Chapter Text
‘ Don’t involve’ . What the hell did they mean by that?
Raven’s mind was buzzing. It was fairly obvious that the organization didn’t want her to involve other people, especially her friends, the question was, why? They had to have know that attacking her meant the entire town would be on high alert, which meant the involvement of the police as well as anyone else with the drive and firepower. They should have known this given how her friends got involved last time they showed up.
So why state that? Why state something that they knew wasn’t going to be followed?
“Raven, heads up!”
“Bwah?”
‘THUNK’
“Then again,” Raven murmured to herself as her vision snapped back just in time to see a large red object and then the ceiling of the gym, “Dodgeball games are bad places to space out.”
The teacher’s face filled her vision. “You okay, kid?”
“Peachy.” She hoisted herself up, grimacing at the pain that blossomed behind her head before trudging over to the bleachers where the rest of her team sat. Butters gently rubbed the back of her head.
“D’ya need to go to the nurse, Raven?”
“I think I’m ok.” She really wasn’t but it was better to put on a straight face in public than give into the fear and slight paranoia that permeated her being. She’d done it for years and could do it forever, even with a pounding headache.
They sat in silence and watched the game, her mind spinning, trying to figure out what they were doing with what little information she knew.
Time sped up, class passing by quickly before someone shoved a wad of paper towels under her nose. She jolted, looking up to see the game stopped and everyone staring as Kenny held the wad to her face.
“C’mon, you’re going to the nurse.” He guided one of her hands to the ball and the other looped under her armpit, yanking her upwards.
“‘M fine.” She retorted, before Kenny pushed her free hand into her face and she noticed the spattering of blood covering it. “Oh.”
“Yeah, ‘oh’. We’ve been trying to get your attention for a while. Might have a concussion too.”
She stumbled through the halls to the office, where the nurse cleaned out her nose, shone a light in her eyes, and gave her an ice pack and ibuprofen for the headache. Kenny opted to sit with her until she felt okay enough to go back to class.
“I know that’s not just it, Kenny.” Raven said when the nurse was out of hearing range.
“What, afraid?” She could see that cocky grin through his parka.
“Of you? Please.”
“Alright. What the hell’s up with you today? You’ve been silent since last night and you kicked Tweek under the table to keep him from mentioning specific details during breakfast. You barely moved during the dodgeball game and we’ve had to poke you awake sometimes during classes too. Stan’s concerned, Butters’ concerned, Tweek is paranoid about you and Kyle’s close to throwing a conniption fit.”
Raven stared at the ceiling. “‘M just tryin’ to figure out what the fuck’s going on. Those guys just showed up, tried to kill me or kidnap me, apparently don’t want me to involve other people when they should know damn well the entire town will get up in arms about this, and last time I saw them I told the guy in charge to never show his face around there again. None of that is helping me.”
Kenny leaned back. “And that’s not important to tell us about because….”
“Because….” Raven struggled to come up with a valid answer that didn’t sound totally batshit before huffing. “Nothing, really.”
“You’re just a stubborn bitch.” Kenny smirked.
Raven laughed. “Ya caught me. Raven Asher, world record holder for stubbornness and spite.”
“Oh my god, can I get your autograph?”
She felt better than she had all day.
^.v.^
When they returned from the nurse, Kenny didn’t mention anything about their conversation, and for that, Raven was grateful. She finished the school day in a better mood, especially when the boys walked her home and bid their farewells.
The weekend was coming up, so there was little to no homework. Her dad was home and watching a recorded football game while her mom was at work at Hell’s Pass. Games and toys didn’t seem interesting at the moment, and neither did social surfing.
What did seem interesting was a shit-ton of researching.
An hour and a half later yielded more questions than answers. The organization had been spotted before, but these pictures were deleted moments after posting. Government websites listing the different offices and sponsored research groups had no mention of anything pertaining to the supernatural or paranormal, nor did it bring up that unicorn-emblazoned logo, and looking for a unicorn logo just brought up a bunch of girly kids toys.
Grumbling, Raven threw herself onto her bed, one more headache away from screaming into her pillow. She had nothing to plant a concrete theory with. God, did she feel like a failure, some voice in the back of her mind screeching at her incompetence in protecting the town and ability to fuck absolutely everything up. The town was possibly at risk and it was her fault. She had to fix this.
And then she remembered the van. An idea began to piece itself together in her head. It was stupid, but it was an idea.
Raven whipped her phone from her pocket and quickly set up a group text.
^.v.^
Raven: ya’ll got a minute?
Craig: sure
Kenny: wassup?
Raven: so i think i have a plan
Raven: to understand the recent craziness that in no way deals with cartman or the rest of us
Raven: or stems from some stupid scheme by our wonderful mayor to put south park on the map
Craig: youre talking about your recent almost kidnapping by a group we dont know about
Raven: yeah
Raven: that
Raven: anyway answer me this
Raven: how many vehicles come in and out of south park that aren’t owned by residents?
