The second to last chapter is finally here. Enjoy.


Chapter Twenty-Three - Rising Sun.

My name is Stan, and I am a student.

My eyes slowly opened as I got out of bed on this beautiful Friday morning. The morning sunlight seeped through the windowsill, and while still somewhat cold as usual in South Park, summer was only a little more than a month away. The clock on my nightstand read 7:06 AM. That was when I heard my nightstand vibrate. Seeing as how my phone was on top of it vibrating, I picked it up to check the notification on my phone, and it turned out to be a facebook message from Ray himself. I went on to press my thumb on the notification, which took me to my web browser and showed Ray's entire facebook post.

Hello, all of South Park Elementary. It's me, Ray Irvington, your douchebag. I got the Stick of Truth back from Eric Cartman, who is currently recovering in the hospital due to severe injuries. He will survive. Well, at least now I know that Cartman will be alright, and as much as I hate him, I'm glad he didn't end up killing him. I don't think I'd be able to live with myself if we actually murdered him the way he sent the Kids Next Door to kill Cole. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for Cole Dimmons, who I'm sure you all know by now was murdered by the Kids Next Door. I know many of you weren't particularly fond of him, but he was still the very first person to welcome me to South Park, and despite how you all felt about him, I feel we should all pay our respects to him. Cole may be gone now, meeting a tragic end, but at least he won't be forgotten. Next, as the Stickbearer, I have decided to take away everybody's magical powers. For now, nobody will be walking around fighting and destroying things while pretending to play some sort of fantasy game. After everything that had happened this week, I can't blame Ray for wanting to retract everyone's powers. Finally, after observing what had happened this week, I am going to say this: I am absolutely appalled at how our school had been. There's no need for us to torment each other, and I know that we can do better. I'm glad Ray posted the last part because I wholeheartedly agree: we do need to be better to each other.

Unfortunately, it seems not everyone's feelings resonated with Ray's. For example, Jenny Simons posted, Go fuck yourself, Douchebag. Stupid boys like you wouldn't understand what bullying is like. This is why girls should be in charge, not you. And stop dying your hair pink too, it's immature. Lucy Van Pelt posted, You're just no fun at all. You're even more boring than Charlie Brown, and that's saying something. Pete Melman posted, Oh stop it, you stupid cunt! The asshole "cool kids" who upvoted you are the exact people who constantly harassed me for shitting my pants during class! I had to hide for three months! On the flip side, there were upvotes to Ray's comments as well coming from everyone from my class.

I put on my regular clothes - a blue and red beanie, a brown jacket with a red collar, red gloves, and blue pants. Taking my cell phone and blue backpack with me, I went downstairs. No one else was at home today. I'm not sure why my parents and Shelly left the house so early, but I won't question it, it's quiet time to myself after all. I went to the kitchen, brought out a bowl, a carton of milk, and cheerios and poured myself a bowl of the mix of both to eat for breakfast. After that, I walked out the door, locking the door behind me in the process.

The way to the bus stop was usually the same as always. Other kids would walk to school, take the bus, or be driven by their parents. The other kids were now wearing their normal clothes again, normally consisting of a jacket and regular pants. When I got to the bus stop this time, it was already occupied by three other boys my age. One at the far left wore a green ushanka, orange jacket with a green collar, green gloves, and dark green pants. Another in the middle wore an orange hoodie with the hood nearly covering his entire face, orange pants, and brown gloves. The third at the far right had a small tuft of blonde hair and wore a light teal jacket and dark green pants.

"Sup Kyle, sup Kenny, sup Butters," I greeted.

Kyle raised up his right hand, and I gave him a high-five. "Hey dude, glad to see you safe," he beamed brightly.

"For a second, I thought you were too hurt to come to school," Kenny chuckled. "You even had me worried."

I lined up with them to the left of Butters facing the street, so I was at the far side away from Kyle now. "Hah...you know I can't be beaten, Kenny."

"Stan!" Butters exclaimed. "You seen Ray's facebook post yet?! I thought it was super sweet!"

"I actually did, and I gotta admit: I agree with you."

Kyle sighed heavily. He took a quick glance at his phone before putting away. "It's unfortunate. Alot of people just aren't that receptive to Ray's message. You'd think that you know, being Dovahkiin, they'd listen right?"

"People hate us out of jealousy probably." At least that is my best theory.

"Ray already picked his side when he joined in with us," Kenny muttered. "It's sad how it is, but it's the truth, and we can't really change it."

"Who cares about what they think." We all stared at Butters now, and honestly, I'm surprised that those words managed to come from him of all people. "I like you guys, despite our flaws, because at the end of the day, I know I can trust us all to do what is right no matter what, and if they wanna stay ignorant just because it's not expected from the 'popular guys' then they can go to heck!"

I had to consider Butters's words now. I understand everything he is saying: why care about others's opinions when they don't know the real you? But after thinking about everything I had been preaching in the past few days, I'm starting to think Butters may be on to something. "Perhaps it is so, Butters."

"Oh I know so, Stan," Butters replied. "We've got a great family here going on. Not literal family, you know, but you know what I am saying. It's like what you said." That is true.

"Maybe school today won't be so bad." Kenny mused.

Kyle shook his head. "I'm not sure. Based on how the other students reacted to Ray's facebook post, I'm starting to get suspicions. Maybe-"

But then the bus pulled up. When the door opened, from the driver seat sat Ms. Crabtree. "SHUT UP AND GET ON!" Like usual, Ms. Crabtree was in a pissy mood, screaming as loudly as humanly possible.

The four of us sat on the right side of the bus. Just like the four of us, everyone else was in their regular clothes now, no longer dressed as if they were doing fantasy roleplay. I took the window seat while Kyle sat next to me to his left. In front of the us were Kenny and Butters, with Kenny at the window seat. The instant we all sat down was when the bus took off, the momentum of the sudden acceleration causing all of us to be forcefully thrown to our seats.

