How He Comes Back: A Story Explaining Kenny
By SnowStories
Author's note: I do not own this show nor any of the characters. I am simply interested in letting my ideas be heard.
Chapter 1 A tour of Hell
The fires of Hell surrounded him. He took a deep sigh and walked toward the town near by. Once again, he had died in the real world. That meant that he had made four days without taking his final breath. "Shit! Apep won the bet!" Kenny's hands searched his pockets, praying that some spare cash had made the fall from Heaven, but no, he had nothing. Of course he didn't; he and his family were to poor to own a nickel, much less twenty bucks.
He took a right turn at the second torture building and walked straight. Up ahead were several homes, most beaten up and worthless, but there were some that had been repaired in those last four days. He looked up. The sky was the same as always; rock and dirt covering that sweat blue that he had rarely seen in his life. All around him was lava and fire. He felt nearly at home.
"Ha! I knew you'd be back before seven days were up! Pay up, bud!" said a squeaky voice behind him. Kenny turned around and looked toward the floor. A little demon, smaller than his own nine year old body, was standing just a few inches away from him. He had red burnt skin and spiky horns with beady black eyes and yellow teeth. Kenny sighed. "Nice to see you too, Apep," he said as he took a slight step forward. "I don't have any cash on me. Guess you'll have to wait till next time." Apep seemed frustrated. "You know, that's eighty bucks you owe me, kid. You better start paying or else I'll stop you from leaving this place until you can work off your debt." Kenny's blue eyes rolled. Apep was bluffing of course. He would never close the gates of Hell. Then nobody would be able to get in, and that will set Satan off angry. He knew all too well that Apep was a coward, and making his king—the big red guy with evil powers that mostly focused on torturing—angry would be far beyond him.
Kenny turned and walked to the bar just a few yards away. Inside were several tortured souls and demons. He sat at the bar, ready to order a beer, but Apep stopped him. "Don't give 'em anything, Tone, he's got nothin' to pay you with," said the small little demon. Kenny grew annoyed and his teeth clenched behind his parka's hood. Tone or Tony as some would call him, didn't listen to the pest, but instead gave Kenny his usual order. "You've been around here a lot lately, Ken. What are you and your friends up to up there?" Kenny sighed. "We aren't 'up to' anything. I'm just loaded with bad luck, that's all." Tony nodded and picked up a glass mug to clean. "What killed you this time?" he asked, preoccupied by the cup. Kenny took a sip of the drink. It was such a common taste to him. He answered back. "A pidgin," he said quietly. The bartender stared at him in surprise, and then started to laugh along with Apep. Apep spoke between gasps. "How the hell did a pidgin kill you? That's one of the most sorriest deaths I ever heard," he said. Kenny grew annoyed. It was true. The way he had died this time was pathetic. A stupid bird flew over his head, dropped some pellets—which were covered in some stupid acid—into his open mouth and poof, here he was, back in the underworld. He didn't even remember dying this time. Secretly, he wondered if he was loosing his touch on being killed. He just knew that one of these days, he wouldn't even be able to escape Hell's gates without the guards catching him. And then what would he be? Just a lonely old has been that used to be able to revive after nearly every death.
Kenny stood up and walked out of the bar, the mug still in his hands. He looked around. The town in Hell was much like the one he was born in on Earth. It had shops, a school—which was only used to teach demons how to kill—a bank, and even a library. The only difference was, in this town, nothing could kill him. In this town, he can't die, and sometimes that knowledge of being somewhere where death couldn't reach him was comforting, but others like this time for example, it was just disturbing. He couldn't live without dying. Not that he liked dying. He actually hated it. It's just that…it was so odd and out of place for him to go on without being shot in the head, suffocated by a tetherball rope, killed by pidgin poop, and so on. It was just so…unnatural to him.
"Hey, Kenny!" yelled a little girl's voice. He looked around and smiled, though no one could see it. It was Bella, running up to him as she always would. Bella was a dead human being, and had died at the age of nine. She was sweat and cute in his eyes. She had long blond hair pulled back slightly by a black headband; blue eyes just like his, and always wear a blue sweater, white scarf and black pants. Kenny had known Bella well enough to call her a sister. She would almost always be the first to greet him when ever he returned.
"Hey Bella," he said as she walked up. Bella gave him a teasing sneer. "Died again?" she asked him. He nodded. "Of course I did." She laughed. "What happened this time?" she asked as they walked further into the town. They passed a fiery fountain that was set in the middle of the street. The fountain had carvings of human beings in horrible pain as the lava draped over their marble faces. In some legends, those carved figures had once been real, but had been changed to marble, or maybe it was stone, because they had angered Satan. But those were only legends. Satan could never do that. Or at least, Kenny didn't believe that he could.
Kenny ignored Bella's question as they walked up to his home. He had rented a home several years ago—an apartment actually—and had never given it up. He walked up to the mailbox and looked inside. There were several bills and catalogs. He wondered how much longer he could stay in that apartment before he was thrown into the lava pits to make some quick cash by keeping the furnaces warm. He had had to do that once. It sucked.
Bella skipped on to another question. She must have been able to sense Kenny's shame in his most recent death. "So how long are you staying this time?" she asked. Kenny walked up to his apartment and unlocked the door. "Not long. It's nearly Christmas up there, and I don't want to be in Hell when it comes." He walked inside his small home. It was a simple one bedroom, one bath, and a half kitchen half living room living area. Nothing much. He dropped his stack of mail on the kitchen counter; piling it on top other bunches of un-opened bills. Then he walked into his bedroom. It was probably five times better than his one back at his parent's house. It had a bed that, though had too thick of covers, was sturdy and didn't own too many spiders. There weren't any rats. Rats don't go to Hell. And there was little trash on the floor. Still, it was unbearable to see the empty walls. All of the pictures from his favorite playboy magazines would crinkle and burn as soon as he nailed them to the wall. He sighed and walked over to the bed. He got on his knees and looked underneath it. Dust, flames, spiders, and, ah ha, his homework. Garrison didn't believe him when he said he left it in Hell, but he knew he had.
"Ok, I'm leaving. I'll see you in a few days, Bells," Kenny said as he locked his apartment door and walked away from the complex. Bella smiled. "Ok Ken, I'll see you later. And just in case you don't die before then, Merry Christmas." Kenny blew air out of his mouth. "I'm sure I'll be back before then," he whispered as he walked out of the town, waving goodbye to a few demons he knew. He walked a few miles away and then took a left. Straight ahead was his only passage way out. The gates of Hell, covered in fire and screaming souls. He walked straight through the barrier, praying that his time had yet to run out. No, it hadn't. He still had another chance to live, but how many did that make left?