Kenny: used to be alot
Kenny: until sodosopa and shitpa town went under
Kenny: now wer just a gas stop along the highway that happens to have residents
Raven: exactly
Raven: and those soldiers were using a van/jeep/whatthefuckever to get to my house
Raven: there’s also one way in and out of town so they had to use that
Craig: that goes to rancher bills and the old memberberry field
Craig: if youre thinking of using tire tracks then good fucking luck cause the town still salts the road
Craig: and at the point that we dont need to do shit the state takes over
Raven: yeah but thats it for the road
Raven: there’s no campsites or houses out that way cause it’s all in the opposite direction
Raven: and if any land needed to be cleared for a mobile base we would probably hear it, or bill would and then he would talk to the mayor about it
Raven: and the town jurisdiction ends just outside of bill’s property plus the state does shit all over here so there might be some tire tracks
Kenny: so lemme see if i can pick out whats going on
Kenny: youre planning to check out if a base has been set up outside of town
Kenny: and you want us to come along?
Raven: pretty much
Craig: why us
Raven: cause you’re both hella stealthy and can fight really well and youre both pretty fit
Raven: if i asked stan he would tell kyle and then kyle would go all mom mode on my ass, token would be a flat out no and he would tell someone, cartman is a big fuck no and butters is too pure
Raven: timmy and jimmy speak for themselves, the girls would gossip, clyde would break down into tears at the first sign of trouble, and craig you would kick my ass if tweek got hurt plus tweek would blab so fucking easily it’s almost laughable
Kenny: so we’re your final options?
Raven: no you’re my safest options
Raven: cause my last option is to go by myself
Raven: but i’d rather not just because
Raven: and you better not tell anyone else i admitted this
Raven: i’m pretty fucking terrified at the idea of going solo
Craig: im going to humor you for a second
Craig: say we both say yes
Craig: and that doesnt mean im in and i cant speak for kenny
Craig: how do you plan on getting there?
Raven: the majority of us own bikes craig
Kenny: i dont
Raven: i know that’s why i said majority
Raven: kenny can borrow my mountain bike and i can use my scooter
Raven: so are you in or not?
Raven: this shit is going down tonight whether or not y’all say yes
Kenny: fuckit im in
Kenny: sounds like fun tbh
Craig: sure
Craig: only because you two are idiotic fuckwads and need someone to watch your backs
Raven: aw, you do care craig!
Raven: anyway, meet me at ustorit by ten tonight
^.v.^
“Well look who’s a fucking junior detective.” Craig whispered. Raven could only nod in response.
After meeting up the trio had exited town to find faint strips of mud and salt heading in and out of town. Following it had led to a patch of snow laden with tracks that led to the entrance of the old berry field, filled with sounds and faint lights.
They’d ditched their bikes a ways back and trudged through the woods towards the activity, and ended up against a chain link fence that blocked off entrance to a small base camp. Soldiers ran around, in and out of tents, and small ATVs drifted around as well. Lights were flickering out as people prepared to turn in for the night.
“Do you have any clue about what to do now?” Kenny asked.
“I got an idea, let’s head back and tell the police.” Craig hissed.
“Shut up both of you.” Raven retorted, lightly jogging away. The boys rolled their eyes and followed behind.
“The fuck are you doing?” Kenny whispered.
“I need answers, and there’s only one other way for this to happen.” Raven answered, pulling a small pair of chain cutters from her sweatshirt pocket. “That building with the fuckload of antennas is probably their communication hub or at the very least the center of this whole thing. If we can get in we’ll probably find a lot of evidence about what they’re doing here.” Said building was a few good yards away from the fence, and was dark, which meant no one was inside.
“If it’s their main hub then why isn’t it in the center?” Craig questioned
“Better service, probably.” Raven grunted, leaning to her right side to cut a section of fence. Once a decent sized hole had been made, she scooted in, the boys right behind her.
The door was locked, of course, but Kenny was a master of getting in and out of things. A couple minutes of lockpicking later and the trio was in.
“Ok, I’m gonna look for their radio room. You two go find whatever you can.” Raven peered around doors before darting into a room and closing it off. Craig looked at Kenny, who just shrugged and sauntered deeper into the building, the noirette close behind.
The two of them ended up in a meeting room of sorts, projector sitting on a long table surrounded by plush chairs. When Craig hopped onto a seat, he found a load of papers and files scattered around.
“Idiots,” he muttered under his breath, skimming through the debris. Some of it was schedules for the various businesses around South Park and for the people themselves. A thick tome was filled with personal information about each and every resident, something that struck a nerve within Craig. He hissed to Kenny, who had been observing a whiteboard with a drawn on map of South Park, who hopped up next to him. Craig shoved him the information packet and dove for another thick file.
“Jesus Christ,” Kenny breathed, “How long have they been observing us?”
“A fair while.” Craig said, his next words cut off by a small choking noise. Kenny whipped his head around just as Craig smacked a file in between them.
The first few pages were full of highlighted and redacted text, but one word stuck out among the rest.
Dovahkiin.
“Hey, that’s what that weird government guy called Raven back during the Stick of Truth!” Kenny hissed.