"You fellas heard what's happening to Cartman, right?" Butters asked.

"I mean, there is the part where he's in the hospital," Kenny replied. "Unless...there's something more?"

Butters shook his head, but then grinned ruefully. "Cartman ain't comin' back to South Park until beginning of June. They say he's going through some rehab or something."

Kyle and I both gasped. Well that's it for Cartman. Guess we don't have to deal with him anymore. But then Kyle also grinned deeply as well. "Yes! Thank fucking God! No more bullshit coming from him ever again! You know how long I've been waiting for this day?"

"You know he's going to be back right before fourth grade ends, right?" I understand why Kyle's happy and all, and truthfully so am I, but I do try to keep it realistic here.

"Yeah, I know." Kyle nodded in agreement. "And yeah, I am happy. But I hope Cartman finally gets the rehab he deserves."

"How many times has he been to rehab now?" Honestly, I lost count at this point. "And yet they never work."

"Maybe it might this time," Kenny mused. "After all, you, Kyle, and the people you traveled with did manage to successfully expose Cartman and his Mitch Conner act."

I rolled my eyes. "One can only hope."

"The only question is: do others believe in Cartman though?" Kyle asked. "I mean, let's face it: it's not like anyone really tried to take him out as well. And based on how people reacted to Ray's facebook post..."

"How could our schoolmates be so mean?" Butters sighed deeply. "I know Ray is not a fake, and he means every word he says!"

I had to think back to Ray's post and how the kids reacted to it. Pete Melman's post was a bit justified: he was one of the kids my friends and I would harass endlessly. Lucy Van Pelt isn't evil, but she just likes to be in the spotlight and spread chaos. Jenny Simon however was my biggest worry; the fact she posted what she did tells me that the gender war is still going on. There is solace in the fact that boys and girls together defeated Cartman, and while the gender war was mostly irrelevant to what Cartman sought, there was no denying the connection in the kids' behavior between how they reacted with Cartman and how they treated the other gender.

"The Gender War is still a thing," I stated.

"Based on what we saw from our friends, I think it has already gone away," Kyle rejected. "Maybe what we do might rub off on the others at school."

"One can always hope," I replied.

Before anyone could say anything more, the bus came to a screeching halt, as Kyle and I were thrown towards the seat in front of us where Kenny and Butters sat. From there, we could hear Ms. Crabtree shriek, "SHUT UP AND GET OUT!"

The four of us exited the bus. That was when Kenny and Butters were beginning to walk away from us. "Where are you two going?"

"Me and Butters gotta find Craig about his guinea pig," Kenny replied. "Apparently, Craig still ain't happy that Butters stole his guinea pig while we were playing superheroes."

"Yeah, I just gotta make my last payment, then after today, I won't have to anymore." Butters reached into his pants pocket and brandished a ten dollar bill. "See you later, fellas."

Kyle and I just shrugged at each other before turning back to the school. We both would have walked forward, but standing a few feet in front of us were two girls. One had black hair and wore a pink beret, purple jacket with dark blue collar, dark blue gloves, and yellow pants. The other had blonde, curly hair and wore a red jacket with beige collar, beige gloves, and dark green pants. Of course, my cheeks ran a bit warm, and I could see Kyle's cheeks redden just slightly.

Wendy rushed forward to hug me while Bebe rushed forward to hug Kyle. After a few seconds or so, we split apart. "Ahem..." I let out a harsh cough. My heart was beating rapidly. "Nice to meet you too."

"We had so much fun hanging out with you guys the last two days!" Wendy squealed.

"I would like to do something like that again!" Bebe was initially just as happy as Wendy was, but then she frowned and sighed. "Too bad Ray had to take away all our powers."

"It's probably for the best," Kyle responded. "Based on the stupid crap we had to put up with the past two days. Besides, you saw how the other students responded to Ray's facebook post?"

"Those stupid assholes!" Bebe curled her hands into fists. "Can't they understand what Ray's been through?! What we've been through?!"

"Ignorance is bliss, as they all say," Wendy spoke. "Too bad I bet the Gender War will still proceed, if Jenny Simons's post is anything to go by."

I shook my head however. "I wouldn't worry too much about that. Sure, it's still happening, but enough of us have already grown out of it. Our entire class, and friend group, has. Maybe we can rub off on them finally."

"I wouldn't exactly count on it, they can be plenty stubborn, and I'm usually the optimist here out of all four of us." Wendy glanced back at the front door into the school. "That being said, me and Bebe have some...unfinished business to take care of. You and Kyle can come along too if you like."

Kyle and I looked over at each other. "I wonder what could happen this time..." Kyle said softly to me.

"Probably more girl drama," I muttered. Wendy and Bebe do have a knack of getting into that sort of stuff.

We only took two steps forward before stopping as we watched a boy and a girl our age meet up in front of our path. The boy had a little bit of blonde hair that stuck out of his black baseball cap that he wore backwards, and wore a green hoodie, blue gloves, and blue pants. The girl had long, red hair and wore a lavender beanie, pale green hoodie, brown gloves, and brown pants. At that moment, we knew exactly who these two were.

"Hey, Chris!" the girl shouted. "I'm so glad you're here!" She smiled brightly at the blonde boy.

Chris smiled back at the girl as his cheeks reddened slightly. "Same with you. You even had me worried a bit, Kathy."

"You know I can handle myself just fine." Kathy put her hands on her hips as she giggled. "Anyways, how have you been? Did you sleep well last night? How's Danny doing anyways? Whatchu up to today?" To ever question, she slightly bounced up and down energetically.

