Author's note: Something to keep in mind going forward, this story begins in the year 2006, on October 26th. This is a significant day. Just a reminder, this is an AU, so if some things don't add up that might be why...
Prelude...
"Kenny we can't practice today..." Stan said, as he had just heard the news. Kyle was standing still like a statue out of shock. Kenny glared at Stan, whiskey bottle in hand, taking a swig. He licked his lips and grit his teeth, fighting back his emotions.
"Just start playing dammit!" Kenny shouted. Stan grasped his drumsticks uncomfortably as a clearly intoxicated Kenny McCormick was waving his microphone around like a lunatic. Kyle glared at the blonde, leaning his Gibson SG against an amp to walk over to him.
"Ken, c'mon, you gotta take it easy." Kyle said, reaching out to take Kenny's hand. Kenny swatted at the hand, sending Kyle reeling back. "Kenny!"
"No talking..." Kenny said, hiccuping. "No...talking... just..." He pointed to Stan, tears in his bloodshot eyes. The raven-haired boy gulped and began to play, starting with fast hi-hats. Kyle cursed and picked up his guitar. He looked over at the discarded Fender bass guitar that was sat up against the mini fridge, right where Karen had left it.
Kyle began playing fast chords, exactly what, he didn't care, he let the music tell a story as he kept up with Stan's aggressive drumming. Kenny threw his whiskey bottle at a nearby wall, watching as it shattered, spraying golden streams of alcohol and glass shards in multiple directions.
Kenny let out a painful scream into his microphone, not giving a shit who in the neighborhood they were annoying. He wanted to make some noise, to be loud and angry. Stan, Kyle and Kenny poured their hearts out through song. They all wanted to forget, to go back to how it was before...
ELECTRIC HEAD.
Chapter 1: The Music-Shack.
Kyle crawled out of bed, his fro an absolute mess as usual. His normal hair was a nightmare, but bed-head with his hair was unspeakable. He wrestled with it as he put his hat on, having switched from his old ushanka to a simple dark green beanie. Next was his jacket, which was now replaced with darker brown coat, which fit him better than his old oversized orange monstrocity. Then he put on some pants, yes, he dressed backward, he realized this when he started changing for P.E. Kyle didn't care, it seemed more efficient this way, start from the top and go down.
"Kyle hun, I'm going to the mall, you wanna come?" Sheila shouted from behind his closed door. She posed the question with a hint of doubt in her tone. He usually said no the these requests. He had begun to fully grasp how much of a bitch his mom was, and was less and less inclined to spend time with her, even shopping alone with her seemed daunting.
"Ya sure." He said, throwing her a metaphorical curve ball. He began to think it wasn't metaphorical, because she didn't respond for a minute.
"Oh... o-okay." She said, obviously surprised at Kyle's sudden change in heart. "I'll be in the car when you're ready."
In reality, Kyle still thought she was a bitch, but he wanted to buy the new My Chemical Romance album that came out today, and didn't have another way of getting to the mall, and was too cheap to pay for gas if one of his friends drove him. Sheila wouldn't make him pay for gas, that was a given.
"Okay." He said as he heard her leave. He put on some shoes, old dirty converse, and made his way out of his room, leaving the house and meeting his mother in the car. They pulled out of the driveway and cruised to the South Park Mall.
oOo
"Get the fuck back here kid!" The local mall cop shouted as Kenny zoomed past on his skateboard. He ollied over a park bench with precision only acquired through trial and error(mostly error), and rolled on over to his destination, the mall's very own music store, called The Music-Shack. He stopped his board and ran into the store, taking cover behind a stackout.
He watched as the mall cop ran past the entrance of the store, chuckling as he stood up. He put his board in his backpack, and slung it over his shoulders. He began to inspect the selection, just your average garbage, Gwen Stefani, The Black Eyed Peas, and garbage(the band). He scoffed at the collection and heard a voice from behind him.
"Kenneth." Kenny turned around to see a fat boy with acne and a smirk on his face, dressed in a Music-Shack employee's uniform. "Looking rather edgy today." Cartman said. Kenny was dressed in torn jeans and a old black leather jacket, with patches everywhere, not out of fashion, but out of necessity to hold the thing together.
