Tweek

The Elven castle was impressive no matter how you cut it. With towers and tents sprouting out of a monstrous tree like strange growths the seemed to sprawl on forever and a courtyard beneath that sported an organized an functioning area for Elves to go about their business, it was intimidating. Much more intimidating than Kupa Keep, that was for sure.

As he looked up at it, viewing it from further down Stan's fence with the rest of the boys, Tweek thought it looked nothing short of daunting.

"Jesus –ngh- are you sure this is gonna work?" Tweek squeaked, his fingers tightening and loosening around the smooth handle of his club. He could hear the Elves from here, all of them going about everyday tasks no doubt. There was nothing intrinsically threatening about this, but he felt like it was just proving that they were all being stupid. At the same time though, that filled him with a strange feeling of reckless excitement. Sure, they might fail, but at least they'd do so spectacularly.

A hand ruffled his hair. "Yeah, it'll work," Craig said, his presence a dark shadow behind him. Out of the corner of his eye, Tweek caught the flash of the boy's blade reflecting the sun. Of course, Craig was probably right, the plan was almost laughably simple. Distract, divert, destroy, then get out as quickly as possible. It would be hard to screw it up. Even Cartman could have managed it.

It would start with Daniel, Russell, Jesse and Terry distracting as many Elves as possible, drawing most of the fire and hopefully taking as many down as they could. Tweek's job would be slightly different, he was supposed to get up the tree during the chaos, taking out any Elves that got in his way. He was supposed to head for the stick, just to make the fight look as real as possible. Craig, meanwhile, would go for the strategy. The moment he had a picture, he was supposed to leave, no engagement unless absolutely necessary. As long as he didn't fight anyone, the drones would have no reason to focus on him and therefore, he'd be able to get away with what he wanted without recourse.

Tweek wanted it to work. Heck, all of them did.

"If what I've gathered is true, most of the Elves should be on patrol," Daniel said, brushing his curly hair out of his face. "It's now or never. Terry, you've got what we need?"

Holding up the fireworks that he had 'liberated' from goodness knew were, the Mage grinned. "Damn straight. Everyone have smoke bombs?" Putting his hand on the small object that he had in his pocket, Tweek nodded. The only one of them who didn't have smoke bombs was Craig, but that was because the boy had advanced enough stealth that he shouldn't need them. Tweek hoped that it would be enough. No, it will be, we've got this.

"Ready to raise some hell?" Russell asked, hefting his sword and grinning at the other boys. Nodding his head once, Tweek drew his club and gritted his teeth as he listened to Russell count down the seconds before it would start. We can do this, we're going to get this done. Fuck Cartman and him taking forever to decide anything, we're going to prove that this game is still fun! "Three. Two. One."

Instantly, the other boys broke away from Tweek and Craig, going ahead of them. Drawing up his hand, Terry started lighting the fireworks, even as they were bursting through the front fence. He could hear the sounds of Elves yelling in surprise at it and curses flying everywhere before there was a great whoosh as the first firework went off. The sounds of the explosions were Tweek's signal. With a growl, he lunged forward as well, leaping through the fence just as the first smoke bomb went off.

Immediately he was surrounded by the sounds of yelling. The smoke got in his eyes, making them water, but he just squinted his eyes and barreled forward. Out of the gloom, an Elven Ranger rose up, getting in his way. The look of surprise on the boy's face was priceless, but Tweek much preferred the sound his club made as it hit the boy's legs, knocking him back forcefully. As the boy's sword went up, swinging for Tweek's head, the blond growled furiously, blocking it before striking the boy in the ribs firmly, throwing him to the ground.

More explosions, but he forced himself not to freak out about the possibility of them starting fires. Terry was a flame Mage and if he couldn't control it then no one could. Avoiding an Elf that darted out at him, Tweek finally found the tree. Around him, there were the sounds of orders being yelled and the screams of battle emanating seemingly from everywhere. The smoke was filling the air, and he watched as another smoke bomb was lobbed past him before Jesse followed in its wake, his sword raised.