Chris nervously chuckled as he held up both of his hands. "S-slow down there. I'm doing fine, I promise. As for Danny..." Chris glanced around, performing a complete spin before shrugging his shoulders. "I...he was literally just with me like two minutes ago. It's not like him to suddenly just run off-"

Another boy joined the couple, who was about Karen McCormick's age. He had short blonde hair just like Chris, although he did not wear a hat. He wore a gray hoodie with green gloves and red pants. He slowly walked up to Kathy, keeping his hands close together. "H-hi Kathy." His voice was much softer than Chris's. "How is your cat?"

"She's doing just fine." Kathy waved at Danny. "Did you know that your older brother is a hero now? He helped defeat Eric Cartman, the bad guy, and save South Park!"

Danny gasped as he eyed Chris. "Chris, did you really kick that fat meanie's butt last night?"

Chris placed his right fist on his right hip. He first scoffed, then chuckled, then laughed. "Heheh...hahahahaha! I'd hardly call myself a hero, not in a conventional sort of sense at least."

"Don't sell yourself so short." Kathy grabbed a hold of both of Chris's hands. "You were very brave out there. And I really liked your speeches too." Kathy was going to say more until she suddenly turned to me and the three others I was with. She let go of Chris's hands and waved. "Oh hey! You four made it!" Chris waved as well. Danny on the other hand, upon spotting us, immediately hid behind Chris in such a way that Chris was between Danny and my friends and me.

"Of course we made it," Wendy boasted. "How could it be otherwise?"

"Good to see you both in one piece," I added.

Chris snickered once more. "Well, we managed to make it this far in life."

"Hey, life in South Park has prepped us for those moments, ya know?" Bebe stated.

Kyle tilted head and leaned slightly right; his eyes were not on the new couple, but on Danny. "Hey, you're Chris's brother, right? I never really got to meet you until now."

Danny did not respond however. He held tightly onto Chris's left leg as he attempted his best to stay out of Kyle's line of sight. It was hard for Chris not to notice this, so he looked down at his brother. "Hey, what's wrong?" Danny furiously shook his head. "Oh, I see...those four won't bite, I promise."

"R-really?" the younger boy replied. I feel really bad now; I'm not sure what exactly Chris taught Danny about our peers, but I'm quite certain it has to do with fearing us, and even Chris is aware now that that approach is very much not working. "B-but you said not to trust fourth graders, and you even showed me-"

"I know what I said." Chris's words came out a bit too harshly, and so he just sighed. "I...see I've kind of warped your worldview about others." Chris began to pat Danny's hair. "You know, there are people out there you can trust. Take those four for example." Chris extended his right hands towards Wendy, Bebe, Kyle, and me.

"I've seen them though, aren't those four super popular? And super popular kids always hurt those lower because they have more power?" Needless to say, Wendy, Bebe, Kyle, and I frowned at Danny's words. "Y-you know you only hang around them because it helps you."

Chris patted Danny's back. "You know, before this week, I might as well have thought the same you did. But they're good people. I mean it too."

Danny moved away from Chris and walked forwards the rest of us. "H-hi." Wendy and Bebe both wasted no time walking over to hug Danny. He tried his best to squirm away, but Wendy and Bebe both held on him too tightly.

"You're his brother, huh?" Bebe smiled.

"Aren't you a cutie?" Wendy cooed.

Chris folded his arms as he watched his brother try to wrangle himself free, scowling slightly. "You both go easy on him now."

I noticed further back near the front door of the school was another boy and girl our age who greeted each other. The boy had black hair similar to mine though slightly longer and wore a yellow hoodie, black gloves, and black pants. The girl had blonde hair that went down to the base of her neck and wore a cyan hoodie, blue gloves, blue scarf, and blue pants. I walked forward past the other kids I was just with, and now I can see clearly that those two are quite familiar to me.

The girl smiled brightly at the boy. "Am I glad to see you here, Tyler?"

Tyler placed both hands on his hips and beamed brightly. "I knew you'd miss me, Ellen. I wouldn't dare leave you hanging."

"After everything we've been through..." Ellen curled her right hand into a fist as she coughed once into it. "Ahem, how do you feel about it all? About everything?"

"Honestly, you know what, Ellen?" Tyler said. "I feel really good. I feel really damn good. As if we actually did something right."

"That's not the answer I expected..." Ellen rubbed her chin with her right hand. "...but I am glad to see you well, after everything that's happened with Cartman and all."

"It is what it is, but at least we're here and well," Tyler nodded.

"All thanks to you, you really saved us." Ellen grabbed both of Tyler's hands. "You're a real hero when you need to be."

"Me? A hero?" Tyler shook his head. "I didn't join you guys out of goodwill, just did it to get away from my siblings, remember?"

Ellen did not let go of Tyler's hands however. "Still, the fact that you helped us at all is undeniable." Ellen immediately frowned as she tilted her head, gazing past Tyler. "Shit! Tyler, your siblings..."

"What?" Tyler raised his eyebrow as he turned around. Two more children approached the couple from my left, both of whom were as old as the other sixth graders. The boy had short black hair and wore a red jacket and blue pants. The girl had black hair and wore a pink jacket and purple pants. "Oh good God, it's Jacob and Tiffany. The fuck do you two want?"

"Mind your manners, you little brat!" Jacob shot back. It was at this moment that Wendy and Bebe stopped hugging Danny as the rest of us turned our attention to watch the scene ahead unfold.

"You know mom and dad don't want you hanging around that stupid whore of a girlfriend," Tiffany added. "Or her army of other whore friends."

"She's not a whore, and neither are her friends." Tyler folded his arms, amused. "I bet neither of you even know what that word means, given the context here. Now, if you don't mind, me and Ellen are busy here strengthening our relationship, so get lost." Tyler waved his right hand as he smirked. "Goodbye now," he spoke in a snarky, patronizing tone.

Jacob held out his right hand. "That's a good attitude to have if you wanna get smacked."

