Chapter 4: Looks are Deceiving
Cartman's house, 1:00 a.m…
Liane Cartman slept calmly in her bedroom, knowing full well that her son wasn't going to interrupt her precious sleep thanks to the pancakes she made up for him that morning. However, while being submerged in her sleep she suddenly had the urge to wake up from her dreams as a stream of cold air flew through her bedroom. With really tiring eyes, she inspected her room, trying to find the source of the air. It didn't take her long enough to find out that the source came flowing directly at her because of an opened window which she previously remembered closing before going to sleep.
"Huh?... Oh my... Well... I guess I'll just close it again..." She thought to herself as she closed the window completely.
It was in that moment when Liane, knowing that she was already awake, took the perfect chance to check up on the children's secret party, at least to make sure that her son's whole slumber party had finally reached an end and all of them were sleeping calmly in his bedroom. She didn't really knew that they were actually at the treehouse but, whatever the case was, the important thing here for Liane was just to check up on them.
Liane, wearing her pajamas and walking with her slippers, calmly opened Cartman's bedroom door in the most quiet way possible in order to not wake any of his friends and him.
"Uhm… Hon? Eric? Are you there?" She whispered his name, but much to her surprise, no one was there.
The only one who was resting in his bedroom was Miss Kitty, Cartman's cat, who found herself sleeping peacefully above the soft blankets of her son's comfy pillow. The absence of her son confused her a little as she slowly started to awake her mother instinct, unsure where he and his friends could be, but then she thankfully remembered that the last time she saw them was in the living room, so maybe they were sleeping in there. By thinking this, she didn't waste any more time heading downstairs, expecting to see them resting inside their own sleeping bags after the whole night of plays and frights.
However, when she finally reached the last step, she wasn't prepared for what she would find in there.
For instance, she didn't find any of the children, as a matter of fact, she only witnessed the bright light from the TV of the living room being turned on, while showing an empty TV Channel, with his now awaked son "Cartman" watching it on the sofa.
"Ehm… Eric?" She called him one more time but he didn't respond to her, as he still kept an eye on the TV screen.
"Honey... Where are the rest of your friends? And why are you still watching the television? We already talked about this Eric! I don't like that you stay up until 5 a.m. watching television in the dark, you'll wake up tired tomorrow and with your retinas burnt..."
There wasn't still no response from Eric, making Liane slightly get annoyed by his attitude.
"Eric! Are you even awake?" She tried to call him as she got closer to him.
However, as she approached him she noticed the weird outfit her son had put on thanks to the bright light emanating from the TV. For instance, he was covered by a dark hood covering all his face while he had his hands supported on his own legs holding and looking directly at the frame of a family photo starring her and Cartman, posing on a trip to the Grand Canyon, in Arizona.
What was so weird about it? It's just an old photo? Liane didn't know why her son was looking at it very carefully until she remembered carefully a small detail that was about to escape from her.
That photo was in her room, and she was sure she hadn't moved it out of its spot.
"Eric Cartman! Did you grab that photo out of my bedroom?" She called him, believing he was the one who took it and also the one who opened her bedroom's window.
Seeing that there wasn't any response from his son, she grew tired and she put her hand on his shoulder, trying to at least call for his attention. However, when her "son" finally noticed her he didn't have a tired look on his face as she expected to see, but rather a surprised one. A worried one.
:I
"Ehm… Hon? What's wrong?"
:I
"Why are you so quiet? And where did you get those clothes from? Were you and your friends planning another roleplay of those or w-..."
PAM!
As she was about to find out the truth, Liane fell abruptly to the ground when a real baseball bat hit her really hard on her head. She landed face to the ground, hitting herself really hard on her face while being instantly unconscious by the sudden force.
During her brief sane moments before her unconsciousness, she could only formulate the name of her son as an attempt to call him for help.
"E…Eric…" She tried to say as she distinguished some of the voices from her own attackers.
"Was that really necessary?" One of them calmly said.
"JAH! What did you expect silly! He doesn't want any distractions! Especially Long Rivers..." Another one said
Her head just kept and kept spinning around as she was about to close her eyes ready for an unknown sleep. However, despite her fall, she still had the sufficient force to look at the new intruder who just stared approximately at her. It kinda looked like her own shadow, although instead of being sit it was standing right on its feet, so it could be hers.
"Cartman?" She called his name once more.
The two intruders took a step back as the living shadow started to melt himself down, adhering itself to the ground floor. Then, as a roller painting, it expanded itself to surround Liane's entire body, simulating a deep hole into which she was about to deeply fall.
Right before she could stay on her feet, Liane started to feel that she was floating in thin air, as the ground that she was touching with her fingers suddenly disappeared.
"Wha-..."
It didn't take her long enough to start falling in the infinite abyss created by the living shadow, as she screamed hoping that someone from the outside would help her be out of there again.
She fell and fell and fell, still processing what had just happened in that really short amount of time, while she raised her hand, pointing it to the big luminous entrance where she was before.
"Noo!"
Liane screamed as the only source of light from the exterior started to reduce itself more and more and more and more and more and more and more and more and more and more and more and more and more and more and more and more until she, confused and scared, embraced her scream with the only source she could now drown her fears and despairs from the unknown:
To the deep void of absolute darkness...
Meanwhile…
"Grrgh…"
Butters growled in annoyance as he tried to catch some sleep inside the treehouse. He closed his eyes so hard that he thought they were going to explode at any moment. He tried, and tried, and really tried to dream for once, but he just opened his eyes, tired and annoyed.
"Ugh… Why can't I sleep?" He thought to himself.
That's when his stomach started to growl again, as He felt a strong pressure forming under his pants.
"Oh no! Oh no! I really need to pee now!"
Butters came out of his sleeping bag, accidentally stepping on Cartman's free hand.
"Ouch! Watch out you dumbass!…"
"Oh! Sorry Eric…"
He climbed down the treehouse, trying to reach the transparent door from Cartman's backyard. His sleepy eyes tricked him on reaching his destiny, although he urgently found the necessity to stop.
"Uuh… Uh?" He growled tired as he inspected the backyard.
He didn't know how to describe it, but he surely started to feel that another presence was really near him. Butters, followed by his intuition, turned his head on his left just to make sure he was the only one in that backyard.
What he saw was unnerving. On his side from a clear view there was a figure, another shadow one, who was staring at him directly through a short distance between the two. Butters could barely distinguish it as it camouflaged really well with the darkness of the night night and his sleepy sight.
"Um… Is someone there?" He asked, not really referring to anybody in specific, but he didn't get any answer.
"Oh jeez, I can't stand here for much longer. If my parents find out that I have actually peed my pajamas they will surely get angry!"
Butters didn't waste any more of his lifetime and proceeded to go to the bathroom as soon as possible. He thought that, whatever he saw, was just a hallucination made up from his lack of sleep, so he just passed by.
The shadow figure just stood there, watching him enter inside Cartman's house. On his side, emerging from the ground, the living shadow from before appeared next to him. The shadow figure knew him too well, sufficient enough to give him orders.
