pushed Kyle back to arm's length to look him in the eyes. He noted Kyle's face was bright red and his eyes were wide.

"Y-yea i g-got it." Kyle said tripping over his words. He must be colder than Stan had originally thought.

"Now either we both go back to my house now, or you need to create some fucking fire, because dude i'm freezing my ass off out here." Stan said suddenly unable to keep himself from shivering. Kyle realized how pale Stan was suddenly and took off the jacket and through it around Stan quickly. Kyle pushed in closely to him and held his hands up between them.

"Warm" he muttered quietly and focused a small portion of his power, it didn't make any visual signs except for a small rustle of their hair and clothes, but Stan instantly felt flooded with warmth. He was surprised by how similar it felt to Kyle's own warmth when they were in bed together. Stan's head shot up at that thought and he stepped back laughing nervously.

"Wow...that was great dude, haha wish i'd known you could do that before…" Stan said spinning on his heel and walking back towards his house. He could hear Kyle's footsteps behind him so he didn't have to worry about fighting with him to come back at the moment. He had felt a strange tingle in his spine when he'd thought about Kyle and him in bed. It was definitely not something he'd felt before. It had surprised him, and now he felt like he wouldn't be able to look Kyle in the face for some reason. As they walked back in silence, Kyle suddenly stopped and Stan turned to see what was wrong. Kyle was looking at him with an expression he didn't recognize. "Dude, what is it?" He asked, about to take a step back towards Kyle.

"Stan, how do you feel about me?"

At Butters' and Kenny's house…

The movie had ended a few hours ago and Karen had passed out almost immediately. Kenny and Butters wrapped her in a blanket and laid her on the couch and turned off the lights. They laid on the floor where they wouldn't be stepped on, should she get up. But they didn't want to leave her alone. Kenny had little trouble getting comfortable sleeping on the clean carpet. He'd slept on much worse. Butters curled up to his right side and soon after latching onto him was out cold. This left Kenny alone with his thoughts, surrounded by the two people he loved most, and the two people he had hurt the most. He'd caused the deaths of both his own and Butters parents. He had almost lost both Karen and Butters too. He brought nothing but heartache to those he got close to. Not for the first time he cursed being some creature of chaos. "I don't deserve these two." He said to himself.

"That's pretty conceited of you." Butters whispered at his side. "You don't get to choose what either of us do." Kenny felt footsteps approach and Karen laid down next to him and latched onto his other side.

"We choose to be with you brother, because we love you." She said snuggling into him.

"Nothing would change that, and we don't blame you." Butters said in a serious tone in Kenny's ear.

"And we never did." Karen finished sighing and quickly falling back asleep. Butters followed soon after. Kenny though was wide awake now and staring. He had just heard exactly the things he wanted to hear and the very same things he didn't think either member of his family would ever say. Kenny cried silent tears then, but he was smiling all the while. He was awake for many more hours, just enjoying the feeling of having everything right with the world.

At the throne in the woods…

The young man was getting impatient. His finger tapped on his stone thrown, sending out sounds that were too loud for the simple tapping gesture. While he appreciated the end game of his minion's little agreement, he didn't like to wait. He had already culled most of the disposable minions and was not bored. Their terror wasn't real after all. "Alright then, according to the agreement I can't harm them directly…I never agreed to spare their families." He said smiliing evilly. He would enjoy this for multiple reasons. Hurting his hated enemies? Check. Piss off his annoying, thorn in his side minion? Check. Boredom cured? Double check.

Stan and Kyle standing in the middle of the street…

"Stan, how do you feel about me?" Kyle asked, freezing him in place. What kind of answer was Kyle looking for? Was this why he had run out of the house? Was it what he had said about not having feelings for Kyle? "Be honest with me." Kyle asked pleading.

"Kyle I don't...What do you want me to say?" Stan asked, but Kyle just shook his head. He was beginning to cry again, and he was frustrated because he wasn't sure what he wanted Stan to say. Snow began to fall slowly around them.

