As the sun began to dip below the horizon on Sunday evening, Wendy realized that she was quite nervous. Tomorrow would be the fist day that she and Cartman would appear together as a couple at school. The atmosphere there had been tense enough already, with Stan staring daggers at her whenever he could. Not to mention the fact that he and Kyle had widely propagated the idea that Wendy was a traitorous cheater. The label had also been attached to Cartman for his part in the incident, but she knew well that Cartman wouldn't care in the slightest, as he was already a bit of an outcast.
Kenny and Heidi were still highly supportive of her relationship, and Bebe still spoke to her, but not near any of the other students. Wendy figured that's just how Bebe would always be, and she needed all the friends she could get at this point. However, the person least pleased by her new romance was undoubtedly her mother. Wendy recalled when she first broke the news to her. It had been on Tuesday evening, just three days after battling the cult.
"WHAT?" Her mother had roared, a look of pure shock stricken across her face. "You would trade in a handsome football player for that…that psychopath?"
"Don't call him that! He's not that way anymore!" Wendy protested. Though in truth, she wondered if she wasn't a bit psychotic as well, and that had been what'd drawn her to Cartman. Obviously, she would never admit to such a notion.
"Wendy, please think about what you're doing. That boy has MURDERED people! What's to say he won't do the same to you?" Her mom knew she was exaggerating a tad, but felt that she needed to draw as much emphasis as possible.
"You don't know him at all, Mom. He saved my life! I…I love-"
"Don't you DARE say it!" Her mom interrupted, "That, that creature is incapable of love! I forbid you from seeing him!" Wendy's jaw dropped. She couldn't believe the pure vitriol spewing from her own mother's mouth. Creature? What the fuck was wrong with her?
"You WON'T stop me, you CUNT!" Wendy screamed in response, her fists clenched so tightly that her nails had dug into her palms. With that furious outburst, Wendy stormed out of the house, leaving her mother crying in the living room.
Wendy had proceeded to wonder the streets in the freezing cold for nearly an hour before returning. By the time she'd returned, her mom was seated at the kitchen table, cigarette in one hand, glass of whiskey in the other. Her dad had been out on business for the last few days, which is why Wendy decided to tell her mom at that time.
"Mom…I'm-"
"Save it, Wendy," Her mother interjected, "I'll never understand what you see in someone like Cartman, but…I love you more than I hate him. If you really think he'll make you happy, I guess I won't argue any more about it." The words were clearly very difficult for her to say. Wendy approached her mother and gave her a hug.
"T-Thanks Mom," She whispered.
In the present, Wendy was slipping on a pair of boxing gloves in the basement of her house. She had taken to boxing after the battle with the demon, which had found her incapacitated and helpless before the creature. Luckily, her father already had a punching bag set up in the basement for his own exercise. She trained for about half an hour, her punches steadily growing more potent as her practice continued. "With how pissed everyone seems to be at me, this might come in handy sooner than later," Wendy thought to herself.
Afterwards, she slipped back up the stairs and headed off the bed, mouthing a brief goodnight to her parents. Wendy knew that neither of her parents approved of her relationship, but both had surrendered the idea of talking her out of it. She had noticed them discussing something quite frequently as of late, however. Both seemed unusually excited for some "Moon Viewing" party coming up on Tuesday night. Wendy had seen the flyers around town, but for the life of her couldn't figure out why everyone she encountered was so thrilled by it. Her parents weren't even normally the type that liked this sort of thing.
"Something screwy must be going on," Wendy thought to herself as she laid down in bed, pulling out her phone to check for any new messages. She was excited to discover that Cartman had sent one just a few minutes ago.
"Hey ho, come to my house tomorrow night." Cartman messaged.
"Oh, you wanna finish what we started at the hospital yesterday? ;)" Wendy happily replied
"Hell yea I do, but we have something we need to talk about. It's about that party on Tuesday night. I don't think discussing it at school will be a good idea."
Wendy was certainly confused by all of this, but decided to trust Cartman's word. She also felt that the party was very suspicious, and hoped that Cartman could shed some light on what was happening. Though her mind was still swirling from all of her thoughts, she eventually fell into an uneasy slumber.
The morning sun rose much too quickly, and after groggily preparing for school, Wendy shuffled her way out the front door of her house. Upon arrival at school, she was pleased to see Cartman, alongside Heidi and Kenny, chatting outside the school's entryway. However, another figure could be seen amongst their midst. Wendy had no clue who this new person was, but they appeared to be a blond-haired girl from a distance. As she approached the group, the realization slowly hit her.
"Hey there Wendy! Long time no see!" Spoke the new figure.
"…Evidently a very long time, Butters," Wendy replied, taken aback by his highly feminine appearance. Admittedly, he pulled the look off rather well, with an elegant blue dress and white knitted shawl to shield him from the cold. She also marveled at his ability to walk in high heels, something that even she had failed to master. Butters quickly rushed forward and gave Wendy a hug. "Its nice to see you again, but I thought you weren't ever coming back to South Park," Wendy admitted.
"Well shucks, I wasn't plannin' on it, but life's always full of surprises!" Butters cheerfully responded, "For example, I never expected Kyle and Stan to break away from Eric and Kenny."
"Heh, that…might partially be my fault," Wendy confessed, twiddling her thumbs.
"Don't worry about it, hippy. Those two were assholes anyway," Cartman interjected, placing his arm around her shoulder.
