Chapter 21
No… Kyle continued to run as fast as his brawny legs would allow, gripping onto his sending stone along the way, I can't… This can't… Stan! Can you hear me? It's Kyle…
No answer.
Stan, I'm on my way to save you, Kyle was already in the sky, and halfway to Stark's Pond, So please, hold on…
Even without getting a reply, Kyle continued his way until he landed at Stark's Pond, the place that held so many of his memories as a child.
Stan? Kyle attempted to contact Stan through the sending stone again, I'm here… just tell me where you are…
"Using that decrepit old stone will do you no good, Prince Kyle," a detestable voice came out of hiding.
"Grr…" Kyle growled with his fangs bared, "Show yourself at once, terrorist!"
"I am no ordinary terrorist, you see," the voice's source began to come out of the forest right near Stark's Pond, "For I am… your most hated enemy."
"Cartman?!" Kyle's surprise reaction was not good, "So, you're the one who captured Stan! Where is he?"
"I don't know," Cartman's endeavor at sounding innocent was horrendous.
"Don't give me that bullcrap, you bastard!" Kyle snarled fiercely, "I know you know, so come out with it already!"
"Hmph," Cartman bit his lower lip, "Fine. Since you've been such a good little pup, I'll tell you. You see, he's right… here."
With that, Cartman recited some foreign language from memory, holding his right arm to his side. During the whole process, a terrible fire brewed, mixing with the threatening wind that just so happened to come about. Surprisingly, however, instead of a huge fireball resulting from this, it was an enormous block of ice. Inside, there was Stan, totally unconscious. There was some strange aura around him, concentrating right over his heart.
"S-Stan!" Kyle's face totally twisted at seeing his boyfriend in such a horrible state, "Oh my God! Cartman! What have you done to him?"
"Calm yourself, boy, and I'll tell you an interesting story," was Cartman's response, "As you know, Stan is the apostle of Begnion, and the only apostle able to hear the voice of both the goddess Yune and the goddess Ashera. The apostles were always pure of heart. But Stan… his heart is even more chaste than those of previous apostles. As such, it serves as perfect fuel for my magic power!"
"You've gotta be friggin joking me…" Kyle nearly fell over from hearing Cartman spout his crazy talk, "You just want it to gain more might?"
"My, my, my!" Cartman cackled, "Aren't you the sharp one! Nothing less to expect from the powerful and awesome Wolf Prince. Yes, you are 100% correct. And now…"
Cartman walked over to where Stan was, reaching into the ice block for the aura.
"I will use it… to kill you!!!!"
"But Cartman!" Kyle shouted, "If you take his heart away, he'll be nothing but a heartless shell!"
"Right," Cartman already had Stan's heart in his hand, "and that's the exact point!"
"Cartman, no!!" Kyle put forth so much effort in stopping Cartman, but it was far too late. The fat fire mage already began to channel the Begnion prince's heart into his body, becoming even more ferocious than before.
"What the hell have you done?!" Kyle was appalled at Cartman's new looks and strength.
"Ha!" Even Cartman's voice was more intimidating than ever before, and he generated a flame sword from more fire, "You're so screwed now! I'll kill you, I'll kill you, I'll so, so, so, so kill you!!"
"Can it, peabrain," Kyle didn't waste any time in changing into his winged wolf form, "You think that just because you have Stan's power that you can defeat me?"
"Yeah, pretty much," Cartman spoke very candidly, "I nearly killed that asshole, even without his power. But now that I have it, I'll kill you for sure! Hyaaaaah!!!!"
Cartman suddenly and mightily attacked Kyle, pointing his fire sword right at him. The lupine prince, knowing that it would be best if the sword did not touch him, flew out of the way, rather than catching the sword between his fangs. He soared into the air, just hovering above Cartman's head.
"What's the matter, Prince Hatari?" Cartman called from below, "Are you too chicken to face my fire magic?"
"No," Kyle angrily replied, "I'm using strategy, which is a thing you sadly lack."
"Some strategy, then!" Cartman hurled a barrage of fireballs at Kyle, missing so many times.
In the meantime, Stan was absolutely inert in his little ice container, with the sole exception of actually being alive. There were only the powers of Sacrifice, mind-reading, fighting in animal form, and the voice of the goddesses that Cartman did not take away from him. Even with all of this, Stan was currently unable to awaken and see what was going on with Kyle and Cartman.