I don't have time to watch, I have to get to the top as quickly as possible! Tearing his eyes away from the boy, who was being set upon by two rangers, Tweek gritted his teeth and started to scramble up the tree, the position forcing him to put away his club. Swinging to the nearest possible branch, Tweek drew his short sword and swung it at the first Elf he saw, even before the boy could react. There was a scream as the archer tumbled out of the tree, falling into the smoke below. Oh god, I probably killed him! Shaking the thought away, Tweek only just barely managed to bring his sword up to block the strike of Chris Donnelly.

"What the hell is all of this?" the boy demanded, his blade coming close to chopping off Tweek's head. With a growl, the blond drew his club and managed to catch the blade with it, pushing it out of the way. Flying at him with unrestrained fervor, Tweek twitched violently as he swung his weapons in tandem at the confused boy.

"Can't you –ghn- see?!" Tweek demanded, swinging his club faster than the Ranger could track. Though the boy was still levels ahead of him, Tweek had definitely come a long way since he'd last faced the boy. It wasn't as much of a challenge as it had been before, and he felt himself enjoying himself, grinning wildly as he knocked the boy's short sword out of his head. "We're m-mad as hell, and we aren't gonna take it anymore!"

Before the boy could answer, Tweek barreled forward and managed to land an elbow in the defenseless Elf's stomach, throwing him backward. Though he managed to catch ahold of some of the tree's branches, he definitely wasn't getting back up to fight anytime soon. Pulling out one of the smoke bombs, Tweek lit it on fire with the enchanted device Terry had given him and tossed it into the middle of this level of the castle.

"How many of you are there?" Chris demanded, clearly struggling to pull himself back onto the platform. "What are you trying to do? Did the Grand Wizard send you?" Taking a step back, shivering as he did so, Tweek pulled out his bow and loaded an arrow, aiming it at Chris Donnelly's head.

"It doesn't matter who s-sent us, it just matters that –ngh- there are enough of us to kick your ass!" Letting the arrow loose at the moment the bomb went off, Tweek could only listen as Chris let out a yell of surprise and the branch shook as he let go of it. Satisfied, Tweek turned around only to find Craig facing him, his body wavering in and out of invisibility.

Grinning like a madman, Tweek quickly shouldered his bow and twitched as Craig raised an eyebrow at him. Though he wanted to say any number of things to the boy, he knew they were on a time limit and all he did was reach up and tug on the string of the boy's chullo as he blasted past. Letting out a wild laugh, Tweek swung further up the tree, knocking an Elf off as the boy tried to climb down the tree to help out his brethren on the ground.

Below, he could see the courtyard filling with smoke as Daniel and the others wreaked as much havoc as possible. As he watched, Terry lobbed a fireball at one of the Elven Rangers, Jason Tweek was pretty sure, and the boy ran off, screaming about his hair being on fire. Noticing another Elf coming up behind Terry, his sword raised, Tweek hooked his leg around the ladder rung above him and twisted his body so he could draw his bow and aim it. Without even bothering to sight it, knowing he did better when he didn't, Tweek let out a yell as he loosed the bolt.

Whistling as it cut through the air, the arrow struck true, implanting itself in the Elf's back, knocking him off of his feet. Turning quickly, Terry looked up and gave Tweek a thumb's up before another smoke bomb obscured the boy from view. Satisfied with himself, Tweek let out a whoop that he was sure the other boys heard before quickly heading further up the tree.

At the next branch he came to, two Rangers rushed him, their swords drawn and glinting in the sun. Swinging onto the branch, his green eyes full of a wild light, Tweek drew his sword and club as one and went in like a madman. Though he could feel the blades of both boys cutting into his skin, Tweek managed to slash one of them across the chest before catching the side of the other Elf's head with his club.

