Part 2 The Orange Mask of Death
The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long.
"It takes courage to grow up and be who you really are."-e.e.cummings
Kenny's first thought was "Why am I alive?" The second was "Where the hell am I?" He couldn't quite answer the first question. It was what he had been trying to answer when he was killed, or rather, he killed himself, in an attempt to reach his starting point. After a strange dream, and a chat with his mother, who he found was his *adopted* mother, he had been on a quest for his identity, trying to find his parents who left him with the McCormicks, a piece of rhyming parchment as his only clue. But, as he gazed around the landscape, he realized that the second question would be pretty hard to answer too. From the bushes, pairs of eyes watched him. Stan. Kyle. Cartman. They had followed him here, hoping to-well, they weren't quite sure. Bring him back, perhaps, or aid him. They couldn't just sit in South Park having no idea what was happening to Kenny. But even now, Cartman voiced reluctance. Something wasn't right, he said, something was wrong, out of place. Everything was too..well...*real*. But there was another danger, a danger everyone was oblivious to. Deanne Cartman watched Kenny from afar. She was working for a dangerous duo, but a dynamic one. She knew only one thing: Kenny must be brought back home. And somewhere, somewhere on the planet of Earth, not the Earth that the South Parkians knew, but the *real* Earth, Trey Parker and Matt Stone watched the action unfold. They knew Deanne would succeed. Kenny would be with them once more, and South Park would thrive.
~~~~
Kenny glanced at the parchment. Was there anything that needed to be done here? The area seemed ordinary enough. Suddenly words began to form on the aged piece of paper.
Prepare for visitors, old and new, they are not aliens, but alien to you.
Your obstacles will be vast. Trust no one and remember the past.
"Hmm.." Kenny pondered this for a moment. He looked around. Obstacles? What would they be? Deanne figured that now was the time. She had dressed with care. Her hair was long, free-flowing, like when she was once young. She wore a shade of lipstick that went perfectly with her skin tone. Her eyelashes were curled and oozing mascara. Her clothes nearly screamed 'slut'. She gave an experimental wink in the hand mirror. Yes, perfect. She didn't want to do this. Loose around men was one thing, but this, even though she would actually *do* nothing, was on the borderline of child molestation. Every time she wanted to tell the two men that the deal was off, she thought, or they reminded her, of her son Eric. The men said they had some form of control over her, some way to ruin everything for her. Her son had alway known luxury, and she couldn't change that now. Reaching into the pocket of her dress, her left hand's digits brushed against the plunger of the sedative, confirming that it was still there. The hand in her pocket, grasping the plunger, she waited for a good moment, and walked slowly, sexily, towards Kenny.
Kenny had a weakness; the boys knew it, Deanne knew it, and Trey and Matt knew it most of all. Underneath the mystery and intelligence, Kenny had one deciding personality factor, and that was this: he couldn't resist a beautiful woman. He squinted his eyes at the figure that was walking towards him. Was it-no. Why would she be here? But she was, unless he was hallucinating, which may have been very well possible in the sunlight that rained down upon him. Orange attracted sunlight, he decided. "Ms. Cartman?" he questioned with caution, looking at the oncoming woman again. Yes, definatly a woman. "Call me Deanne," she said with a soft smile, accenting the mysterious aura that hung around her. Kenny slipped into full pervert mode as she came close to him, planting a deep kiss on his forehead, her hand running down his hooded face. "Why..but so suddenly..-" Kenny was grasping for words. "Ssh..why I'm here isn't important..it's what I'll do that matters.." As his eyes locked with the older woman, he began to drown in the dark brown depths of a practiced prostitute. Ms. Cartman began to raise the sedative.
~~~~
She observed, quietly, silently, her eyes moving back and forth between the two figures as they conversed. Every now and then she paused and typed something on a typewriter, her fingers flying rapidly. She peeked out again. Deanne held the sedative close to a vein, and was bringing it down slowly. Kenny was oblivious. Cartman was fuming. "K-kenny and my *mom*?! No, no way. He'll die, and he'll die for good before I let that happen. I'll murder him, I'll-" Stan quickly silenced him. "Ssh. She's never moved in on children before. I think she's up to something." Kyle scanned the scene, his eyes checking each millimeter for some sign of what was happening. Then he noticed the needle of sedative about to pierce through Kenny's parka and into his skin. Suddenly, from the opposite side of the bushes, came a voice, childlike as well, but a bit deeper, somewhat older, and clearly female. "Your obstacles will be vast, trust no one and remember the past." "The past..." Kenny muttered..
