Chapter 11: TroubleTown

Through the woods, 3:15 a.m...

"Everybody sings just like my ol' grandpa,

something really dumb since I never had one…"

With everyone involved in getting a piece of real action, Sebastian found himself comfy and relaxed, singing songs to distract himself from the trouble of being trapped and the annoying companion of some mosquitos, flying close to his eardrums.

"Nobody stops just to feel the sunshine,

since throwing sh*ts' more fun…"

He was positioned with his legs stretched, resting down on the surface of the web like sleeping in a hammock or a fishing red. He had let one of his legs slightly out from the web just to have a more comfortable position than when he was established in the basement.

"And I say hey!

And I say stop!

And I say hey you stupid shadow you can't pass me!

And he says no!

And I say crap!

Before he stabs me in the back while I'm sleeping!"

After humming a part of his last nonsensical song, Sebastian sighed out of pure boredom as he tried to swing the web as another regular balancer while looking up to the night sky, resting his hands behind his head and closing his eyes while clearing his mind out of all thoughts, knowing that he was too loose to even get himself out of there.

"(*Sigh), Dammit, Doctor! If I had known that I would be intertwined in another cage I would have stayed at my house counting the screws again. To be honest I don't think that, even with the whole amount of courage that spreads the whole moorland, nothing is gonna make this night show less boreful than listening to Stella's boring ass speeches…"

He crossed his legs this time, while petting his eye monster Doctor above the top of his red hat. He couldn't feel more secure if he wasn't living with his pet eye all the time.

"Well, grab a mental note Doctor, never approach your enemy if he tells you to do so. You have to be sure if he's making your mind up. Like now, I'm sure that, if Kyle sees me in these embarrassing circumstances, he's gonna gonna kick me really hard in the screws, if you know what I mean by that, Doc…"

The Doctor just agreed with his eyeball before taking shelter inside the head of its lost bearer. Sebastian turned his gaze to the bright effect of the distant stars, smiling innocently to them, knowing that wherever he went, the stars still accompanied him in every way, between his mischiefs and troubles, his calm and peace.

"Heh… Look up there, Doctor. They never run out of those sparks, not even here. That's pretty neat, I mean… Hehe… I guess they're truly special as he said…"

(*Sigh)

Sebastian found himself really comfy, in a peaceful state of mind. No matter how many times he fought with anyone, wherever was his friend Elik or with anyone that he couldn't handle, they weren't able to disturb his peace with nature, surrounding his glamorous sleep.

With this calm he closed his eyes, and pulled his hat down, taking a lazy nap without looking at his backs again. Little did he know, the Doctor and him weren't the only ones alone in those woods.

It came from the shadows, it came from the trees, a sharp spear crossed through the undergrowth, hitting with precision the rope that held the web, cutting it in two with an incredible speed.

"Uh? WAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Reversed Stanley screamed as he fell to the ground.

"Ouch!… Well, that's a way out to get down, HAHA! Ugh, my back…." He yelped.

"Maybe if you took this more seriously and cared a little bit about the sake of our kingdom then you wouldn't need to run into skirmishes with dumb humans, Stanley!…"

Those words. That tone of voice. It made itself heard through the area where Reversed Stanley was trapped, stopping dead in his urge to finally get up just to canalize what he had just heard a second ago.

He recognized those words, that voice of pure honesty and confidence. He couldn't believe it, a small grim formed on his face as he stood on foot in the ground. Sebastian was smiling, and he couldn't be more happier than with a smile planted on his face.

"Well, that depends, silly! If you wanna see your shining armor riding with his beast then of course someone needs to be the princess for goal. Your dumb, endless life goal, am I right?" Sebastian responded to it.

In his backs the spear which previously cut the rope started inexplicably to float in the air, positioning itself behind Sebastian in a pose like if it was about to hit him straight on his head.

"Hehe! Really funny. Now TAKE THIS!"

The spear immediately went to hit him directly but Sebastian, perceiving the small presence behind him turned himself just in time to stop the movement from the spear with his bare hands, witnessing the floating spear retained through his hands. This, instead of confusing him like any person with common sense would have, made him smile even more, letting a little laugh escape out of his mouth.

He knew what was happening, and this revelation confirmed it even more. Sebastian couldn't be more proud of himself.

"HA!… Never underestimate someone's back, your greatness. I'm pretty sure you're very clever to know that, not for nothing you're an unremarkable soldier… Right Caaaaaarus?"

At first there was no genuine reaction from the spear, however it wouldn't last long until his holder responded to the name of...

"Carus..."

Soon, through Sebastian's eyes, he noticed the weird transparent effect that reflected the corner of his dead eyes, this time being more noticeable than usual, knowing that he was in safe hands.

Then, after some struggle, the one responsible for that invisible effect finally gave up against his friend's own charisma and decided to deactivate his invisible cloak, fully revealing himself to Stan's counterpart.

"Alright, you got me…"

The person, or should I say, reversal, that Sebastian was facing up was none other than the loyal aspirant to the royal cavalry, the great and bold Carus the Brave! In other words, Butters' counterpart, also known as...

Reversed Butters!

(Also known by his short name Carus)

:J

His clothing wasn't really that far different from the one that Butters have with the exception of his new color range. His grayish coat and pants, his greenish dark gloves and the usual black shoes were noticeable and well presented, as well as his characteristic yellow hair and his beautiful yellow eyes, something not really that far from the Butters of South Park.

However, it was on his own face where the differences were more highlightable.

For starters the right side of his own face was partially covered by the half of a gray broken mask which possessed the expression of a sad face with no eyes to be replaced. They were only covered by a black stain that segregated a dark liquid running through his cheek, similar to the fluency that the tears have through the skin.

Not everyone knows why he has that thing covering part of his face but the weird intense red meat color from the edges of the mask itself tells us a lot about what he could have been enduring before this event unfolded.

Besides his weird appearance it didn't really matter for Sebastian. Carus surprisingly managed to find him, find the entrance to South Park, and he couldn't be more proud of his great super companion.

