Boyue's Note: I finished playing Stick of Truth. I wish more kids were playable. Anyways, this chapter is a hot mess.

Warning: Body horror and violence.

MATERNAL HEART

"Due Date...

It's a Boy!"

"Let Pip go. Now."

Damien keeps his grip on his dagger tight as he walks down the aisle, passing the six guys who are definitely going to jump him at a moment's notice. He figures if it comes down to it, he can easily take them out, but that's not something he wants to resort to. He doesn't want any of the guys hurt because of his son's tantrum. Except for Cartman. Cartman can go get fucked by a porcupine for he cares, and he's sure no one present will object to it either.

"Father, please, today is a happy day. You should be joyous of my imminent arrival," Pip says, his legs still swinging back and forth. "I don't see why you're so angry with me. I've only ever wanted to be a good boy. I've worked so hard to make you proud. I thought I want to - No, I will accomplish what you cannot. This town is ripe for the reaping, but you can't bring yourself to enslave them. You've failed the task bestowed upon you but I'll succeed in your place."

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Damien shouts, throwing a hand up in desperation. "No one gives one fuck about your bullshit ideology. The people in this town are white trash rednecks who wouldn't know culture if it fucks them up their ass. Conquering them is like conquering a piece of duck shit. Where's the pride in that? And are you seriously telling me you want these people being your minions? Have you met them? They're a bunch of incompetent dipfucks!"

"'Ey! Who're you calling an incompetent dipfuck, you dipshit?" Cartman snaps and waves his dagger indignantly. With a stern look from Pip though, he quiets down and falls back to the trance.

Cartman's outbreak triggers a new course of action. The kid's still young and inexperienced; it must be taking a lot of him to control as many people as he's doing right now. Which means his hold on his puppets can't possibly be that strong. Unlike the McCormicks and Pocket, he knows Stan and the others (except for Tweek and Butters, maybe) can break out of the possession if the kid's distracted enough.

All he needs then is a distraction. He shoots a glance to Christophe, who catches it and simply nods back.

"They're a stepping stone," Pip says defensively, his legs finally coming to a stop. "Besides, the pleasure I get from taking what you love is far more satisfying to me."

"Dude, I don't give two shits about these people and this town," Damien replies with a bemused scoff and shrug. "You can nuke everyone for all I care."

"Dude," comes from Craig.

"Not cool," Stan chimes in.

"Sorry, just saying it like it is," Damien says.

"Be quiet!" Pip bellows, slamming his fist down on the altar. The six fall silent again. He huffs, grey veins pulsating with anger. Then he takes a steady breath and puts on his self-serving smile again. "You say you don't care, but you're a terrible liar, Father."

Craig is the first one to move. He leaps forward and tackles Tweek to the ground. With a blank expression, he plummets his fist into Tweek's face over and over again. In the next moment on the other row, Stan jumps on top of Kyle and strangles him with both hands, while Cartman runs (as fast as his fat ass can) across the aisle, grabs Butters by his hair and slams his head against the pew.

"Damn it!" Damien throws both hands out and works as quickly as he can to stop the casualty. Stan flies off Kyle and slams against the far wall of the church. Cartman is smacked in the back with a pew then pinned under two more to keep him down. Craig is thrown up against the ceiling and holds up there by his shirt with a jagged plank. For safety so the other three don't start attacking each other or him, he throws them all against a wall and locks them with a pew that bars perfectly across them. Damien looks at Pip with a haughty smirk. The kid might be stronger than him, but he's still the one true fucking anti-Christ until otherwise announced; it'll take more than grade school mind-control to take him down

"You missed one," Pip says, his wide smile makes Damien forget all about taunting the kid.

This time, Damien does see it coming that he manages to get out of the way of the shovel swinging down on him. He pulls back his arm and punches Christophe in the jaw. Even though he considers Christophe his ally, it still feels so damn good to get him back for what he did. Revenge, best served cold, so on and so forth.

"Aww shit, dude! Snap out of it, Christophe!"

If his punch has done anything, Christophe doesn't slow down to show it. He slugs the shovel upward and side-swipes Damien with deadly expertise, reminding Damien that this is a man who kills people for a living without remorse. Christophe's a man with no allegiance, loyal only to the highest bidder. For all he knows, his "friend" could've been possessed from the get-go. Or it could've all been an act to lower his guard so he can backstab him. Again.

