A/N: The Fam squad asked, and I supplied.

Enjoy.

Token

There came a certain point where an individual crossed from the point of logical justification to illogical stubbornness that was quite interesting to observe. It had a term, the Sunk Cost fallacy. It was the tendency to keep putting resources into a losing game simply because so much had been invested in it already and not continuing would feel like a waste.

Token, for all his interest in quantum physics, knew quite a bit about psychology, and therefore found this trend quite interesting to watch. It was his theory, nay, his belief, that this was all that drove the other boys of South Park to continue to play the fantasy game, despite the fact that it was obviously not going anywhere. It was more than simply a case of losing, no, it had all become such a tangled knot of bad choices that no amount of banding together was going to fix it. At this point, they were all going to come out losers.

And yet, as he stood beside Stan and watched the remaining humans filter into Kyle's backyard, Token understood entirely that there was nothing in heaven or on earth that could stop these boys from fighting till the end. It would have taken a small atomic bomb to make them take a moment to think things through, and even then he was convinced that they would find a way around that one as well.

There was a startling, or perhaps telling, lack of people in front of them. Most everyone had jumped ship, joining Clyde and Craig in their attempt to destroy the Humans and the Elves. The ones left were either too stupid to leave, or too loyal to betray. An overgeneralization perhaps, but an accurate one nonetheless.

Token's current focus was on Cartman and Kyle, who were sitting next to each other grudgingly in a sort of resigned silence. It seemed like an odd thing to take note of, they were after all, technically friends, but it had been a long time since they hadn't openly fought. When he'd told Clyde that he was sticking with this side to watch how things went down, he hadn't been entirely lying, this was certainly more interesting than evil plotting, however evil that plotting might have been.

"I still think that it was a bad idea," Kyle grumbled to Cartman, crossing his arms. "But I probably would have done the same thing."

"But how many people actually start their own faction? And then ban us? Totally cheating," Cartman muttered in response, shifting his shoulders. "I hope your plan works."

Token's eyes drifted away. The whole Clyde situation had been one he'd seen coming for a long time, to be perfectly honest, and he wasn't surprised in the slightest that it had resulted in this mess. He'd been watching as Clyde slowly pulled further and further away from the game, still wanting to play, but not by Cartman's rules. There had also been the fact that Clyde had been building his own castle on the side, and you didn't do things like that unless you were discontent with how things were already going.

Now, that wasn't to say he liked it, no, he had been quite worried over the fact that his friend had been kicked out, but it had been inevitable, and the game would have to end before things got better.

It sounded potentially ridiculous, but if you stepped back and thought about it, the whole thing made a surprising amount of sense. As long as enough people were playing the game, they'd all be affected. Perhaps by several degrees of separation, but they'd know that their friends were fighting and if not having fun then at least being part of something. Add to that the habit of the human mind to keep at a losing game in the hopes to at least break even, and what you came out with was an inescapable game that could only be finished by someone winning.

Even he was still part of it, no matter how little he was actually playing. Even he couldn't escape it.

Of course, he had a reason to be here, which did play some part in his remaining.

We all have reasons to keep playing, Token thought calmly. And most of those reasons were entirely transparent, which was nice, because working with people you could understand was always preferable. Unfortunately, as with every rule, there was an exception.

Token's brows furrowed as his eyes landed on the gently smirking face of Kenny McCormick. Out of everyone, he was the one person who made Token's brain itch. Sure, Token could lay a finger on at least one of Kenny's motives pretty quickly, but Butters aside, the boy had done nothing but draw out the game, and yet now he was trying to end it.After all, it's not rocket science to figure out why the Stick went missing. Clyde didn't take it, Kenny did. And from there, things got frustratingly complicated.

Since the beginning of the game, Kenny had been stirring things up, playing with the rest of them like they were convenient puppets. Everything, personal motives, relationships, feelings, he'd twisted them and used them to push people into the positions he wanted, and no one had really noticed. Well, Token had, but most of the time, he could sort of see that Kenny was trying to make things go the right way, and at least the Princess had possessed the decency to not attempt to control the Cleric. But the principle still stood.