"I'll tell mom and dad on you too," Tiffany threatened.

But Tyler was unfazed by both of his siblings. "Really? Seems that attitude works just fine for you and the rest of those sixth grade retards."

Immediately following Tyler's sentence did Jacob went to strike at Tyler, slapping him so swiftly in his left cheek that I could have sworn I heard a popping sound. "You little shit! I'll teach you a fucking lesson!" Tyler was knocked down with right knee and fist on the ground. His left hand clutched his left knee as his left foot was planted firmly on the ground. The nearby children stopped what they were doing to watch the scene unfold.

"Tyler!" Ellen gasped before glaring up at the older siblings. Then Ellen did something I did not expect: she clutched her fists and immediately reeled back her right fist to punch Jacob straight in his stomach. "You stupid asshole!"

Jacob staggered back, but Tiffany raised her left foot to kick Ellen in the chest with a heel strike. "White trash bitch! Who taught you how to speak?!" Ellen fell to the ground on her butt with her legs forward, clutching her ribs with her right hand.

Now was my time to clench my fists. I felt as if the two older siblings were Shelly, and I was both Tyler and Ellen. In other words, this situation was much too familiar to me, and it hit my heart. Seeing this unfold before my eyes made the blood within me burn. How dare those sixth graders treat their younger brother and his girlfriend so poorly! If there's anything I've learned in the past two days, I myself refuse to stand around and let this happen. Therefore, as Jacob and Tiffany recovered, I charged straight into Jacob, striking him with my left shoulder. He was knocked into Tiffany, and both fell down like dominoes.

I stepped in front of Tyler and Ellen as I faced the siblings. "You both are ones with the attitude problems here!"

They both got up rather quickly, and in no time at all were they both standing on their own two feet. "You're Stan Marsh, aren't you? The one who thinks he's so hot shit because he's dating Wendy Testaburger, huh?" Tiffany chuckled darkly. "I didn't think my own rat of a brother would go as low as to be friends with you."

"Who cares, let's beat his ass!" Jacob cracked his knuckles. In response, I cracked mine as well. I know I'm not going to be alone, and I refuse to go down without a fight.

With that being said, the rest of the kids who were previously with me stood by my side now. Wendy stepped in front of me, both fists raised. "If either of you lay a single finger on my boyfriend, I will murder you both." There's a reason why everybody in my class, and I mean everybody, knows never to fuck with Wendy Testaburger.

Tiffany scanned each and every one of us. She narrowed her eyes before placing her right hand on Jacob's left shoulder. "Come on, they ain't worth it. Let's get outta here."

"You're gonna be real sorry you and your retard friends fucked with us!" Jacob pointed straight at Tyler as both of the sixth graders began to walk away.

The rest of us turned to Tyler and Ellen. Tyler stood up first, and offered his right hand towards Ellen. "That kick looked like it hurt. You alright?"

Ellen nodded as she grabbed Tyler's right hand to help herself up. "Yeah, I think I'll manage. How about you?"

After Ellen stood up, Tyler let go of Ellen and sighed. "Well, I know for sure I'll receive more than just a stern lecture from my mom and dad."

Wendy patted Tyler's back lightly. "I'm really sorry, Tyler."

"As if we needed more Shelly Marshes around." Kyle shook his head.

"Now I really want to bash their faces in," Bebe grumbled.

"It ain't right at all," Kathy muttered. "How can siblings treat each other like that?" Honestly, I wonder the exact same thing about Shelly.

Chris curled his fists. "I really wanted to steal from them, teach 'em not to fuck with Tyler. But I made a promise not to, and I intend on keeping it."

"Honestly, in this case, I would have broken that promise." Yeah, after thinking about Shelly, I really do. "Fuck them, seriously. Anyone who hurts their younger siblings like that should have their heads bashed in, as Bebe said." I watched Danny fist bump both Tyler and Ellen, so apparently he's acquainted with them as well. I looked over at the others. "Should we head inside now?"

"Yeah, before Mr. Garrison chews us out for being late," Bebe replied.


Danny split up from the rest of us after walking inside. As we walked through the halls, we've noticed that all of the children wore their regular clothes, and there was really no mention of Cole whatsoever. Nobody was really talking about him, and there were no pictures or videos of him being shown around the school. It was almost as if the school really didn't give a crap about Cole in the end. What a sad end for the kid when not even the school really gives a crap about him.

"Nelly hasn't showed her face yet," Wendy seethed. "That stupid bitch."

"What do you even want with her anyways?" Kyle asked.

Wendy, Bebe, Ellen, and Kathy winked at each other before turning back to us boys. "Oh, nothing much," Bebe giggled innocently. Nothing my ass, I bet the Pleases and Sparkles Club are up to no good again.

When the eight of us got inside the classroom, almost everyone was already there waiting for us, and they beamed, waved, and cheered at us. The only person who was absent was Cartman. All of the children were wearing their regular clothes now. Mr. Garrison still wore his usual attire of a green jacket and dark green pants.

"In your seats children." All of us did as Mr. Garrison said. "Now before I begin role call, I'm sure you've heard by now, but Eric Cartman will not be returning until the beginning of June." We were all cheering. "I knew you'd all react this way, and I'll admit, my sentiments exactly. He was always a pain in my ass, and I'm certain he was a pain in yours too." Too many times that I can count on four hands. Mr. Garrison walked over to his desk and took out a piece of paper on a clipboard and a pencil, then stood front and center. "Alright, here we go. Andrew Anderson?"

"Here."

"Karen Anderson?"

"Here."

"Bradley Biggle?"

"I go by Brad."

"Token Black?"

"Here."

"Kyle Broflovski?"

"Here."

"Lance Carlson?"

"Here."

"Melissa Daniels?" Indeed, Mr. Garrison completely skipped over Cartman's name.