"THIS IS FOR –RRR- TAKING ALL OF OUR TERRITORY!" Tweek screeched, crossing his weapons to block the attack coming at him from the right before he attacked, his blade flashing as wildly as his eyes. Watching as blood followed the path of his already crimson blade, Tweek pushed out his panic at the sight of blood in favor of kicking the boy over. Turning before his companion had the chance to attack his unguarded back, Tweek growled as the boy's blade bit into his shoulder. The pain hardly even registered at all, his mind was too focused to allow it to.

As the boy behind him got up again, Tweek was forced to attempt to fend off both Rangers at the same time, not something he preferred but at the same time, not something he was unused to. Unfortunately, they were coordinating their attacks, and just as he was avoiding the strike of one boy, the other had his blade at Tweek's throat in that instant of distraction. Just as the blonde's eyes were widening and he was trying to figure a way out, a familiarly serrated blade sprouted through the Ranger's shoulder before it yanked back out, letting the boy fall to the ground.

"You looked like you needed some help," Craig commented as Tweek let out a growl and threw the other boy out of the tree with a blast of force. Turning back to the boy, Tweek spent a moment pulling at his hair with the hand that was holding his club.

"JESUS MAN, Y-YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO ATTACK!" Tweek yelped, shaking his head to rid his mind of the worries that instantly filled it. Oh god, now they're going to catch him taking pictures of the battle plans. Now Kyle will find him and he'll die for sure and I won't be able to save him!

"Dude, you literally threw someone out of a tree," Craig deadpanned, his eyebrow raising. "I'm pretty sure they're focusing on you right now." At the words, Tweek's mouth fell open for a second before he found laughter distracting him from his own fear. Realizing it was he who was doing the laughing, Tweek slapped a hand over his mouth before managing to nick himself with his sword. There was a snort, and Craig's hand landed in Tweek's hair, which the Thief proceeded to ruffle. By the time Tweek had pulled his hand away from his face, the other boy was gone.

Remembering himself, Tweek quickly holstered his weapons before dashing back to the trunk of the tree. Catching handholds easily, Tweek decidedly skipped the level that Craig had said held the battle plans before heading straight to the top. He knew, naturally, that he wouldn't be able to actually get the stick, but it was worth a shot. As long as he wasn't carted out, mortally wounded, everything would be fine.

His injuries were only just starting to register in his mind as he finally reached the keep of the suspended Castle. Climbing up into the solid wooden room that looked like it had been grown straight from the tree, Tweek had to shield his eyes as the Stick of Truth momentarily blinded him. It was at the end of the long room, its power practically radiating from it. Letting out an involuntary sound, Tweek approached the thing slowly, in awe of its glory. The universe, sitting there on a pillow...

Just as he got close enough that he could have reached out and touched the object, he heard footsteps behind him. Turning around Tweek hardly had a second's warning before he was hit with a gust of wind that pushed him back, sending him sprawling across the wooden floor. Quickly pushing himself to his feet, Tweek twitched as he saw who it was.

Kyle looked more like a king than Tweek had ever seen him. His red and gold robes seemed to swirl as the symbols on them writhed like living creatures. On his head, the crown of thorny branches gleamed with an ethereal light, almost like it had been imbued by the power of the Stick itself. In his hand, he held a staff with a glowing green crystal implanted in the top. The rod itself looked like it had been made of smelted steel. As the boy raised it, the wood around Tweek started to rumble, branches, and vines growing out of it, attempting to wrap around his ankles like snakes.

Letting out a scream, Tweek darted to the side, drawing his club once more as he did so. Lifting his chin, glaring down his nose at Tweek, the redhead spat out. "This. Is. Bullshit." His green eyes danced with utter irritation as he looked Tweek up and down. "What the hell do you think you're doing, invading my kingdom? What makes you think you have the right to do something like this, Human filth?"