"The father is..Ms. Cartman!" "What? Wait, wait, how can that be?" "I found it confusing myself..you see, Ms. Cartman is a hermaphrodite-"
-and suddenly, he snapped out of it. The memory enough to break the trance, he was no longer under her spell. With a sudden burst of strength, he shoved Ms. Cartman to the floor. "Damn!" cried Deanne, and she quickly rose. The sedative fell out of her hand. "And what were you planning to do with *that*?" Kenny asked. "I-..Kenny..-listen...there are people, Kenny. Men. They want to-..Kenny, come home, now, it's for your own good, God knows what they're going to do to you-" Deanne pleaded on his behalf, on her behalf, on the behalf of every resident in South Park. She didn't know who these men were, but she hadn't been able to get them out of her mind. When close to them, she felt a sudden feeling of being in awe, in thinking them geniuses, and at the same time hating them, hating them for things she could not understand. Kenny looked at her with sympathy, with an understanding he had never known before, and would probably never know again, and then he turned away. He suddenly remembered the voice, the voice of the unknown girl who had saved him from whatever, whoever Ms. Cartman had been working for. He, for some reason, needed to find her. He didn't notice when Deanne Cartman disappeared into thin air.
~~~~
"That easy," said Trey calmly. Deanne sighed with relief. She had expected an explosion of anger..and she got one. "THAT EASY!" Trey banged his fist on the table. "You were defeated by a slight trigger in his memory. That was enough to break your control of him? Or perhaps you weren't trying, Deanne. Do you know what we could *do* to you?!" Deanne backed away slowly, until she reached the wall. Leave me alone, she thought, go away. Let me go back to my old life, my normal life.. "We need a new plan, Trey. We can't let him go," said Matt, unable to take his eyes from the fear in Deanne's expression, to forget the madness in Trey's voice. "No shit, Sherlock. But who else can get to him?" Deanne opened her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it. They turned to stare at her. "Did you have something to say, Ms. Cartman?" Trey asked, oozing mock-sweetness. "Nothing," she muttered. "Oh, but I think you did, isn't that right Matt?" "Yes..yes..what *did* you have to say?" She could feel them staring at her. It wasn't right, she kept saying to herself, she couldn't help them in this. But who knows what power they had.. "Chef," she whispered. "Chef will get through to him." "Of course," muttered Trey. "For that, Deanne, we'll spare you. But fail us again, and you and your darling little 'Eric' will be so low on the chain of social class that you'll be able to feel the heat of Hell! Eric Cartman in poverty, imagine the ratings! Don't think we won't do it!!" And suddenly, Deanne was gone, beamed away by the will of Trey and Matt, and coming to rest at the steps of her home in South Park.
~~~~
Kenny wondered what was next, and he looked for some sign of what was to come. But he did not find it..it found him. As he turned his head, he came face to face with a girl, a few years older than him. She wore a small smile, almost an all-knowing smirk. She was thin of face, with dark brown hair and brown eyes-brown eyes! She had irises! Something seemed different about her, something seemed...real. She laughed. "Not a frequent viewer of the 3rd dimension, are you?" Kenny looked at her quizically. A 3rd dimension? "Never mind," she said, dismissing it with a wave of her hand. "Who are you?" Kenny asked. "I'm," she paused for a second, "Elisabeth." "Hi, I'm-" "Oh, I know, *Kenny*. I know a lot about you," she said with a small smile, as if sharing some sort of inner joke with herself. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Oh, you'll find out in the end...follow me!" Without even some explination of where she was going, she took off into the surrounding wilderness. Kenny glanced at the parchment for guidance.
What is familiar May be danger Doubt the friend And trust the stranger.
Kenny followed.
~~~~
Trey and Matt hadn't made the same mistake twice. They didn't tell Chef the truth. A large, pre-fabricated story about amnesia, a curse, and South Park in mortal danger sent Chef running to fetch Kenny back, thinking that the two were prophets of sorts. "Damnit," muttered Chef. "Every time one of those little crackers gets in trouble, they run to me. 'Chef, the mutant turkeys are attacking! Chef, we committed Kyle! Chef, are you my father?' I should have made like I did on the Fouth of July and shoved all their problems down their little white asses." But then again, Chef reasoned with himself, if South Park was in mortal danger, that meant him too. Chef had one thing he didn't regret. It was what Trey and Matt had written for him, a prop of sorts, to lure Kenny back.