"HA! And Elik thought you weren't smart enough to even pick up your spear well…"

"Well Stanley, I was about to surprise him with my greatly cool throwing skills! But I guess I found you instead. Soo…"

"Oh, you found me… Are you sure you didn't just come here to look after me like you always do? I won't be mad though Carus, you know how much I like to spend in my world wherever it comes against Elik's wishes…"

"Stanley! The whole world doesn't revolve around you! You know that too well, right? There are humans ahead! I'm here because I wanna prove to our general Elik Broflovski that I can be good at hunting humans as well! I can't be following your tracks and expect me to save your butt all day. I have a goal to achieve, you know?"

"Hm, well I'm sure you wouldn't mind if I just take, I don't know... THIS!" Sebastian grabbed Carus' spear and ran quickly from him.

"HEY! No fair Stanley! Give me that back!"

"What, royal soldier? Be a good fighter and recover your precious back scratcher, HAHA!"

Carus runs after Sebastian as they run one another in circles and more circles. This, instead of being a nasty challenge, looks more like a fun game for Sebastian since he likes to see his former friend Carus getting mad at him for whatever reason.

After a short time of a playful catch catch, as well as some occasional tantrum, Carus finally manages to take his spear out of his friend's hands, hitting him softly on his head as a response for his childish performance. Reversed Stanley just responded by friendly patting his head as a way to show him his welcome.

"That wasn't fair Stanley! And never do that again! If you try to do that with Sergeant Elik or Samson Donovan oh boy, you would be dead..."

"Uf… Ugh… (*Sigh)... And that's the reason I like picking you out. You're so funny and cute! HAHA!"

"Stanley! The point of being a royal guard isn' t to appear good-looking, nor even swing the spear in front of everyone, it is also a sign of authority, respect, and protection against all odds! In our long time conflict with the nasty existence called "humanity" it is really important to stay firm and proceed with the reconnaissance missions! We have to be better, we have to be stronger. We need to be smarter than our own enemy!"

"Yeah, you're right… Doctor! Mental note! Next time we should stick glue to Carus' gloves so every time he picks up his back scratcher he doesn't end up losing it like a dime, HAHA!"

"(Carus turning his face red out of embarrassment) Well, well… AT LEAST I'M DOIN' SOMETHING! Not like you, sleeping beast! What were you doing down here anyways? Napping at work time?"

"Hey! Hey… Choose your words better Carus, I was about to catch up some humans in the surroundings of these forests but I got outsmarted by them. That's why I'm trapped on this rat catcher or whatever…"

"Oh really? How many of them?"

"About three. Three little bastards..."

"Oh jeez… THEY'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT! Where were they heading then?"

"I don't know, to the south I think? They're probably heading back to their civilization, but knowing how eager Elik is with all his human paranoia, I'm really sure we'll find them if we find him too…"

"Oh really? Well then, enough talk! C'mon Stanley, let's head south with feet and mouth!"

"But Caaaarus, my pal! They have infected me with their laziness and I really don't wanna bear Elik's tantrums. The work is really overwhelming me, again… HAHA!"

:)

"NOW MISTER!"

"Ugh, fine!… You would-be knights are no fun when I want you to be…"

Sebastian, now freed from the trap, heads up with his former friend Carus, heading straight back to South Park again, with the hopes and not desires to meet up with their comrades like two peas in a pot. A pot full of wonders.

"Oh boy, THIS IS EXCITING! My first human hunt! Oh boy, I'm really sure that when Elik sees me facing those humans with my bravery and strength he'll finally let me join the royal guard for once! Yay!"

"Wanna know something pal? I think I have this 100% feeling that Elik, when he sees you swinging that back scratcher again, he'll straight up smack you in the face for ignoring his clear orders of not coming at all to his never-ending missions. With or without your help, he's gonna beat you up so hard…"

"HEY! Don't start ruining my positivity now Stanley! Let me taste this dream just for a second. No, two... No, THREE!…"

"(*Sigh), Take the chance while you can Carus, believe me. It could be the last dream for us in a loooong time of plays…"

:) :J


Meanwhile, at Wendy's house. More precisely, in Wendy's dreams…

What a calm day, what a perfect evening.

With the sun setting shyly on the edge of a set of mountains, the flowers keeping firmly at the soil of a dense meadow struggling their best to keep on firm, as if it was time to gain some great sleep.

The flowers were accompanied by the presence of a big oak tree, predominant in the moorland conformed by the lake and the vast mountains, with its leafs and strong branches taking the sunlight with great efficiency.

The tree could rest assured, being alone in those abandoned fields, without any bothering human activity that could break its own existence. Nonetheless, it wasn't alone. Someone took that great shadow, originated from the tree, to make it her best comfort, and of course, her new pillow.

Below the branches of the tall oak there was a girl, still in her afternoon clothes, who took the roots of that tree as her pillow while she carefully counted the petals of the little flower that she took from the large ground.

If you already know who was the one dreaming then I'm sure she doesn't need any introduction, with the whole town sometimes driving her nuts, Wendy Testaburger really appreciated these moments of just calm, silence, peace and sweet slumber.

Wendy, being the president of her classroom and a fundamental member of the Please and Sparkles Club, let the warm breeze of the field care her head while letting her nose be tickled by the good smell of the flowers, not wanting to disappear soon.

She was happy. She was calm. She was… comfortable.

"(*Sigh), What a perfect peace I found in here. I don't need to worry about anything else…"

That's what she thought. Stroking her hair with unison, she stretched out her legs and leaned on the trunk of the oak, giving another silly yawn before returning back to her slumber.

"This is fine, this is great. No social injustice, no stress. It's good to be out of TroubleTown even if it's just for various minutes. I just hope that a certain fatass doesn't show up just to ruin it, I already have to deal with that 'dimple' every week. Ugh... There's no reason to be that annoying in real life, (*sigh)…"

She stood there, calmly, ready to dream again with the clouds. However, despite the peace, not everything would stay still for any time possible. The sudden giggles coming from kids would eventually break the silence, as she could hear them from downhill, far from the vast field.

That was it, she wasn't alone. And now her curiosity invaded her thoughts.

"Great, I spoke too soon…" Wendy thought one more time before getting up from her position, hearing the giggles intensify even if just for a little.

She went downhill in direction to the sounds, unsure of who was making them but curious nonetheless. With each step taken, the giggles grew more and more until they became a chokingly set of laughs coming from children who seemed to be concentrated on a small spot far from the oak, but closer enough to simply not ignore it.

Wendy, after taking a fancy walk downhill, managed to reach the kids' concentration, giving her their backs as they were more absorbed with their laughs to even notice her own presence.