"I want him out…" He ordered him
The living shadow didn't waste much time and melted itself with the ground again in order to not get discovered by Butters.
Butters managed to enter the bathroom and peed safely on the toilet.
"C'mon little turtle c'mon! We can't stand all night here…"
He said as he finally finished peeing on the toilet, ready to return to the treehouse as he washed his hands in the sink.
"Fiu, that was close. I better get these hands clean up before the bacterias go and ate them!"
He said to himself as he turned off the faucet and was ready to open the door.
"Uf, I better leave now. This place gives me bad nightmares..."
Butters grabbed the knob of the bathroom door and proceeded to open it.
"Lu Lu Lu, I've got some apples, Lu Lu Lu, you got some-…"
But wait, the door didn't open.
"…too?"
Butters said confused as he tried to open up the door again, but it was unuseless. The door just couldn't be opened from the inside.
"Uuh… Mister Door? Why don't you want me to leave the bathroom? Didn't I wash myself properly?"
He asked innocently as he tried one more time, but the same result occurred.
"Hehe… Hehe... ok, why can't I open the door? Is it stuck? Hellooo? Cartman?"
Butters tried to call anybody but his voice was too far to be heard.
"Hellooo? Anyone there who can help me get out from here? I don't like being trapped inside a bathroom!"
Butters forced the door in every way possible, but it didn't work either. Something or someone was blocking it from the outside, trapping Butters in the process.
"Fellas! This is not funny! Eric's stink is still roaming free in here and it will choke me if I don't leave! Fellas? Is anybody out there?"
Nothing happened. Butters still tried to force the door just to leave the bathroom for once. While doing this, we could see from the other side what was blocking it. The door is getting blocked by a chair from the knob, purposely put on by someone, and it wasn't going to be removed by any circumstance.
"Cartman! Everyone! This is not funny, let me OUT!"
Butters desperately begged as he frantically tried to throw the door down in desperation to be freed from there.
He surely was trapped, he surely wasn't an annoyance anymore, as the two dark figures from before left the scene without hesitation, knowing that the darkness from the bathroom would make his job on getting him company for the rest of the night, as well as Cartman's stinky toilet from before.
His screams would not be heard by anyone, his presence would probably be joyful by the sweet enigmatic esthetic of the reflection of pure darkness, and all this accompanied with a little bit of talcum powder of course!
What could Butters do now in those circumstances?
"Oh boy. I knew I should have let the little turtle rest inside his house tonight..."
Again, in the treehouse…
Kyle was sleeping inside his sleeping bag, resting peacefully despite the adversities he had been living during the day, without counting the fatigue that had started to accumulate all week.
He started to dream again, appearing one more time in that empty existential plane he had constantly been dreaming during the past few weeks.
"Emm…Hello? Is anybody there?"
His echo resounded throughout the whole plane.
"Oh wait. Oh… I get it."
He said as he sat on the non-existent floor. He decided he won't do anything this time. This time, he will just wait.
"Alright spectral voice, or whoever you are, do whatever you have to do to kill me this time. I still don't know who you are and what do you want from me so…"
Kyle said as he covered his head with his own bare hands, preparing for the attack.
"C'mon! Go for it!"
He waited and waited for the inevitable strike from his mysterious figure but, much to his surprise, nothing occurred.
"Dude! I'm waiting…"
Kyle still waited but nothing really happened.
"Dude! Are you even there? Or have you finally acknowledged the fact that I don't know you and you are finally going to leave me alone?"
He didn't receive a response until he decided to look behind his back. The dark figure from his dreams and the spinning wheel were standing near him, with the figure having his eyes pointing directly to the ground. This apparition caught Kyle by surprise and didn't waste any time to get up and prepared himself for the worst.
"Great, there you are. What? Are you stunned that you have finally accepted your status around here and you're gonna let me go in peace or you just ran out of batteries?"
Kyle called him teasingly, but his weird companion didn't mumble a word during a brief period of time, making Kyle grow nervous believing he didn't actually choose his words carefully. Finally, after a long period of time, the shadow figure told him a few words.
"You look… good"
It wasn't the type of answer he was expecting and the weird response he was used to get from him. It was just a… compliment?
"Uuuh… Thanks?" Kyle said unsure.
Another pause happened. Then he spoke again.
"Yes, like I said Kyle. You look good... Especially inside that sack of yours..."
After hearing that statement, Kyle suddenly felt the urge to wake up from his dream, breathing frantically as he tried to establish himself in reality again.
With his eyes now wide open, he studied his surroundings, but the only thing that he saw were his friends Stan and Kenny resting peacefully on their sacks, with the obvious exception of Butters who didn't return yet from the bathroom.
"Where's Butters? Well, by knowing him, I'm sure he'll be in the bathroom. He has always been a night peeper..." He thought
However, another missing partner alerted his most inner reflexes.
"Wait, where's fatass?" He said as he noticed his absence from his own sleeping bag.
He was nowhere to be seen, neither his stuff. It was like he just vanished in thin air.
He thought about the possibility of him being mocking him, but then, he remembered Eric's obvious master plans.
"Great, I've a feeling he has just gone with Butters in order to pull up his stupid master prank, he's very influential anyways. Ugh... Those two can't just leave us alone?"
He said as he rested his head again on the pillow, closing his eyes while waiting for the strike. He wanted to return back to his sleep again before Cartman went and pulled up his crap.
He lied down.
He calmed himself.
He breathed heavily, he just wanted to calm himself.
But then...
His head started to spin around again. Yes, as much as Kyle wanted he couldn't clear his mind at all. His head was now full of thoughts about what the figure had just spoken to him.
"Inside that sack of mine..."
His head just repeated that same stupid sentence dozens of times. He then started to sweat uncontrollably, like being at a beach in a sunny day of summer.
"Ugh… Why is everything just spinning around right now? I can't... breathe..." He said as he tried his best to hold himself together.
He got up again from his sack. Whatever the figure told him wasn't making him go to sleep as he wanted to be. Then he heard a sound.
FART!
"Uh? What th…?"
But it was just Kenny, who farted a little while being in his dreams.
"(*Snoring), Uuh... Let me ride on the pterodactyl again, baby…" Kenny said while being in his dreams.
Kyle narrowed his eyes to his side.
"Oh boy... Now Kenny farts while sleeping. Heh, that's a new one..." Kyle said to himself.
He couldn't sleep, his mind was now too busy processing the dream that he just got a moment ago.
"(*Sigh), Goddammit…"
He came out of his sleeping bag. Since his internal heat was suffocating him, he decided to sit near the treehouse entrance just to feel the cold breeze from the night caressing his whole tiring face.
He just sat there thinking to himself, about just all the things that have just kept happening to him during that whole month of March. The nightmares, the constant shadow apparitions, Cartman's mockery against his story. That was pretty much the key memory of all this, that abandoned attraction. He started to remember how it felt being alone in that labyrinth with dozens of his own reflection mimicking him and his movements. It was a really stressful event, even for him, since he was too young to even remember it.