Hey, Stan… Yune's voice entered Stan's head.
Goddess Yune? Stan acknowledged her presence.
Yes.
What… What kind of state am I in?
The corpulent one is fighting with the man you love… and the results do not look good.
Are you sure you can't tell me more?
Yes, unfortunately. The reason you can't wake up is that Cartman stole most of your powers, and now he is fighting with Kyle.
No! Let me do something!
Apostle, I'm sorry, I cannot! With only four powers at your disposal, what can you do? You can't even move right now!
With Kyle and Cartman, both we bloodied up very badly, and Kyle was already back in humanoid form.
"Dammit…" Kyle held on to his bleeding arm, "I can't… hold on… much… longer…"
"Nor can I," Cartman admitted, "However, I'll see to it that you perish forever!"
Cartman, once again, charged at the wolf prince, still in humanoid form. But just as the sword was right before his heart, Kyle managed to gather enough energy, becoming a wolf again, and grabbing onto Cartman's pudgy arm, ripping it clean off.
"Urgh!" Cartman grumbled, falling hard on the earth.
"That…" Kyle reverted forms, "…is as far as I can go. Stan, forgive me…"
Right when Kyle fell on the ground, Stan's heart left Cartman's dying body, returning right to him. Stan's eyes became animate again, as did the rest of him, and his power came back. He broke free of the ice block he was in, looking for Kyle the second he did.
"Kyle?" the apostle called out, "Kyle? Where are you?"
"Unh…" a voice sounded from somewhere.
"Kyle?" Stan quivered, "Is… is that you?"
Stan rushed in the direction where he heard the voice. In doing so, he ran straight into Kyle, who was covered in his own blood and impaled in the heart.
"Oh, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!" Stan's heart nearly stopped, "What… what happened?"
"I'm so sorry, Apostle…" Kyle spoke with a dying breath, "Cartman, he… We fought, and… his fire sword pierced… my heart."
"Kyle, you can't die!!" Stan's tears overflowed like waterfalls, putting both hands over Kyle's heart, "I'll… I'll…"
But just as the blue light generated from his hands, Kyle stopped Stan from healing his fatal heart wound.
"Sorry, Apostle Stanley, but you mustn't…" Kyle requested, "I am near death, literally an inch away. If you used Sacrifice now, you would certainly… die."
"I don't care!" Stan's cry pierced the air, "If it means saving your life, I would gladly sacrifice mine!"
"But… I want you… to live on…" Kyle smiled, slowly shutting his eyes.
"What's the point in living on without you?!" Stan barely managed to make sense through all his tears, "I'd rather die than let your life drain away… Kyle?"
Stan put his hand on his boyfriend's forehead, noticing that it was colder than the Arctic.
"Kyle, this isn't even funny…" Stan laughed sadly, checking for pulse and breathing, "Kyle, don't… don't do this to me… I know you're alive, I just know it…"
But even 10 minutes later, Kyle had absolutely no pulse, and he was paler than a vampire.
"Kyle, no!!" Stan stooped over his boyfriend, crying harder than he originally was, "You're not dead! I refuse to believe it!! No, Kyle… you promised me that you would live! We would get married… what now?!?!"
After Kyle still didn't respond or move in any way, Stan got up, grabbed Cartman's fire sword from his dead, disembodied left arm, and held it to his heart.
"Sorry, Kyle, but I mean what I say," Stan spoke to Kyle's body, "If you're to die, you're taking me to heaven with you."
Just at the tip of the sword almost made its way to Stan's heart, however, the apostle got a sudden message from Kenny.
Stan, hold!
K-Kenny?! Stan was so shocked at Kenny's sudden presence that he put down Cartman's sword, I though I told you to stay in class…
I know, but… I sensed you and Kyle were in danger, and, well, I had to do something. My goodness, what happened here? There's blood everywhere.
Kyle and Cartman… they… they fought to the death. Literally. Both of them were killed. Now I will take my own life…
Wait, Stan! I know… I know a way to bring Kyle back!
Kenny, don't be silly. You're not Jesus Christ or God. There is absolutely no friggin way to revive someone from the dead.
Ah, but I definitely know a way.
You do?
Yes. I will prove it to you right now.