And out of everyone, who were the people who kept getting caught in the crosshairs of Kenny's schemes? As if that's a question anyone's bothering to ask anymore. Or at least, it wouldn't be if anyone had noticed. But as it was, people just kept falling for it, and Token admittedly had grown uneasy with it.

I should talk to him. And he might have, had not Tweek walked in through the gate of the backyard, his eyes wide and scared, and his hands shaking worse than Token had seen in a while. Distracted, he thought, ah yes, how neatly my points are proven.

"I wonder why he's not with Craig?" Stan muttered from beside Token, handily detailing the crux of the matter. Because in the end, that was the question. Why would Token stay here, when both Clyde and Craig had left for the other faction, other than because he could stay out of it better this way? It was quite simple.

Humming softly, Token answered, "I think the better question is why he's playing at all." Naturally, it was obvious. Tweek was even more stubborn than most, and he and Craig both had the unshakable habit of falling into grooves and not wanting to move from them. It was understandable that Tweek would prefer this, fighting against Craig where he'd at least know what was going on, to hiding at home, terrified that something huge was happening. But it was Tweek's reasoning that eluded Token for the time being.

Stan gave him a raised brow. "Everyone's playing right now. We've got to, especially after Donovan went and made that video and challenged us like that. He couldn't just stay home for that." Wrong, if Craig was with him, he would stay home in an instant. But Craig is singularly stubborn in doing what he's convinced himself is right, so there's no hope of that. Despite the fact that Stan was wrong, Token didn't hold it against him. After all, you had to be in possession of every fact before you could truly discern something like motive.

"Clyde's video had nothing to do with it," Token corrected, but he didn't elaborate. Instead he watched as the blond boy shivered before standing up straighter and heading towards a chair at the back of the group. He was nervous, there was no getting around that, but he was here. Token had to hand it to Bebe. He'd always suspected that she was brilliant socially as well as academically, and he hadn't been mistaken.

She'd been the one to text him directly after leaving Clyde's house, telling him that someone needed to stay with the other side to keep an eye on Tweek. Not only had she correctly predicted that Token would be offered an invitation to Clyde's army of darkness, she'd also known that Tweek was going to fight, even though he'd already been through hell and back. Bebe was quite impressive in how well she'd judged the situation, and he had to take his proverbial hat off to that.

Watching as Jimmy settled down next to a terse looking fifth grader, and Butters brightly sat down next to Kenny, who was smirking in Cartman and Kyle's direction, Token decided that in the end, it was probably better that they were here. He had several major moral issues with what Clyde was doing, and he would prefer not to get involved with it. For all of the points he could have made in favor of leaving the game, Tweek in tow, Bebe was right. Better that they were here, in the thick of it, instead of outside and ignorant if things went horribly wrong.

Besides, as he caught Tweek's gaze and gave the boy a calm, encouraging smile, he decided that putting aside the cold hard logic of it all, Tweek was his friend, and so was Craig, and he might as well help them instead of sitting back and acting above it all. Famously, not a good strategy.

Someone's got to help them out. Token disliked interfering with things, having only ever seen bad come of it, but at the same time, there came a point where you had to push, otherwise, you were part of the problem. And when they're fighting on opposite sides of the same war, there starts to become an issue.

Sensing that things were going to start, or at the very least should start, Token cleared his throat and gave Kyle a look before glancing over at Stan and saying, "Well, I for one hope that this works," before stepping over towards the end of the front row and taking a seat.

As Cartman heaved himself off of the stage and everyone settled, Kyle looked out over their group, his eyes drawn together. Token marked the places they traveled. To Stan, to Cartman, to Kenny. They landed on Tweek for a moment, just long enough to produce a squeak from the boy, then they moved back to Stan. The parallels are undeniable,Token mused, even as he shifted his brain to something like business. Now was not the time, now was the time to be focusing on the problem at hand.