"Why does this still keep happening to me? What I saw in there was just my imagination, that's what I saw..."
Kyle thought to himself.
"I have just told my most terrifying memory in front of them and they loved it. They loved it because it was scary, except Cartman of course, but he can go and eat his crappy story if he wants. They now must be thinking that I'm a really good f*cking writer..."
Kyle kicked the air as a sign of disgust, nearly knocking his shoe out off his foot.
"(*Sigh), What am I doing? They thought it was a scary story because we were telling scary tales. I even have told them that I just made it realistic for the creepy factor so… Why is this still bothering me? Should I tell them the truth? The truth that the protagonist from the story was actually me?"
Kyle directed his gaze towards his friends. Then he sighed.
"Kyle, come on! You heard Cartman's statement: "You have just said it in a way so realistic that it makes me wonder if you have actually lived it, which I honestly disagree absolutely". Even if it was told in a serious manner, Cartman would still take me as a freaking lunatic…"
He now narrowed his eyes towards Stan and Kenny.
"But Stan and Kenny? Would they even believe me if I told them about my weird memory?"
Kyle narrowed his eyes now to the nightsky, watching the bright stars and his numerous constellations. The stars were surprisingly shiny on that strange but particular night.
"(*Sigh), Well... at least it was worth it to come to this party anyways. The stars… They look precious tonight..."
Kyle, now more calm, decided to relax a little bit, letting the cool of the night tickle his feet as he took a closer look at Cartman's house from up there.
"Alright. Even as ugly as it looks, I have to admit that Kenny and Cartman did a fantastic job keeping all of this together. I don't feel like it's gonna collapse at any moment…"
He now narrowed his eyes down the tree.
"(*Sigh), This is fine..." He calmly said
"Indeed..." He heard it.
Kyle abruptly shut his mouth after hearing that whisper. He rapidly and with dread looked behind him to see who actually said those words.
"Huh!?" He immediately exclaimed.
But much to his surprise, Stana nd Kenny were still sleeping in their sleeping bags, so he took the decision to look more down the treehouse.
He didn't really know what moved him to look more down the house, but something told him he had to take a closer look down there.
At first, he thought it was his mind playing dumb games again. Then he thought it was his own shadow, getting reflected by the moonlight.
But no, this time his logic would be tested, as someone or something was standing pretty close to the treehouse, looking directly at him.
Something tall, someone shady.
"Ehh… Butters?" He first thought
No response.
"Butters, is that… you?" He called him quietly.
Still, no response. Even if it looked like the most obvious answer, he wasn't sure if that thing, the guy who stood below the tree was Butters or not. Only then, he took notice of the little details from the figure.
"Wait a minute, you're not Butters. You don't even look like him, who are you?"
No response from the living shadow. No response from the hooded figure. No response from the silent mole.
No response from the erratic creature.
No response from the shadow figures who were now infiltrating inside the house.
Kyle, whose senses were still dizzy finally got adapted with his current situation, leading him to a terrible conclusion.
"Hey... those looks... they can't... oh no... HOLY S-...!"
Meanwhile, inside Stan's dreams...
Stan rested calmly in a vast field of flowers while the rising sky ruled his peace.
"Ahh, perfect. Just what I want… peace..."
He exclaimed as he relaxed well and calmly through the beautiful field. However, his peace wouldn't last much longer as it was suddenly interrupted by the sudden appearance of a cartoonish voice.
"Why would you want peace when you can have me silly!"
"Huh? Who said that?" Stan asked confused
That's when he took notice that, inside the vast field of flowers, a small herbaceous plant in the shape of a cannabis leaf stood there from around the rest. One who could think, one who could talk.
"Hello there! Stoinks! Its'a me Widy! Widy the Weed! Jiji!"
Stan opened his eyes wide, incredulous as he saw how that leaf of weed started talking to him with those bulging eyes floating around like a bad type of school project.
"What the sh*t!" He exclaimed surprised
"Howdy there!" Widy happily exclaimed
"A talking marijuana leaf? Oh no. No no no no no! Get the hell away from me!" Stan protested while avoiding it
"What the hell Stan! What's up with your manners…" Exclaimed his dad out of nowhere
Stan turned around to see his father standing on the field, as he grabbed the floating Widy with his own hands, tickling him playfully.
"Jijiji! That tickles!"
"You can't treat our family members like that! You could get completely rude one day…"
"A member of the family? Dad! It's just a stupid leaf of marihuana…"
"No Stan! Don't you see? It's Tegridy, MY TEGRIDY! He's very much my precious creation of all…"
"OHHHH YEEES! YES I AM!" Exclaimed Widy the talking leaf
"What? Dad No! C'mon, don't be stupid now…"
"Jijiji! You're the stupid one around here for not accepting me as your salvation! Stoinks!" Exclaimed the happy leaf
"Oh yes Stan, my Tegridy is right… You know what? YOU SHOULD BECOME TEGRIDY TOO!" Randy exclaimed enthusiastically
"What, no!" Stan responded
"Hey look everyone! Smelly Two Feet Weeder is here!" Widy said, calling the attention from the rest of the flowers.
"Oh really?" One flower said.
"What a moron!" Another one said.
"Let's make him fall!" One rapidly demanded.
"If you're not going to become Tegridy, then YOU'RE NOT SON OF MINE!"
Randy angrily shouted, forming a giant hole which appeared below Stan, making him fall in just two seconds.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
Stan screamed as he continued falling in the eternal abyss until he hit the ground from the dark plane he was now established.
"Ugh… Well… There goes my inner peace..." Stan protested as he got up from the nonexistent ground.
He looked everywhere through the dark plane. There was nothing or no one sight. Not the flowers, neither his dad or the talking leaf of weed.
"Where am I now?" He asked.
He was alone now. Just him and the darkness itself, isolating the background from before. Or well… I talked too early, as Stan spotted a tiny blue spot through the vast field of darkness.
"Phew, a light... That must be the exit…" He said
Stan ran for it. He ran and ran for what it seemed like an eternity as the spot of light became bigger and bigger through the vision of his own eyes. Right before he could guess what it was he finally arrived at the spot's position, only to be revealed that it wasn't an exit at all.
It was a flame, a small blue flame, which was releasing a tiny blue layer of blue smoke floating on nothingness itself, without any explanation at all.
"What the hell is this…" He said.
"It looks like a flame but... Who lightens it?"
He asked as he approached it a little bit closer.
"It looks really small… And silly… But it really makes me feel… comfortable…"
He approached it even more.
"So tiny… So bright… Why can't I stop looking at it…?"
He extended his hands in its direction.
"It feels really good… Maybe I should touch it…"
With his right hand, he reached it to the blue flame.
"It feels really cold here… Maybe… This flame could-..."
Suddenly, a claw grabbed him from his shoulder.
He turned back, only to see a thin dark figure giving him a wide smile.