"I'll have you know, fatass, that I've offered to break their kneecaps several times already," Heidi noted, smirking confidently, "Kenny always says that its 'too extreme' or some other bullshit. Just don't want you to think we'd forgotten about you while you were in the hospital." Wendy caught a quick glimpse of Heidi lightly holding Kenny's hand as she spoke, something she hadn't observed before. Kenny took notice of Wendy's eyeing and blushed.
"…Its exactly what you think, Wendy," Kenny mentioned plainly, "What can I say? She's got a nice ass." Heidi responded by elbowing Kenny sharply in his ribs. "Ouch! Okay, nice elbows too." Wendy shook her head while Cartman laughed heartily. Butters then turned his attention to Wendy, handing her a small diamond pendant.
"Please wear this," Butters implored, his eyes narrowing, "I can't explain why right now, but do not take it off." Wendy then noticed that the rest of the group all wore the same pendant around their necks. All of them suddenly had deathly serious expressions on their faces, but Cartman nodded at her reassuringly.
"Just trust us for now, ho," Cartman explained, "We'll tell you more about it tonight." Though Wendy was perplexed, Cartman's words eased her mind a bit. He then reached down and kissed her on the lips, Kenny and Heidi now both pretending to gag.
After more friendly conversation, the group headed off to their respective classes. As she walked down the hall, holding hands with Cartman, she expected angry looks from some of the students. However, their expressions were far from angry. In fact, most students she passed shot wide-eyed smiles in her direction. Upon entering History Class, things became considerably more bizarre. Stan and Kyle, of all people, walked up to the pair and greeted them both cheerfully.
"Hey you two," Kyle remarked, "Don't forget about the party on Tuesday!" Stan nodded along to Kyle's statement vigorously.
"Why would we care about some dumbass party, Jew?" Cartman shot back, visibly annoyed by Kyle's pleasant demeanor. The pair of boys didn't respond to Cartman's insult with anger, merely smiling even wider and returning to their seats. "Do you, um, think there's something off about those two?" Cartman whispered to Wendy.
"The fact that Stan didn't try to murder you pretty much confirms it," Wendy answered, "And Kyle would never let a "Jew" comment slide normally." That was far from the only anomaly present in the class. Nearly everyone seemed to match Stan and Kyle's enthusiasm, and Wendy also took notice of three new students in the back of the room. The trio were all dressed in identical black and red outfits, two of them female and one male. It was at that time Kenny crept into the classroom, remnants of smeared lipstick present on his face.
"Don't make eye contact with those three in the back," Kenny whispered. Wendy couldn't help but steal a quick glance at the three students, and even that brief glimpse made her tremble slightly. Something was deeply wrong with the three. Wendy couldn't quite explain what it was, either. It was as though their facial features were just slightly off, their eyes a tad too big and their mouths stretched into a disgustingly false grin. Wendy's heart skipped a beat when one of them began to turn their head in her direction, and she quickly looked away.
What's more, no one else in the class acknowledged the trio's strange appearance. In fact, no one else even acknowledged their very existence, not even the teacher. Class proved to be very uncomfortable as a result, Wendy feeling the piercing gaze of the strange group the entire time. She did chuckle at Cartman's subtle attempts to flip them off when they turned their heads, however.
When class finally dismissed, Wendy exchanged loving kisses with her boyfriend and headed off to math. Cartman gave her another warning to avoid the eyes of any of the "new students", Wendy taking the words to heart. "I can't wait for today to be over," She thought to herself, "I really need to know what the fuck's going on." She briefly noticed Bebe in the hall, but elected not to speak to her upon noticing her deep in discussion with a group of girls about Tuesday's party.
She took a seat next to Heidi when she finally arrived in Math class, observing the presence of two more of the strange new students seated behind them. "Heidi," She whispered, "Can you tell me anything about what's happening?"
"They'll hear us," Heidi quietly responded, "Just wait 'till tonight." That comment did little to ease Wendy's concerns. The rest of the day passed in a tense quiet, Wendy nearly bursting from inside with her numerous worries. She wanted nothing more that to leave the school.
When the last bell finally rang, Wendy rushed to the parking lot in a desperate attempt to exit the schoolgrounds. This would prove to be more difficult than she'd expected, however. Standing directly in front of her car were five of the new students, who rapidly approached her. "We noticed that you lacked a pamphlet," The group spoke in unison, "The Red Moon Society would hate for you to miss our glorious eclipse party."
One member of the group, apparently the leader, reached out his hand, extending a pamphlet of information to Wendy. It was now nearly impossibly to avoid eye contact with the strangers, and the longer Wendy looked into their eyes, the more ill she felt. She felt a strong urge to make use of her recent boxing practice, but figured that attacking five assailants would be unwise. Moments later, however, she would be saved when a colossal fist collided with the group leader's face.
"FUCK. OFF." Bellowed the fist's owner, Eric Cartman. The leader seemed to have been knocked unconscious from the blow, Wendy noticing a few elongated teeth scattered on the asphalt. The rest of the group appeared to be reaching for something in their pockets, but hurriedly dispersed upon seeing Butters quickly approaching them.
Butters and Cartman steadied Wendy on her feet, and assisted her in reaching the car.
"T-Thanks, you guys," Wendy stammered.
"Come over to Eric's as soon as you can," Butters implored, "The Red Moon will be arriving tomorrow night, and we must prepare."