But that doesn't matter right now. Right now, he has to bring his arms up to block the incoming shovel. A sharp cry explodes out of him at the collision. He can feel something bruising, if not breaking completely from the impact. Before he can recover, Christophe's already swinging the shovel from overhead and landing a perfect hit to Damien's head.

Damien falls over, graceless and clumsy, with a stream of blood trickling down the side of his face. He rolls onto his side as Christophe approaches him with both hands gripping the shovel. Christophe swings down as Damien rolls onto his back. In a split second, Christophe flings backward and hits the church door with a resounding thud.

Damien doesn't get a chance to catch his breath or even gets up. Hasty footsteps close in, and in a blink of an eye, Stan is hovering over him. Stan thrusts his dagger through Damien's chest. If Damien thought getting stabbed by the first dagger is the worst thing he's ever been through, he has no idea what lies in store. Stan's dagger doesn't leave a physical mark on him. It doesn't make him bleed, and his heart doesn't stop working with a blade through it. It's more like a fire is scorching his insides. He has no words to describe the agony rampaging through him. He has no way to explain what it feels like to have a piece of his soul dies.

Damien gasps for air even though oxygen doesn't ease the pain. He waves his hand and knocks back Stan. He grips the hilt and tries to pull the dagger out but doesn't get halfway through before Craig obscures his view then drives his dagger into his abdomen. Damien folds upward as the same pain, but amplified twofold, rips his insides to metaphorical shreds. A hybrid of a scream and a cry catches in his throat. He doesn't even have the time to turn Craig into a pus-ball before the third dagger, presented by Cartman, makes its home between the first two daggers.

The tears rolling down Damien's cheeks mix with the blood from his head wound. He lies on his back, barely moving with a gaped mouth and a leg that twitches without his command. With his voice lost somewhere, he only makes a soundless whimper as Butters brings the fourth dagger and pierces him through the left chest.

"Hahaha, you guys! Oh my god, you guys, look, look! He's crying like a fucking pussy," Cartman says, pointing his finger at Damien. "What a wimp!"

Tweek comes next. Both of his hands tremble as he skewers Damien's right chest with the fifth dagger. Damien doesn't move. He probably can't move even if he wants to. His body feels weightless and ready to accept his impending death as Kyle, with Christophe by his side, steps forward with the sixth dagger.

"Stop," Pip commands. Both Kyle and Christophe halt like a disabled doll. "Bring him here."

Christophe grabs Damien by his collar and drags him down the aisle toward Pip, followed by Kyle next to him. Damien doesn't budge; he lets himself be thrown up onto the altar like a ragdoll and stares up at Pip, who looks down at him with the same shit-eating smile.

"I haven't wanted to kill you so soon, Father, but you've become a bigger nuisance to me than anticipated. I thought we could've at least enjoyed a few years together as a family. Ah well, I suppose we'll have to manage without you." Pip extends his hands out palm up, and Kyle comes forward with the dagger. "You need not to worry. I'll be a very good boy to Papa Pip. He's loved me more than you ever did. More than you ever could."

It happens so quick, like they've practiced it before even though they obviously couldn't have. As Kyle comes toward the altar, Christophe snatches the dagger out of his unsuspecting hand and tosses it to Damien. Damien catches it with lucky precision and bolts up with the strength he's been saving. His wounded arm screams at him but he ignores it. He drives the dagger right through Pip and uses his own weight to push Pip to the floor behind the altar.

"Goddammit no! The Mole double-crossed us! Fucking can't trust British people!" Cartman shrieks.

The scream Pip makes is ungodly. The whole building shakes. Dust sprinkles down as the ceiling looks about to collapse. The front door and the windows rattle but all remain sealed. Christophe comes around the altar and pins Pip to the ground. Somewhere behind them, Tweek makes a sound like a dying dolphin while Stan shouts for everyone to get the hell out of there.

"Hurry the fuck up!" Christophe pushes his weight down as Pip thrashes against him.

