?????'s POV:
It's funny how us Reds have a knack for turning evil.
We're pretty, we're popular, we tend to get jealous and possessive, and we usually become enamored with whatever fictional villains we see.
It isn't nearly as bad as someone like Eric Cartman, but it's definitely noticeable.
And as for me, well... let's flashback a little, shall we?
It's hard to say exactly when everything changed; when my timeline became separated from baseline or canon or whatever the fuck you want to call it.
If I were to guess, I'd say that it was around the time Cthulhu came to town for me.
(A/N: Season 14 Superhero Trilogy)
Seeing what Coon and Friends were doing now as well as the lingering awe for Mysterion made a bunch of other South Parkers want to become superheroes too.
But you can't have a good superhero without a good supervillain to face them, right?
Unfortunately, Butters (and occasionally Cartman) took up the villain slot already. The blond got to all the resources first and acquired all the potential mooks way before I even began thinking of doing something similar.
And like hell I was going to become a fucking Chaos Minion. Just another background character in their games and in life in general.
I was popular, yeah, but when it came to what actually mattered... the adventures, the craziness our town has, the actual story, I was just another face in the crowd.
I wanted to be more than that.
So I ended up becoming another hero. Wendy became Call Girl much earlier than baseline and several other girls like Bebe, Heidi, Annie, and Nichole were already creating their costumes, so I just joined in too.
Only issue was I had no fucking idea what kind of superhero I wanted to be; mainly because I don't really give a shit about superheroes.
I also don't have any superpowers.
At least I thought I didn't, but I'll get back to that little detail later.
So I had no superhuman stats to work with, which sucked, but there was a good enough alternative to give me an extra edge over your average joe shmoe.
Technology.
Yeah, Tolkien or Token or whatever the fuck he goes by kinda does that with his Tupperware persona already, but I could get a little creative with concept to avoid being just a worse copy of him.
I ended up taking inspiration from guys like Falcon and Vulture to become Carbine Hawk.
No, I could not come up with a better name.
Neither could my (at the time) boyfriend, Kevin, who also went with the technology route to become KevBorg.
Believe it or not, the names and costumes of most other superhero newcomers were somehow even worse than those. But this isn't about them.
It wasn't about me either. Cartman and his posse once again hogged the spotlight like they always do.
They're always the ones in the middle of everything. All the excitement and danger. Why couldn't others have that? Not all of us background characters hate it like Craig does.
Even now, with how many superheroes there were in South Park, I was still just another head in the crowd. Missions with them would always be like:
"Alright, so Annie, Clyde, Red, Kevin, and Bebe will handle minor task number 4 while Kyle, Kenny, fatass, and I deal with the main threat like always."
"Ey!"
Fucking Stan... he was the worst of the bunch in my opinion; always acting like the entire world revolved around him.
Cartman was an asshole, yeah, but at least he owned up to it.
'So why not force yourself into the spotlight?' you may be wondering.
Well, New Kid aka Dovahkiin tried that already. He got treated like shit by everyone as a result.
I wanted to be the star, yeah, but I didn't want that to mean being everyone else's slave. New Kid never really got himself out of that hole after we stopped Cartman from becoming mayor.
Even with incredible amounts of popularity and all his awesome superpowers, he was still powerless to resist getting mocked and trampled on by his so-called teammates.
Seeing that happen to him... it just made me even angrier.
'Freedom' Pals my fucking ass.
Years of anger and disgust built up inside of me, and one day, when I just so happened to be partnered up with Stan, I fucking lost it.
"Jesus, dude. What's up with you, today?"
"WHAT'S UP WITH ME IS I'M FUCKING SICK OF YOUR SHIT, STAN! YOU ALWAYS GO AROUND THINKING YOU'RE THE GREATEST FUCKING THING SINCE SLICED BREAD, TAKING ALL THE SHIT YOU HAVE FOR FUCKING GRANTED!
YOU SEE THE REST OF US AS MORE TOOLS ON YOUR STUPID BELT AND I AM DONE!" *WHAM* "WITH!" *WHAM* "YOUR!" *WHAM* "BULLSHIT!!!" *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM*
I gave him the simultaneous wake-up call and beatdown of a lifetime for a couple minutes before just collapsing on top of his beaten, broken body and starting to cry.
"Have you ever stopped to think about how lucky you are, Stan?" I quietly whimpered. "How many people would kill to get the opportunities you have? All I want is for my life to actually mean something in the end; for people to actually remember me as more than some pretty face in the background.