"Rrr- I say I have the r-right!" Tweek growled right back, unwilling to be cowed, even by the High Elf himself. Imagining his warriors below him, fighting dozens of Elves all so that he could fight Kyle, just so that Craig could get a picture of the strategies, the blond felt a surge of pride and courage wash through him. Raising his club, Tweek announced, "In the name of the KKK, I'm –grrr- here to take back the Stick of Truth from the Elves!" Before Kyle could react, he leaped forward.

Kyle's staff met Tweek's club easily. Though the blond knew the boy was far more powerful than he was, he couldn't help but feel some bit of hope as Kyle grit his teeth in a growl before throwing Tweek off of him. His staff sparked, and at once the room around Tweek started to come alive around him. Dodging the tree limbs that formed into a giant hand that seemed to be commanded by and mimicking to a T Kyle's own fist, Tweek gave a growl and swung his club at the boy's ribs.

Even though Kyle managed to dodge most of it, Tweek could still feel the blunt object connect with the Elven king. In return for his strike, Kyle swept his hand in a slapping gesture and Tweek felt himself get lifted into the air and slammed against the wall of the keep. Gritting his teeth, ignoring the pain, Tweek jerked hard and leaped back to his feet, instantly running back at the redhead.

"Give it up Tweek!" the boy yelled, reaching for Tweek with the wooden hand only for Tweek to leap onto the living creation, using it as a ramp right down to Kyle. "There's no way you can beat me!" With a growl, Tweek swung at Kyle's hand twice before the wooden hand tilted alarmingly, forcing him to grab for the thumb of the creation so he didn't get dropped to the ground. Swinging before letting go of the hand, Tweek flew over Kyle's head and rolled on impact.

"Y-you don't know that!" Tweek yelled back, managing to hit Kyle's knees before the boy's staff glowed with power once more and a localized tornado lifted him off the ground and slammed him back to the floor with enough force to drive all the air from his lungs. Jesus, he's going to kill me! Tossing his head about with a growl, forcibly making the terrible thoughts relinquish their hold on his brain, Tweek pushed himself to his feet and got out of the way before Kyle's wooden hand managed to squish him to a pulp.

"I do know that!" Kyle shot back, his robes rippling around him as he raised his staff and there was a rumble of thunder. As a thunderhead appeared above Tweek's head, it was all the blond could do to avoid being stuck by localized bolts of lightning. "I'm far more powerful than you'll ever be, just give up!" Ignoring the lightning as he saw an opening, Tweek could feel electricity course through his body as he slammed his club into Kyle's shoulder, causing the wooden hand to meld back into the floor as the redhead hissed with pain.

"You're not p-powerful, you just think you are!" Tweek spat at the boy, even as he felt his twitching get worse. It had been the lightning, he knew. He was definitely getting low on health, and it was all he could do to dodge the boy's swing of his staff. As the steel brushed through his hair, Tweek suddenly dropped and rolled, ending up on the other end of the room. "You're just an Elf, w-we're Humanity!"

"That's lame," Kyle grunted, his staff glowing again. The windstorm that it whipped up kept Tweek from being able to get in close for another hit. "You're just that fat asshole's puppet."

Looking up at the ceiling and noticing a remaining branch that had sprouted because of Kyle's magic, Tweek shivered hard before leaping up and catching the thing with his free hand. Glaring at Kyle, the blond swung himself, throwing himself up and over the wall of wind so he was aimed directly at the redhead's face. As he flew through the air, his club coming around so it could strike Kyle's head, Tweek growled fearsomely and yelled, "I'LL NEVER BE ANYONE'S PUPPET, LEAST OF ALL CARTMAN'S!"

Just before his club connected, a blade came up, shielding Kyle, throwing him off course. Suddenly, Tweek felt the sharp edge cut across his chest, leaving a bloody stripe behind. As Stan lifted his chin and stared down at Tweek, the boy firmly said, "Stand back my Lord, I'll handle him."