"Oh Stan... Please... Don't do that... You're going to let your cold out Stan..."
"Stan"
"Stan"
"STAN"
"STAN!"
"STAN!"
"Wha…What?"
Stan woke up from his weird dream, still surprised as he saw Kyle with blurry eyes and a certain concerned look on his face. It was Kyle, who woke him up for some reason.
"Stan…"
"Kyle?"
"Dude, get up... You have to see this…"
"See what? Dude, I'm tired…"
"Just look!"
Kyle exclaimed as he grabbed Stan from his wrist and forcibly dragged him out of his sleeping bag. An irritated Stan went with Kyle, still confused by the sudden awakening of his best friend.
"Jeez Kyle… It's like really too late…"
"Remember the shadow people that followed me on my way at home…"
"Dude… Are you still with that? Right now I'm not in the mood for more dark st-…"
"Look outside…" Kyle demanded him
"Kyle, this is-..."
"Stan please! Just take a peek outside and I promise you that you'll see everything else in another lens…"
"Well… No offense dude, but I don't even use l-…
"Dude!"
"Ok Ok, Jesus! I'll take a peek outside! But seriously dude, all this shadow drama must finally come to an-..."
Stan also noticed the shadow figure standing down the treehouse, looking at them without making any other living sign.
"...end…"
"You see that? Now you finally see it? It's one of those shadow freaks that I talked about before, and now it's standing below us!"
"Dude... Are you sure it's not Butters?"
"Stan please, does that f*cking thing look like Butters?"
"Well, and who could be?"
"That's what I have been trying to figure out all this damn time Stan…"
Kyle sighed after saying that, not knowing he woke up someone unintentionally.
"Dudes, what's with the noise?"
Kenny asked as he woke up from his own dreams.
"I was like… having the best dream in the world again. Riding a fancy pterodactyl with a chick. A hot one…"
"Kenny check this out! Kyle wasn't joking around when he talked about the shadow menace…"
"Oh! So you didn't f*cking believe me dude!" Kyle protested.
"Ehh... well... Not exactly, but..."
"What?... Pfff, let me see that…"
Kenny said unimpressed as he looked below the treehouse as well.
"Holy sh*t…" He said
"Right before you ask, no… It isn't Butters. I'm really sure of it…" Kyle said in advance
"So then who could it be?"
"I don't know..."
"What if we ask him what he wants?" Kenny asked to Kyle and Stan.
"Are you nuts Stan? That guy seems really cryptic, I really doubt he's going to give us his name like that…" Kyle responded
"Well… There's something else we can do? Because it's like stay here watching or just climbing down the tree..."
"I don't think that will be a good idea Kenny…"
"(*Sigh), Alright. I'm gonna tell him something. Just who is he?" Stan said tired
"Stan, no…" Kyle warned him
"It's okay Kyle. Maybe it's just the 6th graders making pranks on us again like they do every single time of their lives…"
"Or just some random idiot..." Kenny added
"No dude, I don't think-..."
"Hey!"
Before Kyle could finish Stan shouted to the shadow guy.
"STAN WHAT THE HELL!" Kyle called him but Stan just proceeded with the questions.
"Hey dude! Do you have any problem? It's not really a good time to wander alone around here!" Stan said, ignoring his friend.
"DUDE SHHH! Let him go!" Kyle pleaded to his best friend as the shadow figure remained quiet.
That's when they noticed a heavy weight shaking the treehouse a little.
"Ah! What the-?" Kyle exclaimed surprised as they turned to see who made that movement.
"Will you guys shut your asses already! I can't f*cking drink well with you three making a dumb fuss!"
But soon they remained calm knowing that it was just Cartman with another glass of milk in his hand. Now the main 4 were finally out from their respective sleeping bags.
"What the sh*t! Where do you even come from fatass!" Kyle exclaimed, annoyed from his sudden appearance.
"From the kitchen dumbass! I needed to drink again ok? It's not that I have a lactose addiction or something..."
"No Cartman I mean here! How are you up here again?" Kyle exclaimed again
"Oh! That... Relax Kail. This treehouse has two entrances, you know? One is the stairs and the other one is the hole, and what a shame you guys didn't notice the hole one, now I can make cool entrances like these..."
Kyle rolled his eyes, nobody wanted to know what was that hole doing there.
"But anyways, what has come into you guys? It better not be another one of Kyle's delusions…" Eric asked changing the subject completely
"Oh, well…"
"The shadow people were real all this time around Cartman…" Stan responded to him.
Another pause of silence.
"What…"
"Yeah dude, Kyle was right all along. The shadow people exist…" Kenny added
"Oh for the Lord of-Kinny! You're too good for this…!" Eric protested
"Cartman please! Kenny's telling the truth. Just look down here!" Kyle begged to his friend
"No…" Cartman just blandly responded
"Dude, just for tonight. Take a closer look at your backyard…" Kenny advised him
"No. I'm not gonna fall for this one you guys..."
"Dude, c'mon!" Kyle exclaimed, annoyed.
"No! I won't..." Cartman said as he shook his big head with such denial.
Stan, being tired of his attitude, decided to make him look in one way or another.
"Are you scared of your own backyard now Cartman?" Stan asked him rhetorically
Cartman just frowned at him.
"No!" He said as he approached where Stan was and pushed him out of the way just to look what there was below the treehouse entrance.
"Guys, I don't see a sh*t down there…"
"Look there…"
Stan told him as he pointed at the place where the shadow figure was. Cartman finally saw it.
"Ooh… Now I see it."
"So now you believe me Cartman?" Kyle asked him, still annoyed
Cartman looked at Kyle with a suspicious look while he slowly approached him.
"Yeah, you know Kyle? I think I know what this is all about…" He said, staring at his eyes.
"Emm... What?"
"Dude, is what we have told you..." Kenny told him.
"Kenny, you can stop endorsing him, I have already figured all this out by myself..." Cartman said still not having his eyes taken out of Kyle's
"What are you insinuating Cartman?" Kyle asked him annoyed, but Cartman continued
"Alright Kail, let's do this. Let's just suppose that all this is really a serious moment to panic now and one of those stupid freaks that you have been telling and yelling all this goddamn time is now standing right below our treehouse, SPECIFICALLY at night, just like in the movie we watched before…"
Great, it was more than clear that Cartman wasn't falling up for this one too, so Kyle just frowned at him again.
"Dude..."
"This is a joke, is that it Kail?"
"WHAT?!" Kyle exclaimed, now really annoyed by his disbelief.
"No No No Kyle, don't hide anything! You wanna take revenge from before, so now you're just going to f*cking scare me. HA! Caught red-handed..."
"Are you kidding me dude! Cartman! This isn't a joke, this is f*cking real!" Kyle exclaimed, now intrigued.
"Kenny…" Eric called him as he narrowed his eyes to him.
"Dude, I'm with Kyle this time around, the Shadow People are REAL!"
"My balls! I think you guys are just trying to scare the crap out of me just to film it and then show it up to the whole class next week! First your stupid nightmares…"
"Oh no…" Stan said.
