Prologue

"For some reason, I'm alive…

For some reason, I'm that boy from your past..."

Reversed Kyle

5 years before the reunion (South Park, Colorado)...

It's a long and humorous night for the residents of South Park. The night sky is on its spotlight, the screams of joy are everywhere to be heard and the sounds of happiness & amusement don't go unnoticed for the ears of their people. Everything looks happy and alive, with The Cow Days Festival hitting really hard that weekend no one wants to miss a free day of work for their amusement. Of course, that's something we do not care about right now, the only thing that we should keep notice is the only wealthy family that went right to the carnival. To be more precise, the only Jewish family who lived in that little, forgotten town of Colorado.

"Alright you guys! Let's turn this baby up & let's SMASH some moles!"

"Gerald! Don't say the word "smash" that loud! I don't want our son to become a violent individual. Isn't it right my little zucchini?"

The couple's son didn't murmur a word, but for the couple that was something usual. He was like 4 years young and he was still learning to speak proper words. However, he reached the cabinet where the Whac-A-Mole game was, indicating a sense of curiosity through his own eyes.

"Well, he seems interested Sheila. What about this? Let's turn the machine on and we see how it works. Then I'll let you smash all the moles you want. Is that a good offer for you buddy?"

The kid didn't respond him, but since his eyes were glued at the holes from the machine he was already invested in the offer.

"Hehe… I'm gonna take that as a yes…" Gerald said this while he put a quarter inside the Whac-A-Mole machine.

When it started up, a series of sounds began to be heard. Then, without warning, the kid got surprised when a series of figures similar to moles emerged and descended in an incredibly fast movement. The surprise was so big that the kid fell down to the ground.

"Oh my God! Kyle!"

"Haha! Gotcha! I bet you didn't expect that surprise?"

"That wasn't funny at all Gerald! It scared him and he fell to the ground because of it! He could have hurted himself!"

Gerald looks at his son. He doesn't see fear in his eyes, only surprise.

"I don't think he's scared Sheila. He's just surprised..."

"So? He's not going to play the game now..."

Gerald bends down to pick up his son.

"Listen to this Kyle. In life, we encounter a lot of surprises, like a lot of them, and that's good, because by encountering them…"

Gerald takes the hammer and hits one of the moles that emerge from the holes.

"BAM! 20 points!" Says the machine

"The only thing you can do next is to get up and learn from them. What about if you try?"

Gerald hands the hammer to his son. He's hesitant at first, but eventually his curiosity led him to pick up the hammer. Then his father picks him up in order to be at the same height as the game.

"Be careful with him Gerald. I don't want him to fall again…"

"Don't worry Sheila. You see it right? You take the hammer and smash the moles! C'mon buddy, smash them without fear!"

Kyle is hypnotized by the fast movements of the moles, but that doesn't stop him from taking the hammer and start to hit the holes, hoping to hit one of the moles.

"BAM! 10 points!" The machine repeated again.

Bingo! Kyle hit one of them. He smiled when he heard the voice box congratulating him.

"There! You got one buddy! Keep on and try to beat my score..."

Kyle continued hitting the moles. 10 points, 20 points, 50 points, the points just grew higher and higher and higher until suddenly…

"(*Beep), (*beep), (*beep). Congratulations smasher! You got a total of… 300 points!"

"Wow! 300 points! That's amazing buddy!"

"Did you like the game sweetie?" Sheila asked to him

Kyle smiled, although that smile doesn't last that long and he just lets the hammer to the ground.

"Oh well… It's fine sweetie. There's nothing healthy about hitting moles anyway…"

"You know one thing! I remember there is going be a firework festival at the end of the carnival. What if we go there, we catch the best place and we see the lights of the night, huh? Kyle?"

"I don't know Gerald. I mean… fireworks? I don't want him to get surprised or scared again…"

BAM! A firework was released through the sky. Kyle and his parents are surprised again by the sudden sound.

"Oh no! They are starting without us! If we don't go now we'll not be able to see the spectacle. Let 's go guys!..."

"Gerald wait! Ugh, I hate when your father does that. C'mon sweetie, let's follow your father!"

Kyle and his mother followed Gerald. Upon his march Kyle keeps an eye on something that really caught his attention. Next to him, he could see from afar what it looked like an attraction, not really watched by none of the attendants, organizers and visitors of the carnival. It looked like any of the stalls with the only difference to have just an entrance where there should be a door, with the addition of a big bull with large horns opening his mouth so big and wide that it seemed like he wanted to eat those who desired to enter its domains. Nobody was keeping watch to that attraction, meaning that, either his keeper was lazy and disorganized, or it was just an abandoned attraction. Whatever the case was, Kyle wanted to go there.

