Chapter 12
Even though he barely went scot-free for what happened, Stan wasn't about to let Kyle do what he was doing without trying.
It was now lunchtime for South Park High School, and many of his fangirls were wondering where their beloved "Prince Kyle" had gone.
"Oh, Prince Kyyylllllleeeeee……" they wailed in hopes of luring him back. These attempts, of course, were to no avail. They were totally unaware of what was happening to him just now.
"Mfpmppffm, fppmfpmpppffmpp mpmmffmpm pmpffmpmfmpp mfmppf?" Kenny asked out of worry.
"I don't know… honestly, I wish I knew the answer to that question," Stan shook his head in shame.
"Fmfmfmmfp... ppmffm mfpmppmmmmpm mfpfmfpfffmpfmm mmmpmfpmf ppfmpf mmm fmmfmfmpmmpmmppppp. Mfpppffpp mmmmmpppffmffmp ffmppffmf, fmmfmpmmmppp?" Kenny put his hand to his forehead.
"I'm perfectly fine," Stan hesitated somewhat, "Is it that bad?"
"Ffmmppfmm... Mff fmpmfpmffppppmp Mffpmfpmf mfmppf fmpppf pppfmfpfffmmmpp mfmppfpmfpmffmfppmfmm ppfmpfmpfmffmmfmpp pppppffpp," Kenny finished his lunch and made his way for Nurse Gollum's office.
What is wrong with people today… Stan thought, sensing that more danger was going to occur that day.
He now left to go to 3rd period, which was Spanish class with Sr. Seymour Wiener as the teacher. But right after he dumped his trash, the person he least wanted to see at that moment suddenly approached him.
"Yo, what up?" Cartman laughed, poking Stan on the shoulder.
"Get the hell away, fat ass," Stan flattened his cat ears and hissed.
"Chill out," Cartman, intimidated, backed off, "Say, where's that goddamned Jew? I need him to finish my Spanish homework. He was always good at school, that one."
"What do you care?" Stan's tail fur now stood on end, and he bared his sharp cat fangs, "He is not a tool you can so easily use."
"Oh, I bet you did something to piss him off, is that it?" Cartman seized Stan by the shirt. With a seemingly endless amount of strength, he took him over to the wall, right by a giant trash can.
"I'm not telling you jack-diddly," Stan growled, "Leave him alone, or I will rend you to small bits."
"Ooh, the little kitty-cat's going to 'rend me to small bits'!" Cartman cackled, "I'd like to see you try."
"It's on," Stan declared, "Let's take this outside, shall we?"
"Fine!"
It took only about ten minutes for the two boys, along with some spectators, to do this. They somehow managed to dodge the many deans, although it was not easy, by any means.
"You can't even fight me…" Stan laughed, "You haven't a weapon, and I can use my claws and teeth to tear you apart."
"Ah, but that is where you are mistaken…" Cartman reached in his backpack for a red-orange 15th-century book, "You see, my bloodline has been practicing the art of fire magic ever since the first Cartman was born."
"Heh," Stan scoffed, "You think I'll give in to a bit of fire? Don't make me laugh."
It was at that moment that Stan gathered a lot of energy, morphing into his winged cat form.
"All right!" Craig was to be the referee of the fight, "On my count, the fight will start. 1 for the money… 2 for the show… 3 to get ready… and 4… to… GO!!!!"
The second that Craig announced "GO!!!!", Stan leapt, aiming for Cartman's head. The fat fire mage barely managed to dodge the attack.
The brawling went on for quite a while. Both combatants were laden with heavy wounds, and nearly ready to throw in the towel. But Stan wasn't about to give up. He knew that if he did, Cartman would have free reign to diss Kyle. Again. Even so, he felt that he couldn't hold animal form for much longer.
"You fight rather well, Apostle!" Cartman laughed.
"Shut up!" Stan attempted to attack the "fatass" again.
This time, he sunk his teeth very deeply in Cartman's arm, causing little droplets of blood to drip.
"Not bad, not bad at all!" Cartman commended, "For one who has never fought in animal form, you are quite robust!"
"I'd do anything to protect Kyle from the likes of you!" Stan spoke through the blood seeping into his mouth.
"Aw, how sweet!" Cartman guffawed, "You guys want to get a room to make out for a little while? Are you… in love him?"