"Well, let's get this over with," Kyle said, clapping his hands together once before straightening his crown. Behind him, the projector he'd set up flicked on, and the boy sent Jimmy an unimpressed look, to which the Bard snickered. "Admittedly, there aren't a lot of us. It's… A little depressing."

That's because no one wants to fight for a losing side. But to be honest, that's not what Token saw, what he saw was a group of people who'd been given a reason to be loyal. The ones that had left, those had been the canon fodder that these boys had taken for granted. In addition to a few disillusioned leaders, which to be honest, didn't surprise Token either.

"But sometimes, we don't get to have the advantage," Kyle continued, straightening his back, his robes dully shining in the light. "Sometimes, we have to make our own advantage where there looks like there's nothing."

It was interesting, the way that the degradation of the game had brought forth things that previously, Token wouldn't have ever seen. There was something in the way that the faces of the other kids had hardened that took some stepping back and thinking it through to really appreciate. Just at a quick glance, he could see any number of things to pick out.

Kenny had proven to have grace and extreme intelligence in all circumstances. Cartman had, for all his faults, been a strong leader. Stan still had some breath of optimism around him that most had lost. Kyle looked like he could face anything with determination.

Clyde, for all of the concerns Token had about his methods, had stood up and thrown off his metaphorical bounds. Bebe had entirely adapted to dealing with boys on a daily basis without acting like her other female friends. Craig had surpassed his apathy.

And Tweek? Well, though Token had elected to stay so that he could watch over what happened, he knew that the blond had grown. Inconsequential things can become huge, if you let them.

As Kyle began pacing, Token decided to focus. "Humans and Elves of Zaron. Citizens, of Zaron, a great evil has descended upon us." His eyes turned towards the distance, and even though Token didn't turn his head, he knew what the boy was looking at. "Obviously, we're facing an Army of Darkness, but I fear that this is actually a whole lot worse than that. We are facing a threat to our entire world, and I'm not going to let that kind of bullshit just happen when I can do something about it."

While the projector displayed an aerial shot of Clyde's castle, Kyle said, "This isn't anything we've ever seen before. Clyde's fortress is four stories tall, and he's taken most of our warriors. Over fifty, if I've done the math right." The powerpoint slides continued to circle through, showing pictures of the various bits and pieces of the castle.

Cartman snickered, "Man, I tell you Paladin Butters, leave it to Kyle…"

And here we see why these two can't get along. Instantly, Kyle bristled, his robes actually rustling as he glared daggers at Cartman, who straightened innocently as if nothing had happened. "Do you have something to say, Grand Wizard?" the redhead spat, his tone tightly controlled.

Smirking, Cartman amiably said, "Nothing, I just think it's kind of funny that Drow Elves in the middle ages could use PowerPoint."

"Grrr- JESUS! This is serious!" Token raised his eyebrows, but didn't comment on the shriek that had come from Tweek, who was shaking behind him. All you can think about is Craig, right? Well, maybe that wasn't strictly true, Token was sure that Tweek was worried about Clyde as well, the blond was singularly kind-hearted, but the principle still stood. Tweek always cared more when it had to do with Craig, or rather, he was quicker to get over his own fear in order to stand up for what he thought was the right thing to do.

Craig, if you were here, you'd be proud.

Clearing his throat, staring at Tweek as if surprised that the boy had chimed in, Kyle nodded and slowly said, "Yes, it is." Shaking himself out of his own contemplations, Kyle clenched his fists and said, "You guys know that Clyde is attempting to raise an army of darkness! He's asked the Vamp kids, the first graders, the sixth graders, and most of our friends have joined him." The boy drew in a breath. "Only our most loyal remain."

And here's where he looks at Stan.

Kyle's emerald green eyes flickered down towards his Ranger, who nodded once, as if in affirmation.