"Here."

"Nichole Daniels?"

"Here."

"Clyde Donovan?"

"Here."

"Lola Evans?"

"Here."

"Kathy Freeman?"

"Here."

"Hannah Hilton?"

"Here."

"Tyler Hoffman?"

"Here."

"Christopher Howard?"

"I go by Chris."

"Raymond Irvington?"

We all glanced over at Ray, who was now present. "I go by Ray."

"Kal Jorgensen?"

"Here."

"Ellen Joseph?"

"Here."

"Millie Larsen?"

"Here."

"Kent Leone?"

"Here."

"Preston Marlowe?"

"Here."

"Stanley Marsh?"

I raised my hand. "I go by Stan." Then I put my hand down.

"Emily Marx?"

"Here."

"Tina Maxwell?"

"Here."

"Kenneth McCormick?"

"I go by Kenny."

"Jessie Mills?"

"Here."

"Annie Nelson?"

"Here."

"Kelly Nelson?"

"Here."

"Francis Oswald?"

"Here."

"Bebe Stevens?"

"Here."

"Esther Stoley?"

"Here."

"Kevin Stoley?"

"Here."

"Leopold Stotch?"

"I go by Butters."

"Irving Stratford?"

"Here."

"Wendy Testaburger?"

"Here."

"Craig Tucker?"

"Here."

"Red Tucker?"

"Here."

"Heidi Turner?"

"Here."

"Sally Turner?"

"Here."

"Tweek Tweak?"

"Here."

Mr. Garrison nodded as he returned to his desk. "Alright, time to work on your biomes worksheets."


School was rather uneventful today. There was nothing more than just standard lessons, which from Mr. Garrison was rather ineffectual. However, things got rather interesting after lunch recess when we got back to the classroom. "Now I believe you all have an assembly to go to at the gym, so...I'm going to need Kyle, Kathy, Tyler, Chris, Ellen, Stan, Bebe, and Wendy to report to the parking lot. Everyone else will be heading straight to the gym."

Parking lot? This is completely bizarre? Why would us eight be isolated from everybody else, and why would we be going to the parking lot? Is there some special directive for the eight of us that we were blissfully unaware of? The only thing recent of note that the eight of us have done together is go on some fantasy roleplay adventure and end up taking down Cartman.

Now that I think about it...that might be just it. The fact that we took down Cartman might give us recognition.

The eight of us exited the classroom as told. We began to stroll down the halls. That was when Kyle muttered over to the rest of us. "Anyone know what this is all about? Why the eight of us?"

"Could be us going after Cartman," I suggested.

"Are you sure we're worthy an assembly over that?" Wendy chuckled. "I'd be really surprised if that were the case."

"I don't know if I really want their praise, honestly," Tyler said.

"I wouldn't mind!" Kathy interjected.

"Well, we'll never know until we get there, right?" Bebe said. "'You miss every shot you don't take', or something like that, yeah?"

Of course, once we got outside and at the parking lot stood another boy. He had longer black hair and wore a black jacket and gray pants. This was one that we knew. "Ah, you eight mortals. I did want to have a chat with you, and now's the best time. This has nothing to do with the assembly which is supposed to be for you eight...which I honestly am uncertain what that is for."

"Oh hey, Damien Thorn," I said. The other children hid behind me, and I can't blame them; the son of Satan can be quite ruthless when angered. "Did you need anything?"

"Honestly, I must thank you eight for putting an end to Eric Cartman. With the way he was taking things, he was going to unearth an ancient evil...one that you might be familiar with, especially last time he put out Christmas Everlasting, or his 'Final Solution' as he would claim."

I gasped, immediately knowing what that was. "Are you talking about the Woodland Critters?"

Damien nodded before clenching his fists tightly and his fists caught on fire. Our entire party backed up three steps - which is understandable, given none of us want to be set on fire today. "Those nasty little infidels...disrespectful maggots." Damien, of course, caught on to our fearful reactions. "My sincerest apologies, just even thinking about them gives me...conniptions. Anyways, for the actions of you eight, you all have my gratitude." The rest of us nodded and sighed heavily.

Another boy approached us now, with a blue jacket and black pants. This one was Linus Van Pelt. "Ah, you eight are here. Your time has come for the assembly. Time for you all to take the stage. If you would follow me."

The rest of my friends turned back to Damien. Damien waved his right hand dismissively. "Well, now is time for me to take my leave. Tell Jesus, Santa, and Mr. Hankey I said hello if you see them again."

"We will," I said.

"Bye!" the rest of our party said to Damien.

We all followed Linus into the gym onto the stage that was set in the middle of the gym. All of the student body in the entire school were sitting in the bleachers, and our class was middle and center. There was a bit of sunlight that shone through the windows at the side of the gym from where we entered, and the light seemed to shine down upon Charlie Brown and Heather Wold, who sat at the far right corner in the back, and the couple eyed us closely. Also, there were two literal spotlights from the ceiling turned on, shining two beams of lights down upon us.

Needless to say, we all stood around awkwardly as Linus stood up at the microphone. "Thank you, thank you!" The audience stopped talking. "As you all know by now, we are now here to celebrate the eight children who have braved the dangers of Eric Cartman! Therefore, it is my pleasure for you all to recognize them as the perfect heroes, as they embody everything that we should strive for!" As the children cheered, Linus looked over at us. He held out a tray with eight gold stars on top of green ribbons. "These are for all eight of you! Now, is there something you'd like to say?!"

Our entire party was pale. Them praising us for our actions was one thing, but claiming that we're perfect heroes is entirely different. Most of the kids were cheering. Charlie Brown, Heather Wold, and our entire class were just staring at us now. I walked up to the microphone, and all I could squeak was, "Um...will you give us a minute?" As the kids began to fall into a cone of silence, I retreated back to my party. "Let's huddle up - fast," I whispered. We wasted no time doing so. From clockwise in the circle, it was myself, Wendy, Chris, Kathy, Tyler, Ellen, Kyle, and Bebe.

