Well, well, well, Chapter 4 is here. It only took a month and a half, but it's here.
I had a bit of difficulty at one point, and ended up turning to MrRedSnake and Jack797 for their input, and I am glad I did. If I'm being honest I still don't feel 100% happy with it, but it was more worth it to not sacrifice characterization. Hopefully you all find it satisfactory, and please feel free to message me on any suggestions for improvement.
Disclaimer: I do not own South Park.
Intro done, now on with the story…
"Okay mom, I'm just going to pop out to Bebe's, I forgot my algebra assignment at her place yesterday." Wendy said as she put her lilac jacket on.
"Sweetie, I'm not so sure I'm comfortable with you going out this late. Why can't you just get it tomorrow, or at least let me drive you there." Mrs. Testaburger said as she looked out at the dark night sky.
"It's fine mom. I like to have my school work organized and it's going to bug me if I don't. Plus it's a nice night, I wouldn't mind the chance to stretch my legs." She responded. While she appreciated her mother's concern, she had someone to meet and it wouldn't be polite to not show up, especially when she was the one to suggest it in the first place.
"Oh, alright, just don't take too long honey. And be careful, god forbid you get attacked again." The woman said, not forgetting the incident almost a week ago when her daughter came home and casually told them that she had been jumped.
"Alright mom." Wendy said with a slight bit of irritation edging into her tone. "Besides, Mysterion has been keeping things pretty calm for the last few weeks."
"Mysterion," Her mother said with distaste. "I never liked that vigilante. Running around like he's above the law, getting in the way of the police's real work. They're so foolish to trust him."
'Yeah, like the police in this town do anything besides shoot their guns off and arrest minorities.' The girl thought. She didn't bother to continue the conversation any longer and just left. Hopefully she wasn't running late.
She made her way back to Tweek Bros. Coffee Shop and into the alley. Feeling bold, she decided to take another try at yesterday's approach to getting to the roof.
She hopped onto the dumpster, then to the fire escape, climbing to the higher levels and lining up her jump. She leaped out, but this time heeding the hero's advice, both feet hitting at the same time, landing on the balls of her feet. Still not experienced with the move she did slip a bit, but as he predicted she caught herself with the arch of your feet and bent her legs to better absorb the landing, holding her arms out to maintain her balance.
She wobbled slightly but stayed on her feet. Smiling at her success she continued onto the flat surface of the roof where she saw Mysterion crouched on the edge of the roof with his back to her.
As she walked up to him, he didn't acknowledge her presence, so she decided to start.
"Your advice worked, thanks. Though I still have a bit of practice to do to stick the landing better." She said, though he only responded with a gruff hum. When she stood next to him she noticed the bandage across the bridge of his bruised nose which stood out against the dark backdrop of his hood.
Deciding to try and lighten the mood she made a light joke in hopes of breaking the tension.
"You're not thinking of jumping off are you? A fall like this might kill you." She chuckled lightly. But he didn't even respond at all.
This awkward feeling in the air was not the way she imagined the meeting starting out, and not something she was really expecting. Sure the boy's personality was very Batman-esque, basically the embodiment of the anti-hero archetype, but considering the rather civil way their brief interactions had gone before, she was a bit unprepared for his stoic demeanor.
Not sure what to say next she sat next to him and just stared out over the moonlit streets of South Park with him, neither saying a word. After a minute of palpable silence it was Mysterion himself who decided to speak up.
"Do you really want to fill your news booklet that badly?" He says.
She felt a little bit insulted at first, though she couldn't really blame him for thinking that way. For the past two weeks she had done nothing but chase him in hopes of interviewing him for her story. But after the brief few interactions she had with him, her reasons had shifted. Sure she still wanted to know who he was, and maybe she would get something to put in the school paper, but that had taken a backseat to her new goal. She had seen him in a different light from when she was just another bystander. Yesterday when she tended to his nose being the point that cemented her newfound desire to learn more about him. She still wanted to know who he was, but for far different reasons than a simple news report.
"It isn't just about the school paper anymore." She said, turning to face him.
He turned to her with a look of intrigue in his masked eyes. A small flicker of surprise was present in them as well. He wasn't ready to hear that, and he silently urged her to continue.
Wendy took a deep breath to collect her thoughts and formulate what she would say. Looking once again into eyes she spoke honestly, albeit slightly shaky, as the words left her mouth with little thought or control.
"Yesterday, when you pulled me up onto the roof, I saw behind your eyes. Every other time it happened I saw security, comfort, warmth, determination, but at that moment I saw something else. Behind the blue veil and covered up by confidence, I saw pain. Deep, true pain. I may not know who you are, but I do know that you're carrying a deep burden under that mask. Something is hurting you inside, and whatever it is, I don't like it. I want to help. Please, let me help you." She slowly reached out towards him, hoping to break through the shell of a boy who she had quickly gone from being curious about, to enthralled, and now with a deep desire to help with whatever he was hurting from.
Mysterion stared back at her, his hand gently reaching to grasp hers, before lightly pushing it aside and turning away.
"I'm sorry," He said. "But there's nothing anyone can do to help me."
With that, he was about to disappear. But Wendy grabbed him before he could and wrenched him back. "Oh hell no! Listen here, I meant what I said, I want to help you. If you're not even going to let me try though, then fine, that's your choice and there's nothing I can do about that. But, I've been chasing you around town all week trying to get an interview and you agreed to meet with me. So if I can't help you, I'm getting that interview. Now!"
Mysterion was admittedly surprised at this outburst, but the truth was, she was right. He agreed to come here tonight and then he was going to just jump off and disappear just like that? Even by his standards as both Kenny and Mysterion, that was a dick move.
