A/N: Well, I'm going to try to update as much as possible today since my college starts the new semester tomorrow. –sigh– So starting tomorrow, updates won't be nearly as frequent.
…
Howling, that's what Stan heard and that was what kept him running. The wolves were right behind him and had been ever since he ran from the castle. He knew they were getting closer because he was beginning to slow down, his exhaustion with running as fast as possible was catching up with him.
Gotta keep running, he thought frantically, trying to drown out the sounds of the pursuing wolves. I have to make it back to South Park!
Just as Kyle's motorcycle and machine came into sight, one of the wolves lunged and latched its jaw onto the neckline of his jacket, sending Stan tumbling face first into the snow. He turned onto his back and began scrambling backwards towards the abandoned bike, knowing that Kyle always carried a switchblade in one of the satchels hooked to the side of it.
Taking the opportunity, another one of the wolves jumped at Stan, aiming to keep him pinned to the ground. Screaming, Stan threw his arms up in front of his body in a final defense and then braced himself for the impact of the wolf's claws and teeth…but nothing. Instead, the wolf yelped as something larger than it knocked it out of the way with a roar.
Stan moved his arms back to his sides and saw The Beast's back as it began hitting the wolves to the side, roaring at each and every one of them as if trying to scare them off. The wolves clawed and bit his arms and neck, trying to find the best way to take him down. The Beast just grabbed the wolves that attacked him and threw them against the trees, roaring as the pain from the claw marks and bite marks began to hit him. At last, the painful roars scared away the wolves, sending them running back into the forest.
Panting, The Beast collapsed into the snow and blacked out. Stan stood up and turned to keep running back towards South Park, but stopped after only a few steps. He looked back at The Beast concernedly. He didn't have to save him, he could've left him to be torn apart by the wolves.
Realizing that, Stan sighed and turned around. He rested one of The Beast's arms over his shoulders and began dragging him back to the castle with much difficulty. Slowly, the castle gate came back into sight and Stan was actually glad to see it, The Beast was pretty heavy.
Stan kicked the gate open, finding it opening without protest that time. As he continued towards the castle doors, they swung open to Cartman, Butters, and Pip looking at the two concernedly.
"What happened?" Pip asked as Stan walked past.
"I'll explain later, but I need some hot water, a towel, and some bandages," Stan demanded as he continued towards the parlor room he'd seen earlier trying to find the kitchen. He placed The Beast down on a high backed chair in front of the fireplace where Cartman was starting a fire, and suddenly The Beast began to wake up.
Stan dropped to his knees, unable to stand because his legs had been shaking so bad from carrying The Beast all that way. He saw him coming to and rested a hand on his paw. "Hey, are you alright?"
Ignoring him, The Beast began to lick at a cut from the claws of one of the wolves. Stan told him to stop and wait so he could clean out the wound and bandage it, but he was still ignored. Butters and Pip brought the things that Stan requested, placing them next to the black-haired man's legs on the ground. He soaked the towel with the water and grabbed The Beast's arm, trying to press the towel to the wound, but The Beast kept pulling his arm away.
"Hold still!" Stan demanded. "Stop licking it!" Finally, he caught The Beast's arm and pressed the towel to it, though it was a little too hard since he was still struggling.
The Beast roared in pain when the towel touched the wound. "That hurt!" He yelled, pulling his arm away again. If it hurt that much, he didn't want to deal with it, he'd just lick it clean.
"It wouldn't have hurt if you would've just stopped moving!" Stan argued, angry that he was being ignored when he was only trying to help.
At first The Beast was unable to say anything, too stunned that Stan had actually spoken back, but he managed to say, "Well this," he gestured to his wounded arm, "wouldn't have happened if you hadn't run off!"
"I wouldn't have run away if you hadn't scared me!"
"Well," he had to think for a moment, "you shouldn't have been in the west wing!" A triumphant smile crossed his face, Stan couldn't argue with that!
"Well you should learn to control your temper!"