I'd give anything, ANYTHING to be in your shoes, Stan. AND YOU JUST TAKE THAT ALL FOR-" A flash of red light stops me from pouring my heart out and I see Stan erupt in blood before my body begins to change.
I don't even register what happened until the process completes and I stare down in awe at my now gloved hand.
His clothes, his tools, his voice and looks. I had them all now. I became Stan Marsh... at the cost of Stan Marsh's life.
...Well, I did say that I would give anything after all.
It took a couple minutes of planning and some praying to make sure nobody found me like this, but I knew what I would do from there.
I changed back (figuring out how didn't take long), used Stan's tools to tear my armor apart and scatter it around, then got rid of Stan's body and took his place, claiming to have no idea what happened to 'Red'.
We were supposed to take down an outpost full of Chaos Minions anyway, so it wouldn't be too hard to believe something went wrong.
...But to disappear entirely? To go MIA or even die to a couple fucking mooks? Would anyone actually believe that?
The answer, much to both my relief and absolute fury, was yes.
The other heroes kept a lookout for 'Red' for a few days after; they asked Butters about it, but he just went along with it since it made his army look more threatening.
The blond villain got his ass kicked by a few of the other girls and Kevin for that, but then everybody moved on.
Everybody. Moved. On.
I really was a nobody. Rebecca McArthur was just another background character who died when things in South Park got too crazy or went too far like so many others.
That fact made it much easier for me to go through with my plan.
Pretending to be Stan Marsh really wasn't as hard as you might imagine. I wouldn't say that I 'stalked' him before, but with him being at the center of attention so much, I already knew about how he acted and what his whole shtick was.
Honestly, the only somewhat difficult part for me to imitate was his relationship with Wendy, but the two hardly talked anymore at this point in time (like that's anything new) and Stan's body came with his instincts and puking problem so it really wasn't too hard staying in character.
I hung out with the rest of Stan's posse and I went on crazy adventures with them every once in a while; exactly what I always wanted.
And yet, I wasn't satisfied.
I was still angry at them for what they did, treating me like nothing.
I still wanted to become a villain and may them pay for it.
But to do that, I needed more power.
I needed more bodies.
So I got them.
All the adventures I went on gave me access to plenty of potential people to copy. I just needed to separate myself from my 'friends' for a couple minutes, beat a guy up, and bam, another body to add to my arsenal.
I learned a lot more about my powers over the next few months.
For starters, to activate my trademark ability on a person, they have to be at least somewhat close to death and/or completely exhausted. If this were a game, then their HP would probably have to be at a third or less for it to work.
I also figured out that I can't spam this ability on people. There's a bit of a charge time, but that isn't the biggest deal in the world. Unfortunately, I also have to be in my original form to use this ability instead of any of my copies; so no using this ability as Stan. I can only use Stan's powers as Stan.
Yeah, I can't mix different parts of bodies together either. I can use parts of one body on myself in my original form, like giving myself a Crab Person's claw or a Dire Spider's legs, but the one-body only rule still applies so I can't have parts of my original body change into both the examples I just gave at the same time.
This ability also only works on living people. Yes, it kills them when activated, but they have to still be alive as I use this power or it won't work
Annoying limitations for sure, but as long as I can activate my ability and swap between my arsenal of bodies fast enough, it shouldn't matter too much.
I trained my ass off for years, making body-swapping nearly instantaneous and increasing the strength of my original body to avoid problems with adding new copies to my arsenal. I don't want a beaten enemy to quickly blitz me the second I change back to my original, much weaker form to copy their body after all.
I (as Stan) also started taking acting classes to make sure I could play whatever parts I needed to when in disguise. My 'friends' ripped on me a ton for it, but I didn't care.
The results spoke for themselves.
I got dozens and dozens of bodies to choose from, most of them having their own unique abilities. I was like 50 supervillains in one!
And the best part was nobody suspected a fucking thing! Everyone still thought I was Stan Marsh despite the slowly changing personality (starting up acting classes was just one OOC thing for Stan I did as Stan overtime).
The other members of Stan's group started to somewhat gravitate away from me, but that was fine. I broke up with Wendy, but that was fine too.
I wasn't going to live Stan's life forever after all. Not when I wanted more.
I just needed the perfect opportunity to strike. The right moment to take down all those stupid heroes at once so I can rule unopposed. Oh, and Butters too. His mooks should fall in line once I take over as top dog.
That moment eventually came when ManBearPig showed up to collect what was promised to him.