"Stan I don't know what I want. I don't know what I want you to say. Hearing you say you didn't have feelings for me...It hurt. I know you meant it as more than friends but I just couldn't breath and I needed to get out of there!" Kyle said, his words coming out like a flood he couldn't stop. He knew he was about to fall apart but he had been bottling up all these feelings the last month, ignoring them because of their training.

"Kyle I had no idea that i hurt you when i said that! You know you're my super best friend. You're…" Stan was struggling for the right words for his feelings. "Irreplaceable and awesome and perfect." He was getting frustrated, nothing sounded right to him.

"Is that how you feel about me?" Kyle asked wincing, that wasn't what he wanted to hear from Stan. He didn't want to be something put on a pedestal by his friend. He turned and started to walk away again. Maybe he did need some space from his friend after all. He was a mess and he didn't want to bring him down beside him.

"Mine!" Stan blurted out suddenly. Kyle whipped around by Stan's outburst. His friend had a desperate and confused look on his face.

"What?"Kyle asked, trying to tease more out of his friend. Stan just shook his head.

"You're mine." Stan said stepping toward Kyle and pulling him towards him. Kyle's face was suddenly unbearably hot and his heartbeat was in his ears. "I don't know where this goes, but I don't want you to leave me. I just want to be with you. Whatever that means." Stan said looking down, his own face burning and heartbeat deafening in his own ears. Kyle was just stunned, but he felt a burning nervousness. He didn't know what he had wanted to hear, and now that Stan had told him how he felt he wasn't sure what to do about it.

"You mean...w-what do you mean?" Kyle asked stumbling over his words. His mind was racing almost as fast as his heart was beating. Stan just stood there mouth agape for a moment.

"I don't even know, I just...don't want you to go." He said finally looking defeated. He was sure that his wishy washy statements would fail. Kyle stood completely still, his insides were anything but though. He poured over every thought he'd had recently and every feeling. But he couldn't make sense of them all at once and it was making him feel light headed. But one thing Stan had said had stood out to him. I just want to be with you. And for Kyle the only thing he was sure of is that he felt the same way about his friend. He smiled and tried to calm himself enough to speak without squeaking, only partially succeeding in that venture.

"Well...I guess that will do for now then…" Kyle said walking up to Stan, awkwardly he reached out as though he was going to hug him. But he was suddenly really nervous and decided on a friendly pat on the shoulder. Stan didn't seem to mind though as he sighed and flashed a bright smile.

"Then let's get back to my house, our parents are going to be worried." Stan said walking side by side with his best friend, who was still wrapped in his leather jacket.

Outside the Marsh's house…

"Make sure you put on a good show…" The boy smirked from his thrown hidden in the shadow of a house across the street. His remaining minions ambled across the street towards the home of his enemies. While he promised not to kill them until Christmas, he never said he wouldn't make them hurt. Even after his frequent purges he had countless minions left in his arsenal. His main force was here but he hadn't neglected the other three hunter strongholds in the town. They would probably weather this storm quite easily, but they would be far too distracted to help the main target of his assault.

"When do we begin master?" One of his more eager revenants asked by his side. The young man smiled and returned to his surveillance of the two young hunters on their way back to the Marsh household. The timing would be perfect.

"Now. Make them suffer." He said casually and settled in for the show as the thundering roar of his army shook the nightlands around him. Everything suddenly within five hundred yards sucked into the shadowy twisted world of the shells. His army charged the house, some were stopped by magical wards. He expected nothing less from the sorceress, but his armies numbers would prevail through sheer numbers.

At the Marsh dinner table…

Randy and Sharon were trying to entertain the Broflovski's who were intent on tracking down Stan and Kyle and having them explain themselves. Ike looked dreadfully bored. "I'm sure the boys are just fine Shiela." Sharon said trying to calm the hysterical woman.

"And Kyle ruins another dinner, wonderful." Ike said bitterly and reached for another roll. Not that he blamed Kyle, he just wish he didn't have to sit and listen to the grown ups all alone.

"Oh Ike dear, why don't you go up to Stan's room. You can play some of his video games or get on his computer. I'm sure he won't mind." Mrs. Sharon told him instantly perking him up. Oh Stan would most definitely mind, but Ike didn't care. In fact that might help salvage this night. He already had several mischievous plans for his brother's new boyfriend. He hopped out of the room smiling and the grown ups went back to bickering about whether or not to go after the boy.

