The scent was tickling Kyle's nose. He grabbed the bottle and read. Roses? There was no way those bath salts smelt of roses. Perhaps roses which had been in Cartman's ass for a while—but, again, that bottle had been there for like seven years. Who knew if he didn't step out of the bathtub with his body full of weal.

Anyway, Kyle wasn't worried about that. He just closed his eyes and tried to relax. That was all he needed. Relax. Stop thinking about all that power matter, even if it was just for a while. His sanity needed that.

"Howdy ho!~"

Kyle's opened his eyes and raised his head. Of course, the bathroom was empty. Only the sound of the drops of water falling from the tap of the bathtub were heard. Unless...

"...Timmy? Is that you?" he asked in a sotto voice.

But he did not reply. Also, when he thought about it, that was not Timmy's voice. It was much higher pitched.

"Howdy ho!~"

The toilet lid was shaking. Kyle stood up and walked to it. He didn't know if it was a good idea, but he decided to open and see what was trying to get in. He didn't have time to reach it before what was inside the toilet managed to push the lid and come out.

"Howdy ho, Kyle!"

Kyle's concern turned immediately into happiness.

"Mr. Hankey!"

The poop was obviously glad to see him too, because it jumped to his chest and there he stayed, hugging him, ruining his clean, perfumed skin. Kyle didn't mind, because he carefully embraced him too.

"I'm sorry I haven't visited you in a long while, Kyle."

"It's okay, Mr. Hankey. I'm so glad to see you." Kyle smiled, as he quickly grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist.

Some bonds never break and Mr. Hankey was one of those friends who were always there, seeing Kyle become a man. So many years had passed and Kyle was as excited to see him as he was when he was a little boy. Even with his studies, work and relationships, Kyle always had time to go to the bathroom or pass by a drain and say hi.

"Me too. How have you been doing these last months? Hope you didn't get in too much trouble!"

"Haha, no."

Kyle didn't note it, but it seemed he hadn't said this with a very convincing voice, because Mr. Hankey's smile faded a bit and looked at him with interest.

"What's wrong, Kyle?"

Kyle carefully placed him on the cistern.

"Nothing..."

"Aww, Kyle, don't you trust your old friend now?"

"Sure I trust you, Mr. Hankey. It's just that...I don't know if you will believe me."

"Kyle, I am a talking piece of shit. I think I can believe anything."

"...Let's just say that I am not who I used to be."

"Well, I see you are a bit taller and you didn't have that goatee the last time I saw you."

"I don't mean physically. Well, yes, in a way, yes, but..."

"I don't understand."

"I found out I can do things that...well...I can hurt people with them."

"I really can't see you hurting anybody, Kyle." Mr. Hankey's sweet smile returned.

"I don't want to hurt anybody. But I feel like I won't be able to control myself."

"Kyle, did you have an accident that modified your DNA?"

"Sort of...No, wait, that's exactly what happened."

"Kyle, listen to me."

Kyle placed himself on his knees to listen to the poop.

"Closer."

Kyle leaned forward, almost touching Mr. Hankey with the tip of his nose. He raised a hand to touch his cheek in a reassuring way.

"You don't need to explain anything to me. I see that, whatever happened, it is big. But remember this: no matter what happens, you are still Kyle Broflovski, a good boy."

"I...don't see how that helps, but thanks."

"You're welcome. I have to go now."

"Wait! So soon?"

"Yes, I left the oven on. Yes, we do have ovens down in the sewer. I just wanted to check on you and say hello. I promise one of these days I'll come back and I'll stay for a bit longer—if you promise you'll tell me all about it."

"Sure."

"But I won't come back unless you do a little thing for me."

"What is it, Mr. Hankey?"

"Smile. You look so handsome when you smile."

That was enough to make Kyle's lips curve.

"That's much better." Mr. Hankey opened the toilet lid. "Remember, Kyle: no problem is that big. It all depends on the way you face them. And now I say byee~"

The piece of poo slid into the water of the toilet and Kyle watched it disappear.