Realizing that he was outmatched, Tweek yanked his last smoke bomb out of his pocket. It's now or never. Looking at the thing in confusion, Stan asked, "Wait, what's that?" even as Tweek was lighting it. Waiting until the thing was about to go off, the Barbarian lobbed it at Stan's face and watched with satisfaction as the thing exploded, filling the keep with thick, white smoke.

"Grr- The Humans will rise again!"With that yell, Tweek beat his quick retreat, swinging out of the keep and down the ladder as fast as he could with the injuries that he'd sustained. Even though his body was crying out for medical attention, Tweek still managed to knock the Ranger that was beneath him off of the tree as he went, watching him fall with satisfaction. Though he wanted to find Craig, Tweek knew that Daniel had explicitly said not to. The boy would come, Tweek just had to get out.

Looking around at the other Humans still fighting the Elves, all of them horribly outmatched, Tweek hollered out, "RETREAT!" before swinging down the tree as fast as possible, dodging arrows as they flew at him. One of them lodged in his back, but he just grit his teeth and kept moving, maneuvering around the truck so he could get as close to the gate as possible. As a Ranger came running out at him, Tweek judged the distance between himself and the ground quickly. OH JESUS THIS ISGONNAHURTAUGH!

With a yell, Tweek leaped off into the smoke beneath him. His legs instantly flared up with pain, but he ignored them as he ran towards the fence, knocking the archer that tried to get in his path aside with one sweep of his short sword. As Jesse and Terry fell in step behind him, Terry still lobbing fireballs as he ran, Tweek gritted his teeth and pushed harder, finally breaking out of the gate and running across the grass outside at last.

Letting out a whoop as Russell cheered, Tweek looked around and spotted Daniel bringing up the rear, a smile on his face. He had a bloody gash that ran from his hairline to his upper lip, but that didn't seem to be dampening his cheer in the slightest. Chest swelling, Tweek realized that they'd done it. They'd made it out alive and hopefully, Craig had gotten the plans.

As if to confirm this, Russell called, "I saw Craig already heading back to Kupa Keep. We fucking did it! We beat their sorry asses!"

Celebrating with the other boys, Tweek felt a thrill of pride race through him. He couldn't wait to find Craig and tell him what had happened. All he could think about was the boy's slight smile and the way he'd ruffle the blonde's hair as he said I'm proud of you. The thought made him feel like he could touch the sky. Craig made him feel like he could touch the sky.

Letting out a cheer as he finally burst into the kingdom of Kupa Keep, Tweek raised his club above his head as the Humans already aware of what was going on clapped, obviously knowing that they'd just fought the Elves. Looking around for Craig, Tweek spotted the boy's blue chullo and raced for him, holstering his club as he went. He wasn't exactly sure what he was about to do, but he knew that his heart was swelling so large that it felt like it was going to break out of his chest and his mind was just one long cry of joy.

"Ngh- C-Craig! We did it!" Arms thrown wide, almost like he was going to hug the Noirette, Tweek felt his heart pound even harder as Craig started to turn around. He was about to tackle Craig when there was a flash of curly blond hair and Tweek found himself skidding to a halt, even as his brain went from screaming with joy to cold, horrible silence. Because there, already hanging off of Craig's arm where Tweek should be, was Bebe.

As his stomach started to twist and rebel, Tweek's head grew fuzzy as he stared at the two of them. Craig wasn't smiling at him, there was no pride in the boy's eyes. There was just confusion, as if he couldn't figure out why Tweek had been so excited. In that second, Tweek felt something break inside him, shattering like so much glass. He doesn't even care about celebrating with me, does he? He doesn't even have the time to be happy. Because he's already got Bebe…

"Tweek! Craig was just telling me about what happened!" Bebe was saying happily, her face lighting up as she saw him. "He said you were amazing!" But Tweek was already backing up, shaking his head numbly as he looked between the two of them, his insides freezing up as the ice crawled up his throat and the alien started clawing at his innards once more, tearing them apart. He couldn't breathe, why couldn't he breathe? Why were his eyes burning? Why had everything suddenly gone so wrong?