~~~~
"I don't know about this, dude," said Kyle reluctantly. "We have to keep going, Kyle! We're going to catch up to Kenny, and-" "And do what?" asked Cartman. "We haven't done a thing since we've gotten here. And I'm *hungry*!" he whined. "We're watching Kenny and making sure he doesn't get in trouble. If he does, we're going to be there for him," said Stan firmly. "Why? He's immortal, damnit!" Stan thought of a good counter-explination for that. "But if we don't say 'Oh my God! They killed Kenny'-" "'You bastards.'" added Kyle. "Who knows what might happen?" Cartman, stupid as he was, bought that one. With an angry grunt he resolved to follow them once more.
When Kenny finally caught up to Elisabeth, she was leaning against a tree, writing something in a notebook. "Damn, I wish I had my laptop," she muttered to herself. She scribbled furiously with a pencil. For an instant, Kenny thought he saw her writing with a quill pen..a gold quill pen, like that of his dream. With a shake of his head, the pencil was back to normal. "What are you writing?" he asked, protruding from the forest. "Oh, um, nothing," she replied. "You know, that's one of the first signs that somebody is hiding something." "You read a lot, don't you?" questioned Elisabeth. "Well, there's no porn in Heaven, which actually makes it Hell, to me anyway," said Kenny. "I'd explain, but I'm sure you know that, too." She nodded the affirmative. "Explaining what I'm writing, and the secret I'm keeping, well, I said you'd find out later, didn't I? Come on, we're almost there." She stopped for a second, and glanced at his parka. "Aren't you hot in that thing?" "Trust me, I'd get rid of it if I could," assured Kenny. Elisabeth grinned, and said what she would say a million times afterward. "I know."
Chef eyed the two from the trees. When Elisabeth ran off again, Chef brought out the weaponry. An island surrounded him, a paridise. Beautiful girls giggled playfully, surrounding him as Chef walked from the sandy beaches of the island to a pool of cool water, and slipped in, relaxing. Hearing the sound of female voices, Kenny turned, and stared, eyes so wide they could probably be mistaken for the next black hole. If his jaw could have dropped, it would have. "Kenny! What the fudge are you doing, boy, thinking you're on some quest when you could be relaxing here with," he winked at Kenny, "24 hour room service." Kenny didn't even bother to think what an island oasis was doing in the middle of a forest. He simply slipped into the pool of water, and picked out a sexy redhead to flirt with. He didn't notice his memory slipping away, amnesia forming a veil over his mind. "Kenny?" Elisabeth came out in the forest, looking for him. "Is the hooded wonder too slow to follow me?" she said chidingly. Kenny blinked. Who was this girl? And what did she mean by the hooded- "Don't pay any attention to her, Kenny. Relax and enjoy the island," urged Chef. The island was slowly disappearing, Chef and Kenny with it. Back to Trey and Matt. "So you want to play that way, huh?" said Elisabeth, not phased by the strange turn of events. She began singing.
And I don't want the world to see me 'cause I don't think that they'd understand. When everything's made to be broken I just want you to know who I am.
"Huh?" muttered Kenny. His mind began linking words. See..face..identity..family..quest...*quest*! And the memories came flooding back to him. "Fudge it!" hissed Chef, as he vanished, the island with him. Kenny blinked for a second. "What the hell were you talking about..and what was that?" "Call them opposing forces," said Elisabeth. "All you need to know is, they're the enemy, and they're making your friends the enemies. Only once will you be able to-will you *need* to trust anyone you know." "How do you *know* all this?!" Kenny half-shouted. Elisabeth silenced him. "Be patient. The quest is already halfway over." "Screw patient! I want to know about my family, and I want to know now! And *you*! Who the hell are you? First you tell me there's a 3rd dimension, then I see you writing something that you won't even tell me about, and your pencil turns into some sort of gold quill pen, then you save me by some magical power-" "It's not magic, it was just a power of suggestion. I have a stockpile of songs that would remind you of this quest." "I don't *care* what it is! And somehow, you *also* know everything about me, everything that's happened to me, and everything that's *going* to happen to me. I want *answers*, and I want answers *now*!" "Well..." began Elisabeth. She paused for a moment, trying to phrase the words. Suddenly, she broke into a mischevious grin. "You're not getting them." And once again, she ran off, and once again, Kenny followed.