"Um… Excuse me? What's happening?" She asked, but nobody responded to her.

They continued laughing viciously.

Wendy frowned, still confused, the attitude of those kids were really creeping her out compared to previous clashes which occurred whenever a new fight developed at recess, after school.

"Mph… There must be a really big scramble down here." Wendy thought to herself as she pushed away every kid on her way in order to stand out in the crowd and see the "spectacle" too.

Maybe it was another couple getting their ass kicked mutually, maybe it was another scramble between a tubby and a midget. Or wait, something else, an illegal fight between two mice, anyone would stop just to see that for real.

It was absurd, it had to be. Not for nothing she was in her own dreams. There would be no other reason to stop by and laugh, right? Oh well, that's what she thought, because all those suppositions would find a dead end once she stopped her stand just to stay even more confused with whom she faced down there.

Confused and yet disgusted, she witnessed those kids laughing at a poor innocent girl, lying on the floor, with her head slightly hidden between the fingers of her bare hands and resting them on her knees, trying to bear at her best the booing and mockering falling into her.

Wendy was shocked, not only for the scenery, but also when everything escalated dramatically once those faceless children from the Neverland started to throw rocks and sticks at the poor girl, insulting her and cursing her like if they were seeing a monster from the living hell.

"Get out of here weirdo!"

"Yeah! Get lost you freak!"

"HEY! What the hell!" She angrily shouted at them.

"You're not invited to walk around these lands!"

Some of these phrases could be heard among the crowd, some who were accompanied with more laughs, more devilish unforgettable laughs. They weren't letting her enter the field, they were just despising her.

Wendy, witnessing the uncontrolled mass of hate, decided to do something about it, stepping out of the crowd and facing them herself, covering the poor girl out of more volatile objects.

"Stop! Everyone stop! What has gotten into your heads!?" She demanded to know.

The whole set of laughs immediately cut it off, a new empty silence replaced the whole atmosphere. Their faces, at least the faces that Wendy could almost recognize, were empty of all expressions, only the missing mark of their pupils made it feasible that they were seeing her with remarkable confusion, and unknown rage.

Wendy got really intimidated, but what shocked her more was seeing her former friends and schoolmates in the crowd laughing as well, her best friend Bebe, her schoolmate Red, her bestie Nichole... All her friends were among the crowd, and they also had their eyes missing, with their natural color replaced by a pale grayish tone who intertwined among the rest of the crowd like a big wall.

It looked like an army, raised from the dead, and they weren't happy, unhappy at all.

"Bebe?... Nichole?... Wait, why are you doing all this? Leave her alone! There's no reason for this dumb carnival of hate!" Wendy protested.

"Whatever she has done, whatever she did, she doesn't deserve to be mistreated like this! With rocks, sticks? What is this? We're civilized people! I can't understand this absurd mass of hate! I thought you girls were better than this, especially you Bebe!" She continued.

"What happened with article 5 from the Infinity Sparkles' Book" " two companions, in any circumstance, should never hurt one another"? These actions are out of place! I CAN'T BELIEVE ANY OF THIS!"

Nobody from the crowd responded to her back. They still stood frozen, unmoved after Wendy's words, with their mouths making a disapproving look while the sunshine started to dissipate, leaving the whole entrance to the darkness itself.

Wendy, unsure of what could happen, don't dared to move out of her position, but the sudden feeling of being grabbed through her leg made her jump out of surprise, watching her back immediately only to see that poor girl grabbing her firmly from her leg, with her hands not covering herself and revealing her face to Wendy.

Soon, Wendy understood why all that crowd was booing at the girl.

The sudden fear came once Wendy looked closely at the rotten flesh that the fallen girl had hanging from her head, with her mouth and teeth broken, her hair almost drained and one of her arms missing, all this not being noticeable thanks to the empty sleeve from her dirty coat and the weak raspy groan she tried to make with her broken throat.

Wendy was now really shocked by her dead appearance and tried to take various steps back before she tripped and fell back to the ground itself, with her eyes not taking off from the girl's. Her eyes weren't in great condition either, they were like melting from her retinas while taking a realistic shaping form similar to the ones from real humans, staring at Wendy either.

"Y…Y…You're… not th-… that … far away fr-….from them…. Weeeeeendssssssssss..."

The girl tried to say.

Suddenly, with a great intensity in their voices, the whole crowd, including Bebe and Nichole, shouted a high pitched scream that distorted the whole scenario alongside their bodies which began to stretch and contract in a twisted form creating a large mass of flesh, exploding in the red sky, alongside the high pitched scream.

Wendy, while covering her ears, trying not to burst her eardrums, got up as soon as possible and immediately ran away from her, leaving the rotten girl behind and trying to reach the oak tree.

"What the heck is happening!? I have to get out of here!" Wendy said to herself, still with the stare of the living dead stuck in her mind.

Everything, the beautiful landscape which she was happily comfortable with, changed drastically for each step left to reach the oak tree.

The precious sky turned into a dark cloudy atmosphere raining thousands of bloody drops caused by the crowd's doom. The fresh field, lake and flowers became so dry that she could hear the raspy sound of her steps, with the poor girl from the distance still calling her name, higher and more angry, demanding to be looked at.

Wendy, trying her best not to gain a panic attack, ran from her as far as she could until she encountered the old oak again, still strong and heavy despite the chaos surrounding it.

She let her fall into the roots, tripping again as she tried to find the spot where she was sleeping before, trying to wake up from there. But before she could find it, she noticed the oblivious change that brought the oak to its feet.

From where she was sitting ten minutes ago, the soil from down the tree was replaced by a rectangular mass grave, with no coffin in sight to mourn her unknown loss.

Wendy didn't know how to respond, but she dared to look down the grave, watching how deep and dark it was, with the companion of a rotten smell alongside worms and bugs, like if someone died down there a long time ago.

"Sh*t…" Wendy thought in disgust, turning herself just to leave the oak, not attempting to go back sooner.

Unfortunately for her, she didn't count that the poor rotten girl was just right behind her, looking at her angrily as ever.

"MYYYYYYYYYYYYYNNN!"

"AAAAAAAAAH!" Wendy screamed after the rotten one pushed her right behind the grave, making her fall straight inside the pit, hitting herself right in the head and back.

