It's the Butters show! For one whole chapter, it's all about Butters. That should make my sister happy. But it's not going to end well.

A few questions about the kidnapper are going to be answered as well. Also, when the kids are kidnapped, they know who kidnapped them, he's not exactly trying to hide himself, but in order to keep his identity a secret until the end, I am going to only refer to him as the man. Just so you know.

Chapter 5 – Butters

Friday was Butters's happy day. It was the end of the week, the weekend was around the corner, only one day of school left. Usually Butters was excited. But not today.

Kenny and Tweek were gone. The police had no leads, and no clues. They only thing they did know was where they were abducted, as a smashed cellphone had been found at both places. Kenny's family were horrified that their son had been kidnapped right in front of their own house.

When Butters got on the bus that morning, the mood was sour and damp. He decided to sit next to Cartman and across from Kyle and Stan.

"Hey, Eric," Butters greeted him, "Uh, how ya doing?"

Cartman looked at him as if just realizing he was there. "It's odd Butters," he said in a completely emotionless voice, "I never thought I cared much about Kenny. He was just the odd one in our group who always dies or is ignored. But now that he's gone, it's like there's something missing." He lowered his gaze to the floor. "It would be one thing if he were dead. Then we would know he would come back, or go to Heaven or whatever. But knowing he's been kidnapped, with the kidnapper doing God knows what to him, it makes it worse."

Butters stared at him as he went silent. He had never heard Eric sound so emotionless and empty before. Hesitating only a moment, Butters put an arm around his shoulders and patted him gently. Normally Cartman would berate him for such a "gay" gesture, but he just sat there, accepting Butters's gesture.

The mood at school wasn't much better. Everyone kept to tight groups, and no one was alone. Butters highly doubted someone would be abducted in the middle of the day at school, but one could never be too careful.

Before first period started, the students were sitting around, chatting. Butters sat with Stan and his friends, trying to make them feel better about Kenny. He noticed Craig and his friends sitting behind them, and that Craig had his head in his arms, asleep. Butters didn't want to draw attention to it, but Stan did. He leaned back in his desk and nudged him.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked.

"I couldn't sleep last night," Craig mumbled, not opening his eyes, "I couldn't stop hearing Tweek's voice in my head. It sounded like he was calling out for me, crying for help. I couldn't stand it."

"Golly," Butters murmured, "That sure is spooky."

"Are you going to be okay?" Kyle asked him, "Maybe you should go to the nurse's office and lay down?"

"I'm fine," Craig muttered, "I just need to close my eyes for a few minutes."

Stan sighed. "I didn't sleep well last night either," he admitted, "I kept worrying about Kenny. I hope he's ok."

Butters hoped so too.

Much like a lot of the other boys, Butters had not changed much. He had mostly just grown taller, but not by a lot. The only boy in their class who was shorter than him was Tweek. He was also one of the only boys who didn't seem interested in dating anyone. He was perfectly content going on his merry way, without "someone tying him down." He still had a few nervous habits, though, such as rubbing his knuckles together, and mumbling when he got nervous.

The rest of Butters's day went by almost uneventfully. On Fridays, instead of regular Gym class, every student had swimming. The swimming coach, Coach Rottenburg, was very different from the Gym teacher, Mr. Pounsya. Rottenburg was a hard task master, and accepted few excuses from students trying to get out of swimming. Not even girls on their periods were excused. The only students allowed to sit out of swimming were students with physical injuries, such as broken or sprained bones, or students with notes from their doctors saying they were allergic to chlorine, which was what Tweek and Kyle had done. "Forgetting your swim suit" wasn't a good enough reason either, as the coach had a lot of extra (and rather embarrassing) swim suits for students to use. (The guys who forgot their swim trunks were forced to wear speedos.) Tweek, Kyle, Jimmy, and Timmy were the only ones forever excused from having to swim. Instead, they would sit in the bleachers and work on other school work instead.