Another breath. "But you guys, I don't think that's the issue we need to think about. Clyde's dealing with stuff he doesn't know how to control, and not only is that cheating, but it's also dangerous." Extending his hands, his face opening, Kyle insisted, "You saw what he did, he brought back a cat from the dead. It was speaking in German. That's bad, we can't let this happen." His eyes fixed on Cartman. "Which is why we all need to get rid of this stupid Elf and Human feud, and join forces."

Silence, then-

"Fuck. That." Cartman glared daggers at Kyle. "I was willing to listen to you Kyle, but we do not team up with fucking Elves."

Lurching forward so he could stare coldly at Cartman, Stan grit out, "Do you have a better idea, oh Grand Wizard fatass?"

"After what you guys tried to do to us in the battle of Wormsley Woods?!" A human from the back called. "Do you think we'll ever trust you Drow Elves?" Tweek let out a shriek at that, no doubt remembering the battle himself.

"Yeah, you tell 'im," Butters encouraged, crossing his arms and attempting to look threatening.

"Dude, that was Jason, and he's not even here anymore!" Stan defended, shifting uncomfortably. "Besides, we apologized for that ages ago!"

"Oh, so we're apologizing now?" Cartman spat, his voice rising. "So when are you going to apologize for taking the Stick in the middle of the night, huh? Because that was totally cheating!"

"Says the ones using arcane fire magic after we specifically banned it!" an Elf fired back.

"To be fair, Terry left," Token pointed out, watching Kyle as his face shifted in frustrated disbelief. Be a leader Kyle, pull them together.

"Yeah but in principle, you shouldn't be burning people!" Stan insisted, throwing his arms in the air.

"Join forces my p-paladin ass!" Butters huffed, crossing his arms. "The only good Elf is a dead Elf."

"Why don't you s-s-suck my Elven d-dick, Butters," Jimmy suggested, grinning at him pleasantly as if daring him to retort.

"Excuse you, let's not be asking anyone to be doing anything of the sort!" Kenny instantly defended, just as Token could have predicted he would. "You Elves have been nothing but trouble since the very beginning!"

"Can we please not?" Kyle attempted, only to be talked over by the other kids.

"Everything you Humans do is underhanded and dirty!" an Elf yelled, provoking protests. "They're always cheating!"

"Yeah, well at least we're not filthy Jews!"

"Will you-"

"OH GOD EVERYONE JUST S-STOP TALKING!" Funny, the people who step up to the plate when things get bad. Turning, Token stared at the blond who'd yelled. Tweek was twitching violently, his chair had fallen over behind him, and his hands in the air. On his face, there was a look of wild frustration. How interesting. Looking around at the other children, who were without exception staring at him, Tweek promptly yanked on his hair and squeaked, "It doesn't m-matter if we're Elves or Humans! This is still really serious!" before attempting to sit back down on his fallen chair, which inevitably resulted in him falling over backwards.

Blinking at him in apparent confusion for a moment, Kyle quickly regained his composure before saying, "Um, yeah, what Tweek said. The factions are bullshit guys. There are German Zombies that are taking over this place, and I'm not going to let that happen. You saw what that green goo did, you know what'll happen if it spreads." Holding out his hands beseechingly, Kyle begged, "We need to stop Clyde now, before there isn't a Zaron to fight in anymore."

Drawing back on his frustration, no doubt for Kyle's benefit, Stan pointed out, "Look, dude, I want to stop them as much as you do, but even if we join up with the Humans, we're not going to have enough people. I told you, this isn't going to work."

"Yeah, even with the Goths, we don't exactly have enough people," Cartman agreed, crossing his arms. "This is a pretty stupid plan." Which was a good point, and one that Token had expected them to bring up, but it was also one that he knew had a solution. But you already know that Kyle, you're a lot smarter than you or your friends give you credit for. Then again, sometimes, you needed to hear someone else say it aloud.