"Then your stupid escapism..." Cartman continued
"Ehm…" Stan tried to say again.
"Next your dumb horror tale…"
"Dudes?"
"...And now this! Forget it Kyle! You're not gonna scare me tonight!"
"Cartman! You're a dumbass! I'm not joking around! I can assure you that I'm as confused as Kenny and Stan are at this moment…" Kyle explained to him.
"Bullsh*t!" Cartman exclaimed, annoyed.
"Dudes..." STan tried to gain their attention one more time.
"Kyle's right, Cartman…"
"Yes Cartman, Kenny and I are being serious…" Kyle told him.
"Oh really? Is Butters also taking his role of edgy idiot as well? Because he's nailing it like your little playmate…"
"Oh Jesus, that guy is not freaking Butters!" Kyle exclaimed
"Yes he is!"
"Dudes!" Stan as much as he raised his voice, his friends weren't paying him attention.
"And now I'm gonna say it and I'll never repeat it again. If you guys continue with the stupid shadow tale again, I'll make sure that you and your stupid clown hat don't appear in any of my sleepovers never... ever... never EVER AGAIN!" Cartman dared angrily
"DUDES!" Stan shouted at full lung, trying to get their attention one last time.
"AND WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT!" Cartman shouted at him as well.
"You need to see this guys..." He said
"See what?" Kenny asked him
"The shadow dude. He's not alone…" Stan said
Another pause of silence.
"Pfft, oh really?" Cartman asked mockingly
"Wait what?" Kyle asked incredulous
"What I said dude..."
"Impossible..." Kyle said as he and Kenny went where Stan was.
"Oh no, you're not gonna trick me with another one of these! I'm not gonna look again…"
Cartman said, but right before he noticed it the three were at the treehouse entrance, except for him.
"Grrr, goddammit…"
He growled as he joined the rest. They were now looking down the treehouse.
"Look there…"
Stan said knowing that he wasn't that far from the truth. If they thought one shadow guy was enough, then imagine their surprise when that same shadow figure was now seen accompanied by other two familiar creatures:
The thin shadow figure :)
and the big fat one :I
The three mysterious figures were now seen holding hands to one to another, surrounding the stairs of the treehouse. They were in a position similar to those paper cutouts of kids holding hands, narrowing their faces to the main 4. Needless to say, they didn't musitate a word, not even a slight interaction or movement, they just stood still, like the streetlights from the neighborhood. It really seemed that those two took advantage of Kyle and Cartman's discussions and joined the shadow figure just to increase their authoritative presence.
And they really nailed it, as Kyle was now more nervous than before.
"Oh sh*t…" Kenny said
"Yes, now there are three of them…" Stan added.
"Oh no…" Kyle said incredulously.
"Well, it seems that now we have some company, how convenient Kyle. They maybe want some cigarettes, go ask them Kyle…" Cartman teased him
"I don't think it's the perfect moment to make those types of jokes, Cartman…" Kyle said
"Well, what else would they want dude?" Kenny asked him
"I don't know..."
"They maybe are just drunk..." Stan suggested
"Oh yeah, drunk of uncomfortness! C'mon Stan, it's more than obvious that Kyle has hired these people just to piss me off!"
"Cartman! I'm telling you that I don't know these people at all!"
"Of course you know Kyle! Who are they huh? WHO ARE THEY?" Asked Eric
"Fatass, I don't have any idea!"
"Let me guess, it's Craig and rest right?"
"What? No!"
"What makes you think it's Craig dude?" Stan asked Eric.
"Too simple:
- They're from our same stature;
- They are more silent than Stan over here;
"Hey!" Stan protested
"- And they're holding hands like he always likes to do, so that's it!
It's debunked for me. THAT GUY IS F*CKING CRAIG!
HEY CRAIG! STOP LOOKING AT ME AND RUB YOURSELF SOMEWHERE ELSE!" Cartman shouted at full turmoil
"Cartman! You're unbelievably stupid! It's pretty obvious it's not him!" Kyle told him but Eric continued
"I'm sure the crouched one over there is Tweek. HEY TWEEK YOU IDIOT! I LEFT YOU ALONE WITH YOUR MORONS IN THE CAFETERIA! WHY ARE YOU NOT LETTING ME SLEEP YOU MANIAC!" He shouted again.
"Mmh… They don't even have reacted to that. How strange…" Kenny said
"Cartman stop!" Kyle demanded again.
"HEY CLYDE!"
Cartman yelled at the fat one this time, believing that it was Clyde, one of Craig's friends.
"Yeah dude! You don't fool me with that fat of yours! Now LISTEN UP!
KYLE HAS JUST TRICKED YOU, YOU STUPID CRYBABY! DON'T EVEN DARE YOU NOT TO SPEAK ME BACK. YOU'RE SO FAT THAT EVEN THE DARKNESS CAN'T COVER ALL YOUR CURVES, YOU DISGUSTING SLIMY GRIMY SWEATY!
Kyle was just getting really nervous this time. The ones who were persecuting him before were now staring at him and his friends, and to make matters worse Cartman didn't stop insulting them with his tantrums.
He didn't want the tension scalate dramatically, even for him, so he reacted
"CARTMAN! KNOCK IT OFF ALREADY!"
"NO! Your tricks are not gonna make me piss my pants from horror, so I'm gonna use my ultimate weapon…"
"Cartman no…" Kyle warned him again.
"MAAAAAAAAAAA! KYLE AND HIS STUPID FRIENDS ARE BOTHERING ME WITH HIS SCARY PRANKS!"
He shouted really hard but there wasn't any response or activity from his mother.
"MAAAAA!"
"STOP IT CARTMAN!" Kyle shouted at him again.
This time Stan was now the one who got more annoyed by their manners, so he decided to intervene.
"Ok, could you two please knock it off already! We are gonna wake up the entire neighborhood! (*Sigh), Besides, Cartman, these… special people… have not even reacted to your insults, so you can stop trying if you mind…"
"Oh really? And when the f*ck these SHADOW PEOPLE are gonna react, when Smelly Two Feet Weeder shows up and eats them?"
"Wait… where the f*ck did you find that name?" Stan asked him
"Where do you think? I found it on Twitter, it was Trending Topic in there…"
"Wow, for real?"
"Yeah Stan, for real…"
Kenny said as he showed him Twitter, with a hashtag simply titled #SmellyTwoFeetWeederOnTheLoose
"Oh Jesus, Colorado is really taking all this too far just for some weed…" Stan said
"So what do we do? These men in black are just standing there, blocking the entrance of Cartman's treehouse. What the hell is their problem?" Kenny asked again
"I don't know Ken, but I'm sure that they are not gonna give us a response soon…" Kyle said
"Well smartass, what if you climb downstairs and ask them yourself, since they totally know you…"
"I'm not gonna do that Cartman. Two of them have persecuted me before, I'm sure they don't have really good intentions…"
"(*Sigh), God f*cking dammit, alright! Butters! go down… Butters?"
