Tuesday morning came all too quickly. Wendy awoke in a fog, startled slightly by Cartman's sleeping face right next to her own. "Urgh, hey fatass, wake up…" Wendy mumbled.
"Just go to the party without me, I'm tired of all the Goddamn cultists anyway," Cartman groggily replied.
"We just have to kill one guy. You could do that with your eyes closed," Wendy responded, sitting up in the bed and nudging Cartman's arm. The boy finally opened his eyes and sat up. He greeted Wendy with a kiss and a warm hug.
"…Alright. Let's go whip some ass!" Cartman was suddenly filled with energy, shooting up out of the bed. Wendy followed slowly behind. "Hey uh, wanna take a shower together?" Cartman attempted a sultry expression.
"What?" Wendy tilted her head slightly, feigning confusion.
"To um…save water, heh. You hippies like that sort of thing, right?" Cartman shrugged, a blush forming on his face.
"I just like watching you squirm a bit," Wendy giggled, "I would love to." The proposal was a nice one, but it would have to wait, as the pair encountered a smirking Kenny standing right outside the bathroom door.
"You guys gonna go in there and pound?" Kenny chided.
"Okay. Well, I'd say the mood is officially dead. May it rest in peace," Wendy remarked, "I'll go in first, you two jerkoffs can wait out here." Cartman wanted to deck Kenny for ruining the atmosphere, but ultimately decided against it. To top it off, Cartman could hear Wendy pleasantly humming in the shower, as if to tease him further.
"Kenny…I'm trying my hardest not to throttle you right now. I, I just want you to know that." Cartman eyes twitched slightly as he spoke.
"Heh, sorry about that. I might just be a little sore cause Heidi's kinda pissed at me."
"Hmm…did you do that thing you do with every new girlfriend? That thing I keep telling you to stop doing, dumbass?" Cartman admonished, casting a judgmental stare in Kenny's direction.
Kenny looked as though he wanted to protest, but ultimately hung his head in admission. "Kenny, most girls don't like having their toes sucked on, you retard. Please stop asking them, they don't find it charming, you just look like a freak." Kenny threw up his hands.
"Whatever, man. I'll get her to agree to it one of these days," Kenny insisted.
"You're both freaks in my book," Wendy called, emerging from the bathroom fully dressed. Kenny chortled and ducked into the bathroom. After showers had concluded, the group headed downstairs. Cartman's mom was largely unbothered by the group skipping school, as it seemed the cult's mind control had strengthened its grip on her. All she could talk about was the upcoming festival, and how excited she was to meet the Queen.
Wendy took notice of something equally strange, however. Butters was nowhere to be found.
"Where is that blonde weirdo anyway?" Heidi asked. Her inquest was quickly resolved as the front door of the house soon swung open.
"Hey there fellers!" Butters happily exclaimed, "I've been up for a few hours, gettin' our strategy together."
"Oh yea? So what's the plan, Land o' Lakes?' Cartman shot, Wendy giggling at his typically awful pun.
"I scoped the festival out a bit earlier this morning. There's a great big stage right in the middle of town square," Butters explained, "Plenty of room underneath, we can hide there until the leader makes his 'grand entrance'."
With their plan solidified, the group began the short journey to the festival grounds. Despite it being several hours before moonrise, the festival was packed. It looked as though the entire town had turned up, and every last one of them was acting utterly bizarre. Despite the crowd's evident excitement, the festival truthfully had little to offer. Sure, lights had been strung all about the place, and there were a few cultists operating vending booths, but little else was available.
"Holy shit, this place is dismal," Wendy complained, "I've been to funerals more entertaining."
"Especially Kenny's funerals," Cartman added, "Now THAT is a fucking party."
"Now that I think of it, Stan and I had our first kiss at one of your funerals, Kenny. No wonder the relationship didn't work out." Wendy sighed as Kenny chuckled.
"Where did you and Eric first kiss?" Heidi questioned.
"At the school, the night we planted that explosive in your locker," Cartman replied, Wendy elbowing him in the gut. The group spent a few more hours kill time until evening began to draw near, the moon and sun rapidly growing closer to one another. They quickly hid themselves underneath the central stage, Butters keeping a close eye out for the cult leader's arrival.
"Now that we're here, I'm a l-little n-nervous," Heidi stammered, gripping tightly onto Kenny's hand.
"No worries babe, Its just one guy. Cartman can make the shot from several hundred feet, easy." Kenny confidently bumped Cartman's shoulder.
"YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" Butters exclaimed, the rest of the group shocked by his sudden outburst.
"Hey! Don't doubt me, asshole!" Cartman growled, "I'm one hell of a shot."
"That's…not what I meant, Eric," Butters explained, "We can't take any risks. I'm going to gut him myself."
After more time passed the group observed through the gaps in the platform as the sun and moon finally met one another, the moon glowing a pale shade of red. However, this particular eclipse was far from typical. Instead of the sun slowly moving out from behind the moon, the celestial pair seemed to freeze in place. The moon's glow intensified, steadily turning in dreadful shade of deep scarlet. The surrounding stars also slowly faded from view, leaving nothing remaining in the sky but the fell Red Moon.
"It's strangely beautiful, but creepy at the same time," Wendy noted, Cartman observing that she was beginning to shiver. He placed his arm around her shoulder. In truth, he was unnerved as well, but resolved not to show it.