"Ugh my… F*ck. My head…" She said in a lower tone while her head spinned around, looking up at the entrance, still covered with the blood from the rain.

"I can't… stop it… the smell…" The smell from the ground, combined with her sudden fall was sufficient enough to make her feel dizzy, being under the mercy of the insects from below.

Up there, the rotten girl was now the one looking down below, watching how Wendy tried to unsuccessfully get out from there.

"Still… special… Still… breathing…. Consume… darkness" The rotten girl said.

"Screw you…" Wendy responded to her.

Just as she was about to get up from her dizziness a second face made herself visible through Wendy's eyes, looking down the grave just to see her struggling.

With the vision clear Wendy managed to catch a glimpse of the new intruder, confused at first for not knowing who she was, but after a closer look, she shuddered.

That wasn't someone she hadn't seen before. That was someone she knew too well. That was… herself?

"Wh…What?" She said, confused.

"Who's it now? Help me…" She asked her for help.

"Ooh… Poor little thing…" Her mystery self said.

"Soooo special, and still can't stand up for the dead…"

"I don't… understand…" Wendy said confused

"Jiji... Of course you don't! Silly…" Her mystery self said before disappearing alongside the rotten one, with the entrance of the grave slowly being covered by the roots of the oak tree, tapping the last bits of lights before covering it fully.

"No! No! Let me go! Let me go please!" Wendy begged while she tried to brush off all the bugs from her body.

"Oh Wendy, please. You can do better than this…"

"You're not letting me go! Make it stop!" Wendy demanded her

"Past experiences can't be unchanged. You're trapped, and that makes sense here. Special people tend to have twists, twists that mark our closest type of people. Let it be burnt, let it be buried, let it be marked by dumb nobodies…"

The grave was about to close down. There wasn't much time left.

"The world is full of masses, getting in our way. You can either surpass them or join them, in their never ending rage. Wendy, my heaven, you've become mass itself…"

"Please!" Wendy begged again.

"We're witches Wendy, witches! We're destined to shine from here to far beyond, but the differences persist, I'm not part of any mass. You've accepted the mass and this is your outcome…"

"No!"

We're getting closer, the grave will close at any moment.

"I'll help you Wendy, of course you will. Only you can escape from the infinite mass. You can start by taking a good bite of pure fresh air… "

"No! Wait! Dammit! Don't leave me here! Please!"

It was too late, the grave's entrance closed its doors, with Wendy inside, alone in the darkness.

"No! No! Nooooooooooooooo…!"

Now in reality...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Thankfully, with the help of the tension built from the moment, Wendy woke up from that nightmare, screaming out of surprise before the tree could just slowly devour her.

She was breathing hard, with sweat dripping down her forehead, the adrenaline made sure she was still awake.

After grabbing some moments of hesitation she finally stopped and relaxed, giving a last needed breath before rubbing her own eyes and her messy black hair, letting herself fall out of tiredness onto her own pillow.

"God. What a dream…" She said to herself.

That was pretty weird, even coming from her. She wasn't the one getting regular nightmares but this one in particular made her shiver. The calm atmosphere, the happy peace, all gone. She could remember that crowd from hell and those girls… Especially the rotten one.

Those were the things that still prowled on her thoughts. Who were those people? What happened to that fallen girl? Why did the girl from up the grave look so similar to her?

She turned right to her nightstand, opening up her phone just to see what time it was.

"3:15 a.m."

She yawned in response. For much that now she wanted, she couldn't sleep again with all those migraines covering her head. She didn't feel the need to sleep anymore.

"Ugh... Dammit! My head hurts…" She said.

She tried to find a more comfortable position to sleep but it was for nothing. Her brain just didn't feel the need to rest anymore, and that made her irritable.

"Goddammit…" She objected.

"(*Sigh), I need to fresh my mind a little bit..." She said while getting herself out of bed and heading right to her bathroom, with her bedroom's window closed and bringing her mobile along with her.

She tried her best to wash her tiring face, trying to dissipate it from all her thoughts but the migraine persisted. She couldn't stop thinking about the things that zombie girl said to her, and the dread she felt once she was trapped below the oak tree.

That drowning feeling, how the zombie girl grabbed her leg, seeing her former classmates screaming like that…

A chill ran through her body as she stared through her reflection, looking at her eyes.

She could still see that death stare coming from her mirror. How inhuman it was, how horrible it looked.

"You're not that far away from them…" She remembered.

"What was all that about? I don't remember seeing Bebe so angry like that! Thank God it was just a nightmare, but…"

She sat on her toilet.

"Why did everything turn out darker once I defended that strange girl, and who the heck dug that big grave when I was away? I'm so confused, this is just plain weird. Maybe I should stop revising some study overnight…"

The more she thought about it, the more confused she felt. Just to distract herself, she opened her phone and revised her friends' photos in an effort to throw that fear out of her mind.

She specially took a closer look at a birthday photo she took with her friends. It was a photo taken on Red's birthday, with her and her former friends Bebe, Heidi and Nichole posing for the picture.

They looked happy and cheerful, in contrast to her own nightmares. She finally took a last needed breath before closing her eyes and lean on the head of the toilet, relieved that the whole apocalyptic scenario was just a dumb fabric of her brain.

"Phew… "witches" huh? That girl sure doesn' t know what she's talking about, but well, can I complain? That's what happens when you take a time out of Trouble Town. The troubles never cease to exist…"

And she couldn't be more right, just as she was about to head back to her bedroom, her phone opened up itself, ringing like there was no tomorrow. Someone was calling her at those late hours.

Wendy, now more intrigued, took her phone out and searched the contact, now really asking to herself who the heck could be calling her at 3:00 a.m. in the morning.

When she took a closer look at the number, it made her head bottle up more questions. If her nightmare was already weird, this call was the peak of the iceberg.

"Butters?..." It said.


Not so long before, in the forest, Stan…

"C'mon… c'mon… C'mon! Let's move!" Stan shouted while leading the escape.

"Stan! Wait up!" His friends tried to reach him, but nothing that they threw at him wasn't gonna relieve his internal concern.

He was worried, especially worried. Whatever magic had Wands thrown into them, it made them waste some precious little time to return down town and warn Wendy.

He still couldn't believe that this was just happening. First these people strike into their house, then he almost gets choked by a copycat of himself, and to top all this a new freak enters the showdown and goes after Wendy? Oh god, why did it have to be Wendy?