Damien doesn't need to be told twice. He's frantically pulling the daggers out from him. Each one hurts going out as much as it had going in. He makes a pathetic whine and bites his lip to muffle the sound as the blades slide out of him. He hasn't expected to suddenly regain all his strength, but he sure as hell doesn't expect to feel torn in ten different places either.

"The door won't open," Craig points out.

"I CAN'T BE A HELL MINION. GAH! IT'S WAY TOO MUCH PRESSURE."

"We gotta kill the ginger to get out. Kill the fucking ginger!" comes Cartman's voice.

"Shut the fuck up, fatass!" Kyle shouts back. "He's not possessed anymore!"

Damien pushes down on Pip's chest to keep him still. His combined strength with Christophe, however, isn't enough to hold Pip down. Pip knees him in the stomach then throws off Christophe with a strong force. Pip manages to get up on his knees before Damien moves in quick and plunges in the second dagger. Pip arches his back, his mouth gape open for another shattering scream. Drool drips down the corners of Pip's mouth as Damien shoves the third dagger in, and he's half worried Pip will bite his tongue off by accident.

Pip droops his head to the side. Soft ocean blues gaze at Damien, clouded with confusion and panic. The grey veins start to retreat and stops Damien from bringing in the fourth dagger.

"... Damien… ?" Pip's voice is weak but so full of affection. "Wh-what's..."

"Shhhh, it's okay. I'm here," Damien says, tightening his grip on the dagger and putting a hand on Pip's shoulder. "It'll be over soon. Just wait for me."

Pip nods then goes limp like he's been powered off. Out of instinct more than anything, Damien catches him and that's all it takes for Pip to reach behind him and pulls the dagger Damien brought with him. Damien swings his arm out just in time to block Pip from puncturing his neck. There is no way in Hell he's going through that again. He elbows Pip back, but not enough to keep him down. In a second, Pip's up on his feet then off the ground completely as he levitates in mid-air.

Damien has to hand it to the kid; even with three daggers in, the kid still has that much power when he can barely throw a 150 lb person across a room at the same state. He stands up and stumbles a few steps back. He has two daggers in one hand, and the last one in the other, while Pip is pulling out the three with the first of the seven daggers in his free hand. The odds are about even, but Damien isn't too sure he can come out the winner.

But all he needs, he reminds himself, is to distract the kid long enough. Then everything else will fall into place.

Pip drops the three daggers unceremoniously to the ground. Out of the corner of his eyes, Damien can see Christophe getting back up. He keeps his focus on Pip though and hopes he hasn't drawn any unnecessary attention to the others present. Everyone has out-served their purpose; it's obvious they will be used against Damien if given the opportunity. Even though he doesn't want to admit it, he does actually give a fuck about these people to varying degree. If nothing else, he drags them in, he needs to get them out. There's no negotiating.

"Have I asked too much of you, Father?" Pip says. To Damien's surprise, he drops the first dagger as well. "Is this truly how you want it to end? Very well, I will grant you your wish. All your friends will die. One by one. Then you will follow and die knowing this could've been avoided if you've only made a different choice."

Pip goes still for a moment like he's fallen asleep. Damien clutch his hands around the daggers as a chill tickles his spine. He can't tell if it's the building that's still shaking or it's just him, but he holds his breath and watches Pip falls backward with no gravity to hold up. Pip's arms and legs dangle downward with his back arched. The next breath Damien draws, two tiny hands punch up against Pip's stomach. Damien's seen this sight before and knows for sure now that it's him that's trembling in his boots. The demonic pressure bearing down on them is suffocating and he's having a hard time not diverting from his plan.

Pip makes a noise like his his tongue has fallen into his throat. While he stays limp in mid-air, the hands keep pushing up and soon an imprint that's visibly an infant face joins along.

"Dude. What is happening?" Craig asks.

"Oh hamburgers… I think - I think Pip's having a baby," Butters answers uneasily as he grinds his knuckles together.

"Aww, shit, that's fucking gross!" Cartman yucks. "Why isn't it coming out of his vagina?"

"Dear me, I don't believe Pip has a vagina," Pocket explains. "Perhaps that's why he's looking for a different way out."