Butters didn't know if Kyle and Tweek were really allergic to chlorine, or if they had somehow convinced their doctors to give them a note saying they were. Either way, Butters was envious of them. He hated swimming class. A lot of the other guys *cough* Jackson *cough* made fun of how skinny he was, and some of the girls would often poke fun at him. One time Cartman had dunked him under water and almost drowned him. If Kyle hadn't informed Rottenburg, Butters was sure he would have.

When the class came into the pool area in their swimsuits, Coach Rottenburg was waiting for them. He was chewing on something that may have been tobacco, but Butters was just going to tell himself was gum.

The class was lined up, with Kyle, Timmy, and Jimmy sitting in the bleachers. Rottenburg looked the class up and down, back and forth. Then he walked over and stood in front of Clyde, glaring down at him.

"CLYDE!" Rottenburg barked, causing Clyde to flinch, "WHERE IS CRAIG?"

"He's in the nurse's office, sir," Clyde replied calmly. The coach's voice was still echoing off the walls. "He was really tired and – "

"I DON'T CARE!" Rottenburg hollered, "JUST TELL HIM HE OWES ME SOME EXTRA LAPS! NOW EVERYONE INTO THE POOL!"

Butters cringed when Rottenburg blew his whistle and everyone jumped into the pool. The water was freezing, and Butters instantly felt all of his body heat leave him. He wondered if the ocean near Antarctica was this cold. When he surfaced, he was shivering, and noticed a lot of others were as well.

"TWENY LAPS! NOW!" Coach yelled.

Sighing, Butters started swimming to the other side of the pool. Was there ever going to be a time when either of their phys ed teachers weren't going to just have them do laps?

After class everyone hit the showers. While Butters wasn't embarrassed to shower in front of other guys, he sometimes wished that the school provided barriers for their privacy. A lot of the boys had just hit puberty, and no one wants to go over how messy and confusing that could be. Butters especially hated showering in the same room as Jackson, but then again, who didn't?

"Do you fellas think Coach Rottenburg likes the sound of his own voice and that's why he shouts all the time?" Butters asked Stan and Cartman who were standing near him. He noticed that everyone was quiet and wanted to try to lighten the mood.

Stan smiled slightly. "You know, I never thought of that before," he said, "It wouldn't surprise me. It echoes like crazy in there."

"I'm surprised Jackson isn't constantly yelling in there," Cartman muttered under his breath, "He loves the sound of his own voice."

The three of them snickered as they washed the chlorine out of their hair and off their bodies. If it was one thing Butters did like about having Gym and swimming, it was that it was their last class of the day, so they could be as slow as they wanted when showering and getting dressed. And no one had to go around school for the rest of the day with wet, unruly hair.

Kyle was waiting for them in the main locker rooms when the three came out. Since he hadn't swam, he didn't have to shower. He looked up from the book he had been reading when Butters, Stan, and Cartman came in.

"You know, just because you guys can take your time to shower doesn't mean you have to," he pointed out.

Stan walked over and put an arm around his friend's shoulders, still dripping wet. "Yeah, but the school gets better water pressure than my house for some reason," he explained, "Better to get thoroughly cleaned here than take an hour doing so at my house."

"Stan, you're still wet," Kyle observed.

Butters found himself walking home with the three of them. He didn't mind that he was basically there to fill in the void that Kenny had left. Anything for some of the only ones he considered friends. And he had done it before. But of course, this time the mood was much more heavy and thick.

"Uh, hey you feelin' okay over there, Stan?" Butters asked him, noticing the boy looked a bit more down than before.

"Huh?" Stan said as if he was suddenly drawn out of his thoughts, "Oh, yeah I guess. I was just thinking about this story Kenny told us."

"What story is that?" Butters wondered.

"He told us about this news story he read about this kidnapper from North Park," Stan explained, "He kidnapped a bunch of kids and was never found. That was ten years ago, and they never found him or the kids he kidnapped."