"Butters is not here with us Cartman…" Kyle told him
"And where the f*ck is Butters when you need him?"
"Oh sh*t! What if those morons have done something bad to him!" Kenny said now concerned
"Everybody! Let's calm down for a moment, ok? We don't know these people beforehand but it seems they want you for no apparent reason, so they're not gonna let us leave the treehouse and they don't even wanna share two words with us, so you know what? That's it! I'm calling 911…" Stan explained as he started to call the cops
"Woah woah woah woah Stan, wait... Don't do that, I have an idea!" Cartman frantically said
"What idea?" He asked
"I'm gonna throw them stuff!"
"Cartman no…" Stan instantly denied.
"Oh yes, Cartman yes…"
Eric said as he took some stuff left on the treehouse and prepared himself to aim.
"WHAT THE HELL Cartman! Don't do that! You're just gonna piss them even more!" Kyle ordered him to stop
"Your stupid friends are not reacting with my words, so it's time to use some classic rules from my neighborhood…"
Cartman said as he grabbed an empty can of cola and was about to throw it to the three.
"TAKE THIS YOU BUNCH OF FAGS!"
"CARTMAN NO!"
Kyle screamed as he stood in front of Cartman but he tossed him from his back, pushing him afar.
"Sh*t, Kyle!" Stan exclaimed as he went to pick up his own friend
"RESPECT MY AUTHORITAH!"
Cartman showed as he kept throwing stuff, while Kenny just stood there watching Cartman's bad aim like a carnival show of some sorts.
"THIS IS MY PROPERTY!"
"Dude, you're really bad at aiming…" Kenny sincerely said.
"Shut up Ken! GET LOST YOU EDGE LORDS!"
"Cartman stop!" Now Stan demanded him.
Cartman kept throwing stuff like empty cans, paperballs, even a pillow, but he was so bad at aiming that it merely had any effect on them.
"BECAUSE I'M HERE IN THE TREEHOUSE! BECAUSE IF I WASN'T THERE I COULD BE PUNCHING YOUR EMPTY FACES ALL NIGHT!
"Cartman Stop!"
Stan finally grabbed one of Cartmans' arms, holding another empty can before throwing it at them.
"This is going too far! Let's just call the police!"
"And tell them that three shadows are harassing us? What a weenie Stan!"
"Well Cartman is the only thing we can do at this moment, unless you wanna go down there and talk to them…"
"I could if I want to, but since Butters is not here Kenny will do it, so…. HEY KENNY! As the Alpha Male up here go down there and kick them out!"
"What the hell! Why do I have to be the one doing all your jobs? You invited us to your slumber party, so get your fatass down the treehouse and kick them yourself!"
"But, but, Kinnyyyyyy…. You're special!"
"Stop saying that!" Kenny demanded
"This is going nowhere! You know what? Screw it! I'll just call the police…" Stan said.
As Kenny, Cartman and Stan discussed with each other, Kyle managed to stand up after Cartman's push and was now looking at the three mysterious figures in the treehouse entrance.
Millions of questions round in his head like a pressure cooker about to explode.
"What the heck are they doing?"
"Why are they staring at us while holding hands?"
"Why Cartman's mum and Butters haven't heard Cartman's yells?"
But most importantly…
"Who the hell are these people?"
"What do they want from us?"
"What does HE want from me?"(referring to the central kid from the three X/)
:I - X/ - :)
It was at this moment when a nerve inside Kyle's brain started to fill up with rage and confusion. It wasn't not enough that they had to appear through the corner of his eye. It's not enough that they have to abruptly start stalking him while wandering alone outside. It's not even enough that THEY made him feel nervous and with great anxiety attacks every time he felt he was being spied from afar or that shadow guy, alongside his servants, had to kill him in every nightmare he has dreamt with those mysterious figures.
But this….
This just crossed the line.
He wasn't hallucinating in each one of those past times. Those dreams weren't quite dreams as he supposed in the first place. Whatever that shadow figure was, he WAS responsible for all the hardships he has been having all these past few months. And just seeing him holding hands with the ones who have attempted to stalk him, catch him, or even hurt him before just made him feel angry. Not angry of injustice, but angry with flames of rage burning ferociously through the corner of his eyes.
He was mocking him. He was sure of that.
Kyle was just tired of all these apparitions, of looking like a madman and remembering that old memory he has about that abandoned attract-...
"NO!"
Kyle grabbed the previous empty can that Cartman was attempting to throw at them.
"Hey! What's your probl-..." Before Cartman was about to question his stupidity Kyle abruptly cut him with another ferocious scream.
"KNOCK IT OFF!"
Kyle threw the empty can so hard that it actually hit the target, as the shadow figure finally reacted covering his face with his hand and crouching down from the pain since the can had just hit him in the eye.
Kyle's friends were stunned by his sudden action.
"Kyle..." Stan called him.
"WHAT IS YOUR F*CKING PROBLEM!"
Kyle ignored Stan's comment. In fact, he started to ignore everything. He was going to throw everything he had been retaining to his nightmarish stalker once and for all.
"I MEAN, DUDE!… WHAT THE F*CK!? I'M GETTING F*CKING TIRED OF YOU! I JUST WANTED TO PASS A GOOD NIGHT WITH MY FRIENDS SINCE YOU HAVE BEEN KEEPING ME AWAKE WITH ALL THOSE STUPID NIGHTMARES ABOUT NOT REMEMBERING YOU OR EVEN KILLING ME! I'M F*CKING SICK AND TIRED OF YOU SPYING ME EVERYWHERE I GO AND EVERYWHERE I LIVE: THE SCHOOL, THE SIDEWALK, EVEN WHEN I SLEEP! IT'S REALLY STRESSFUL HAVING THE THOUGHT OF BEING WATCHED, BUT I GUESS YOU'RE TOO WEIRD TO EVEN NOTICE!"
"Jeez Kyle, just cal-..."
"I DON'T HAVE FINISHED!"
Kyle shouted as he abruptly cut Kenny on his sentence. He was now crouching down and grabbed the first step of the stairs from up, in a sense of approaching more to the shadow figure and in an attempt to intimidate him.
"YOU BRAG ME ALL THE F*CKING TIME WITH YOUR UNNERVING PRESENCE, WHILE STILL YOU SEND THE TWO ASSH*LES OF YOUR PARTNERS TO DO THE DIRTY WORK FOR YOU! EVEN IN MY DREAMS! I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU DO THAT, BUT IF YOU WANNA ACTUALLY TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD FOR ONCE, WHAT ABOUT IF YOU STOP TORMENTING MY HEAD WITH NIGHTMARES! YOU PSYCHO-ASS FREAK!"
The shadow guy stayed crouched on the ground, as his two partners have stopped holding hands with him just to see him seizing the pain of his eye.