If Damien had the attention to spare, he would've told everyone to shut the hell up and leave like they were supposed to long ago. But since he doesn't, he keeps his mouth sealed and his eyes following every one of Pip's movement. Pocket's right about one thing: the baby is trying to get out somehow. One hand pushes upward, followed with the length of an arm. Pip's stomach stretches as high as it can sustain. Pip doesn't make a peep when the hand tears through his flesh and skin and breaks free of its womb at last.

"Holy shit!" Stan cries out.

The other arm does the same and punctures another hole through Pip. The arms pull in opposite direction to widen the exit. Even if Pip isn't screaming out, Damien's whole being is writhing with pain for him. He's standing here like a coward while the love of his life is suffering and birthing an evil deity that will bring on a thousand (give or take) years of darkness.

"AGH JESUS CHRIST!" Tweek shrieks, his mouth bruised with Craig's punches. "I CAN'T WATCH THIS!"

"Damien! Do something!" Kyle pleads.

Damien tenses. His hands wrap around the hilts so tight that it's a miracle he hasn't broken them in half. While he dallies, the womb has opened wide enough that the head is now emerging through. Its skin is pallid, a sick grey that's the same as the veins that used to be on Pip. Its eyes are closed for now, but the brief twitching of the lids is enough to say that it's trying to open them as it drags itself through the gap bit by bit.

"If you don't finish this, I will." Christophe shoves him so hard Damien almost loses his footing.

Knowing Christophe, he probably will try. He will run up to the kid with his stupid shovel and gets his stupid French head chopped clean off. Then just for funsies, the baby will make Stan puke his literal guts out and have Kyle eat them while Cartman becomes an amorphous blob with no mouth with Butters trapped inside him. Tweek will be driven to insanity by pint-sized gnomes and kills Craig with his bare hands. And Pocket… Who gives a shit about that guy anyway?

"What's the plan?" Christophe says so quietly that only the two of them can hear. "I can buy you more time."

"No. You've done enough." Damien shakes his head. His palms are starting to hurt from how hard he's been holding the daggers. He knows in term of powers, he can't possibly match up against the kid even if he fully recovers from what the five daggers did. Letting the kid actually be born will a death sentence. "I'm going to try something. If it doesn't work, get everyone out and get as fucking far away as possible."

"What will you do?"

"I'm going to give him what he wants."

Damien walks forward and sets down his own daggers with the ones that Pip abandoned. The only set of weapons that can kill the anti-Christ lie out all together for the kid's taking. He moves back and opens his arms out in a defenseless position. The baby's eyelids raise up open slowly. Its pupils are the darkest of red with matching red irises. It hasn't fully gotten all of itself out yet and hangs unnaturally out of Pip's stomach with only two arms at its disposal.

"You're mad at me, right? Here I am. I'm yours. Kill me. Torture me. Whatever the hell you want. But let them go."

"Seriously. Leave us out of your daddy issue," Cartman shouts from behind them. Damien doesn't know who, but someone audibly punches Cartman in the arm. "Hey, what the hell!"

The baby stares at Damien with unblinking eyes. It can't seem to speak yet with its mouth. It flexes his fingers, and Pip moves into an upright position though he doesn't regain consciousness or control of his body. The baby readjusts in the womb so that both Pip and it can face Damien at the same time.

"It'll be easy. You know I'm not as strong as you. Fighting you is pointless. C'mon, one more time, that's all it'll take. For good this time. That's what you want, right?" Damien widens his arms, inviting the baby to make a move.

Pip floats downward until his feet touch the ground. Damien steps back. With a nudge of his arm, the others back up as well and line against the unbudging door.

"Let them go," Damien repeats. "You win. You can be the anti-Christ."

"I've told you... I don't want to be the anti-Christ," the baby says through Pip. Pip paces toward the seven daggers. He opens his hand. One dagger flings off the ground and into his palm. "I've only ever wanted your love."

Damien exhales through his nose, his arms wavering a bit partly from pain, partly from fatigue, and lastly from the weight of what the baby has just said. It clicks in his head now, what the kid has said before about him making the wrong choice.