"Sharon! They have been gone for over forty five minutes!" Sheila cried in her shrill voice that always took over when she was worried or angry. She meant well, but she could be quite over protective of her son.

"Dear, perhaps Randy and Sharon are right. The boy's need to work some things out with each other and he does have Stan with him. I'm sure they'll be fine." Gerald said joining Sharon in trying to calm his wife. He had been worried about his son at first, but Stan had always looked after Kyle even to his own detriment. He knew the larger boy would protect his son. Stan had been like a second son in their family, he could hardly remember a time where he and Kyle weren't attached at the hip.

"Sharon, do we have anymore beer?" Randy said slightly tipsy as he moved to get himself and Gerald another drink. He placed a non-alcoholic drink out for his dad who couldn't drink anymore because of his age.

"Oh I believe it is in the bas-" Sharon suddenly went white and Randy froze in place staring into the fridge. Marvin dropped his fork to his plate suddenly. "No…" She whispered as the world around them twisted and warped.

Wendy's house…

Her eyes shot open as she felt the cold attempt to assault her home. Luckily her godly powers still guarded the house and probably would for many many years. But still something was attempting to gain entry, however feebly. She looked out her window and was surprised to see several dozen shells pounding at the invisible boundary at the edge of her yard. "Wendy!" Her dad yelled slamming her door open, shotgun in hand.

"I'm fine dad." She said smiling, it still made her bubbly to call him that. Her mother was behind her father with a small handgun in her hand. Her usual weapon wasn't really suited for close quarters combat.

"Wendy, dear what is going on?" Her mother asked moving to her side to look out the window. Both her parents must have felt the shift into the nightlands. Though the area around her house was protected in both worlds, somehow they had been pulled in.

"I'm not sure, but it isn't good." Wendy replied. Suddenly she was filled with dread. She whirled to her parents. "We have to get out of here." They both looked at her surprised.

"But even without your barrier, shells like those would hardly pose a threat to us…" Her father started. She shook her head fiercely.

"That's the point, they obviously wouldn't be able to harm us, they're here to slow us!" She new instantly, they were all under attack. Their enemy wasn't keeping his word.

Kenny's house…

Kenny yawned as he walked through his kitchen in the dark going for a glass of water. He could hear the soft sighs of Butters and Karen on the floor in the other room. Today had been perfect, he hoped his friends were having as good a day. Knowing them though, they probably were being idiots. He chuckled to himself and started walking back into the other room. As he leaned back to take a sip of his drink though he froze. He flung his water hard across the room towards the door. It shattered, but not on the door. "Kenny?!" Butters yelped sitting up and pulling Karen towards him.

"Butters get Karen out of here!" Kenny shouted as he charged towards the figures coming through the front door. Butters flicked his wrist and Kenny's guns popped into the room from nowhere. Kenny caught them in stride and barrelled into the first shell. His pistols were firing rapidly in several directions without stopping. There were so many of them in the front yard. Too many for him alone most likely. No! Not again, no one else! He screamed in his mind as the shells began to overwhelm him.

Stan and Kyle on the street…

The two boys walked together mostly in silence, neither knowing where their relationship really stood. Both tried to start up conversations at different times but would quickly drift back to silence. "Dude your parents are going to kill you." Stan chuckled, knowing that if he could get Kyle to rant about his mother's overprotectiveness maybe they could get some normalcy back.

"Ugh don't remind me!" Kyle said hanging his head. "I'll be lucky if a psychologist or rabi aren't mentioned." He groaned.

"Must be rough having religious parents." Stan said scratching his cheek. His parents never had time for superstitions. They had only gone to church to try to give Stan and Shelly some normalcy, but that had quickly grown old for all of them.

"Yea odd that your parents KNOW gods exist and yet they seem to not particularly care about religion." Kyle remarked as he thought about how all the hunters he'd met seemed rather grounded.

