Disclaimer- I don't own South Park. Period. Haha.
He's Gone- A South Park Story
Chapter 1:
The snow had fallen again in South Park, upon the earth- rich and brown- and as expected, yes, it was just another Monday morning in the quiet mountain town. The sun was shining, the grass was green- to an extent, covered in snow and whatnot but it felt like a day where it was hard to wear a frown.
Unless you we're going to school or work.
And sure enough, waiting as always at that same bus stop, were the familiar boys- doing what they did best.
"Hey, Jew-."
"Shut up fat ass."
"No, really, I have to ask this."
Eric Cartman, the overweight nine year old, dressed in his normal red jacket and blue hat, rubbed his gloved hands together in the morning cold and turned to his soft-of friend Kyle.
"Is it true that Jew gold can re-grow after being stolen, and when it does it evolves the ability of speech, but only to give financial advice and-."
Kyle Broflovski groaned and shook his head, rubbing his eyes as a bitter wind tore across them. The small Jewish boy, with his typical green hat and orange coat, had heard this all before- so much so that he completely ignored the rest of the question and turned to face Kenny McCormick.
"Hey, Ken, have you seen Stan this morning? The bus is gonna be here soon…"
"Nope." Kenny said, his voice muffled by the orange parka he always wore- most likely the ONLY one he wore, considering his social status being much lower than the other boys.
"Maybe he's ill today?"
"What a deuce, I was hoping to copy off this math homework!"
"Shut up Cartman."
"You shut up- or can't you afford to?"
Kenny almost punched the other, much fatter, boy- but restrained himself.
"No…" Muttered Kyle, shivering slightly with the freezing temperature; "He did say he was coming in. Although yesterday he told me he was heading to Stark's Pond for a while- so he may have caught a cold or something."
Cartman, now obviously down after being ignored by the object of his hatred- per say- had joined in with the conversation and snapped over another strong breeze; "Well he's screwed now."
Sure enough, that seemed to be true as the school bus appeared at the end of the street, tearing along the snowy roads and heading toward the three boys.
Shrugging off their missing friend, chalking it up to a mere illness- heck, he may have just been late even- Cartman and Kenny boarded the bus.
The new driver was a much quieter, younger, women who thanked them when they paid there fare and for the remainder of the journey, all the way to South Park elementary, the day continued in a fairly normal, relaxed, manner.
Apart from of course the brief Anti-Semitic comments, the fat retorts, and occasional stifled chuckles of laughter.
But soon class was starting and as the boys piled into Mr/Mr's- whatever- Garrison's classroom, they half expected yet another boring day of useless trivia and occasional math questions.
Not the case.
The door opened slowly and Mr. Garrison entered- but it wasn't with his usual hyperactive insanity and strange perversion that the class was used to- he was instead walking slowly, carrying some books, looking slightly pale as he surveyed the class.
"Ok class, get out your textbook's and we'll review your homework for the weekend- oh, and Kenny, Cartman and Kyle, Principal Victoria needs to see you at once." His voice cracked at the end and he turned to start writing on the board.
There was something wrong instantly but the boy's didn't realise. Maybe they were too young, perhaps they were tired from having so much fun at the weekend and perhaps they were merely used to seeing the principal at odd moments of the day…
Kyle lead the way; "Goddamnit, what did you do this time, lard butt?"
"Hey! Shut your mouth Jew, I didn't do anything!" Snapped Cartman, following as Kenny brought up the rear, looking as confused as the others.
They entered the hallway- empty, clearly, since the other kids were in class and begun there trek to the Principal's office.
"You must have done something, cause I didn't and Kenny was at home all weekend with his parents!"
Cartman was beside himself with anger, pushing Kyle gently and snapping; "Hey! I went with my mum to Casa Bonita this weekend, so there was no way I'd have a CHANCE of doing anything!"
He paused.
"Ok, I may have put a stink bomb beneath her car Friday after school."
Kenny laughed loudly, clutching his chest as he did, and even Kyle managed a smirk at the news- but it was soon replaced with anger again.
"So, what, you're gonna make us two fry with you?"
"…You're the best friends ever."
"Oh screw you Cartman!"
Kenny nodded in agreement- but then knocked the other two on there shoulder and indicated at the door, they had just reached the office and- most likely- the end of there after school playtime for at least a week.
"Goddamnit I better not get detention…" Snapped Kyle, but Cartman just shrugged and pushed open the door- his voice and mannerisms changing instantly as he entered.
"Oh Principal Victoria, lovely to see you again! Has it been the weekend already? Why it's been too long… Did you decorate in here? It looks wonderful, I-."
He stopped.
Principal Victoria was behind her desk, yes, and there was three chairs waiting for the boys- but why were there parents there?
Why were Stan's parents there?
Why were two South Park detectives there…?
This couldn't be about the stink bomb, Kyle knew, but he couldn't hold it in and cried out in fear; "It was Cartman! He put the bomb under Principal Victoria's car and-!"
"Kyle you son of a-!" Cried Cartman, but they were all interrupted when they saw, to their shock, that Randy and Sharon- Stan's parents- were alone and deeply upset.
If Stan was late, he'd be here, if Stan was ill and it was that important he'd be brought in…
The boys sat down.
"Boys, we… we need to ask you a few questions." Asked one of the detectives, adding when he saw Cartman's mouth open; "Not about stink bombs."
"Then what about?" Asked Kenny, glancing up at his parents.
"It's about your little friend Stan."
Silence.
"What… what about Stan?" Asked Kyle, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.
He didn't like this environment, not one bit.
Feeling his mother's grip tighten on his shoulders- she was scared? Upset? Her? - he bit his lip and waited as the Detective rubbed a hand through his own hair; as if he was dreading what he was about to say.