"...Bye, Mr. Hankey."

There he stayed, watching the toilet water, for a while. Then, he stood up.

He washed the crap out of his body, dried himself hurriedlyand left the bathroom.

He ran to the backyard. Ike was recording a gameplay, so he would be absent from the real world for some hours. His father was working and his mother had just gone to the grocery store. He had some time to practice alone.

Just the thought of that made Kyle feel nervous. The first and only time he had used his lasers went so bad that his body felt sick just thinking that he would go through that again. But he forced himself to do it. Mr. Hankey was right. After all, it was an accident. He didn't mean to hurt his friend. He was still Kyle Broflovski, a sane person. He left his father's sunglasses tucked into his shirt and focused on something. That branch of the tree in front of him would do.

Focus. That was all he needed. He was mad at Cartman when he discovered his power—now that he was not there, he was at peace, he had the disposition to try.

After quickly commending himself to Yahweh, he let it happen.

"Lasers!"

That flash again. Kyle jumped backwards. He had missed the shot because it had took him by surprise, but he could still try again. He had this new feeling, confidence, inside of him, and he would take the most of it.

This time, he didn't open his mouth, but focused on making it happen just by thinking of it.

It was easier than he expected. He just had to look at his objective and want the lasers to show up. He just had to picture it in his mind and the branch fell to the ground, its tip looking burnt.

Kyle looked around him. Ike was still with his headphones on, insulting at some fictional character. The neighbors didn't seem to notice anything. Everything was quiet and he didn't see any face around looking at him. He smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Hankey. I really needed that."

Clyde was using a flyer someone had given him in the street as a fan. He was still using a coat to cover his wings, and it was very hot with that thing on, but t was better to sacrifice himself than let anybody see them.

"Did Kyle tell you what he wants from us?" he asked his partner.

Scott just shrugged.

They didn't have to wait much longer for Kyle to come. He didn't wear those ridiculous shades this time.

"Sorry I made you wait."

"What's wrong? Do you know something about Butters?" Clyde asked.

"No, but I wanted to tell you guys something. This week's been really shitty for us, right? Right. The others simply can't understand what we feel. We don't have pretty powers like them, we can't control them."

"Don't tell me you figured out a way to get rid of this." Clyde's eyes opened wide with hope, and it was almost painful to Kyle to disappoint him.

"No, but I think I know how to deal with it. Containing it will only make us miserable, and who knows if it makes it worse. I...want you to let it free."

"Are you crazy?!" Scott exclaimed.

"No, no, no!" Clyde moved a few steps away from Kyle, shaking his hands. "No way."

"I almost hurt Wendy and Token, Kyle, I can't let it happen again!"

"Please, please, guys, listen. We have to do this. We can't let these powers define what we are. It is still us. Scott, you never let diabetes ruin the fun to you. You are a great guy, I really can't see you doing any harm to anybody. If that happened, perhaps it was because you were scared, that was new to you, but now we know what it is about and we can help you. And Clyde, remember when your voice started changing, and the hair was in very weird places, and they called you Chewbacca at high school and it used to make you cry?"

"Thanks for reminding me. I totally needed that."

"But you still talked, you didn't hide!"

"Uhm, Kyle, this is quite different. It's something natural that a kid changes his voice and grows hair in weird places, but these wings...How am I supposed to get a date with these? I work with food, dude! How do you think I can go to work having these?"

"You see, when you showed them to us, I thought I had seen them moving inwards...Haven't you tried to make them go back inside your back?"

"No, that's crazy!"

"Everything that's happening to us is crazy! Go ahead, try!"

"What? Now?"

"Yes."

Clyde looked at his friends, then at the surroundings.

"Well, no one's around here." Scott noted.

"...Alright, alright. Let's get this over with, so you shut up and I can go back home..." Clyde gave up with a sigh.