"Here he comes!" Kenny whispered, nudging Butters' arm, "Showtime!" Butters silently pulled out the knives concealed in his shawl and began to creep forward. The rest of the group waited with clenched teeth, anticipating the same brutality with which Butters had dispatched the Third Circle cultists. However, as Butters approached the leader, it became apparent that something was dreadfully wrong.
While the group looked on, Kenny took notice of several cultists approaching their hiding place.
"What the hell are they doing?" Kenny whispered. Just then, the friends looked on in shock as Butters completely dropped his stealthy crouching position and walked up to the cult leader in full view.
"Thank you for your kind contribution, loyal subject," Spoke the leader, Butters turning to face the group.
"There they are!" The blonde shouted, cultists quickly rushing the friends and overwhelming them. The sudden betrayal blindsided the group so heavily that they failed to draw their guns in time, the cultists quickly confiscating them.
"BUTTERS! YOU FUCKING TRAITOR!" Cartman roared, the cultists tying the friends to the stage's support posts, facing toward the gleaming moon. Though the group struggled vigorously, the sheer number of enemies overwhelmed them.
"Butters! How could you?" Wendy cried, "People are going to die!" Heidi had begun to panic once more, crying and bowing her head. Kenny attempted to comfort her, but she appeared despondent. Despite her rage, Wendy noticed that Butters had a very strange look on his face, as though he still had some insane plan in mind.
"Now that our little distraction has been dealt with, we shall commence the true festivities." The massive crowd looked on in rapturous admiration, but were otherwise totally silent. Wendy feared that the end was rapidly approaching, tears forming on her face at the thought of losing her parents and friends. The Red Moon was now at its apex, glowing so brightly that it appeared to be on fire, or perhaps even…breathing. Wendy shut her eyes and prepared for the worst.
However, the events soon took a strange turn. The numerous cultists made no attempt to harm any of the spectators as Butters had warned. Instead, all of them collapsed to their knees in unison with their leader. The leader removed the large hood that concealed his face, revealing a visage covered in numerous burns and scars. His eyes also glowed a deep crimson, and that same light emanated from his mouth as he spoke.
"The Queen will be delighted to parley with all of her new subjects," spoke the leader, as Cartman observed him produce an all-too familiar box from within his robe. The other cultists followed suit, bowing their heads to the ground as the matches they produced roared to life. The matches did not even need to be struck, bursting into flames as soon as they were removed from the box, and their fires quickly grew tremendous in size.
"AHHHH!" Heidi screamed, as the flames from the matches quickly spread amongst the cultists, consuming their bodies in mere seconds. All of them were as ash, save for the leader, who rose and walked forward as he burned. The hypnotized crowd looked on with delight. Wendy noticed that Butters seemed totally unsurprised by any of these events.
"BELOVED QUEEN, ACCEPT OUR SACRIFICE!" The leader bellowed, as his now ashen body crumbled to dust. The remainder of the cult followed suit, as their collective flames all joined as one, shooting rapidly towards the moon. The now massive flame burned powerfully in the light of the Red Moon, growing stronger and stronger until it eventually burned out.
"Is…it over?" Kenny hesitantly asked. Butters then rapidly approached the group, stunning them by cutting them loose from their restraints.
"Butters, what the fuck is going on?" Wendy shouted.
"Our true target will soon make her appearance," He responded ominously.
Right as the words left his mouth, a dark shadow began to form across the surface of the moon, slowly drifting its way toward the ground. It landed directly in the middle of the awestruck crowd, slowly taking shape. Out from the darkness stepped forward a massive figure, nearly ten feet in height. The shape had the form of a woman, draped in a massive, elaborate, scarlet gown. Her deep black hair reached nearly to the ground. Her face was gaunt, sunken, and lacked eyes, as though it were nothing more than a skull wrapped by a thin layer of flesh.
"My beloved subjects," spoke the figure, "I am the Queen of the Red Moon. It is an honor to meet you all." The crowd cheered in fanatical splendor at the Queen's arrival.
"Butters, you better fucking explain yourself," Cartman demanded, looking as though he would sooner shoot him than speak further. The group had reclaimed their guns upon being freed, and Cartman's barrel was pointed directly at Butters' face.
"Look, you fellers. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you more, but killin' the cult leader really wouldn't've accomplished much. Another cult would just come along and take their place. Instead, were goin' ta' cut off the snake's head and kill the deity they worship instead!"
"Fucking WHAT?" Kenny shouted, "You want us to kill a GOD?"
"Um…Relax guys! She's not really a God, more like an eldritch entity!" Sweat formed across Butters' brow.
"Eric, if we survive this, we're killing Butters right afterwards." Wendy demanded, Cartman nodding in agreement.
As they continued to argue, the Queen turned her attention toward the group.
"My most loyal subjects, upon yonder stage stand five traitorous souls that would see us all killed," the Queen declared, "They must be put to death. Bring me their heads, now!"
With that command, the entirety of South Park now bore down upon the five friends, rushing at them in a frenzy. The worst-case scenario had come to light. Event if Cartman and the others managed to survive, how could they possibly fight against their own friends and family? While the chaos ensued, above it all shined the horrendous Red Moon.