"Fuck off dude." Kenny snickered. Cartman looked over at what Kenny was looking at just moments ago.
"You lost?" Cartman knew Kenny's musical taste, though didn't agree with it, he was more of a jazz guy. He just figured it was a phase. "The new metal stuff is over there." He said, pointing over to a stand near the corner of the store.
"Nu Metal?" Kenny scoffed. Cartman shook his head.
"Oh right, no I meant the brand new metal albums are over there." He pointed again to the stand. Kenny nodded.
"That's better."
"Shut up." Cartman said, following Kenny over to the stand. He was always curious about metal music. It was a morbid curiosity. Kenny tried to get him into it, but chose to introduce him with a song from Cattle Decapitation, and it didn't go well, to say the least.
"Don't you have a job to do?" Kenny asked. Cartman shrugged.
"I'm helping a customer." Cartman said. Kenny nodded. He began to glance through the new releases.
He chuckled and held up Cattle Decapitation's newest release, .Karma. Cartman shivered, causing Kenny to giggle.
"The shit you listen to dude." Cartman rolled his eyes. Kenny smirked and fished through the CDs some more. "Did you hear from Stan today?"
"Na, thought he'd call Kyle first," Kenny droned, inspecting a Cannibal Corpse release. "Y'know, cuz they're besties and all." Kenny said.
"Well he's taking this breakup a little hard don't you think?"
"He's borderline Emo, what do you expect?" He settled on Christ Illusion by Slayer. "Can't go wrong with Slayer, am I right?"
"I guess." Cartman said. Kenny winked at him and walked up to the register, which Cartman stepped behind. He took the album and positioned it to be scanned. He paused. "Am I paying for this?" He asked. Kenny smiled.
"I'll pay you back babe." Kenny pleaded, smiling. Cartman sighed, and scanned. He took a twenty out of his pocket and threw it into the register. He gave Kenny a five, much to Kenny's confusion.
"Go buy breakfast or something, you look thinner than usual."
"Thanks." Kenny said. Cartman walked back onto the sales floor.
"Oh, and stahp skateboarding in here, I can't bail you out forever." Cartman said. Kenny nodded. He had been kicked out before, and yes, Cartman had been the one to bail him out.
"Okey dokey artichokey." Kenny said, walking to the exit, but as soon as he got past the country music section he heard a familiar voice.
"I'll be just a minute Mom." Kyle said. Kenny grinned, and hid behind a stand. Kyle walked past him, and the blonde boy lept out, receiving a swift smack from his victim.
"Ow shit!" Kenny howled, rubbing his cheek. "I totally deserved, that but damn that was a little too hard babe." Kenny chuckled. Kyle rolled his eyes.
"Sorry for slapping you, but you shouldn't have jumped out at me like that."
"Something wrong dude?" Cartman, of all people, asked.
"Why do you care?" Kyle snipped. He caught himself and sighed. "Sorry, and kinda, it's just my Mom's typical bullshit..."
"Nothing about your mom is typical dude," Kenny said, going stiff in case Kyle decided to slap him again. "Care to specify?"
"It's the whole 'Rock is the devil's music' speech as usual..."
"Well I don't think your mom has much room to talk on the whole devil thing..." Kenny stiffened again, ready for Kyle's strikes. Kyle, surprisingly, didn't retaliate.
"I'm just about tired of her shit." Kyle said.
"Well you don't have much long left, besides," Cartman said. He walked back behind the register, and pulled out a small cardboard box. "It's here." He said, gesturing to the box.
"You guys got it?" Kyle asked. Cartman nodded, taking a box cutter and slicing through the packing tape. He pulled the flaps open and pulled out one copy of My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade.
"Awesome!" Kyle beamed, approaching the counter, wallet in hand. Cartman rang up the album and handed it to Kyle, taking his cash and depositing it into the register, giving his change back to his waiting hand. "I've waited so long for this album to come out, you guys have no idea!"
"Yeah, you've been going on and on about this band for months now." Kenny deadpanned. "Say, have you heard from Stan today?"
"No..." Kyle said. "Why is he okay?" He was suddenly worried, clenching his new CD tightly.
"I dunno." Kenny said. "He broke up with Wendy last night, figured he'd talk to you first."
"Me too." Cartman added.