"Oh no Kyle, we can't go there, that attraction is closed. We can go to all the ones that you like, but that one is a no no sweetie…"

Kyle listened to his mother. Although he was disappointed he still wanted to go there. Even if his mother wouldn't let him go from her own hands, he still wanted to visit that place, even if it was an impossible task to let himself free from her.

Both mother and son eventually found their father, sitting on top of what it looked like a picnic blanket, put on by those in charge of the carnival.

"Uf, you guys are finally here! It really took you long enough…"

"Well Gerald you're not the one in charge of your kid! And you know what? Never go one step ahead of us! You are now acting like a kid too…"

"Well honey, if I hadn't gone one step ahead of you I wouldn't have had the chance to find the best place to see the spectacle of lights. It was necessary for an unforgettable show..."

"(*Sigh), Whatever. Let's just watch this thing for once..."

Sheila and Kyle sit on the blanket that Gerald has put. The fireworks spectacle is about to start.

"You're going to like this Kyle, just look at the sky and enjoy the show!"

Kyle didn't understand the amusement of his father, but still he looked to the night sky, waiting for whatever it had to happen.

A large crowd formed to watch the show. Some initial fireworks were released as a warm-up of what was going to be released next. Then, without warning, it started. Big fireworks were thrown to the night sky, leaving a dense trail that variated each one from the others. When they exploded, they formed various recognizable pictures, such as the USA flag, the Denver Broncos logo and, of course, some regular cows. Everyone was amazed, kids were fascinated at what they were seeing, basically the fireworks festival was catching the attention of everyone. Well, almost everyone.

Kyle wasn't impressed at all. In his mind there was only one thing, and that thing was the abandoned attraction he saw earlier. That's when he noticed the little absence from his parents while watching the show. They weren't paying attention to him at that moment. That's when Kyle took advantage of his situation and, without his parents getting notice, he left the firework show heading towards the abandoned attraction.

From one moment to another, there began to be fewer fireworks in the sky, until a big one was launched, and the trail that it left behind was so dense that, when it exploded in the sky, displayed the biggest message of all of them:

"Happy 8th Annual Cow Days!" It said,

Everyone applauded. Kyle's parents also applauded for the spectacle.

"Wow, that was really amazing, right son?" Gerald asked to his son. However, he didn't respond him back.

"Son?"

"Kyle, don't be so rude and respond to your father..." Sheila demanded. But still, no response coming from him.

"Kyle?"

"Wait, he's not here?" Gerald asked to his wife.

"Impossible…"

They look around them. In the blanket, through the distance, but effectively, he's not with them anymore.

"Gerald! Our son isn't here!" Sheila desperately screams

"But… He was right next to me…"

"Next to you! Why didn't you notice when he left us?"

"Me! I thought you were paying attention to him in case this type of things happens!"

"Gerald! Is your son, for god sake!"

"Our son Sheila! Ours!"

"Do you think that's important right now? If our son is not here, then who knows where he could be! He could be wandering alone in this carnival, or even have been kidnapped by a human trafficker!"

Sheila says this while getting nervous, meanwhile Gerald tries to calm her down.

"Honey, honey, it's gonna be okay..."

"Gonna be okay!? My little baby is gone and you want me to BE OKAY!?"

"Sheila please! it's going to be okay alright? The last thing that we want is a panic attack. Listen, the fireworks show has been really short, so if Kyle left during the show then he could not have gone that far from us…"

"Well in that case there's no time to waste! Gerald, we have to find him quickly! God only knows how scared our little creature must be feeling right now…"

The couple went quickly to ask to any of the people around the area. Meanwhile, Kyle managed to come to the abandoned attraction, standing right in front of the entrance. He was really hypnotized by the bull's big threatening eyes, looking directly to his inner soul. While he was hesitant, his curiosity got the best of him as the dark entrance was predominant, so he, full of perseverance, entered inside with the big mouth of the bull letting him pass, as if it had eat him like the grass from the plain.

"Excuse me sir, have you seen a kid like this but a little bit smaller?" Sheila asked to a random guy out there

The entrance of the bull led to a big hallway that ended in a normal door, resembling the throat of the bull itself. It didn't look like something special, as Kyle thought it was gonna be. Still, he kept moving forward to the door.

"He is dressed with an orange jacket, like those ones that many engineers use for security procedures…" Gerald proceeded with the description

Kyle still moved forward to the door, not sure of what was behind it. However, that wonder soon became a big surprise when he heard the sound of some footsteps from inside. Now Kyle was more intrigued for who really was inside of that uncharted terrain.