The Beast's mouth dropped open. He actually called him on that? He was used to his servants telling him to control his temper, but he never expected Stan to say anything about it. "Well, uh…" He couldn't think of anything, so he just leaned back in the chair with a huff.
Stan grabbed The Beast's arm again. "Now hold still, this is gonna hurt a bit." He gently pressed the towel to the wound, earning a soft growl but nothing more, so he kept dabbing the wound with the towel, cleaning it. "By the way," a light blush crossed his face, "thanks for saving me. I would've been killed if you hadn't shown up."
"It was nothing," The Beast replied with a small smile.
…
A man with black hair and blood red eyes sat down across from where Craig and Tweek were sitting in high backed wooden chairs at a rounded table near the back of the bar. He wasn't happy to be called to South Park in the middle of the night, he'd had to find someone to cover him in the asylum while he was gone, and that alone had taken a few hours.
"Tweek said that you were going to make me repay my debt to you," he said with narrowed eyes. "Doesn't that seem a little cruel, considering the marriage didn't even work out…?" Craig had helped him marry a woman named Bebe a year ago, but the marriage fell apart after only a few months.
"I still helped you marry her," Craig pointed out, "that's the point Damien."
Damien sighed. "Fine. How much do you want?"
"I don't want your money, I need your help."
"With what?"
"Surely word of the insanity of Kyle Broflosky has reached you."
Damien chuckled. "It has. In fact, some of my patients revere him as one of the only truly insane persons I have not committed."
Craig couldn't help but crack a smile. A crazy man worshipped by the insane, how fitting! "Well, his best friend, Stan Marsh, is a truly beautiful man. I want him as my husband, but he keeps rejecting me."
Tweek started laughing an alcohol induced laugh. "Y-You should've seens him fall i-into the muds earlier!" His laugh was cut short as Craig smacked him on the back of the head.
"Anyway," Craig continued, "the way I see it, Stan would do anything to protect Kyle, so maybe if Kyle's insanity was finally taken into consideration, then Stan would marry me to protect him."
Damien smirked. "I see what you're suggesting, but I technically can't do anything until you actually say it."
"Well then," Craig also found a smirk, "I believe that you should commit Kyle Broflosky on the grounds that he is completely insane. And that doing so will guarantee that Stan will become my husband," he added as if it was an afterthought.
The smirked dropped from Damien's face and he began shaking his head as if disgusted. "Oh Craig, that goes against everything I was taught, the very vows I had to take to finally own the asylum. That plan is evil." He laughed upon seeing Craig's face drop and smacked his palm off the table. "I love it! There's just one more thing though."
"Which is?"
"I get to commit Broflosky regardless of Stan's answer."
Craig laughed loudly, he loved the way Damien's mind worked. "Of course! In fact, I'd prefer it!"
Damien clasped his hand with the dark haired man's. "Then you have yourself a deal!"
…
Kyle climbed onto Stan's motorcycle with his backpack securely latched onto his back. "If no one else believes me, I'm going to go back myself." He tried moving his right arm again, out of the sling and into a tightly wrapped Ace bandage, and found that he still could barely move it without a sharp pain running through it.
Ignoring the pain, he pulled on the helmet and kick started the bike. He pulled out of the driveway and drove off towards the woods again, not realizing that shortly after entering the woods, Craig and Tweek approached him and Stan's front door.
"Stan," Craig called as he beat on the door, "Kyle! You home?" He looked through one of the darkened windows, finding no one home at all, and even saw Stan still had the same sheet music on the stand from the other say.
"Gah! L-Looks like no one's home!" Tweek pulled on his jacket and turned around to leave. "G-Guess we should just h-head back!"
"Oh no you don't!" Craig grabbed the back of Tweek's jacket and pushed him into a snow bank that had gathered in the corner between the front wall of the house and a wall of the garage. "You're staying here until Stan and Kyle return! The moment they do, you're to come get me!"
"B-But…!"
"No buts, you're staying right here!" Craig turned and walked back towards the bar.
"Gah!" Tweek's head twitched to side, and suddenly more snow from the roof of the house fell on top of him. "C-Crap!"