Cartman was panting heavily. "Man," he said, turning to Stan and Kyle, "it's hard to keep up with this chick!" "Oh, so you're finally admitting that it's the 90's and females aren't always the weaker sex?" said Kyle. "No, I'm saying that you guys are wusses for lagging behind. C'mon, you can't pull ahead of a *woman*?" said Cartman tauntingly. Stan and Kyle ignored him. "Man, I don't know how much more I can take, dude!" said Stan, sweat streaking down his face. "Uh, Stan?" Kyle suddenly stopped in mid-run. "What?" said Stan, also abruptly halting. "I don't think we'll have to worry about that." The three boys were suddenly shoved into a sack. Carrying the bag over it's shoulder, an unknown figure ran off into the woods.
~~~
"NO!" screamed Trey in frustration. "He can't get this *far*!" "Calm down, Trey, you'll burst an artery," said Matt softly, trying to calm his counterpart. "I don't *care*!!" Trey's eyes gleamed with a fiery intensity. When one looked, they could see something there.. He slammed his fist on the desk. "I know what we'll do..we'll *kill* him." "What?" "Yes, we'll kill him! You remember the Law of Ressurection, don't you? We made it, after all! Kenny must always ressurect within seeing range of his friends...and they're right back in South Park!" It seemed Trey took on full-fledged insanity right about then. "And it'll be so satisfying seeing his pain, his body being ripped apart, limb by limb, organ by organ-" "Trey, you're delerious, you're crazy. Calm down!" said Matt fiercly. "I will *not* calm down!" Trey was silent for a moment. "This will work, I know it," he muttered. "It has to. Kenny made our fame. Without him, South Park is gone, and without South Park, *we're* gone. I can't let that happen!" He thought for a moment, and gave a flick of his hand. Jimbo appeared in front of them. "Now what the hell am I doing here?"
Stan struggled against his bindings. Cartman, Kyle, and he were tied to trees, trees that surrounded a small hut, built like a makeshift shelter. "Ugh.." he grunted. He turned to face the shrouded figure. "Who are you?" "I don't give out my name to trespassers," said the unknown person, his/her voice ringing metallic. The boys couldn't tell if it was male or female. "Let us out of here, damnit!" "You have no right to keep us here!" "I wanna go home! Maaaaaah!" "Silence!" rang out the voice of their unknown captor. "Be quiet and let me have my peace or you'll wind up very unfortunate." "Oh yeah?" threatened Cartman. The figure walked close to Cartman. It motioned to two snarling pit bulls staring out from under the shelter's porch. "The dogs haven't had a good meal in a long time, tubby. Don't push your luck." Cartman gave a small whimper and agreed it would be best to remain silent. A few moments later, unnoticed by the three boys, the terrifying animals disappeared.
~~~~
Before Trey and Matt told Jimbo of what he had to do, they got him drunk. *Very* drunk. He seemed to aim better that way, not to mention was more trigger-happy and cooperative. They gave him some sort of babble about Scuzzlebutt, the mythical monster of South Park, in disguise and he was quick to agree. "Now, I want you to make sure he's dead. Good and *dead*!" said Trey. "Or no cover of Guns and Ammo," interjected Matt. "Yessir. You can bet I'll shoot that Scuzzlebutt. Stupid jackass, posing as my honorary nephew. Doing justice and getting on the cover of Guns and Ammo in one huntin' trip, a real bargain." Jimbo slurred his words. Trey and Matt looked at each other and smiled.
~~~~
"Another clearing. Like all the others," Kenny muttered. "Alright," he said loudly, "I want answers, and I want them now!" "Like what?" said Elisabeth, as if she expected this. "Where the hell *are* we *going*?!" Kenny shouted, his voice echoing, scaring away the birds that were chirping in the treetops. Or maybe they were frightened by the muzzle of the gun that poked through the trees. Elisabeth opened her mouth to answer him. Suddenly, there rang, echoing through the full area of the forest, a gunshot. Kenny's thoughts ran together like wet paint on a canvas. He wondered if Elisabeth had known. He wondered if the pain he was feeling was from the gunshot, or falling flat on his face. He wondered if he could continue when he ressurected. He wondered about his adopted family, his real family, his friends, the identity of Elisabeth, the person who shot him, and who these mysterious 'opposing forces' were. So many things weren't clear to him. But Kenny's most immediate thought as he realized he was going to die yet again was Oh God, what now? Oh God, not now! Not when I'm so close! Please, God, not *now*! Somewhere in the forest, Stan shouted, on impulse, "Oh my God! They killed Kenny!" Kyle followed. "You bastards!" "Silence!" screamed their captor. And Elisabeth nodded, as if it was meant to be.