"SO IN CASE YOU STILL DON'T KNOW WHY AM I YELLING AT YOU I'LL MAKE IT QUICK FOR YOU DUDE! I DON'T F*CKING KNOW YOU! I DON'T CARE WHO YOU ARE! I DON'T LIKE YOU IN MY DREAMS! I DON'T EVEN LIKE YOU IN REAL LIFE, SO WHAT ABOUT IF YOU AND YOUR PATHETIC GROUP OF WEIRDOS GET THE F*CK LOST FROM HERE AND LEAVE MY FRIENDS AND THIS PLACE OR I SWEAR TO GOD THAT I'LL MAKE YOU TALK WHEN THE POLICE DISCOVERS YOUR STUPID MANNERS. UNLESS YOU WANNA TELL ME FROM THAT F*CKING MOUTH OF YOURS WHAT YOU REALLY WANT FROM ME I'LL KEEP SAYING IT AGAIN, LEAVE MY MIND ALONE! YOU F*CKING PSYCHO!..."
A great silence invaded the scene, as Stan, Kenny and Cartman were practically amazed after hearing Kyle's rant. The shadow figure' s two companions turned their gazes towards Kyle after his last word resonated through the mind of the shadow guy still crouched on the ground.
Kyle's heavy breathing was the only sound resonating through the treehouse, and no one of his friends knew what to do or even say to him. They were terrified with how the shadow figures would react after the statement. Finally, after 15 seconds that lasted like an eternity, Stan went to calm his friend.
"Kyle, dude…" He called him while patting his back. Kyle was still breathing hard because of the rant.
"Are you okay?... Do you feel better?" Stan asked him worriedly.
"Yes…" Kyle said between sighs.
"Are you s-..."
"I don't know Stan!... I just…. I don't know anymore…" Kyle sincerely told him
"Dude... That was intense! You really hit them right in where he could probably get hurt!" Kenny congratulated him
"Well Kail, I have to give you the credit, I would really have wanted to roast Craig like that a loooong time ago…"
"(*Sigh), Whatever Cartman…"
Kyle said as he stood up from the treehouse, returning their attention to the shadow people.
"So… Did it work?"
"I don't know Kenny… They seem to not respond at all! Ugh, what was I expecting?…"
"Alright Kyle, take it easy. Let's just wait and see…" Stan reassured him.
The shadow guy stayed in that crouching position still processing all the things that Kyle said to him. Kyle maybe thought for a moment that his words really affected him and he and his companions would finally leave them to sleep.
Yeah, that's what he would have wanted. Just to get some rest.
Of course, that was really far from reality, much to his own demise.
Because the shadow guy wasn't happy, not really happy at all.
X/
He stood up still, uncovering his bruised eye from his hands and facing his gaze towards Kyle's eyes, as his companions were waiting for orders.
Kyle could feel some kind of hate and fury towards his stalker's eyes, but nothing prepared him for what his shadow was about to do.
"…"
The shadow guy turned his face to his left to see his companion, the thin dark one, and responded to him with a nod.
X/ - :)
He did the same with the other, nodding at him as well.
:I - X/
His companions seemed to understand beforehand his sign language, as the thin one started crawling fast to the ground in a quadrupedal position similar to a spider, heading towards a side from the treehouse, as the fat one did the same with the other side by just walking normally like a normal person would do.
"Ehh… Kyle, what are they doing?" Stan asked him, now worried.
"I don't know…" He responded to him.
The shadow guy didn't make himself wait any longer and, with disturbingly calm steps, he headed to the stairs of the treehouse, stepping on the first step.
He then stepped on the other one. Consequently, he was climbing the stairs in order to enter the treehouse.
"HEY! What are you doing? You're not invited here Craig! Get lost!" Cartman ordered angrily
"Why does he want to enter now?" Kenny asked them worried too.
"Isn't it obvious! This smartass has just pissed Craig off!"
"Hey! It wasn't not my fault alright? I was really nervous!" Kyle said
"Well, now this idiot it's gonna enter thanks to you. (*Sigh), Here, let me handle this…"
"Oh God. What are you gonna do now Cartman?" Stan asked him
"The same as usual. THROWING HIM STUFF AGAIN!"
Cartman returned with his attempt of throwing rocks and cola cans to the shadow guy, hoping this time to hit him while he was climbing the tree. Much to his surprise, the shadow guy proved his reflexes after dodging all of Cartman's stuff by holding on the side of the stair steps while climbing them.
"That's not working Cartman!" Kyle told him.
"Well, you wanna hit him again smartass! What about if you do it?"
"No!"
"I thought so!"
Cartman kept throwing stuff to him but it was hopeless, the shadow guy was almost close enough to enter inside their treehouse.
"He's coming closer!" Kenny exclaimed
"What do we do?" Stan said
"Let's move away from the entrance!" Kyle suggested
"What?"
"There's no other way dudes! Let's move to a corner of the treehouse and let's prepare our best for whatever happens…"
"No way Kail! I'm not gonna let Craig enter inside!"
"Cartman!"
"Grrr…. F*CK!"
The main 4 stepped aside in order to let their new guest enter the treehouse. The shadow guy managed to climb the stairs without a scratch and, in a slow but impetuous manner, put his hands in the rusty old wood of the floor. Followed by this, he made himself comfortable while slowly but surely carrying his body while crouching in order to not fall up from there, as he finally stood up with his feet touching the rusty wood, blocking the treehouse entrance and shaking off the dust and bits of the wood that got stuck to his dark attire.
The boys witnessed how, even after doing all that, the shadow guy just limited to put his hands on his back and standing still again without formulating a word.
A heavy pressure started forming on the heads of the boys. They didn't know what to do?
"A-Alright…. He's now in. So what now Kyle?" Stan asked him worriedly.
"Wait what? You ask me! I don't know dude..."
"What if you go and face him like before!"
"No Kenny! This time around I'm really scared…" Kyle told him
"Alright, THAT DOES IT!" Cartman said in a tiring manner.
"Oh Jesus, what are you gonna do now Cartman?" Stan asked him worried again.
"Kyle's driving me nuts with all this shadow bullcrap and Craig thinks he's gonna make me piss off so easily, so that's it! I'm gonna kick him out of my treehouse!"
"Cartman! Does that guy really look like Craig dumbass? Don't start doing something stupid!" Kyle warned him but he didn't want to listen anymore.
"NO! F*ck this sh*t! I'm done with your jokes! You wanted to scare me right? Well be prepared Kyle! Because someone is gonna be sent to the hospital this weekend! And is gonna be Craig with a bent finger…"
"Cartman no!" Kyle warned him but it was too late,
Cartman came face to face with Kyle's stalker, still believing that it was just Craig but disguised.
"Hehe, when I prove this idiot it's just Craig, everyone will just feel stupid and Kyle will finally be qualified as a complete weirdo. Oh man Cartman, you're a f*cking genius…" He thought to himself as he proceeded to talk
"Heeeeey dude! Sorry about all the things that my friend has just said, he's a little bit quirky out of the head. I mean, you know dude, he's jew, you know what I mean…"
"Shut it Cartman!" Kyle begged him to stop.
