Till the bitter end
Chapter 1.
Some thought of South Park as being a quiet little mountain town in nowhere Colorado. Others thought of it as a lost relic of a time long forgotten. But for a young man in a certain orange parka,it is a purgatory that he can't seem to get out of.
Kenneth McCormick has lived through(and died during) many adventures some could only dream of. But he sees it as an infinite nightmare. Each day he wakes up and just hopes that he doesn't have to go through death inorder to see the next day. He remains in bewilderment as to why he was plagued with this curse or why the universe wants to constantly murder him. However,he musters up the strength to go on. Day after day. Night after night.
Regardless if it's the newest game for the Psp,his friends, or some miraculous event that would bring some inconsistency in his life; Or securing the happiness of his little sister, Kenny keeps pushing for the next day to come. As long as he can keep what he has and protect it to the bitter end. But he will soon find out that his curse will cause more trouble than even he can bear.
BEEP!BEEP!BEEP!
Kenny slowly opens his eyes and hears his alarm going off with little reluctance to turn it off. To him it was just another way to say 'get ready to find another way to die today!'. He slams his hand on the alarm clock and rubs his eyes before sitting up and rotating to exit his bed.
He goes to his closet and seeks out his trade mark parka when he notices that it's missing. Still in a groggy,half asleep state, Kenny decides to put on his pants and shoes before surveying his house for his parka. After tying the final knots in his shoes, he goes around the house to look for his jacket. He decides to check the dining room to only be met with the same broken cupboard shelves and old dishes that haven't been cleaned in days. Kenny then decides to head to the living to see if he left on the couch when watching Tv. He is greeted at the sight of his mother laying on her left side as she watches tv with her signature 'I'm with stupid'shirt on.
"Hey Mom"
"Oo Good Morning Kenny"
She has a slightly surprised look on her face as she is used to seeing her son in his signature orange jacket. She sometimes forgets that he is even a blonde.
"You haven't happened to have seen my jacket around have you?"
"Actually,I saw Karen with it a few minutes ago. Said she dirtied it up and was planning on hanging it on the line."
"Okay thanks."
Kenny walked to the back side of the house where the backyard was. His mother went back to watching tv. Kenny walks to the backyard to find Karen trying to clean his parka under the laundry line used to dry out the family's clothes. Kenny suspected that they were the only people in South Park still using this method to dry out clothes like this. He notices how she is using an old sponge and some slushy snow to try and scrub off something red on the jacket before Karen quickly stands up to confront Kenny and puts it behind her back.
"Umm Hey Karen? What do you have there?"
"Uuuuu...just something I need to clean"
Kenny never had any problem giving his parka to his sister. As a matter of fact, he normally lent it to her when he noticed she was cold at night. That's the reason she had it now. But Karen never had trouble giving it back.
"Karen,I know you have my jacket. I would really like to have it back so I can continue my routine to get ready for school"
As much as Kenny hated to admit it,he was a creature of habit and liked to stick to his routine. He normally found this to help him avoid death at the cost of making his day a bit more predictable.
"Umm not yet. Let me take care of it."
"Why?"
"It's kind of embarrassing."
"How so?"
"..."
Kenny was genuinely perplexed by her response. His mind jumped to the worst possible conclusion. Did she kill somebody? Would he have to cover for her and bury the body? Did she kill him and he couldnt rember it? He immediately booted those thoughts out of his head. That was his sweet little sister after all.
"I was eating eggs this morning when I ripped open a ketchup packet that got all over the table. Dad told me to clean it up but I couldn't find anything to clean it up with so I resorted to using your parka. I'm sorry Kenny…"
Kenny sighed a sigh of relief in his mind. In order to cut costs when they shop,the McCormicks will take the free sauce packets from the mall food vendors or from fast food restaurants. Since they were free, You could say that it was a creative way to save money for more important items. Kenny noticed that the stain was on the back side of the hood of the jacket. It was still wearable. He just had to keep his hood down for a while.
"Don't worry about it Kare. I'll just keep the hood down and clean it when I get time."
"Are you sure?"
"Ya. It's no problem. Let's just get ready for school,alright?"
"Okay!"
Kenny and Karen begin to walk back inside the house when Kenny decides to put on his jacket. He is met to the surprise of his neck being wet and cold. He grits his teeth in shock.