(A/N: Season 22 Episode 6-7 in canon)
Unlike in baseline, the South Park kids weren't completely helpless. They didn't resort to using Al Gore or Satan or making a new deal with ManBearPig.
No. Instead, they did what heroes do.
It was one hell of a fight, that's for sure. This demonic chimera could take down a weakened Satan, but there were over a dozen South Parkers who went around as heroes a lot more often than they usually did.
The heroes also had more members with New Kid especially being a very helpful addition.
Same with MintBerry crunch who got our distress signal and took a break from enslaving the entire universe to help out his old friends.
The town burned and heroes died, but we eventually got the beast in his knees.
And then I made my move...
Flashback:
"Finish that fucker, Stan! Hurry! Use your Full Bore Ultimate while we have him pinned!" Mysterion screams while using a Dark Whisper and Ghastly Grasp on the monster's arm. MintBerry Crunch is barely hanging on to his other arm while his legs are frozen by an absolutely livid Wonder Tweek, no doubt wanting payback after seeing Craig get torn in two.
And the 'Craig of Steel' is far from the only hero who died during this battle.
It's a pity that I won't be able to add their bodies and powers to my arsenal, but the body I'll be getting right now makes up for that and more. Much more.
"Gooooood idea, Kenny. But I have a better one." I reply ominously as glowing red light surrounds my morphing body as I return to my true self, complete with an all new costume that shows off my supervillain status.
(A/N: Her normal Changeling costume in Phone Destroyer.)
"Wha- REBECCA?!?"
"Red?! You're... alive? But then where's-" My maniacal laughter cuts off a Wendy on death's door and I announce, "Of course! This is my MOMENT!"
The damage done is enough. I made sure of it.
"Stan's gone. He was the one who died years ago instead of me. His body, like ManBearPig's, has and will be put to much greater use."
"Ch... Changeling?" The beast under me mutters under his breath.
Oh. So that's what I am.
Cool.
"So much destruction... so much power. I couldn't hope to beat this guy on my own, even with all the bodies I've amassed, so I had you do all of the sweaty labor for me! And you're even keeping him all wrapped up for me now; all that's missing is a pretty little bow on top!
If they make greeting cards to thank people for helping with evil plans, I owe you one." I comment as I once again activate my Changeling power.
"The fuck are you getting at here?" Cartman bellows before taking a step back in horror as my body begins to change.
"I'm saying that you no longer have value to me, so I'm ending your little hero games." I answer while standing triumphantly over the now dead ManBearPig.
Both my fists are clenched and my arms are raised in the air, but it's my right arm that is quickly growing several times larger with fur and claws quickly covering the mass of flesh and blood up.
My red hair sways in the wind before starting to gradually change color to brown.
My head soon follows, as does my chest and other limbs with me growing massively in both size and power.
While I don't get the memories of the bodies I take, I do get their instincts and somewhat of an innate knowledge on the powers they have. It's not the biggest deal in the world since perfecting them doesn't take too long and it especially doesn't matter now considering that only a few heroes can even stand up at this point, but I won't let inexperience be the death of me.
Not when it's all finally coming together.
The remaining heroes all stare in horror as a second ManBearPig comes into being right on top of the first one's corpse. It then crushes the beast's head with its foot before setting its sights on what's left of the Freedom Pals.
"NOW THE POWER OF MANBEARPIG IS MINE!!!" I roar, shaking the entire town. "I will use this to take over all of South Park, and the rest of the world right after.
So shall we get started? The debut of Changeling Red still has one act to go, THE SLAUGHTER OF ALL HEROES WHO WRONGED HER!"
Present:
The heroes never stood a chance.
Butters didn't either. At least he was smart enough to fall in line.
Not even Kenny could do anything no matter how many times he came back. I ended up just capturing him and locking his half-dead self in Butters' Chaos Lair once I got bored with the immortal.
South Park was reduced to rubble and didn't get rebuilt for once due to most of its inhabitants being dead, but that was alright. I still had an entire world to play around with after all.
Town after town, state after state, country after country.
They all fell to Changeling Red and her rapidly growing criminal empire.
ManBearPig's innate power was OP enough; making plenty of deals as the 'Sifter of Fate' along the way truly made me unbeatable.
Well, it wasn't complete overkill.
There was still one major thorn in my side since my reveal as a villain.
Flashback:
"You won't get away with this, Changeling. Pyroclasm!"
A wave of green meteors destroys yet another villain base of mine, but I'm not too upset despite my latest plans being ruined.
Completely dominating every single time would get boring real quick. Good thing I have an archenemy to keep me entertained during my world conquest.
