Episode 2 1/2: The boy in the plant

[Les Claypool]

I'm goin' down to South Park, gonna have myself a time.

[Tweek and Dog poo]

Friendly faces everywhere, humble folks without temptation.

[Les Claypool]

Goin' down to South Park, gonna leave my woes behind.

[Francis]

Ample parking day or night, people spouting: "Howdy, neighbor!"

[Les Claypool]

Headin' on up to South Park gonna see if I can't unwind.

[Tommy Heidi]

Our town is bigger dammit, right down to the little granite.

[Les Claypool]

So come on down to South Park, and meet some friends of mine

(Tweak Residence)

Francis knocked on Tweek's front door and waited a moment but nobody answered. He knocked again but still no response.

"What the hell, Tweek, you just gonna let me freeze to death out here?" Francis asked himself. He was about to knock again when the front door opened and instead of seeing Tweek, Francis saw a boy around his age with glasses and jet-black hair.

"Who're you?" The boy asked.

"Oh, You must be Max, Tweek's cousin. I'm Francis Greene, his friend."

Francis put out his hand for the two to shake but Max didn't take it so after an Awkward Moment Francis put his hand back down.

"So what are you doing here?" Max asked.

"Oh well, Tweek seemed a bit more stressed out than usual today so I thought I'd swing by and just check on him."

"He's fine. Why don't you-"

"Ack! Francis is that you?"

Francis pushed past max and was stunned to see Tweek had a black eye! He then turned around and looked at Max.

"What the Hel's frozen world did you do to him?"

Max looked at Francis dubiously.

"Hel's frozen world?"

"Sorry, I just finished reading Neil Gaiman's Norse mythology...wait why am I apologizing to you?! Why did you hit Tweek?!"

Max shrugged.

"We're just horsing around, haven't you ever gone a little too far when playing with your cousins?"

"Nothing like this. I never gave any of my cousin's black eyes!"

Max chuckled.

"You must have had all girl cousins then."

"Well Ya but they all played pretty rough."

Tweek then put his hand on Francis's shoulder.

"Francis, it's ok. H-he's right, we were just horsing around." Tweek said.

"This isn't horsing around, this is abuse! Call your Dad and tell him you're staying over at my house tonight."

"That's not necessary. You're overreacting about all of this." Max said.

"No, I'm not. I know what abuse looks like."

Francis then grabbed Tweek by the wrist and led him out the front door.

"Ack!, Francis, this isn't necessary."

"Yes it is, I'm not letting my friend get beat up by some abuser!"

Tweek stopped in place for a moment just as they were a few feet away from Francis's house.

"Francis, you seem to know a lot about signs of abuse. Has your dad been hitting you?"

Francis looked back at Tweek for a moment before looking down at his shoes.

"Not my dad."

Tweek's eyes went wide.

"Your Mom has been hitting you?!"

Francis nodded.

"She's always had a temper but lately it's been getting worse. She hits me and my dad whenever things aren't exactly perfect."

"B-but how come the cops haven't arrested her?"

"My dad still thinks she can get back to normal."

"But you don't?"

"She's never been normal, to begin with, every word that comes out of her mouth either begins with me, my and I. She only cares about herself." Tweek wanted to ask more questions but he could tell Francis wasn't in the mood to continue.

"So now that I've said my peace, are you gonna tell me what's going on with your cousin?"

Tweek sighed.

"He wasn't always like this. We used to be a lot closer actually but something happened."

"What happened?"

"Francis, there's a reason I'm the way I am. One day back when max and I were still close his older brother Charles went up stares and...overdosed on pills. Max and I were the first to find him."

An uncomfortable silence began between the two until it was broken by Francis.

"Tweek...I'm so sorry."

Tweek shrugged.

"As weird as I am now, it was harder on Max. After the funeral, Max didn't speak for a year and when he finally did begin to speak all he would do is beat the crap out of me aby chance he got."

"And your family just let this happen?"

"Max always makes sure to bully me when neither of our parents is around."

"Well maybe me, Dog poo, and Tommy could help you out."

"No, please don't. Look he'll probably just be here for a day or two and then I probably won't see him for another year. Please Francis, just let things be."

Francis sighed.

"C'mon Tweek. I wanna show you my home."

Tweek and Francis walked into a nice ranch-style house.

(Tweak residents)

"Dammit!" Max shouted.

He had the little brat in his hands and instead of just killing him like he was supposed to have to play around with him until that little idiot came along and ruined everything!

Max punched the wall so hard that he made a small dent in the wood! When he pulled his hand back he saw some of his skin had ripped away to reveal green reptilian scales.

"Shit!" Max thought to himself before covering the exposed hand with the sleeve of his coat.

Great, now he would have to go back to where he had hidden the real max to replicate more flesh. He ran out the back door of the house and walked a few blocks down the road until he saw a dark house with a greenhouse in its backyard. He quickly opened the door to its and closed it just as quickly to keep any of the humidity from getting out. He then looked through the many large plants in the greenhouse until he noticed a rather large one in the center.

It opened up as he got closer to reveal the real Max laying unconscious inside the plant. The fake Max touched the real max and his exposed hand was covered again in the replicant skin.

The real Max's eyes slowly began to open while the plant began to close up again. The last words the fake max heard was the muffled screaming coming from inside the plant.

The Fake max smiled at the sound. The plant had been slowly feeding on the real boy, the only thing stopping it from eating him whole was His need for the real boy to copy his skin but he wouldn't need the body for much longer. His family would be arriving soon and once then these stupid humans would be nothing more than a food source for the new masters of this planet.

To be continued