Giving Kyle a calculating look, Token waited a beat before saying, "I say we recruit other factions to make up for that deficit, otherwise, we'll never win." His words brought on a wave of uncertain murmuring, which made the rich boy roll his eyes. It was like they'd never teamed up with anyone, but people could be remarkably cautious when it was the most inconvenient.

"Yeah!" Kyle agreed, quickly latching onto the idea. "We can recrute the Federation, and the Pirates, and… and-" He gave Stan a look before yanking his head up firmly and saying, "And the girls."

"The girls?" Butters yelped. "B-but we already tried that, an' you know how badly that turned out!"

"Kyle, the girls are not going to fucking play with us after last time," Cartman said, his mouth slightly open, as if in dumbfounded shock.

"I don't think we can convince the girls to do this one, dude," Stan admitted, sounding defeated. "You know how it is with them, and with Wendy." Just from the way he said the name, Token instantly was able to put together a picture of what he was looking at. Ah, so he broke up with her again. It figures. Eventually, he's going to figure it out. Until then though…

"It sounds t-t-to me like a pretty l-l-l- A p-pretty lost cause," Jimmy commented earnestly. Ah yes, on the surface, it does seem like that. But naturally, once in possession of all the facts-

"Ngh- I-I think I can."

-you will realize that not all is as it seems. Token smiled slightly, and Kyle's eyes widened as he regarded the blond, who's shivering was almost audible. Nervously, Tweek continued, "I mean Jesus! Idon'twanttogoalone! But I think I could -rrr-convince them, if you gave me a chance!" Which was of course, in Token's best estimation, entirely true.

"Well, I mean they kind of do talk to him," Cartman admitted, shrugging.

"They do indeed!" Kenny exclaimed, clapping his gloved hands together. "Which is why Tweekers and Butterfly should both go and explain to them our dire need of assistance together~ I'm sure that together, they could just charm the girls in an instant." Interesting that you wouldn't go with Tweek yourself, after all, you take such an interest in him.That, out of everything, stood out to Token.

But none of the other boys seemed to think a thing of it. "Yeah, that's a good idea," Kyle admitted, nodding along. "Stan, you can recruit the pirates, right? And Jimmy and Scott, I'm pretty sure you two can convince the federation to join. The rest of us will continue to prepare, because whoever we can or can't get, there's going to be a war tonight, and for the sake of the world we have to win."

After a moment of silence, Kenny giggled and purred, "I'd say Huzzah to that~"

Emboldened, the other boys let out similar cries of determination, before everyone started to get up and disperse. Unsurprised when Tweek hurried over to him, Token watched as the boy twitched and shifted back and forth on his feet before yelping, "Y-you didn't join Clyde!"

"And Craig stopped you," Token returned, watching the blond's reactions carefully. There was a flash of upset frustration, but then it turned to anger, before melting into resolve. Interesting. It wasn't precisely the result he'd expected, but perhaps he too wasn't in possession of all the facts.

"Yeah, but -rrr- we're going to stop him and Clyde," Tweek said firmly, his small, band aid covered fingers clenching around his belt. "We have to, th-they're our friends! We can't let them do s-stupid things."

Once he figures things out, he sees more clearly than most. Humming softly, Token said, "Craig often does things like this. He likes simplicity. I doubt he's ever had so many reasons for doing anything, and I doubt he's ever been this confused. " Catching sight of Butters hurrying over to them, Token finished with, "Let's hope he doesn't stay lost."

"Hey fellas!" Butters burbled happily, his face breaking out into a wide grin. "Y'ready t'get goin' Tweek? We're gonna find those girls, and I'll bet they'll help if you ask really nicely! They seem t'like you an' all~" He seemed so genuinely delighted by this that Tweek was distracted, allowing Token's own attention to switch gears.

Over Tweek's shoulder, Kenny was smirking at them.

Always tugging the strings, isn't he?

Well, Token was going to tug back.