"Dude, what the fuck are we gonna do?" Tyler muttered softly. "They think we're all perfect heroes who can do no wrong."

Wendy glanced back at the audience before looking into our circle. "If we accept the awards, it's obvious to our class and friends we're bullshitting."

"It would be wrong for us to do so anyways, not after what we just learned," Kyle said.

"I guess honesty is our only play," Bebe said.

"They're gonna hate us, I just know it." Ellen sighed deeply.

"Whatever you guys choose, I trust you all know the consequences," Chris said.

Kathy glanced at our peers before going back into the circle. "No...they won't understand now, but I think they'll get it eventually. We should tell them the truth."

"Kathy's right." I nodded my head. "We can't accept the award. We can all agree here, right?" The rest of my party looked at each other, and nodded. We all split apart, but then I muttered, "Now the other problem is how to explain it."

"Do whatever you need to do," Kyle whispered into my right ear. "I'm with you." I nodded at Kyle.

Taking a very deep breath, I walked back over to where the microphone stood. "Those of you who truly believe we're infallible...you're all fucking stupid, all of you." That shut the entire audience up extremely quickly, and now most of the kids were glaring daggers at us now, except my class, Charlie, and Heather. "We didn't do any of this to try to be a hero - because guess what? Just two days ago, you all thought the heroic thing to do was to leave Cartman alone because you didn't want him back, right? While we went against the grain - we weren't heroes then, right? So really, your award is fucking meaningless and stupid, because you all have no concept of what righteousness truly is. Furthermore, us being perfect implied that we never grew along the way - which is also bullshit."

"We came to show honestly about who we were," Kathy stated.

"For the people who put their trust in us," Chris added.

"We'll always reach out to offer salvation," Ellen proclaimed.

"Even in the face of darkness we won't falter," Tyler interjected.

"To put the needs of others above our own," Bebe spoke.

"And never stray from right, no matter what others say," Kyle hummed.

"As long as we're good people, never fear the fall," Wendy said.

"Because true friends will catch us and help us rise again," I finished. "So yeah, we don't need your stupid awards, because none of you even know how your own awards works. You can return to waging Gender Wars or whatever. Kiss our asses, and screw you guys, we're going home." The eight of us flipped off the entire audience before leaving as Linus just remained standing on the stage awkwardly with the untouched medals. But then I stopped and went back up stage to the microphone. "Actually, I just want to say one thing: Shelly, go fuck yourself." I couldn't find Shelly in the background, but I know she's there somewhere.

I moved off the microphone as Tyler had his turn. "And Jacob and Tiffany, go kill yourselves."

Tyler moved off the microphone as Wendy had her turn now. "I'm not actually the Pleases and Sparkles leader, Heidi is, but she did give me permission to share this to everybody at school - I just texted her just now." Huh, have I really not been paying close attention to Wendy? She must be very sneaky. "Irregardless, may I have Nelly Hall, Jenny Simons, Tammy Nelson, and Monica Ryland, may I have you four stand?" The four aforementioned girls happened to be sitting next to each other several rows behind my class as they stood up. "Yeah, the entire council agreed: we're kicking you four out of our Pleases and Sparkles Club."

Needless to say, those four were not happy at all, glaring angrily at us. "What the FUCK?!" Monica shouted.

"We decided you attitudes against boys isn't welcome," Bebe said as she stood by Wendy. "Also Nelly, you betrayed us at the North Pole too. So pack your shit and get the fuck out. Not literally because we already got rid of all your stuff, but still, you four are no longer welcome."

"Well fuck you!" Nelly shouted.

"Wait, where'd you leave our stuff?!" Jenny asked.

"We had a fun morning bonfire with it!" Kathy chuckled. "We met up at like six in the morning before school, and we took turns stacking it onto a pile at the public basketball court and setting it all on fire!" To Kathy's statement, Wendy, Bebe, and Ellen also giggled. Now I know that the girls can be much more savage than the boys, but this is just ruthless.

"YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY, YOU STUPID SKANKS?!" Tammy yelled.

"WE'LL MAKE OUR NEW CLUB OF GIRLS AND PUT YOU AND THE REST OF YOUR WHORE FRIENDS IN THEIR PLACES!" Nelly shouted as the quartet of girls got up to leave the assembly. "MARK MY WORDS, WENDY, YOU'RE DONE!" As a result, our entire group of eight, as well as our entire class of boys and girls, laughed loudly.


Once the bell rang, we just left campus. The eight of us walked in silence. We were all just wearing neutral expressions. After exiting the grounds, we decided to take a walk towards Stark's Pond. Given that it is a Friday, there were already kindergartners there from being released from school hours before, so they didn't really get to see our assembly. Oh well.

However, two children stood in our path. Charlie and Heather to be exactly. All of us sighed as the pair approached us.

"What is it this time?" I asked.

"We never got the chance to properly thank you guys for saving us," Charlie stated.

"Also, what you eight said at the assembly," Heather added, "while crude, was really brave, so much so your class was praising you."

We all gasped. "Wait, were they really?" Bebe asked. "You're kidding." Charlie and Heather both nodded.

Kyle scoffed in disbelief however. "Wait, I don't understand, how can you two really accept what we said at the assembly? How can you approve of us at all?"

"We're all shitty people, you know this," Wendy added.

"Too shitty, to the point we might just die." Tyler paused for a moment before muttering, "Alright, that was too morbid."

Kathy nodded at Tyler. "It was. But Wendy's right."

Heather waited for a few seconds to make sure all of us finished talking. Then she continued, "That's easy. Because I've seen the type of people you all are."