The four have always entered into problems, let it be internal, external or from the size of the whole space, but it always, almost most of the time, involved the four of them, and only the four of them. Himself, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny.

Sure, you could say that Butters was part of their trouble gang too, but he was mostly in a balance where he could be easy to influence or not, most of that influence coming from Cartman, but for the case of Wendy, she was sand from another side.

She could have joined in some of their wacky adventures a few times in the past, but she always kept a firm line when things turned out of proportions.

His girlfriend could be best qualified as an unpredictable force of good. Most of the time she was absent from every crazy scenario, but when it was her turn to shine she succeeded in every way.

Well, in most of them…

The Paris Hilton dilemma, the sabotage of Mr. Garrison's assassination plan, or even the exposed fraud of the cutest boy list, just to name a few he could remember well.

She always found the way to never give up on her goals, even if that meant having to beat down a big mole like Cartman's enormous fatass.

That was her for him, of course. A great source of inspiration, his only true love. A little piece of sunshine through his gloomy bad days. But this time, the circumstances changed drastically.

The problems weren't waiting to be found, they were coming right at her, now with no anticipation that could make her be prepared.

Stan couldn't tell what could make them go after her, but he couldn't stop feeling guilty, for some reason he felt responsible. Maybe he had to do something with this, telling how his copycat knew too much about various moments from his past, maybe he could guess that his counterpart would have easily warned to that Wands girl about his long romance with Wendy, knowing how much she mean to him, and judging by how they treated Ms. Cartman, Wendy would meet that same fate too.

Oh please, as a matter of fact, it just didn't make sense why these so-called "reversals" would even exist in the first place.

What are those f*cking copycats? Where did they even come from? Why did they wanna hurt them? Why did they wanna hurt Wendy? Why was it all just an unknowingly big scenario of madness!

He wanted to know, he needed to know. But right now, that wasn't his primary goal.

Wendy was in danger, and Stan had to save her.

"Those heartless…. They better be slowpokes..." He thought

Stan wasn't retained anymore and nothing would stop his escape. Well, with the exception of…

"OUCH!"

A branch, which the ground put conveniently as a way to stop his running, making him fall directly to the ground and eating the dust in the process.

"Ugh, dammit!" He said.

Stan could have just got up and returned to his trottel if Kyle hadn't grabbed him from the shoulder, making him stop for once.

"Stan!" Kyle called him.

"Let me go dude!"

"No! You can't just start running away and hope we can follow you up!"

"Yes, I can!"

"No you don't! We don't even know if this is the real exit of the forest. For now, we need to see our options…"

"Fellas!" Butters called them from their distance, being the slowest of the three. Stopping where they were, he held his knees out of pure fatigue.

"(*Sigh)(*Sigh)… Slow down a little! Jeez. I don't like these sudden marathons…"

"We can't stop. Wendy is in danger!" Stan exclaimed

"I know dude, but…"

"But what!" Stan interrupted Kyle.

"But you can't just throw yourself into the fire and cross your fingers! Dammit! We have to be smarter…"

"Kyle! Her name is Wands, WANDS Testaburger! If that doesn't give you a damn clue about what she's capable of, maybe ask to my crazy self or that asshole from your past. C'mon Kyle! They had frozen us, persecuted us… Hell! I almost got choked to death, the last thing we want is that they start hurting innocents..."

"Dude, calm down! Calm down alright? I get it, they are really going too far with all this. I don't know where to even start. But think about it Stan, think just for a second. What if it's just a trick?

"A trick? R-..." Stan was about to protest, but Kyle cut him off.

"STAN! C'mon! Only God knows just for how long those morons have been preparing these encounters. This could be part of their plan too…"

"But… but she…"

"(*Sigh), Stan, listen, it's too simple, ok? Your counterpart appears, he hunts us down to the woods, we trapped him, victory! But immediately after that this woman appears, we suspiciously "find" her up on that tree and then she presents herself as Wendy's ''counterpart'', giving us the indication that she's going after Wendy, are you following me?" Kyle told him.

"Yeah, so?"

"Don't you see it! These f*ckers came with no explanation and started to hunt us, but this woman appears and starts telling us what she's about to do. If she really wanted to hunt Wendy down don't you think she would have done it already! Instead of… you know, coming here, and warn us. Like a show, like a plan…"

Kyle, despite his friend's desperation, made a good point. They couldn't be sure if Wands was messing up with them or not. Nonetheless, Stan's trance between confusion and fear made his mind block like a blank sheet. He now couldn't be sure if Wendy was truly in danger or not.

"I…"

"Oh jeez!" Butters exclaimed.

"Fellas! Do you wanna know which people are truly in danger? Kenny and Eric! We don't know where they are! The last time we saw them was in the house, and now we lost them! Oh jeez! I don't wanna fear the worst…"

The two other boys immediately remembered that they or Wendy weren't only in danger. They haven't known a thing about Kenny and Cartman for a long time. They couldn't tell if they were fine or not.

"Jesus! I forgot! We also need to find them too…" Kyle said.

"How? We're lost and they could be too. It's gonna be like finding a needle in a haystack..." Butters added.

"(*Clapping his hands), Stan quick! Your phone! Call them!" Kyle said.

"I can't, I don't have it with me. My counterpart just took it and threw it into Cartman's basement..."

"Sh*t! I left mine in the stupid treehouse…"

Kyle and Stan then slowly look at Butters, who was nervously rubbing her hands, unsure of what to do.

"What?" He asked.

"Butters, do you still have your phone with you?"

"Um… Yeah, I do."

"Call them. Call them dude!"

"Oh yes of course! Hang on fellas…"

Butters took the phone out of his pocket and turned it on while searching his contacts.

"Phew... Thank the Lord for not letting my parents ground me and take it away from my hands…"

"Quick! Call Kenny first. He's always the first one to pick up the calls…"

They dialed Kenny's phone number and waited for a response. The phone beeped for some time, expecting the sound to take off once Kenny took the call.

In the end, the sound disappeared, but only because it stood online for too long. His receiver never picked up.

"Oh hammies…" Butters said.

"Call again…" Kyle demanded.

They tried to call him again, but the results were the same. They then tried to call Cartman instead, just to see if he was operative or not, but sadly they only took the lasting phone sound as a sign of worry.