With a sigh he looked back at her "Your right, I promised to meet you here, and if you still want that interview, then I owe you that much after the wild goose chase."
With that, the two of them sat down on the ledge and began their chat. Wendy's questions were thankfully not too invasive, which he appreciated, and they slowly began to get comfortable with each other's company again.
Wendy slowly started to get more clever with her questioning, trying to subtly guide him into revealing some little details to help bring her closer to finding his identity. But Mysterion was prepared for this, and gave a few playful remarks her way, causing them both to chuckle and share a small smile.
"You know, you talk quite a bit about my eyes, but yours aren't something to scoff at." Mysterion said. This unexpected comment caused her to blush and turn away, muttering a "thanks'' under her breath. She wasn't quite sure how to respond, and instead opted not to and moved the topic swiftly past to something else, which elicited a short chuckle from the dark hero, but he didn't object.
Not highlighting that particular moment, things had settled rather nicely. Despite how well it was going, this wasn't how she thought things were going to play out. She thought this long awaited interview would have been longer, more full of important questioning and back and forths between them, but it didn't.
Well, it wasn't what she expected, but this was fine too.
Soon enough Wendy noticed the time and realized that if she stayed for too much longer, her mother might get worried and call Bebe's house, or God forbid the police (which she did once when she went out for a simple walk. That was a very unpleasant fiasco that she'd like to avoid again).
"Well, thank you Mysterion. I think I can work with what I've got. I'd better head home now." Wendy said. She paused for a few seconds, deciding whether or not to go through with a thought she just had.
After a few seconds, she took in a deep breath and leaned over, giving the masked boy a peck on the cheek. He seemed to tense at the sudden action, and a faint pink hue peaked out from beneath his cowl. He tried unsuccessfully to pull his hood down further to hide it, the action eliciting a cute chuckle from the girl next to him.
"Well, I guess I'll see you around." Wendy said, her own face looking notably pinker around her cheeks.
"Yeah, (Ahem), see ya" The boy said before leaping off into the night.
Satisfied enough, Wendy picked herself up and made her way back home. She was pleased by how things had gone tonight, and only briefly acknowledged her mother when she got home before heading straight into her room. As she collapsed onto her bed and buried herself under the covers her mind went back to what the vigilante boy said during their little argument.
"I'm sorry, but there's nothing anyone can do to help me." Those words resonated in her mind. She still wanted to help Mysterion, but he didn't seem to want her help. Or at least, he didn't think she could.
Sure, she could just stop digging, throw in the towel and leave him alone. Then she could push past this drama and move on with her life. No more sneaking out late at night, no more endless hours of searching trying to find the hero. It would be so much easier. So why doesn't she?
Because that's not who Wendy Testaburger was.
The easy way out, that option doesn't even exist in her mind. She had never turned away from someone who needed help before, and she wasn't about to start now.
If Mysterion wouldn't tell her what was wrong, then she would find out herself. She would figure out who he was, then she would figure out what was wrong and how to fix it.
As she got comfortable in her bed she thought of what the future days ahead might hold. It was sure to be tough, and it was likely to be a bit messy here and there, but if the world wanted to make things difficult, then she was up for it.
Because Wendy Testaburger never gives up.
Mysterion was running through the town via the rooftops, jumping, weaving, and diving through the urban obstacles with practiced grace and fluidity.
He felt bad for not giving Wendy more information, but he had to. He was following Kyle's advice to try not to get too close to her so that he wouldn't help her put the pieces together. Regardless of what her reasonings were she was still on some level trying to figure out who he was, and he just couldn't allow that to happen.
At least, that's what he told himself.
He wouldn't admit it, but he had seriously considered telling her right then and there. Revealing his curse to her in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, she would be able to help him like she said. Or at least believe him.
But he couldn't. It wouldn't have done any good anyway. Either she would think he was crazy and not believe him, or she would forget everything the next time he died. This damn curse tormented him day after day, but there was nothing he could do about it. And telling her would only make it all the more difficult to maintain the sense of comfort he got from being Mysterion.
Still though, it had been so very tempting when he saw the genuine concern brimming in her eyes.
And then there was that kiss she gave him. He wasn't sure what to make of that. Ok, he wasn't an idiot, and considering his more perverted antics in his civilian persona, he was very aware of what that action meant. The question from here was, how should he respond?
Of course he thought that Wendy was pretty, and not to sound like a pussy, but her personality was seriously attractive. He would be lying if he said the thought of pursuing that road with her hadn't crossed his mind before. But there was one glaring problem with that, and it came in the form of a raven haired boy in a red puffball hat.
True, Stan and Wendy were on one of their notoriously common breaks, but those never usually lasted for too long. Who's to say that they wouldn't get back together in a couple of weeks, or even days. Then there was Stan himself. Anyone who knew Stan knew that when it came to Wendy, he was led by his emotions. And taking into account his closet drinking problem (which how the hell did that even happen for someone that young? Kenny may not have even noticed if it weren't for him growing up around alcoholics) the boy could become potentially violent.
The young hero shook these thoughts away as he arrived back at his run down home and looped around the back. As he passed by his sister's window he peered through to check on her. Looking down through the window, he saw her small form sleeping peacefully in her bed. Clutched tightly in her small hands was the doll he got her after busting his ass at City Wok.
He smiled at her and softly whispered "Sweet dreams Karen." before continuing to his window and slinking quietly inside. Whatever he was to do regarding his situation with Wendy, he would deal with it later. Besides, that was still Mysterion business for the time being, and Kenny was still off the hook.
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it.
Remember to consider reviewing, as they are always appreciated.
Thank you all, and with that I will see you next time Titans…