Last Summer - South Park [Style]

THIRTY¬SIX [murder]

2019 ‖Eckley, CO

The round face and narrow eyes paint the picture of an innocent, chubby young man, but his figure is way too familiar.

It's the man he saw in their room right before his first-time travel.

The man who hit him with a baseball bat inside the very same cabin they are now standing next to.

But now as he gets to see his face, a memory flashes through Stan's mind.

Last summer. The beach. He was taking a walk, balancing on the rocks that were slithering into the ocean like a snake.

Stan had kneeled down to take a look at the water, let his hand run through the coolness. Cold against hot skin.

Suddenly, a face beneath him, under the surface. He jerked back but the man had already grabbed his foot and pulled him into the water. Stan's head smashed against one of the stones and then everything went black.

"You. I almost drowned because of you!"

"What? Stan, what are you talking about?"

Kenny sounds worried but Stan doesn't feel like turning around to him.

"You pulled me into the water and I hit my head and blacked out. What the fuck was that?"

"Ah, you finally remember."

The now way too familiar stranger takes a step towards him and just grins.

"So you're from Cali as well? Are you two working together?" Stan's hands form fists. 

"Together with him? Hah, no. He works for me, not with me."

He turns around to Kyle, who is still standing there, gun aimed at Tweek, empty face.

"Eric is the leader and I follow."

"How do you two know each other?"

"Let's just say that we are..." Eric side-eyes Kyle and grins. "We are old friends."

"You brainwashed him, didn't you? Why? What's going on here?"

"You're asking an awful lot of questions for being a puppet yourself. Can't you see your own strings?"

Suddenly Eric is standing next to him and grabs Stan's arm. His grip is strong as iron.

"See this?"

He points at a necklace that is dangling around his neck. Teeth.

"This one right here is yours. You lost it when I smashed your head against the rock. And with this little token, I have control over everything you do. Well, at least when you're asleep. All your time travels, your future, Kyle's little accidents that kept deleting his memory. Your little romance. Do you really believe any of that was real? Are you really too stupid to see the plan behind it? My plan?"

"I don't get it, what are you talking about?"

Eric lets out a dry laugh and looks at Kyle. A long stare.