"Ah yea i guess since we've seen and contend with things normal people can't imagine, kinda ruins us for the simplistic fairy tales of most religions. Especially when we know the stories behind those stories." Stan said smirking. Kyle perked up at this and looked over at his friend eyes wide.

"You know the stories behind the origins of different religions?" Kyle asked excited. He always loved history and now a whole new hidden section of history had just opened up to him.

"Well kind of...I don't pay much attention to it but i know some of the basics, my mother would probably enjoy telling you if you asked." And just like that they were back to normal, Kyle geeking out about history and Stan just smiling and nodding. Too bad it couldn't last. Stan stopped suddenly eyes going wide. Kyle felt a shiver go up his spine and he recognized the feeling as the touch of the nightlands. They had just crossed over.

"Stan? What just happened?" Kyle asked stepping closer to his friend. They were just around the corner from Stan's house. Stan looked around them in all directions, Kyle could see him flexing his muscles the way he did when they were about to spar. He was getting himself ready to explode into motion. He reached for where his sword should be stored, but nothing happened.

"Shit…" Stan hissed, he hadn't been wearing the bracelet his mother had made for him and now he was unarmed in the nightlands. At least he wasn't alone, Kyle would probably be able to keep them safe until they reached his house. An odd feeling for Stan, but not an unpleasant one. Knowing his best friend would have his back. "We need to move quickly and quietly. No telling what might be waiting to ambush us out here."

"I'm ready." Said crouching down and whispering before touching both his and Stan's shoes. "Silence" Stan arched an eyebrow before taking a step. It was an odd sensation when no sound came back. He jumped and still no sound.

"That is a neat trick, when did mom teach you that?" Stan asked crouching down next to his friend whispering.

"She didn't, but knowing how sound waves work doesn't hurt when you want to be quiet." Kyle said smiling. They crept quietly towards the corner, around which would be Stan's house. As they got closer, Kyle could hear his heart in his ears again, but this time it was a different kind of nervousness.

"Stay here." Stan said motioning to the side of the house they were sitting against. He moved quickly then from shadow to shadow with coordination Kyle couldn't have matched. If he didn't know where his friend was headed he would have completely lost him. Stan disappeared around the corner for a moment, and then another. It felt like an eternity of silence in the darkness before Stan burst back around the corner in a sprint shouting. "Move move move!" Behind him a veritable horde of shells came charging around the corner. Kyle stumbled and stood still for a moment stunned before Stan grabbed his hand and pulled him along as fast as he could. "Move Kyle!" Kyle nodded and swallowed composing himself. He looked back and realized they wouldn't outrun the supernatural stamina of the horde.

"Burn!" He shouted thrusting his hand back towards the horde and the front ranks burst into flames. Several died instantly, but their blazing flesh disappeared behind the surging horde that replaced them. Kyle couldn't count how many were following him. "Oh god…" He said afraid as they continued to run. "Where are we going?" He shouted at Stan.

"Around." He said as they looped around the twisted version of their neighborhood. "We need to reach my parents. Only about half the shells followed me. And there were several revenants back there too. With my mom in her weakened state, they will need your magic, and i'm worthless without my sword." He said as they approached the end of a line of fences. Kyle knew where they were going now. He was going to cut through the line of houses behind his. Their was a small patch of trees and a short field between the two lines of houses. Just before they were about to turn into the yard Kyle whirled back around.

"Burn! Bright!" He yelled suddenly, he wasn't used to combining different effects in the heat of the moment, but he needed to learn fast. A bright blossom of flame burst up between them and the horde following. This one many times brighter than before. The shells stopped momentarily blinded by the more continuous flame. And when it subsided their prey was gone. The shells looked around angrily and began slamming into each other. Without direction they were not very intelligent. One calmer figure toward the back stood forward and clapped his hands to get the shells attention. He had a dark smile full of black teeth. He motioned for the shells to follow him back the way they came. He knew where their prey was going. And he was going to enjoy crushing their hopes.

To be continued!

So things are picking up once again! Get ready for the next chapter to be lots of action goodness! Sorry the beginning of this chapter seemed a bit sappy, but i enjoyed writing it. I know I know I suck. I understand. TT-TT