"Eric Cartman clones who just walk around, desolating and desecrating everything in our path, and everything we ever touch?" The rest of my party couldn't help but chuckle at what I just said.

Heather shook her head. "That's not who you eight are at all. I really like the way you eight grew. I used to think you eight were just jerks who let popularity go to their heads, but the speeches you made to Cartman back at the castle arena in the North Pole...and the speeches you made just back at the assembly..." She looked over at Kathy. "Kathy, I really liked the honesty you showed about yourself." She then looked over at Chris. "Chris, how you were brave enough to open your heart to others." She then looked over at Ellen. "Ellen, for finally committing yourself to step forward and help others." She then looked over at Tyler. "Tyler, for the kindness you've shown to your friends." She then looked over at Bebe. "Bebe, for putting the needs of others ahead of your own." She then looked over at Kyle. "Kyle, for refusing to falter even when the odds are against you." She then looked over at Wendy. "Wendy, for allowing your friends personal freedom." She then looked over at me. "And Stan, for leading by example. So when I look at you all, I don't see Eric Cartman clones at all. You eight have grown all the qualities that I want."

We all looked at each other. "You...really mean that?" Ellen asked.

"We do," Charlie nodded.

Chris sighed and folded his arms. "If you insist."

"We might not have been close friends before, but still, you all have my gratitude." Heather and Charlie both nodded at each other before Heather turned back to us. "Anyways, it's time for me and Charlie to go. I really hope you eight have a good day." Both of the kids smiled gracefully at us, and we smiled back. "Bye!"

"Bye!" our entire party waved.

Charlie and Heather didn't move along just yet, but it didn't matter. We turned to walk towards the pond itself, but at the wooden bench at the bed of the lakeside sat a single boy alone. He had messy brown hair, black round glasses, a blue jacket that revealed a yellow T-shirt, and gray pants. This boy was too familiar to me, and he made me grunt.


His name is John, and he is a nerd.

As far as I can remember, Vanson is another Dovahkiin at our school, though he failed to make as many friends as Ray has. That is mainly because he is a creep who thought he was cool with the girls at our school, and would especially hit on Wendy, Bebe, and Annie. That was one of the reasons why he used to try to hang out with our boy group, so that he would not be seen as lonely (similar to Chris's attitude towards), which is why our interactions were entirely superficial. Unlike Chris, and like Kenny, he was much too interested in the opposite gender. Recently, however, I haven't seen him around much, but the fact that he is sitting alone at Stark's Pond right now is disturbing of how lonely he is.

"Well look who it is," Bebe grunted.

"I kinda feel bad for him...but at the same time, he can be quite an annoying prick." Can't say I disagree with Kyle's assessment here.

"Fitting for a nerd to be sitting alone." The moment Kathy said that, we all just stared at her for a few seconds. "Right...I think I'll just shut up now."

"He is left wide open for pick-pocketing," Tyler noted. "Well Chris, if he's ever pissed us off recently..." Chris just chuckled and nodded.

Ellen, annoyed, elbowed Tyler softly on his left arm. "Tyler, don't encourage abuse against him. And Chris, don't even think about it."

Tyler chuckled before sighing. "Oh come on, I was just kidding."

I shook my head. "It doesn't matter, let's go and not be anywhere near that creep, before he notices the girls with us." I turned around and noticed that Charlie and Heather were staring at us from a distance, but that didn't matter. I took a few steps forward, but then turned back and noticed that only Wendy stood rooted in place. "Wendy? You coming?"

Wendy did walk over to me, but she was frowning. "Stan, wait...don't you think John's feeling a bit...you know..."

I folded my arms to my chest. "You were always complaining about him hitting on you before, why do you suddenly care about him now?" I really do wonder what sparked the change within Wendy.

"I just think..." Wendy sighed. "After all we've done you know...how do I put this..."

"I think what Wendy means is that John Vanson's sitting alone, right? Maybe we should comfort him. It does have to be hard being in his shoes, no less being a failed Dovahkiin." Wendy nodded at Kyle in agreement.

"Maybe us girls should handle it," Wendy said.

Bebe however put her right hand on Wendy's left shoulder. "Oh no you don't. He's just gonna hit on us again. Okay, we can handle it, but Ellen and Kathy - the good girls? Are you sure you wanna put those two into talking with that creep?" Bebe took her arm off Wendy.

"I...hey!" Kathy scowled at Wendy and Bebe, somewhat annoyed. "How can you even call us innocent when we literally swear all the time and watch Terrance and Phillip or the Queef Sisters, as you well know are...not family-friendly at all?!"

Ellen walked up to Kathy's left side and extended her right arm out, as if holding Kathy back. "I think what Kathy really means to say is that the more of us together, the better."

Bebe rolled her eyes and grunted once more. "Fine. Whatever. Let's just get this over with."

"Whether the boys like it or not." Wendy went first, followed by the three other girls. The hell does Wendy mean by her last comment? Kyle, Tyler, Chris, and I just stared at each other in disbelief before looking over at the crowd to come. So we walked a bit closer.

John noticed the four girls' approach, who weren't even attempting to be sneaky. Noticing who the girls were, his eyes widened. "Oh, h-h-hey gals."

"What are you doing all alone here?" Kathy asked.

"Well, Pip said he was gonna meet me here..." John then frowned and groaned. "I bet he stood me up to hang out with that Damien Thorn fellow again."

Ellen frowned. "That's sad. Are you feeling alright?" John simply nodded his head in response, though based on his facial expression, I doubt it.

"It's fine, it doesn't matter anyways." The girls looked at each other. Wendy sat directly to the left of John while Bebe sat to his right. Ellen then sat down to Wendy's left, while Kathy sat down to Bebe's right. John of course noticed this. "W-w-what are you four doing?"