Offering Tweek a smile, Token said, "I'm sure you'll do fine Tweek, Bebe will be there, and the others aren't that bad." Leaving it at that, the rich boy walked around the pair of blonds and headed for Kenny, who's smirk widened into an unladylike grin. Pushing his own face into an unimpressed mask, Token stopped in front of the boy, who batted his eyes innocently, even though he was still smiling like a cat that had gotten the cream.

"Ah, our wonderful Cleric," Kenny trilled, his hands fluttering. "Isn't this all so exciting, I can hardly stand it. Can you?" Rather than rankle at the obvious bullshit, Token lifted an eyebrow before smoothing his features. He'd found that such expressions typically didn't give people anything to latch onto.

"It'd be a shame if it all crumbled," Token agreed impassively, his eyes carefully watching Kenny's. The boy's smirk dropped slightly, replaced by a more tamed, demure smile. His blue eyes however glittered dangerously, tauntingly, Token might have said.

"You know, Token, I've always found it interesting how these things go," Kenny commented, his eyes drifting towards Tweek and Butters. "They say cities crumble and fall but love never ends, so it's amazing how people make their own cities of lies so quickly and ignore the other piece of that saying, almost like it's frightening."

"Ironic that you of all people would be saying that, Kenny," Token responded, recognizing the boy's attempts at misdirection at once. At Token's statement, Kenny gave him a sharp look, and a little more of that light attempt at laziness evaporated. Hm… Interesting.

"Are you accusing me of lying to you?" Kenny asked, his voice a humming purr.

So he is. It figures. Rather than speaking, Token simply stared at Kenny, judging his nervousness versus his irritation, before moving on. "I'm surprised the Elves and the Humans are getting along," he said, his voice just short of conversational.

"Not really, it was a petty feud," Kenny said at once, waving his hand dismissively. The smirk crawled its way back into his eyes. "But you already knew that, didn't you?"

Without directly answering the question, Token instead said, "Even on the other side, they're getting along. Funny that these are the lines we've drawn." Because it was, after all the fighting, the true dichotomy had been between those who just wanted to have fun, and those who'd wanted a war. And over all of them, you're the princess, aren't you? In the end though, maybe Kyle and Cartman really had won, because there was going to be a war and there wasn't exactly an easy way out of it.

"Why didn't you join Clyde?" Kenny asked bluntly, his words as sharp as his eyes.

"Why haven't you," Token returned.

Both of them stared at each other for a moment, before Kenny chuckled and dropped his princess voice entirely. "Looks like we both have our reasons, don't we?"

"Slightly different ones, yes," Token agreed, snorting softly.

"You know Token, that's your problem, isn't it," Kenny mused, his eyes drifting. "Here we both are, tired of all the bullshit and yet one of us is having fun, and the other isn't." He shot Token a sidelong look that spoke volumes. "You tell me who is who."

And finally, we get somewhere. "Knowing doesn't necessarily mean you have to do," Token told Kenny, keeping the reproach from his voice. I know a lot of things Kenny, but I think even you would be upset if I acted on just half of them.

"And sometimes you can watch a play, rather than torch the script and direct it yourself," Kenny pushed back, crossing his arms almost like Token was irritating him. "I can't begin to say what you think of me, but I can imagine. I only ever hit the first domino, everything else just falls into place for me. You might want to try it some time."

Maybe you should try not putting your hands into everything. But… discretion was the better part of valor, and Token knew that Kenny wasn't really talking to him anymore, just talking at him. So rather than argue, he simply glanced over at Butters and said, "You don't need to impress anyone." Holding back the I think you might be able to sleep with yourself better if you did, Token caught the frozen expression on Kenny's face. Cruel, perhaps, but you're not the only one who knows how to play chess Kenny.

Giving the boy a quick nod, Token said, "I hope that this battle goes well, Lady McCormick." Then he walked away, thoughts shuffling and reordering as he watched Kyle turn away from Stan and instead look after Tweek with an almost understanding expression on his face.

Needless to say, he had a lot to think about.