"Tweek, you look pale," Bebe said, starting forward, a look of worry on her face. "Is something wrong?"

"N-NO!" Tweek found himself choking out, his throat refusing to work. As the burning behind his eyes started getting worse, he twitched horribly and found himself screaming, "I NEED TO FIND CLYDE!" Without daring to look at Craig, for fear he'd see that same, blank expression, Tweek turned around and bolted.

Seeing Clyde near the medical tent, Tweek couldn't even begin to stop himself from barreling into the boy, who caught him clumsily, stumbling back at the impact. "Woah, Teacup!" the boy exclaimed, pushing Tweek back a bit before his eyes widened and he looked him up and down. "Tweek! You're injured! You need a healing potion!" Pushing a bottle into Tweek's hands, the brunet insisted, "Drink it." Doing so, hardly caring about the injuries that were healed, Tweek let out a tremulous sound as his hands jerked and he dropped the rest of the health potion onto the snowy ground.

Looking at him with worry in his big eyes, Clyde tilted his head and asked, "Why are you over here Teacup? Shouldn't you be with Craig?"

At the sound of the boy's name, Tweek felt the alien leave a particularly horrible gash in his stomach. "I don't w-want to be near him." Tweek pushed out through lips that were trembling, the pressure behind his eyes only getting worse. "H-he's with Bebe, he d-doesn't want me around." Shivering, curling in on himself at the feeling, he found himself whimpering horribly as something hot and wet spilled out over his cheeks. "Ngh- I- I just want- I just… Oh god…" Lifting his hands up, Tweek pressed his palms against his eyes, only to find tears spilling out between his fingers.

"Oh, Tweek…" Instantly, Clyde pulled the blond into one of his crushing, smothering hugs. Even though it did nothing to make him feel better, Tweek still buried his face in the boy's tunic and let out a weak sob as his whole body convulsed with shivers. "It's okay, we'll go home, you've done enough today," Clyde assured him, pulling him back, away from the rest of the Humans, who were all yelling and chanting something indistinct.

Allowing himself to be pulled away, Tweek put an arm over his face and wiped at his tears, even though they wouldn't stop flowing. He wasn't even sure what he was supposed to say, he felt so stupid for crying, but he couldn't help himself, it all hurt too much. As Clyde started to pull him around the castle, the last voice he wanted to hear called out to them.

"Hey, Tweek, were are you going?" Curling in on himself at the sound of Craig's voice, Tweek bit back a whimper and refused to turn around and let the boy see what a mess he truly was. Thankfully, he didn't need to. Stepping in front of him, Clyde tilted his head up and crossed his arms, puffing up his chest.

"We're leaving, Feldspar," Clyde informed the Noirette coldly, his tone firm and clearly unwilling to take Craig's shit. When the taller boy started to protest, Clyde quickly snapped, "No, go back and enjoy the celebration, Teacup and I are leaving. Besides-" His tone went dark. "Don't you have a girlfriend to look after?"

Before Craig could respond, Clyde turned back around and put an arm around Tweek's shoulders, leading him away. More kindly, his tone softening back to the sympathetic pitch from before, Clyde said, "It's fine Tweek, I promise."

Even though his tears still hadn't stopped and if felt like he was leaving his heart back in the snow with Craig and the spilled healing potion, Tweek nodded and followed Clyde away from Kupa Keep. It doesn't matter, you're being stupid. It doesn't matter, that's how these things work. It doesn't matter, Craig can do what he wants. But it still hurt, and Tweek just wanted the alien in his stomach to stop ripping him apart from the inside out.

Some things, even a Barbarian wasn't strong enough to fight off.