"He has green gloves, like those with a little bit of…"

"SALT!" An image prop of a scary bull appeared from the left side of Kyle, jumpscaring him.

Kyle got scared by this and ran straight to the door, also being jumpscared by other two props: One with an owl and another one with a skeleton face.

"Yeah! and don't forget his blueish green pants, like seaweed!"

Kyle finally grabs the doorknob, turns it and opens the door, letting all the cool from inside cover his face.

"You really haven't seen it? He's the only kid wearing an ushanka in all the carnival!"

"What the hell is an ushanka?" Asked the random guy

Kyle entered on the other side of the door.

"Like a green hat! It's like a green hat!"

The door closes after him. With him now being inside the mysterious attraction, he didn't have any intention to cross that hallway again.

"Oh wait! A little kid with a green hat? I have seen it before!" Exclaimed the wife of that random guy

"Seriously? WHERE!?"

"I saw him entering in there. By the way he was dressed, I thought he was part of it to be honest…"

The woman points where the abandoned attraction is.

"That attraction? But it's closed…"

"Wait! I remember! When we were heading towards the fireworks he tried to escape just to go there. He has to be in there for sure!"

"But wait Sheila! In there? I don't think he likes terror rides…"

"Gerald! Didn't you say two moments ago that life is full of surprises?"

"I mean yeah, but…"

"Then don't complain and LET'S GO AFTER HIM!"

"Sheila! Wait! Let me go first!"

Pure silence. That's what Kyle heard when he entered inside of what was behind the door. He walked a few steps away from it, just to clear up what type of attraction he was. That's when he suddenly stopped, noticing something coming from his right. He looked in that direction, but nothing happened. He moved some steps forward, but he still noticed something coming from his right again. He was pissed about this and abruptly looked again. That's when he decided to approach on his right to see what was causing all his attention. However, he stopped when he looked at someone in particular coming from ahead. Is a kid, from his same size, his same clothes, his same eyes, basically like him.

Scared, he moved forward that little kid until he mysteriously collided with him. Confused, he tried to go forward again, but collided one more time, this time without him falling on the ground. That's when he touched the hand of that kid. It's solid, like a wall. When he finally noticed this, he finally realized it. That thing wasn't a kid, it was a reflection, his own reflection. The reflection of a giant rectangular mirror.

He finally discovered the purpose of that attraction. It was a mirror maze with the cows theme.

Kyle wandered through the maze, still impressed that the mirrors were intact despite being abandoned. There were a grand amount of them, all from different sizes, different reflections, opaque, curvilinear, everything counted on that site. Of course, Kyle couldn't count how many there were, it was like a never ending line of mirrors.

He nervously started to feel uncomfortable, watching too many reflections of him unaccompanied, being alone while touring the whole place made him feel really vulnerable. It was as if someone was watching him through the mirrors, waiting to strike him when he wasn't looking. He started to sweat, he didn't want to continue walking, so he turned back and decided to head towards the entrance.

But there was one big problem. Where did he start his march? Which path headed to the exit? It was at this moment when Kyle realized that he was lost. Inevitably lost.

Kyle started to sweat even more, his frightness quickly transformed into panic. He didn't know where the exit was. Scared, he started to walk through the path, with the thousands of reflections mimicking his movements. When the walk became intense, he started to run. The sound of his constant footsteps was one of the few sounds that could be recognized throughout the maze, but that's when he started to hear other sounds. Metal sounds to be more precise.

"SALT,SALT,SALT,SALT!"

Kyle also heard that the jumpscare sounds combinated with the metal sounds of the ambience started quickly to invade his head. He couldn't control it! He thought that someone was quietly chasing him, like a shadow or a dog persecuting his owner. He couldn't take it anymore, he started to cry while running.

"Mum, mum, mum! Dad!" He started to desperately call his parents.

The sounds intensified, he was panicking so much. That experience of being alone in a maze felt endless, and it continued to feel more and more endless as he ran through it. He became suffocated, his head was spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning unt-...

BAM!

Kyle hit himself with another wall, but this time it was not a mirror. The metallic sound that came through the collision indicated to him that it was not an ordinary wall, but actually a door, a metal one to be more specific. The door had a sign that said "Do not enter, employees only". He didn't understand what an employee was, the attraction was abandoned, why keep the sign on the door? However, Kyle still didn't want to wander alone in the maze alone again, so he inflicted an amount of force on the, opening it without much problem, leaving a screeching sound of rusty metal through the environment.