He got rid of the coat and his shirt, handing them to Scott. Kyle noticed that the wings had some strange marks, like if they had been cut at the base, but never mentioned it.

Clyde closed his eyes firmly and then his face congested.

"Are you trying to use your wings or taking a dump?" Kyle couldn't help asking.

"I'm...trying!" Clyde protested, his face red.

"Hey, look! They moved!" Scott pointed at the wings.

"Yes, Clyde, they're moving!" Kyle joined him.

Perhaps he could...Nah, that was crazy. He was too heavy for that. But, on the other hand, those wings were pretty hard and long...Well, what the hell.

The bug wings started waving clumsily at first, but, thanks to Clyde's efforts, they seemed to find their way and began to flap at a considerable speed.

And then, Clyde felt that his feet were not touching the ground anymore.

"You got it, Clyde, you're floating!" Scott exclaimed.

"Yeah, I-I think this is going well...Wow, guys, hold my feet before I go too far!" Clyde was looking different now. He was smiling for the first time in days.

His friends did as he said and helped him put his feet back on the ground. He didn't know how to turn or go down with those. Once he was back to the ground, he tried a different thing. It was true that he had felt those wings moving in a weird way, but he hadn't paid much attention to that (it freaked him out so much that he only wanted to think about them to figure out a way to get rid of them). Now that he was starting to come to terms with the wings, he commanded them to hide. "Come on. Back to my body. Something tells me you can. Then go. Go away."

"Hey, it worked!" Scott pointed at his back.

"T-They're gone?" Clyde asked. Too bad he couldn't see it, as much as he tried.

To test it, Clyde concentrated on his wings and commanded them to come back. The wings slid out from his body and with a thought from Clyde, they went back to his inside.

"This...makes everything easier..."

"Aw, come on, Clyde, are you really going to cry now?"

"Yes!"

"Okay. Scott. It's your turn."

Scott swallowed.

"A-Are you sure about this? One thing is wings and another-"

"I was scared of the lasers too, but it's only a matter of will." Kyle assured him, walking to him and grabbing his hand to open it. "If you don't want to hurt anybody, you won't hurt anybody. Here. Eat this."

A handful of colorful candy was left in Scott's hand. The man looked at it as if those were grenades.

"...Okay, it's all a matter of will..." Scott said to himself. And put the candy in his mouth.

The mixture of strawberry, melon, lemon, coke and lime was really weird, but at least it served it purpose. The candy was going down his throat when he already felt the effects. It was as if someone had turned up the heater. That reminded him of the shirt he lost when he first transformed—he immediately took it off. Just in time to see how his chest expanded, as well as his arms.

"A-Are you sure this is a good idea?" Clyde looked at Kyle.

Kyle took deep breath. He hoped so. He took a step forward to his friend.

"Scott?"

The other looked at him. Damn, he wasn't taller but he definitely looked bigger. Those muscles had the size of a baby. He really didn't want to receive a punch from him.

Scott looked at him. His bloodshot eyes made Kyle shiver.

"Do you know who we are?" Kyle quietly asked him. Clyde had put out his wings, in case they needed to get away from there.

"Clyde and Kyle...Remember?"

Scott took a step forward.

"I...remember...", his voice was croaky, the kind of voice parents fake when they read the monster part to their children.

However, Scott was definitely not a monster. He looked at them with a tense but shy look that definitely made Clyde hide his wings and walk towards him with Kyle by his side. In an attempt to look as friendly, Scott gave the two of them a pat in their back, which almost made them fall to the ground.

"Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. All of us need a bit of practice. Just that. Practice." Kyle looked at him and Clyde.

"Yeah. We can do this. Thanks, Kyle. I don't know what came over us." Clyde smiled.

"Don't thank me, it was Mr. Hankey the one who snapped me out of it. Do you feel well, Scott? Do you need the insulin?"

Scott just had two urges at the moment: break everything in his path—which he didn't do for precaution, being his friends present—and know who the hell was that Mr. Hankey.