They never picked their calls, and that could only mean one thing…

"Not even Eric, Kyle…" Butters said.

"Dammit…" Kyle muttered.

The realization of his friends' disappearances made the three stand there in silence. They were scared, scared to fear the worst.

"Maybe their phones just ran out of batteries. That happens sometimes when you overuse your phone…" Butters tried to calm the ambience.

"Yeah, I wish it was for that…" Kyle said.

Stan stood there pensative, with his arms on his clutches. Without saying anything, he frowned and got up, stepping in front of Butters, taking his phone from his hands without asking and started marking a number.

"STAN! What the fish!" Butters protested

"Hold on a sec…"

"Give my phone back!"

"Hold on a second Butters!" Stan told him.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Kyle asked his super best friend.

"I need to make this phone call…"

"What phone call? We have already tried calling them. They didn't respond dude…"

"No Kyle. I'm not taking any more risks. I'm calling Wendy, here and now..." Stan assured his super best friend.

"Dude, Are we-... Are we on this again!"

"Kyle, please, just one call…"

"STAN! It could be a f*cking trap!"

"Oh jeez…" Butters wrapped his hands around his head, worrying about his phone's battery life.

"I JUST WANNA BE SURE!" Stan reassured him, ignoring Jyle while paying careful attention to the phone line, praying that she would be able to pick up his emergency call.

"C'mon, pick it up. Wendy, pick it up please. Please, pick it up. Please… please… please…"

At the other part of the town, Wendy still stood adrift in her bathroom, uncertain about the strange midnight call she was receiving. It was even more unsure if she should just take the call or not.

Why was Butters calling her for? Did he just mark the wrong number and put hers instead? That couldn't be possible, knowing how strict Butters' parents are.

She was about to let it pass and head to her bedroom but, for some reason, she still got intrigued. She wasn't sure what he would call her for, but it was curious nonetheless. A midnight call from Butters.

"What he would want…" She asked herself.

That's it. Instead of letting it go, she decided to take her phone up and pick the call while sitting still on the toilet seat, not expecting much coming from Butters, evaluating ideas of what he could possibly want to tell her…

Stan, Kyle, Butters - Wendy

S: Please, pick it up…

W: (*phone's ringing)

S: Please…

W: (*still ringing)

S: Please…

W: (*no response)

S: please…

W: (*call picked) Um… Hello?

S: (*sigh)

W: Hellooo?

S: (*sigh)

W: Butters?

S: Thank goodness! She's still there. Phew(he sighs relieved)…

W: (*Sigh), Listen Butters, if you're not gonna say anything then don't make me waste more data and g-...

S: Wendy!

W: Wait, Stan? Stan is that you?

S: Wendy! Are you there?

W: Ehm, well… Yeah, yes I am. I was about to get some sleep until you just called me. What 's wrong?

S: Well…

W: You forgot to put your alarm clock on or what? It's too late to make these midnight calls, Stan…

S: Yeah, I know. I'm sorry…

W: And why are you calling me with Butters' number?

S: It's a long story Wendy, I'll come to that. We just wanted to make sure you were fine….

W: We… Wait, who's with you?

S: Eeh…

B: Hey Wendy!(he jumps at Stan's side, surprising Stan in the process)

K: (*Sighs), Good nights Wendy. It's us, Kyle here…

W: You too Kyle? I already know Butters was in but… Wait, why are you three calling me at 3:00 am! It's too late you guys! I wanna get some sleep…

K: I know Wendy, we're sorry. I have already told Stan here th-...

B: WENDY WENDY LISTEN! A PINK FLYING WITCH IS COMING RIGHT AFTER YOU! TAKE ALL YOUR STUFF AND ESCAPE BEFORE SHE GETS YOU DOWN TOO!

K: Butters! Shh! Don't scream like that…

W: Uhh… What?

S: Ehh Wendy, listen... We didn't want to bother you and all that but… a weird outcome has occurred and somehow… well… we're in danger. You included…

W: What do you mean with-...? Wait... Hold on a minute. (*Sigh)... Ok, what 's happening? What have you guys done this time?

K: Why does she say it like that?

S: (*Sigh), Wendy, We haven't like, well... done nothing… except being retained… and stalked.

W: Stan… You have been stalked!?

S: Well, if I can say it like that, then… yeah?

K: We were having a sleepover at Cartman's until 4 robbers broke into his house while we were sleeping in his treehouse. They locked down Butters, they tied and retained us and they even tried to murder us. Stan, Butters and I were really lucky to escape, I don't know if Cartman and Kenny are safe but we ran to the woods. We got rid of one of them but, the worst thing is, we have found yet another one of those robbers and, to put it simply, we think she's gonna hunt you down…

W:

K: That's, well... basically the reason why we have called you.

S: Yes, it is…

B: AND THIS IS WHY YOU NEED TO LEAVE YOUR HOUSE NOW!

K: (*whispering) Butters… keep it… quiet!

Wendy was out of words, not knowing what to say. Was this some kind of prank? Was her boyfriend and his gang trying to make her go with them or something?

She turned the volume down on her phone, she didn't want to wake up her parents, she then slightly closed the bathroom door, leaning on it as she resumed her midnight phone call.

W: So, someone is going to "haunt" me down?

S: Hunt, not "haunt", and yes. She 's going to get you…

W: And you were partying at Cartman's, right?

S: Yes, well, a sleepover….

W: Since when Eric does sleepovers?

K: Apparently from now on…

B: Yes! It was a surprise sleepover! Although I wasn't invited the first time…

W: Yeah, whatever. And he's with you guys?

B: No. We don't know where he could be…

W: Yeah, I suppose... So let's recap a little bit, let's just assume that Cartman has just decided to put on a sleepover just the day after the Spanish exam, let some so-called "stalkers" invade his house, made all of you travel through the woods and magically send another stalker after me. Have I summarized the play fair enough Stan?

S:

W:

S:

W:

S:

W:

B: : - )

S: You say this in a rhetorical or in a passive form of way?

Kyle facepalmed himself as Wendy grabbed her bottle of water and started her ranting.

W: I don't know Stan, what do you think! The no vegan fat chubby is not gonna pull me another one of his master plans again if he has the balls to sneak into my house just for a lame "hunt of witches" play...