On the inside a pair of stairs were dominating its entrance, leading all the way down the attraction, with darkness surrounding it. It was too dark, too dark to actually see something, and Kyle wasn't comfortable being in dark places. But suddenly, the sound of fast footsteps was heard again. They were behind him this time around. He got so scared that he jumped to the stairs without thinking, stumbling and falling down from there. The metallic door closed itself after this.

Kyle reached the end of the stairs, sore, hurted, wanting to cry because of the pain. However, as a miracle, he wasn't seriously injured. His legs, his arms, everything was at its place. Kyle got up from the ground and searched the new area. A pile of boxes, broken lights, some kind of backup mirrors. Definitely, he was in some sort of warehouse, with only another dark path looking forward to more darkness.

Kyle stopped crying, now he was afraid, but more afraid of the unknown. He started walking forward, letting the darkness slowly cover him. He couldn't see anything from afar, his footsteps dominated the whole warehouse, not sure if he would be able to find an exit through there. The seconds became minutes, Kyle was more than jaded. He just wanted to leave the place and he couldn't find the exit. He started to be tired, and decided he had enough, as he was about to return to the maze again, this time being sure to take the correct path to the entrance.

Of course that was until Kyle finally distinguished something from afar.

Something that was out of the darkness.

Something bright, like a big lightbulb.

Something… like a green light?

Kyle was now intrigued, but at the same time relieved. Maybe it was a flashlight and someone finally came down there to rescue him. He approached the light, now faster than ever. He felt free, like leaving a weight behind. He was coming closer, almost as if he was going to hug it like it was his own mother. However, as he approached more close to it, something tall and round predominated in there. Kyle wasn't sure what it was, he couldn't distinguish it from anything he had seen before. That was until Kyle finally established a safe distance from the light and what was blocking it.

And there he saw it…

The thing that blocked the light was not even a thing. It was rather a figure.

It was a kid. From his same size, his same color. It was definitely a kid.

Kyle was stunned. A kid was also wandering this attraction by himself? It seemed to be the case.

However, that kid was turning his back on him. Maybe he didn't hear his footsteps. Maybe if he told him something, he would see him, right?

Kyle, despite his fear, dared to say two words against him.

"Um…Hi…" He quietly said

The kid moved a little. It seemed like his words surprised him as well. At that moment the kid, slowly and carefully, turned face to face against Kyle himself.

Kyle analyzed him again, now looking at this time to his yellow hat, his green jacket, his grayish pants, and his eyes. Big yellow shiny eyes.

The kid also analyzed him, and Kyle felt examined by him. He didn't say a word. He was nervously staring at him.

Kyle thought that maybe he was as scared as well, so he tried to grab him from his hand, with the purpose of not letting him feel alone in that place, and maybe find the exit, together.

But much to his desire, he received another response...

PUSH!

The kid pushed Kyle to the ground. It seemed that he didn't understand his gesture. Immediately after that, the kid just ran towards the green light, leaving Kyle alone once again. Kyle was about to burst into tears because of the pain until…

"KYLE! KYLE! Come back here young man! Right this instant!"

The voice of his mother now predominated through the ambience. He finally felt relieved, his parents were also in the maze. By getting up real fast, he ran straight to the stairs, leaving that warehouse to never see it again.

So as you could tell, everything went back to normal for the Jewish family. Both parents and son reunited together. Kyle received a good rant from his mother, his father picked him up on his shoulder and the family quickly left that abandoned attraction without any inconvenience at all, promising himself to never put a foot on that location ever again. After that, the night just went back to its joyful state again.

Of course, as the years passed, new carnivals were hosted there, and that jewish family grew older and stronger, containing even a new integrant in the Broflovski line. Old memories were forgotten, new memories appeared, and Kyle Broflovski just became the person we know now: compassionate, clever, firm in his beliefs, social, friendly and of course the voice of reason.

Kyle embarked on numerous adventures with his now friends. Some of them were great, others were traumatizing, and others just got really out of control, like the human centipede or the Mecha-Streisand thing. Still, that didn't stop him from doing what he believed was right and standing up against the rare situations that revolved him and his group of friends.

However, a small piece of memory stood with him for a long time. A memory that ate his sleep while dreaming. A memory that sometimes was just some vague stupid nightmare. He wasn't so sure if it was something real, or if it was all just his dumb imagination. Still, wherever that memory showed up in his brain, he could only formulate one simple question to himself.

One... simple... vague... question…

"What the hell did I see inside that maze?"