"You're right. You're fucking right. You deserved better from me. You weren't even born yet and I was a shitty dad from the get-go. I didn't want you at all. I fed you my hatred and that's how we ended up like this. But you know what…. Fuck you, kid. I'm tired of your fucking tantrum. Throwing a hissy fit 'cause your dad doesn't love you is so fucking cliched. Don't think for a second I'll forgive you for what you did to Pip. So kill me or shut the fuck up and stand down."

The baby doesn't blink, its tiny hands clutching at nothing. Through Pip, it says, "Why are you like this, Father? I tried so hard to make you happy! Do you truly want to die? Then, die! Die! Nothing matters now! It's too late for us to make amends."

"Yeah, I know…" He blows air out from his mouth. He meets Pip's gaze. It feels like it's been a long time since he's done it but he smiles when he sees the soft blue eyes. "... I love you, Pip."

"And I love you, Damien."

The baby lifts its head just as Pip stabs the dagger through himself with both hands. Instantaneously, the baby plunges back into its womb, pulled by an unseen force. Pip wails and squeezes his eyes shut. He drops to his knees, hunching over the new wound. Damien runs forward and slows just long enough to pick up another dagger off the floor. He skids onto his knees and rams it straight through Pip.

"You're okay, you're okay," Damien mutters hastingly, his other hand wrapped behind Pip's waist. "It'll be over soon."

Pip nods up and down, tears falling behind closed eyes. Damien reaches for the sixth dagger. He holds it in his hand but doesn't go through with it yet. Pip's whole body is convulsing. A terrible thought runs through him that he's never considered before. What if there isn't a Pip and a baby anymore? What if they are one and the same because of the lengthy possession? What if by using the sixth dagger, he will kill Pip's soul too?

"What is going now?" Craig asks.

"Dude… I have no fucking idea," Stan replies.

Pip forces one eye open. He looks up and nods again. He cups his hand over Damien's hand that's holding the dagger. "Do it, love… You have to do it."

Damien looks down at the bloody holes in Pip's stomach, and that's about all he needs to drive the final dagger through Pip. Pip jerks upward and bellows out a scream that rattles the building one last time. Grey veins burst from the womb and travel up and throughout his body before they gradually vanish without a trace. Then everything goes silent and Pip falls limply onto Damien's arms. The breath Damien takes is shaking as he holds Pip against him and presses his lips to Pip's forehead.

"Fa… ther?"

Damien jumps back, his stomach turning with fear, and stares down at the pair of crimson eyes looking up at him. But there is no malice. There is no lust for destruction in those eyes. They only look up at Damien with guilt and sorrow.

"I've… only ever... to... a good boy…"

"I'll be a better dad this time," Damien cuts in. He presses another kiss to Pip's forehead. "I promise."

The eyes flutter close and when they open again, they're the same ocean blue that Damien's fallen in love with long ago. Damien puts his hand over the holes on Pip's stomach and is relieved to find that they're healing up on their own as Pip slowly pushes on a smile for him. He matches Pip with one of his own smiles and leans down for a kiss he's missed for so long.

"Well, that's fucking gay," Cartman says with a roll of his eyes. He makes for the door that's now unbarred. "Screw you guys. I'm going home."

"Is it over…?" Pip asks after the kiss.

"Yeah, Pip… It's over."

Pip places his hand over his baby bump. "And the baby…?"

"He'll be fine… He's ready when you're."

"It's a boy…?" Pip sighs softly, contently. "You said… He… So it's a boy?"

"Yeah... it's a boy."

Damien pulls Pip against him, his hand running up and down Pip's arm. They stay as such while Stan and the others quietly flock out of the church. He takes in Pip's scent and relishes in the fact that it's over. It's really, actually, finally over. He's completed the first step to fix what he's set wrong. He lets his eyes close, his cheek pressed against the top of Pip's head, and breathes a sigh of relief.

The road ahead is going to be much worse but it'll be worth it.

THE END.

Boyue's Note: WELL. This is it. Seven years later and this story is finally completed. This might not have the vision I had when I first started writing in 2009 but I hope it still has been a good read. I kinda rushed through the ending there, didn't I? Anyhoo, this story is dear to my heart so I'm glad I managed to provide some closure to it. Thanks for all your support and continued interest throughout the years. It means a lot to me. :)

Catch me on Ao3 under the same name for new possible works. #shamelessplug