"SHUT UP! So hey, you know, what about if you just take him away and… well, just let us go, ok?"
"Dude…" Stan said really disappointed in him.
"I mean, he's the one that you wanted right? Right?"
No response.
"Huh, not really a great talker right? That reminds me of someone, you know, from 4th grade, blue hat, really homosexual and the biggest d*ck in the world. You know exactly who I am referring to Craig, AM I RIGHT?"
No response.
"(*Sigh), Alright Craig, this is just getting ridiculous, just take off your stupid hood of an-..."
Right before Cartman could pull the hood off the stalker's head, he wiped out his attempt by brushing Cartman's hand away with his own, as if it was a fly.
"What th-...? Ouch, OUCH! That hurt Craig!"
Cartman protested as he attempted to do it again, gaining the same result.
"Hey! Stop hitting me and just take your stupid hood off!"
Cartman tried this multiple times with unsuccessful results until, out of the blue, the shadow guy punched him in the face.
"OUUUUCH! F*CK!" He yelled in pain
"Cartman!" Kyle exclaimed
"DAMMIT, YOU ASKED FOR IT!"
Cartman pushed the shadow guy in an attempt to kick him out of the treehouse, but much to his surprise, the shadow guy managed to grab onto the ends of the entrance and kicked Cartman in the nuts.
"OH F*CK MY BALLS!"
"Holy sh*t dude..." Stan exclaimed too
"Alright, that is more than enough! Hey! Leave us al-"
PUNCH!
Surprise! The thin one took advantage of the shadow guy's distraction and managed to enter the treehouse in the small hole of the same house and knocked Kenny out with a baseball bat.
"Jijiji…"
"Kenny!" Stan and Kyle called him worried
"Dude… My head... Oh G-..." Kenny said as he fall down to the floor unconscious.
:)
"Oh dude, that does it! Now you're gon-... WOOOOOOW!"
"Stan! WOOOOOOOOW!"
The same applied for the fat one, as he also took advantage from the distraction and entered through the window of their right, managing to grab Stan and Kyle from their backs with and incredible force.
"Hey dude! Put us down!"
:I
The fat one made their wish granted, throwing him to a corner of the treehouse, hitting him also in the head.
"OUCH! DAMN... What's... happen... Kyl..." Stan said as he fell unconscious too.
"Stan! LET ME GO YOU F-WOOOOAAAHHH….!"
The fat one did the same with Kyle, throwing him to another corner, but not getting unconscious in the process. However, he got badly injured by this, after hitting his face all over the crooked wood, making his head spinning.
"Ugh…uh…dude… I can't… move..."
While this occurred, Cartman was still struggling with the shadow guy, with him on his top and with one of his hands struggling the neck of the stalker, while the shadow stalker did the same with his left hand with a great brute force.
"Grr, LET ME GO CRAIG!"
X/
"OH MAN, JUST WAIT UNTIL I TELL THIS TO MY MUM! JUST WAIT YOU PSYCHO! YOU'RE GONNA GET F*CKING REKT YOU SAVAGE SON OF A-…"
The shadow figure wasn't gonna let his words affect him that much, so with his free right hand, he took a handkerchief from his pocket.
"Hey wait, what are you doing with t-..."
The shadow guy put the handkerchief on Cartman's nose, attempting to seize him. He took a great resistance while doing it since Cartman fought very well against him.
"DUDE GET THIS THING AWAY FROM ME! IT SMELLS LIKE SH*T!"
"…"
"Wait… This smell… I recognize it. Craig, dude. Is this?… chl….chlor…ro…form…"
The smell of the chloroform did his job as Cartman gradually started to feel dizzy until he, eventually, collapsed on the ground, unconscious, fainted and submerged in a sudden sleep.
Kyle, still feeling dizzy after hitting himself in the wall, managed to stay seated with his back against the wall. With his own eyes, he started to get terrified as the shadow people managed to knock out his friends, with him the only one remaining awake.
"Cartman…"
The shadow figures now turned their attention to him.
"Oh no…"
The shadow guy noticed him still awake and ordered the other two to grab him in the arms, just like in his dreams.
"AH! Not this again… AARGH!"
Kyle screamed as the two intruders retained him, forcefully holding his arms while the fat one hit him in the leg so he could remain crouched.
The shadow guy came closer to him, crouching himself as well so he could be at the same stature as his victim.
"DUDE!... Why are you doing this to me?"
"…"
"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO US!"
The shadow figure remained silent as he grabbed another thing from his pocket, this time it was a small bag, where he took from it a pink substance similar to the dust, holding it in his hand like a reverence.
"Ooh wait I get it! This is the part that you'll kill me right, well you know what? YOU'RE A COWARD, YOU KNOW? Using your stupid companions just for your whim…
X/
"Thank me…" The figure suddenly said with a raspy but clear voice.
"Thank you?... FOR WHAT!"
Without prior notice, the shadow guy blew all the pink dust that was holding on his hands directly to Kyle's face, reaching up to his nostrils.
"(*Cough), (*cough), What the- (*cough), (*cough), What was that for?"
"Now you'll sleep well…"
"What are y….ou…oh….f…"
Kyle couldn't even finish up his phrase as the weird dusty substance made him feel really tired and dizzy until his eyes closed suddenly out of pure tiredness, falling yieldingly to the wooded ground, as he was about to experience a deep sleep through the corner of his eyes.
"Rest all the time you can, Kyle. You'll need it…" The figure said.
It was over, the main 4 were finally beaten up by the shadow people, as the 3 stalkers took a deep look about the scenario they had just made up.
"Well… that was easy, JAJAh!"
:)
"Alright, they are not going to wake up in a short amount of time, so what's the next part of the plan, friend?"
:I
The shadow guy looked with some suspicion at the fallen body of Kyle. Then he, with a deep voice, told to his companions:
"This is perfect. It's just like I wanted it to be. The plan… Is going as great as I wanted. Perfect. You!..."
X/
"Yes papa!"
:)
"Grr, don't call me like that… Notify nothing, we're going to proceed with the next phase of my master plan…"
"Wow pal seriously"
"Grrr…" The figure growled him
"Oh ok, whatever you say papa! JAJAH!"
:)
The thin one left the scene.
"And you! Help me carry their bodies! We're going to tie them up in the chairs..."
"Whatever you say friend…"
:I
"Yeah, whatever I say. Mh... Phase Masked KittyCat has been long but eventually achieved. Now it's time to move on to Phase 2…"
"Which is called what?"
The shadow guy put himself in the center of the treehouse admiring everything that he had done. Then he turned his head to his big companion telling him the key word to the new phase.
"Revealed… Tiger…"
The fresh wind of the night covered the vast space of Cartman's house…
Even Cartman's cat felt tempted to eat a mouse…
The stars of the night kept an eye on the whole place…
The crickets sang in unison as well with enough grace…
Shadow monsters were finally here, let to be seen…
Meticulous and lost, but surely, AWOKEN…
X/ :I :) 0I