Stan's grip on Cartman's arm grew weaker as he heard those strange words. Because of this, Cartman threw the winged cat off of him, looking into his spellbook and chanting words in an ancient language. When he finished this incantation, a fireball erupted from his hand, striking Stan square in the solar plexus.
"Ugh…" Stan fell back, switching to his humanoid form. When he did, there was a third degree burn on his chest.
"Hahahahaha!" Cartman chortled, "I win! Take that, Prince Stanley!"
"Oh my God…" a freshman girl came out of the school building. She was Protektmai Balls, another child of Principal Mayichi Balls.
"Call an ambulance, someone!" one of Protektmai's triplet sisters, Iytmai Balls, called, "Third degree burns are serious! He'll die if we don't do something soon!"
"No…" Stan managed to utter, "I… Don't call an ambulance, please…"
"But why?" The youngest child of the Balls family, Harry, came over, "Don't you want to live?"
"Yes, but…" Stan continued, feeling his voice grow raspy, "I can't die. Not of something like this."
Stan then tried to contact Kyle again through mind-speech, Kyle… help me, please…
Like I said, Kyle responded, If I saw you right now, I would… probably…
Tell your mother that I am dying…
What?! Kyle shook, What happened?!?!
Cartman, he… he is a fire mage. He burnt me… put a third degree burn on me…
Don't say another word. I'll be right there, Stan.
But just as Kyle was about to do what he set out to do, his mother stopped him.
"Kyle, don't go out there!" Sheila held Kyle down as he struggled.
"But… but…" Kyle felt a great amount of chaos brew within him, "Stan… he needs me! He'll die of a horrible burn…"
"I understand," Sheila started, "But... with this much bedlam in you, you'll only kill yourself! Your father and I will go in your stead."
"Okay…" Kyle reluctantly agreed, "But you better protect him, or I'll… I'll probably kill you."
"Don't say that," Sheila told her son, then yanked at her husband's coat, "Let's go, Gerald. We haven't a moment to waste – time is of the essence."
"Right," Gerald nodded, heading out the door with his wife.
As soon as his parents were gone, Kyle thought, Stan… I'm so sorry I can't help you. My parents are on the way as I speak…
But I don't want them, Kyle, Stan thought back, I'd much rather have you here…
Kyle's heart temporarily stopped the minute he heard those words, and the chaos appeared to ease.
N-not that I'm in love with you or anything! I… I don't like you that way! Only as a friend!
Kyle drooped his wolf ears. His heart rate went up, and the chaos seemed to get worse.
~Meanwhile, with Stan, Gerald, and Sheila…~
"Stan, we'll take you to the emergency room now," Gerald said when they arrived on the scene.
"No…" Stan refused, "Take me to Kyle, now..."
"But Stan!" Sheila worried, "Do you realize what you are saying?"
"Yes."
"You will die if you don't get sutures on you burn within half an hour! Do you want that?"
"But…" Stan's voice sounded like two people were speaking at once, "There is one who is suffering far worse than I…"
"What the hell?!" Gerald was astounded, "But… Ashera? Is that you?"
"The lupine prince is… the most powerful chaos of all is inside him… If we do not do something about it soon, he'll…turn…"
But just before Stan was about to finish his sentence, the red color faded from his eyes, and he instantly lost consciousness.
"Gerald!" Sheila panicked, "We must take him to the hospital at once!"
"No…" Gerald disagreed with his wife.
"But why not? He's already lost consciousness, and it's only a matter of time before he dies!"
"Ashera told us that the 'lupine prince' was about to become entirely chaotic. She couldn't have meant…"
"Kyle!" the couple spoke simultaneously.
"We must trust Ashera's word and take Stan to see Kyle," Sheila finally agreed.
~On the way back to the Broflovski home…~
The Broflovskis rushed inside their home, both carrying Stan with them.
"I just hope it isn't too late…" Gerald grew almost as panicky as his wife.
When they finally reached Kyle's room, they opened the door. Much to their horror, Kyle was in his winged wolf form, eyes red and long fangs bared.
"Kyle!" Sheila gasped, "No! We're too late!!"
"Give… me… Stan…" Kyle snarled.
"Kyle, listen to me!" Gerald tried to get closer to his son, "You… We didn't hurt Stan! It was Cartman!"
"It doesn't matter," Kyle went on, "Anyone who thinks of messing with Stan will answer to me."
"No, Kyle! You can't become a Feral One!" Sheila began to cry.