"Why didn't he?" Kyle stared off into nothing. He blinked and looked over at Cartman. "Come with me!" He ordered.
"Wait what?"
"Just shut up and come with me!" Kyle demanded. Cartman gulped.
"Hey Jimmy?" A brown haired boy looked up from a computer. "Hold the fort for a minute, gonna go on break." He said. Jimmy gave him a thumbs up, and Cartman left, following Kyle into the lobby.
"Where the hell is she?" Kyle asked nobody in particular.
"Where are we going?"
"You're going to drive me home." Kyle stated.
"I am?"
"Not really, but you need to convince my mom you are." Kyle said. Cartman caught on and nodded. "There she is." They approached Sheila Broflovski at an appliance store.
"Kyle, You took too long so I just started browsing." She said, holding up a small box, which appeared to be that of a food processor. Kyle raised an eyebrow.
"Mom, I'm gonna hang out here for a while." Kyle said.
"How are you gonna get home?" She asked. Kyle pointed at Cartman. The fat boy huffed.
"I'm gonna drive him home ma'am." Cartman said. Sheila sighed. "Don't worry, I'm a safe driver." He added.
"Fine, but be home before nine." She said. Kyle nodded.
"Okay bye mom." He said, as he walked off, Cartman trailing behind. Once they were far enough, he decided to let out a chuckle. "Ma'am?" Kyle laughed.
"Would you have preferred bitch?" Cartman asked. Kyle laughed even more.
"It's just weird hearing you be so polite." The two walked down the way they came. "And safe driver? Gimme a break!"
"Don't make me hit you." Cartman growled as they approached their destination.
They walked up to the Music-Shack and were greeted by a scene. The local mall cop had Kenny pressed against the glass, and was beginning to cuff him.
"EY!" Cartman shouted. "Hands off him Antagoniste!"
"I saw him skateboarding through the food court a half-hour ago." The mall cop stated.
"Antagoniste, don't make me..." Cartman pulled out a yellow envelope. "...show them!" With that, the mall cop yelped and removed Kenny's handcuffs. He ran off, trying to remain calm, as he was obviously terrified.
"What's that?" Kyle asked.
"An envelope." Cartman said, opening the envelope to reveal that it was empty. "I'm fake-blackmailing him."
"Genius." Kyle said. He then turned his attention to Kenny. "Skateboarding? Really? In a mall for christs sake!"
"Cartman already gave me the rundown." Kenny sighed.
"I swear, sometimes you sound like a stereotype." Kyle said, shaking his head.
"Okay, so why did you say you were going to hang out here all day?" Cartman asked.
"I'm not." Kyle said. "I'm going to see Stan, I just need a cover."
"Are you forbidden to see him or something?" Kenny asked.
"Something, I guess," Kyle sighed. "Every time I mention him, she gets all fired up." Kyle said. "Just don't want to deal with any of that shit."
"I feel ya," Cartman said. "It's the same when I talk about Kinny near mah Mom." Cartman said.
"Really?" Kyle asked.
"Well not to as much of an extent, but yea," Cartman said. "Mah mom would get all worried when I tell her I wanted to hang out with Kinny."
"I guess we're just victims of class." Kyle sighed. Cartman nodded, Kenny, however, gave the two a glare.
"So am I driving you gahs or no?" Cartman asked both Kenny and Kyle.
"I said you weren't, I can walk home." Kyle said.
"But I want to." Cartman said.
"I don't mind," Kenny said. "Skating on the icy sidewalk is not fun."
"Wait you want to drive me home?" Kyle asked. Cartman nodded.
"Sure, I never get to see you any more, maybe we can catch up or somethin." Cartman said. Kyle shook his head.
"Whatever, I'm gonna go see Stan," Kyle said, approaching the exit of the store. "I'll let you know how it goes." He added before leaving. Kenny looked at Cartman.
"I'm gonna go get breakfast." Kenny said. "Want anything babe?"
"Nah," Cartman said. "Treat yourself." He giggled. Kenny then left Cartman alone in the Music-Shack...
Author's note: This is a story I've had brewing in my mind for ahwile. I've always wanted to write a more serious fanfic, and this was my opprotunity. Thoughts? I would appreciate any and all feeback, positive or negative. Please fav, follow, and review. Love you all!