He was one of the only heroes to survive the massacre at South Park and the only hero to survive until now; something I'm honestly thankful for.
I mean, I would choose this guy over fucking Bradley any day. Besides being good eye candy, even with all the new scars covering his body, this guy is strong. Really strong.
His 'King' class, after enough training, can match up to even ManBearPig's power, his Time Farts can keep me on my toes, and his online popularity powers rally countless others to his cause.
ManBearPig may not be the perfect body for me after all...
But as much as I would like to take his body for myself, well, I would honestly prefer taking him entirely for myself.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
"It doesn't matter how many bodies you obtain, Rebecca! You're only one person trying to destroy the world and throwing bodies at the problem will only get you so far!"
"Ehhh, that's fair." I replied. Then, I came to a decision. "You know what, you're good enough for me to not be perpetually ashamed of having any public connection with you... something I wish I could say about MY FUCKING LIEUTENANTS!!!"
Butters shrinks back into the background at this declaration in the background. Good, that idiot is this close to being on the chopping block after all the failures he's amassed.
My clawed fist meets with his golden gauntlet with shockwaves from the clash blasting everyone else back. My Wall of Hellfire counters his Pyroclasm, resulting in hundreds of meteors slamming into each other all throughout the sky.
My form shifts to that of my original body as I once again walk up to his defeated, broken body.
"I really don't get it, New Kid. Why keep fighting for the guys that used you? That treated you like complete and utter shit?"
"You're saying that you wouldn't use me like a puppet if I joined you?" The Dragonborn snarks back with that sexy voice of his.
"Oh, I would use you; but I would also respect you. I would treat you like the king you are... the king you deserve to be. Those so-called 'heroes' in South Park were cowards; they called themselves do-gooders, yet they were just as bad as I am.
Are those really the people you want to die for, Dovahkiin? Evil is gonna prevail here, so why not join the winning side? You can be my partner in crime; you can have this world and the sexy redhead ruling it alongside you. Doesn't that sound perfect?" I coo at my rival.
Don't get me wrong, I did like Kevin a lot. Had the original ManBearPig not killed him back then, I would've offered him a place at my side too. But he's dead now and I just like the Dragonborn more.
The cursed protagonist... I can't help but feel pity for him. He doesn't deserve that shit. He deserves to be with me; one of the main side characters in my story.
Present:
But alas, he never backed down. He was prepared to see red with red in this case being the blood on his face as I struck him down.
In that case, he could just kiss his ass goodbye.
Instead, he used his ass to travel through fucking time with a super-burrito. Not that I knew that at the time; he just ate a burrito and vanished in a golden light.
I stuck to my word and took over the world after that. Then the Time Patrol came; dozens of agents with none other than my timeline's New Kid leading the charge.
I had grown far stronger by then; strong enough to kill New Kid and many other agents before taking one of their time cores and escaping into the multiverse.
I only grew more from there, acquiring bodies with more power then I could ever imagine, and became one of the multiversally-feared Time Terrors, a being that took over entire timelines and even survived (albeit barely) the Calamity Comet!... but I never forgot about my origin.
Funny that it was a Dovahkiin who caused all this recent drama to happen. Sure, it wasn't technically a Dovahkiin, but that only made Dovah more interesting to me.
I even got this special New Kid's body, unlike my own New Kid.
I gained unimaginable amounts of power. I brought the Time Patrol to its knees.
But in the end, I made One. Fatal. Mistake.
I didn't realize that this New Kid fought far harder to become the main protagonist than I ever did.
I didn't realize just how far he would go. How resourceful he was. How completely screwed any and all enemies of his were.
And just what he was truly fighting for.
That right there is the greatest weakness of a Changeling.
I can copy people's bodies, power, and abilities no matter how strong or outlandish they are, but every individual has one thing that I can never replicate: a heart.
I don't mean their literal heart, but rather, their spirit. Everyone has their own personalities, values, and reasons for doing what they do. Sure, I can pretend to have those with some decent enough acting, but I can't truly replicate it.
Unless I can duplicate the hearts of whoever I use my ability on... I'm nothing more than an empty shell.
I was on top of the world... and then got squashed in an instant like the bug I am.
I can only hope that Dovah remembers me once he's finished. The rest of the multiverse won't; I was parading around as him during the war after all.
And I doubt the Dark Angel will be around for much longer either.
No... all I wanted was to make a difference. To make an actual name for myself. Even if that difference was just a slight inconvenience for the true main protagonist, well, it's better then nothing, right?