“That’s not all.” Craig flipped through to a series of pictures, all of them labeled with addresses. The first one was of a newborn baby, screaming with displeasure at the camera, still sticky-wet and cord freshly cut, limbs splayed like an octopus. The address was redacted, not even a zip code to speak of, only a date.
The rest of them were of a young girl with shaggy black hair, evidently taken from outside houses or schools. She smiled less and less as the pictures went on, and all of them were in different states.
They didn’t need to look at the most recent ones to know who it was.
“It’s Raven.” Craig voiced it anyway.
“They’ve been following her since she was five. Holy fuck, no wonder her family’s paranoid.”
“And it looks like she was born at one of their facilities.” Craig pointed to the background of her baby picture. The walls were grey, tiled, and various machines that did not belong in a hospital lined the walls. Even more so were military uniforms not dissimilar to those worn by the soldiers here that stood behind her bassinet.
“Shit man.”
A loud klaxon made them fall out of their seats. Red lights burst to life within the building, and loud shouts could be heard outside.
Raven slid into the room, looking panicked. “C’mon, we gotta go go go!”
“The fuck did you do?!” Craig yelled as they sprinted out the back door.
“Less talking, more running for our fucking lives!” Kenny shoved his friends forward.
Tall dark figures could be seen behind them as they shimmied through the hole, Raven stumbling as she stooped to pick up the discarded cutters. Kenny and Craig yanked on her arms to propel her forward through the forest, blindly backtracking to their getaway vehicles as searchlights flooded the forest, nipping at their heels.
^.v.^
The dark calmness of the town was incredibly welcoming as three nine-year-olds collapsed aside the dumpster outside of the U-Stor-It. Their limbs felt wobbly and they heaved for breath as the adrenaline faded from their bloodstreams.
For a while, no one said anything, and the only sound was their heavy breathing.
Until Raven snorted.
The boys looked at her, watching as her body shook and more snorts made their way from between the hands she had pressed to her mouth, morphing into smothered giggles, before she simply tossed her head backwards and cackled to the entire world.
It was infectious, because before long, Craig and Kenny were laughing too, all of them leaning on each other for support as they dealt with the fear the only way they could think of.
“Holy shit, that was so stupid!” Craig chortled.
“Oh my god, I’ve never been that afraid for my life since….ever!” Kenny sniggered.
“How did we get away with that?!” Raven shrieked.
The cheerfulness lasted for a few minutes until the giggles subsided and they slipped into a more light-hearted silence.
“So, Raven, you set off the alarm?” Kenny asked.
“Not on purpose! Turns out that deleting a radio call to a private line is way fuckier than you’d think.”
“A radio call?” Craig asked. “Who did you call?”
Kenny quietly sang “Ghostbusters” under his breath before both Craig and Raven smacked him.
“Well….”
^.v.^
Raven closed the door behind her before hopping onto the large chair in front of the main monitor. She slipped a pair of headphones over her head before delving into the listed contacts.
The man she was looking for wasn’t there, so she switched over to the more restricted lines. Names and ranks flew by until she found it.
General.
She punched the ‘dial’ button and sat back, anger bubbling in her gut.
“Who is this? I gave explicit orders not to call me on vacation!” An angry voice grumbled back.
“Hey General Asswipe. It’s Raven Asher. Or Dovahkiin. Whatever you chucklefucks call me.”
A loud sputtering could be heard over the line. “Dovahkiin? How did you get this number?”
“I snuck into the goddamn base your lackeys set up near South Park, which, by the way, dick move ‘cause I remember telling your fat ass to shove-”
“What base? I never ordered a base to be set up in Colorado.”
Ice water flooded Raven’s veins. “You didn’t?”
“No. I respected your demands and ordered that all work put into your retrieval cease. We even stopped the monitoring of your social media feeds. What is going on?”
“Men in the uniforms of your branch of operations tried to choke me out in my own room two nights ago. And last night, another one tried again, except my friends were there so he gave up and left. And now I’m sitting in the coms room of a small base filled with men wearing your uniforms.”
There was a heavy silence before the General spoke again.
“Listen to me, Dovahkiin, I gave no orders for your retrieval. Whoever is leading this disobeyed direct orders. You and your town are not safe. You need to tread carefully for now. I will be returning in two weeks, do you think you can manage that?”
Raven nodded before remembering he couldn’t see her, squeaking out a small “Yes.”
“Good. Now go!”
^.v.^
“Christ, this is becoming a headache.” Craig moaned.
“So what now?”
Raven shrugged. “Lay low, I guess.”
“How the fuck do we lay low in South Park?”
“Stay normal?”
“Again, how?”
Raven grumbled. “Listen, I don’t fucking know everything!” She put her head into her hands. “I don’t know.”
Kenny patted her back. “Well we found out that they have eyes on the town. They’re probably waiting for a chance for you to be alone. So we just make sure you’re not alone.”
Craig nodded in agreement before standing up.
“So, do we speak of this to anyone?”
“And be grounded for life?” Raven’s head shot up. “Hell no.”
“So it’s our secret then.”
“Yeah. Stealth buddy secret.” Raven grinned.
Kenny just chuckled and Craig groaned