"Golly!" Butters gasped, "I sure do hope that's not all happening again!" He started rubbing his knuckles together. "I wouldn't stand the thought that any of us could be kidnapped and never see each other again."

Butters was a little startled when Cartman scoffed. "Well if Kenny and Tweek really were kidnapped, we really will never see them again," he hissed bitterly, "The police in this town are so worthless. They only care about beating up homeless people and minorities."

Cartman turned to his friends. "Something needs to be done about this," he declared, "They should really bring in people in from the outside or something. Someone competent."

"I wish we could do something," Kyle muttered, "I don't mean to sound smug, but I'm pretty sure we're smarter than the police. Remember when we were kids? There were several times when we helped the police solve crimes."

Stan snickered. "Yeah, I remember." He let out a sigh. "I kind of want to be a detective when I get older. Solve crimes in South Park, and actually help people."

"Wow, Stan," Butters awed, "That's a noble goal."

"Thanks Butters," Stan said, smiling slightly.

When Butters got home that evening, his parents weren't home. He panicked a little until he remembered that they had made a date night for themselves. He found a note on the table saying what restaurant they had gone to, what number to call if there was an emergency, and that they left pizza money for him.

Smiling, Butters called up the pizza place and ordered a pizza. Then he flopped down on the couch and turned on the TV. His parents didn't have Netflix or Hulu or anything like that, so he had to settle with whatever was on. He flipped on the news and settled into the couch.

Because South Park is a small boring town, all the news was talking about was the disappearance of Kenny and Tweek and how the police still had no leads. Butters sighed. Cartman was right. It was starting to look like they really wouldn't be seeing Kenny and Tweek again. Were there really no clues other than the smashed cell phones to go off of?

His thoughts were interrupted when the doorbell rang. Licking his lips in anticipation of pizza, Butters snatched the money off the table and went to answer the door.

"Gee, you got here really fast!" he said as he opened the door. But then he frowned. That wasn't the pizza guy. What was he doing here?

"Um, can I help you sir?" Butters asked.

"Yes," the man said, "You can come along quietly so I don't have to shoot you." The man had a gun pointed right at the boy. Butters's eyes widened.

"Sir!" he whispered, "You…? Why?"

"I don't have time to answer that," the man sighed, "Now come along, Butters. Don't make this difficult." He pressed the gun to Butters's chest.

Butters shuddered, tears coming to his eyes. The man took his arm and led him over to his car. He made Butters give him his cellphone and smashed it on the ground. Just like before. Butters could feel his panic rising, but he tried to fight it back. He didn't want to get shot and killed. He obeyed the man and got into the back of the car. He was blindfolded before the car drove away.

Butters didn't know if he was relieved when he saw that Tweek and Kenny were still alive, or horrified by the state they were in. Kenny had his knees tucked up to his chest and was staring down at the ground. He looked haunted. Tweek was laying on his side, shivering violently and twitching. He had his arms wrapped around himself and his eyes squeezed shut. He was also breathing harshly. They both looked skinnier than when Butters saw them last.

"Kenny," Butters breathed, "Tweek."

The man turned on a light above them, filling the room with a very dull light. He grabbed Butters and dragged him over to the wall where many prison shackles were. He chained Butters by his wrists and walked over to a table on the far side of the wall.

While he was busy, Butters looked over at Kenny. His eyes were dull and Butters wondered if he even realized he was there yet.

"Kenny," Butters hissed to him, "Kenny! You ok?"

There was a moment of silence before Kenny lifted his head and looked at him. His eyes seemed to spark with life for a moment.

"Butters," he whispered, "He got you too?"

"Yeah," Butters replied. He wanted to try to laugh a little to lighten the mood, but he couldn't do it. "He took me from my own home. I was waiting for pizza, and my parents were on a date."

Kenny shuddered. "He's getting bold," he muttered.

Butters shifted uncomfortably. "Are you two ok?" he asked, "He hasn't hurt you guys, has he?" Kenny shook his head.

"No," he replied, "Not yet, at least. He feeds us and lets us out to go to the bathroom. But other than that, he hasn't really done anything. I don't know what he wants from us."