"We just thought we could help you feel better..." Bebe chuckled. "You know...you hanging out with four girls right now."

Kyle, Tyler, Chris, and I looked at each other. Surely, we all know the girls weren't going to dump us here, but what exactly are they planning? Are they just trying to toy with John's feelings just to hurt him later on? Is this some elaborate revenge plot against John for the way he harassed the girls this year? Chris looked away, as he couldn't watch. Tyler folded his arms, scowling. Kyle shook his head and rolled his eyes.

John shook his head. "You four have your boyfriends, you're all happy. I'm not."

Wendy leaned forward a bit towards John. "Is this what this is about? Pip ditched you and you have no girlfriend?" I could hear John gasp.

John briefly threw his hands up. "Fine. You got me. I'm lonely. Happy now?" I could tell now by the rushed tone of his voice that he was slightly annoyed as it turns out Wendy's accusation is correct, as per usual.

"No, I'm not happy at all." That response from Wendy threw all of us off. Now I'm curious what could eventually culminate. "Why does getting a girl really matter to you anyways?"

"Well, I take a look at who you guys are with, you know, Stan, Kyle, Tyler, Chris...they do all seem happy, even if they put up with their hardships." John leaned back on the backboard of the bench. "But me, I got nothing."

"Boys don't make us who we are, you know this," Kathy said. "You won't gain self-worth by suddenly getting a girlfriend."

"Yeah, and if you think girls won't take advantage of your desperation, you're kidding yourself," Bebe added.

"Bebe's right," Ellen agreed. "There's girls out there - bad girls - who like to take advantage of vulnerable guys such as yourself. They'll see your need for love and belonging, and they'll use you, and when they're done with you, they'll toss you on the wayside, never to be heard again. Don't let that discourage you, but my point is that you can't let love blind you."

"Never pin all your hopes and dreams on one girl. You'll just be ruined and disappointed in the end." Sure, Wendy was talking to John, but I feel as if she was talking to me right now. There were too many times where I can recall I was just trying to win Wendy over because I honestly thought she was worth more than I am.

John Vanson nodded. "You're right. I guess-"

But then Wendy, Bebe, Kathy, and Ellen all threw themselves at John Vanson, hugging him. The four of us boys just stared in disbelief once again. We weren't mad at all, we were just surprised, astonished, and flabbergasted. They held for no more than seven seconds before splitting apart. "Chin up," Wendy smiled. "You'll find someone one day."

"Yeah, no need to rush it," Bebe chuckled. "You don't wanna get beat or anything, right?"

"You got this, John!" Kathy waved.

John Vanson nodded. "Hey, I know I made you four, as well as your friends, uncomfortable, and I'm really sorry about it. And I know that me being lonely isn't a good excuse." John placed his hands over his heart. "Yeah, I really do want to know how it feels to be loved and wanted, but not out of expense of your own feelings. If nothing else, I guess we could be at least...acquaintances, I guess."

Wendy put her right hand on John's shoulder. "I accept your apology, and I know we didn't do you any favors either." The other girls nodded in agreement as well. "Just remember to breathe deeply, alright? Don't be so nervous around us."

John nodded. "I..." His head happened to scan towards the right, past Bebe and Kathy. I followed his vision, and in the distance on the grass was Pip and Damien about one-hundred yards away. "Pip!" Instantly did he leap off the bench. "You didn't forget about me!" He rushed over to Pip and Damien.

Pip and John began chatting as they both walked away into the treeline, though we couldn't make out what they were saying. Damien, however, turned to all of us. With his right hand he performed a simple salute towards our direction before turning around to follow the other two boys. At least John was happy now, especially knowing that he was never ditched all along.

"Well, guess that's that," I spoke.

From behind me did Charlie speak. "You guys did really nice there. Heather wasn't wrong when she said what she said." Heather nodded in agreement, and both smiled before leaving.

Afterwards, the eight of us gathered around once more. "You know, I just want to say how proud of you guys I am."

Kyle beamed brightly. "I learned something else today." We all just stared at Kyle, chuckling all through the way. Kyle narrowed his eyes at us, so I think he thinks that we're teasing him, when really we aren't. "We all had something special together, even after everything we've been through, and not just eight of us, but our entire school. And no matter what gets in our way, always live on and live strong. For life is a journey. The places you go...the deeds you do...the tales whose hero you become...every road is yours to take...so journey forth into this great world we live in...and find an adventure all on your own."

"I guess this is it for us huh?" Bebe asked. "There goes one chapter of our lives - having awesome World of Warcraft powers for the second time while roleplaying."

"That is until Ray does something stupid with the Stick of Truth again." Upon hearing Tyler's comment, we all laughed loudly, because as dark as can be, there is a bit of truth to his statement. Not that Ray is a bad guy, but I know people will continue to use him for his special powers, sadly.

"I'm still calling us the Octopath Travelers, even if we aren't roleplaying anymore, I love the name I came up with!" Wendy exclaimed.

Kathy cringed at Wendy. "Uh, you didn't come up with that name, you copied it from a JRPG, remember?" We all laughed at Wendy now. She rolled her eyes in embarrassment.

But at the end of the day, we all know that despite anything the bad guys will throw at us, we will always prevail. We will always stand strong. And we will never let evil come in the way of our love for each other.


Don't fret, people, there will still be one more chapter. Heather's little speech is inspired by the ending of the Peanuts Movie. That said, two things:

First, I want to thank JVM-SP150 for allowing me to include John Vanson in this fic once again.

Lastly, you'll be disappointed to read this: this will be my last fanfic for now. I don't plan on doing anymore fanworks in the near future, as I don't think there's enough demand for it. I plan on branching out into other things maybe, but I still plan on remaining a bit active in the South Park fandom itself.

I do chat frequently on a certain discord server, the South Park Archives one. The discord link is simply: south-park