But finally it came out.
"He's gone, boys."
Sharon burst into tears and clutched Randy who stared at the ground, his normally quirky expression now replaced with sheer panic and terror- but mostly it occurred to the boys how tired he looked, how old and human he was, despite everything.
The Detective continued; "He didn't come home last night boys- and we haven't been able to find him. He left home just after Dinner, saying he was going to Stark's Pond- but with last nights Blizzard…"
"We're trying our best to find him, but if you have any information- like if he was upset about something…?" He trailed off.
There was no response, the only sound was Kenny undoing his parka and letting his head hang out- his yellow hair drooping messily. His cheeks were red, no doubt he was struggling deeply with his feelings at this point as he placed a gloved hand to his face and seemed to stare at the floor…
Kyle, however, fell back into his seat, his eyes unfocused, his heart racing.
Stan was gone? He was missing?
Could he be hurt? Did he just run away?
Sure, they'd had adventures in the past- but this was so random, so… out of the blue! This- this actually seemed… dangerous… He was genuinely scared, absolutely terrified-
Stan was GONE!
"Where is he then?" Asked Cartman, cutting through Kyle's thoughts, the fatter boy's voice quivering as he sat and stared at the detectives. He'd never been afraid of anything much, not least anything normal- this was Cartman after all- but it seemed to Kyle, and even to Kenny who seemed to sit up and stare, that Cartman was truly afraid at this point.
Afraid for his friend.
"You're the police. You have to find him. Did you search the river? You were waiting till the Blizzard ended before trying to find him? He could be freezing- he could be FROZEN! WHAT ARE YOU PLAYING AT!?" Cartman was gripping his seat, his mother holding onto him, her face red as she tried to suppress her own sadness.
"Cartman-" Muttered Kenny, but it was too late, Eric was on his feat and snapped angrily; "You BETTER find my friend!"
"Eric!" Cried his mother, chasing after him but all she got was a swift; "SCREW YOU! I'M GOING HOME!" and he was gone.
Kenny followed a moment later, chasing after his friend, pulling his parka back on but did manage to give a quick fleeting glance at the Marsh'.
He disappeared out the door, leaving Kyle, who sat up and muttered; "No…"
Gulping, he continued;
"No… We don't… don't know where he is."
His stomach lurched; he was going to vomit, tearing himself from his seat- ignoring his mother's cry of surprise and that constant bitter tone behind every syllable- he ran from the room, trying to get to the bathroom, but stopped just short and collapsed onto the floor, exploding the hot messy liquid onto the ground before breathing heavily.
Stan… was gone…?
Feeling the tears rise he felt ready to give in- but a firm hand grabbed him by the back of the head and he was dragged to his feat.
It was Kenny, standing beside Cartman, both looking furious-
"Ew, dude, all over the floor."
Kenny gave him a sharp look.
"Oh, right- Kyle. We're heading to Stark's right now, we want to see if Stan is somewhere around."
The tears were pushed back thanks to the kindness of his friends, but something was off in Kyle's heart- he knew it, he knew it wouldn't be so simple. The blizzard was likely to have covered everything- Stan would be freezing, he could even have died- that is, if he was even there in the first place.
Kyle shook his head; "Right, let's go," he agreed, and together the three friends took off, running at top speed- Cartman grunting with anger, but made the effort nonetheless.
Slamming open the nearest door to the outside they could find, the boys found themselves once again in the freezing world of there little town, passing by four gothic kids smoking cigarettes- one with red hair snapping at them; "Hey, watch it!" before adding a quick; "Conformist…"
Stark's Pond was at least ten minutes away, that alone was one of the main reasons the kids would go there straight after school, it was a great place and the kids had had many adventures there in the past. They had had snowball fights, played tags, even had campouts during the warmer times of the year.
Now, though, as they approached the area, all they could think was that there good friend could be anywhere around- what shocked Kyle the most though was that they could have even passed him on the way up, buried, deep, within the snow-
They arrived, their hands shaking, a white mist exhaling from their lips every time they breathed, there young bodies surveying Stark's Pond with innocent eyes-
Nothing.
Kyle fell to his knees, feeling the cold snow part as he thudded against the cold ground- he had never truly felt it before, this was a cold place they lived in…
Stan… Where the hell was he? What did he do?
What could HE do?
"It's ok." Said Kenny, "We don't even know that he came here in the first place. He might be at someone else's- Maybe someone in class saw him yesterday, or-."
Cartman stopped him; "Those goddamn cops… If they'd done their FREAKING JOB RIGHT-," He stopped himself, he had to, Cartman shook from head to toe- but he composed, he breathed, he slowly started again; "We've got to have faith. It's early days Kyle. Stan may be completely fine."
Kyle remained still, staring at the ground, his eyes shaking, but both his friends were right. Stan may be fine.
He may be at home, at this moment, waiting for them to get home after school, wondering where his parents were- they were pretty stupid after all, why shouldn't they have just not noticed him?
Dragging himself to his feet, Kyle managed to dry his watering eyes once more and shuffled around to face his two friends- but something caught on his foot, something soft.
Looking down, his breath caught again and he couldn't help but let out a scream of utmost terror. He threw his gloves off- screw the cold, he thought- and started digging around the object, but there was nothing else.
This was it.
Nothing else existed at that moment as Kyle held the object up to Cartman and Kenny, keeping it at a distance, holding it with his thumb and finger as if not to damage it.
It was a small, red and blue, poof-ball hat.
End of Chapter 1:
What do you think? The first of 10 chapters. Will the gang find Stan? What happened to him? Find out... eventually!