S: Fat chubby?... AH! No No No No No No NO! This is not a joke Wendy! We're serious, they wanna take you down!

W: Take me down, of course…

Wendy got out of her bathroom, taking a sip of fresh water before returning back to Stan.

W: Stan! Listen. I don't know how does it Cartman to be so influential in your friends' life, but pulling these kinds of "pranks" on your own girlfriend only makes you look more like him or straightly more dumb than in third grade, and that's a thing I hate to tolerate!

S: No, Wendy! please, I…

W: No! Listen to me Stan! My parents are sleeping, we have two math exams to prepare in two weeks and I wake up with a bad headache! The last thing I need is a revenge prank over the food menu from school!

"Dude, what's wrong?" Kyle asked.

"She doesn't believe us…" Stan responded to him, on the verge of having a panic attack. How was he gonna convince his girlfriend to escape from her house if she thought he was just collaborating in another one of Eric's plans?

Cursing himself and the fatty's performance, Stan tried in vain to convince her about his worries and fears.

S: Wendy…

W: No Stan, I j-...

S: NO! Wendy please! Trust my words! I'm being serious! You need to get out of your house now! They're coming for you Wendy! They're f*cking coming to you!

Rolling her eyes out of tiredness and annoyance, Wendy entered her bedroom, ready to lay down her bed and about to turn the call off, but a new oddity in her window made her feel more annoyed with the situation.

W: Wow, so they're coming after me, huh? Well, then that would explain why my window is opened and with signs of large footsteps!

S: Eeh… Wendy? What are you talking about?

W: Stan, don't play the fool on me! You know I always left my window closed at night, there's no other reason why I would let it open. C'mon now, where's Cartman hiding? Huh? Where's he?

S:

Wendy approached her window and was about to close it but, after taking a short peak at her house's backyard, she noticed another oddity, this time a really clear one. A fog, a pink vast fog, was hovering over her yard, blocking the view down from anyone who was there.

This made her annoyance grow, but at the same time, her confusion.

W: Oh great, this has to be an elaborate prank from those on Youtube. Ugh, where did you guys obtain the pink fog? From an ice cream truck or from cotton candy? You can go and tell Cartman that pink's not my favorite color….

S:

W: Stan, are you listening or what?

S: Wendy… RUN AWAY! Get out of there, please!

Stan said this while being more worried than ever, worried that his worst predictions were real and her doppelganger was right next to her house.

W: Stan! I'm starting to get on my nerves, if you guys don't cut this out then I w-...

Just as she was about to warn them with a block on the call she finally took notice of the shadow figure who was hiding between the smoke, sitting at her yard looking directly at her.

"What the hell?" She said.

S: Wendy! Wendy! Please! Tell me you're still there! PLEASE!

Wendy ignored Stan's replies while she rubbed her eyes, not keeping her gaze out of the intruder who was invading her backyard.

She quickly took notice of her black hair, her form of dressing, her magenta beret and her pink gloves. She immediately even took notice at the pink glowing eyes that the figure nailed to her eyes and the real appearance she had from there.

It was familiar. She had seen it before, in her dreams, in the grave. It was….

Herself...

W: Ok?... Why is Butters dressing up like me now? This is not funny, especially from this distance…

S:

W: Stan?

S:

W: Stan, please... Tell Cartman to abort the prank now. Seriously guys, this is not funny, it's starting to get me scared…

S: Hide…

That 's it. His unfortunate prediction came to reality. He wasn't gonna keep up the conversation any longer before taking the lead once again. Parallel to this, Wendy witnessed how that girl who looked almost like her got up from the ground and stretched her arms to her sides, starting to, consequently, float up to the night sky, not quitting her gaze from Wendy and positioning herself in unison with the moon, reflecting her shadow to the house itself.

Now Wendy passed from confused to startled, hypnotized by her counterpart's weird nature, she started to realize the gravity of the situation and how foolish she was for not having taken the gesture to leave her bedroom sooner.

This couldn't be happening. She looked like the girl from the dream. From her nightmare…

W: S-...Stan? Stan, are you there? Why is she… floating in the sky?

S: ("Dammit" he muttered to himself) Wendy, listen carefully! And please listen carefully to me: Close all your windows, close all your doors and hide at a good spot that you feel secure. Kyle, Butters and I will head to your house immediately, don't move from there ok? We're heading right to you as we speak. Try to call the police if you're more lucky reasoning with them, but whatever you do, don't let the smoke catch you! Ok? Ok Wendy? Wendy?... Are you still there Wendy?... Wendy?

She wasn't listening to him anymore, she took the short time he had to immediately close everything and sat below her window, with her head leaned to her knees and her breath constantly shaking up, while her counterpart pointed at her with both hands, emanating a pink flow of energy which grew faster and faster.

She could still hear her boyfriend's desperate calls for safety while the pressure she was facing grew more, more and more, feeling the same type of fear when she was trapped in that grave. Maybe she was still dreaming, but everything looked too real.

But she couldn't be dreaming, the thoughts and senses she was feeling were too real to just not imagine it, and that only fueled her worries for the worst.

W:(*breathing heavily)

S: Wendy?

W: Stan, what's happening?

S: I'll explain later, just hold on there. Don't leave the phone off, we're coming…

She couldn't believe all this, how that girl materialized in reality, it just couldn't make sense. Sure, she already lives in a town where everything is possible. A little town full of troubles, but…

This hit was different for her. Why was this happening to her? What were those stalkers that Stan was talking about? Why did they want to hunt her?

"No… No, I'm still dreaming. I'm still stuck in that nightmare…" She said to herself, in an effort to calm herself down.

"I'm stuck. I'm trapped in this never ending nightmare…, I don't wanna get hurt, I don't wanna lose my breath. Nothing of that is gonna happen to you girl. Keep it together. Keep it together girl. This… is just… a dumb little nightmare. Nothing more than that. Nothing anymore…" She whispered to herself.

Just as she tried to rationalize the situation, she could hear a cracking sound coming from her closet, a pair of steps approaching right to her and an overlapping figure standing right in front of her, clenching its fists and reflecting his knife into the ground so she could notice the new presence.

"Oh, please…" The figure said.

Wendy, now scared, slowly turned her head up, immediately staring cold at the past kid from the yellow hat, the green coat and of yellow eyes.