"SILENCE!!"
Kyle charged for his mother, ready to tear her asunder. But as he was doing this, Stan magically regained consciousness, creating a barrier that protected Sheila.
"Gahh!!" Kyle fell back, becoming humanoid again.
"Stan!" Sheila set Stan on the ground, "You've come to!"
"Indeed," Stan stood up, even though he wobbled a little, "Yune, leave his body at once!"
"Yune?!" Gerald exclaimed, "The goddess of chaos?"
"But I have nowhere else to be…" Yune spoke from Kyle's body, "Chaos is where I thrive, Apostle Stanley, and there is no place more chaotic that this boy's heart."
"That's only because you are in it!" Stan barked, "Leave him now!"
But it is not I that made him this way, Apostle… Yune went on using mind-speech, You see… The moment you rejected his feelings, his regret for confessing to you became a mix of emotions, which evolved into pure chaos.
But I never rejected him! I accepted his love, didn't I?
Ah, but Wolf Prince Kyle wants nothing more and nothing less that having the man he loves at his side forever.
Grr… Stan could not take it anymore, I'll free you soon, Kyle. Just wait!
Without wondering why, Stan felt a musical air come about, and he began to sing a beautiful but poignant song. He had no idea where the lyrics came from, but had a deep gut feeling that the song would be the only thing to save Kyle from himself. When the song was finished about a minute later, Kyle fell to the ground, and Yune's spirit escaped.
"No… no way…" Kyle's parents were amazed at this miracle. They were so surprised, in fact, that they passed out from exhaustion.
"Kyle!" Stan rushed to Kyle's side, trying to establish the wolf prince's consciousness, "Are you okay?"
"Unh…" Kyle managed to open his eyes, "What happened, Stan?"
"You… the goddess of chaos, Yune, was inside of you," Stan explained, "I… You looked completely mad, like you were ready to kill anyone who tried to get close to you."
"..."
"Do you know... how scared I was when you were about to lose your mind?!" Stan looked to the ground, filling it with saccharine tears, "If I lost you to your ferocious nature, I would kill myself…"
Kyle smiled, "You… you'd do that for me?"
Stan jolted, "Well… yeah. You're my best friend, and…"
But Stan was automatically silenced at Kyle brought him close, touching his lips to those of the young apostle. It felt euphoric, indeed, but Stan wasn't in love with Kyle, just totally confounded to no end.
"Kyle?!" Stan covered his lips with both hands, "What do you think you're doing?!?!"
"Just showing you how much I love you is all," Kyle sat up, snickering a little.
"Don't kiss me here!" Stan's pulse was uncontrollable, "What if… What if your parents suddenly awoke and saw you do that?"
"We could give them a show, then," Kyle stated rather bluntly but happily.
"But then they'll think I'm gay! And we can't ever see each other again…"
"Oh, so you want to be with me forever?" Kyle swished Stan's gorgeous hair.
"Not like that, dumbass!" Stan scolded, "You're. My. Best. Friend. How many times do I have to say it?"
"Sure…" Kyle put his right hand to his mouth, laughing, "You'll fall in love with me sooner or later, Stanley Marsh. It's inevitable."
"Oh, go to hell!" Stan laughed.
"Hey..." Kyle looked down at Stan.
"What?"
"Your burn... It's gone..."
Stan looked too in bewilderment, lightly laughing, "Oh... So it is... I wonder what healed it..."
"Maybe it was my kiss," Kyle gently stroked Stan's supple cheeks, "My love for you healed you, Apostle."
"Nuh-uh," Stan slapped Kyle's well-built hand away and shook his head multiple times, "That makes it sound like it comes from a corny romantic anime. And Kyle?"
"Yes?"
"Don't call me 'Apostle' so much... We're friends. It's like me calling you 'Great Prince Kyle' or something."
"Ooh, so you want me to call you by your first name, but you want everyone else at school, plus your parents, to call you 'Apostle Stanley'?"
"No, no, no! Besides, I let many others call me by my first name."
"Tee-hee..." Kyle poked the cat boy on the cheek, "You're cute, Stan. I like it when you act so flustered."
Stan turned tickle-me-pink and coughed sarcastically, "A-A-Anyway, I gotta go home. See you at school tomorrow!"
"See you," Kyle waved as Stan went out the house's door, but still laughing, "and Happy Valentine's Day."