Butters was at a loss. What did he want with them? Why did he kidnap them? At that moment, the man turned back around. He was holding some sort of audio recorder. He walked over to the three kids and stood in front of them.

"Test Date: Day one," he said into the device, "I now have enough subjects to begin the tests, but more subjects will have to be acquired soon, of course. For now, though, this will do. I will now administer the serum to Subject #1."

The man put the device down and walked back to the table. With his back turned, Butters couldn't tell what he was doing, but when he turned back around, he was holding a syringe filled with a strange liquid. He walked over and crouched down next to Tweek.

Tweek opened his eyes and stared with fear up at the man. The man grabbed Tweek by the hair, holding him still. Butters watched with horror as the man stuck the needle into Tweek's neck, and Tweek flinched harshly. After the syringe was empty, the man stood up and walked back over to the table to disinfect the needle and refill.

While he did that, Butters leaned over as close as he could to Tweek. "Are you ok?" he asked, worried. Tweek didn't respond, but simply lay there, breathing hard.

The man came back over with the syringe and recorder. "I will now inject Subject #2," he said. Then he walked over to Kenny. Kenny tried to scramble away from him, but his movements were severely hindered by the shackles. The man seized his arm and injected Kenny, again in the neck. Kenny convulsed violently and curled up into a ball. The man went to the table to prep again as Butters stared over at Kenny, worried.

"And now I will inject Subject #3," the man said to his device.

Butters shrunk back against the wall, even though he knew it was no use. The man pinned Butters's head back against the wall and stuck the needle in his neck. Butters tried not to cry out with pain, but he did let out an "ow!" He had never liked needles. And the man hadn't even given them anything to numb the pain.

The man stood up and stood in front of the three. "And now we will wait for the subjects to start showing their signs. Shouldn't be long."

Butters had no idea what he was talking about. He wanted to ask, but he was afraid to answer. A few minutes of silence went by, and Butters felt his fear growing more and more. Suddenly, he heard a high-pitched frightened whine coming from Tweek. He had shrunk back against the wall and was staring wide-eyed at seemingly nothing.

"What's wrong with me?" he breathed, "I-I can't see! I've gone blind!" He looked absolutely terrified, and Butters could understand why.

The man made no reaction. "Subject #1 has lost his vision," he said to the recorder, "As is expected. But I am still waiting on the other two."

"What's going on here?" Kenny snarled, "What did you do to us?"

"Please calm yourself," the man stated calmly, "You might cause a change in the reaction. Then the test will be ruined."

"I don't care!" Kenny snapped, "What do I care if your sick experiments are ruined?"

"Hmm… has your vision changed at all yet?" the man asked, ignoring his outrage.

"Like I'd tell you!" Kenny hissed.

The man sighed. "Subject #2 is being difficult. I may have to apply disciplinary actions to get him to cooperate. For now though, let's move on to Subject #3." He crouched down in front of Butters and stared intensely at him.

Butters had noticed that his left eye had slowly lost its vision, and whatever else he could see suddenly turned black and white. Just what was that serum?! What had the man done to them? Butters shivered as the man reached forward and pulled open his eyelid to look at his eye. He nodded.

"Subject #3 has lost vision in his left eye and his right eye seems to be experiencing color loss. Perhaps a sign of color blindness. Interesting. Very interesting. Will have to follow up with further testing tomorrow."

The man stood up and set everything back on the desk. He walked over to the entrance of the basement, and looked back at his subjects once. Then he shut the door.

Hope the end of that at least answered some questions, like why the man wants to kidnap them. He's sick and twisted.

Next chapter will be a Kyle chapter, but it's going to start with Tweek. Unless someone is kidnapped that chapter, I'm mostly going to use Tweek to show what's going on there. Why? Because I love Tweek and I love torturing my favorite characters.

Anyway, please leave a review, and don't do anything you wouldn't do! Ha! Ha! Wait…