Exactly, it was Elik, Kyle's counterpart, who took the advantage of her brief absence to sneak out of her bedroom, wait until Wands made her magic and patiently wait until Wendy locked herself in there so she wouldn't take the effort to escape.

It was part of Wands' plan.

It was the plan B for Elik.

"YOU ARE NOT REALLY THAT FAR AWAY…"

Elik said before grabbing Wendy from the wrist with a fast movement and surprisingly pushed her really hard from her stomach, throwing her straight to the window and making her fall to the abyss, breaking the glass in the process with the phone as well.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Wendy screamed, begging for her life, but just before she could land straight to the ground, Wands took her from the air with her magic and retained her from the back, not letting her go so she wouldn't fall again.

"Huh!?" Wendy exclaimed incredulously

"What's wrong sweetie? Scared of the views from above?" Wands mocked her, slowly landing her down, not letting her escape from her watch.

"Ugh… Let me go! LET ME GO!" Wendy demanded.

"I'm sorry Burger, the plan doesn't go that way, jiji…. It's like I told you, we're all witches here…" She responded.

As Elik was climbing down the house from the bedroom window, she noticed how he was holding a small bag full of the pink dust that Stan warned her not to touch, putting his hand inside the bag and grabbing some of it to use in that instant.

"Hello there, Wendy... Having troubles in Imagination Land?"

"Grr... Who the f*ck are you!" She asked him furiously.

"Oh don't worry Burger, you will eventually know. Eventually, you will…" Elik said, stretching his hand and blowing all the pink dust right to Wendy's face, making her subtle to its effects and eventually fall unconscious on Wands' arms.

"What is… this… weird… fragranc-…." She said before closing her eyes.

The two finally got what they wanted and were about to leave, but first they had to finish up with things first.

S: Wendy! Wendy! Are you still there? Please! I'm still here Wendy! Please tell me! Are you still there Wendy? Wendy? Wendy! WEND-!?

CRASH!

With a big stomp Elik destroyed what was left of Wendy's cell phone, cutting the phone call abruptly and shouting Stan off.

"Wendy? Wendy! F*ck, f*ck! Dammit!"

"What's wrong Stan?"

"I knew it! Those assholes got her. Goddammit!"

Stan started to run again, this time knowing for sure how to get out from the woods and where Wendy's house was.

"Dude, wait up!" Kyle said.

"I shouldn't have listened to you dude!"

"Oh, jeez! Not another marathon!"

The three boys retook their march, now with Stan determined as ever, meanwhile Elik and Wands stood there in Wendy's yard, rethinking in what to do next,

"Well, we have her. Are you satisfied?"

"You bet, this will be perfect for my little experiment…"

"Whatever witch, I don't care what you do with her. I just want to get the hands on that pot face and strangle him…"

"I know silly, I know that too. And she will lead us to him, we just need to make them worry even more…"

"How so?"

Wands didn't say anything, then with a pulse of energy she threw a ball of magic to her bedroom, creating an explosion which destroyed part of her bedroom, destroying her window and the front wall.

"Like this. Jijiji…"

"Holy f*ck! You aren't such a weirdo at all, huh?"

"Talks the one who likes to live someone else's life..."

Elik opened his mouth. He then shouted.

"Listen to this witch... My sh*t, your crap. Now let's get out of here! We don't wanna face them yet…"

"That's what I was about to do anyways…" Wands said, and the two left the scene carrying an unconscious Wendy along them, not letting their tracks be uncovered and heading back to another part of the woods without any of the neighbors noticing their presence.

Not so long after that, Stan, Kyle and Butters finally arrived at her house, with Stan frantically trying to find Wendy while Butters tried to do the same.

"C'mon, open…"

"Stan, don't be stupid. They're not gonna let the door open…"

"Uuh.. Stan?"

Stan and Kyle turned their faces to see Butters pointing at a side of the house.

"You should check this out..." Butters said while going to the direction he was pointing at.

Kyle and Stan followed him and the two saw the inevitable. The destruction propitiated in her bedroom, her beret hanging on one side and her phone landing in the ground.

They were shocked.

"Oh no…" Stan said.

"She wasn't joking around fellas…" Butters added.

Kyle didn't say anything, he was primarily shocked with how these people would go that far if they wanted to kidnap anyone in their plan list.

Scared and decided, Butters noticed a shiny object leading where her beret was, taking her hat out to see what it was. It was her phone, a cell phone, the same phone she used to talk with Stan before being kidnapped as well.

"Stan, it's her phone. Look…" He showed it to him, letting him take it and examine it.

It was broken, partially broken, with the screen almost destroyed and the batteries just out of place. Stan looked at it for a long time and placed it on his chest, crouching down to the ground and with his eyes glassy from desperation. Few tears ran from his cheeks, but the hopelessness still persisted.

"No…" Stan muttered,

"Those soulless…"

"I'm sorry dude…" Kyle told him,

"There was nothing we could do to stop this…"

Stan immediately got up and confronted him.

"YES THERE WAS! If you hadn't stopped me we would have got just in time to save her, dammit!"

"Dude! We didn't know they would get her too! It was a big risk to go through!"

"Kyle! I told you they would get her, and you never listened to me!"

"I was trying to protect us Stan! What if it was a f*cking trap?"

"Well, what if it wasn't?"

"FELLAS! Jeez, cut it out, it is already enough we have our asses on fire! We don't wanna let them break us in a fight!" Butters interfered in their discussion.

The two boys looked at each other and then Stan collapsed, scared that his girlfriend had run through the same experience that he already passed on in Cartman's basement.

"We could have done something, but she never believed me…" Stan muttered in a sad tone.

The three boys stood there without saying anything to each other for a large time, not knowing what to do next. They didn't want to know what the fates of their friends Eric, Kenny and Wendy could have been, and they also didn't want to think what their destinies would be in the hands of these counterparts.

However, hope persisted.

Before the slumber could eat them both, Butters noticed a much needed oddity coming from the street.

"Eeh… Fellas? I have a feeling who tells me where those freaks could be heading next…" Butters said, now pointing at the street.

This was a necessary clue for the three, because when Stan and Kyle looked at the street they noticed the thin pinky trail of smoke forming a little path.

Hope wasn't lost, at least not for them. Those freaks could be smarter, all that they wanted, but if they wanted to be their counterparts, they weren't exempt from making mistakes.

X/ ;)