After this,he continues to get ready and helps Karen get ready as well. Making sure her shoes are tied and making sure she brushed her teeth the best she could and making sure she didn't have any dirt on her face.
Kenny always wanted Karen to look her best for two reasons. The first being that looking nice means everything in school. Kenny has no problem being mocked for being poor by someone like Cartman but if his darling little sister were to be seen looking filthy or smelling terribly,she could easily be the subject of bullying. And Kenny would never allow for that. The second reason was that Kenny wanted the world to see Karen as the best she could be. The way she looked never bothered Kenny,but he knew others wouldn't see her that way without ever conversing with her. So,he went out of his way to show people how good she was through her appearance. That way,people could give her the time of day she deserved.
After making sure that they looked presentable,Kenny got his old,torn backpack along with his assignments when he remembered something.
He forgot to do the math homework assigned last night. He planned on doing it. All he needed was the scratch paper to do it. Unfortunately, the McCormicks preferred to invest more into making sure that there was food in the fridge rather than items like paper to use for school. This normally made Kenny the guy that always had to bump paper from someone else for assignments. Kenny just decides that he'll have to get some paper from one of the guys at the bus stop and do the assignment on the way to school.
"Kenny...I think we are gonna be late for school"
"Sorry Kare. just got caught up remembering I had to do something."
"Alright"
Kenny packed his things and walked with Karen out of the house. Kenny's family was never really into the whole goodbye thing so he never went out of his way to say goodbye. Kenny's older brother was in middle school so he didn't have to leave for another 30 minutes. Kenny envied that part of going to middle school.
It was an average morning in South Park. The sun had risen and it glazed everything it touched but it was still cold enough to see you breath. The pair walked until they saw the signature bus stop where Kenny's friends were waiting. He noticed that his friend Kyle was with his adopted brother Ike. Kyle also seemed to be aggravated with a certain fatass that was standing next to him.
"Typical morning" Kenny thought
"And that is why your auto falacio is considered to be gay,Ha!" Kyle said.
"Then that makes jackin off gay! But everyone does that Jew boy! If your giving your self an old fashion and that's not gay,then giving yourself a BJ isn't!" Cartman said.
"He's got a point there Kyle" Stan interjected while leaning up against the bus stop sign.
"But you're pleasuring a guy and enjoying sucking yourself off. How's that not gay"
"BECAUSE ITS YOUR OWN SHLONG"Cartman said.
"What's a BJ?"Karen asked.
Kenny simply pinched the bridge of his nose in embarrassment at this statement. He doesn't normally have a problem talking about anything that encloses the human anatomy and its implications. But he prefers to keep that dialogue away from Karen. All the boys acknowledge the young girls' comment by looking in their direction.
"Ummm...Karen...its...uuuu"Kenny's reluctance to finish his statement.
"It's fuckin suckin dick bruuu"Cartman spouted out.
"CARTMAN! GOD DAMNIT DUDE!"Kenny shouts
"She was gonna find out eventually man." Cartman counters.
Kenny considers that and looks back to his sister. She still seems visually confused. Kenny was always hoping that Karen would learn such facts later in life or through the American education system. Not by the antisemetic,fascistic pric that was somewhat considered his best friend.
"Anyway,do you guys have extra scratch paper or notebook paper? I was looking to do my math homework but I was lacking the necessary paper."
"Fucking poor"Cartman said
"Ya I got you."Stan said.
"Thanks man."Kenny said.
Not long after that,the bus arrived to take the kids to school. The ride went as Kenny was use to. Cartman teasing Kyle while Butters and Stan tried to break it up. Ike was on his phone while his brother bickered with his friend. Karen just looked out the bus window and spaced out and thought about what the day would bring. Meanwhile,Kenny worked diligently to finish his work. He wasn't the smartest kid in his class but he could be considered for hardest working.
They all finally arrived at school. They exit the bus and Kenny holds Karen's hand as they enter the building. Cartman often noticed this and teased Kenny for it,accusing him of having a sister complex. This couldn't be any further from the truth as Karen was one of the few things that fulfilled Kenny's life in a non-sexual way. Just pure happiness.
"Alright Karen have a nice day,okay. Don't be afraid to check in if you need to"
"I won't Kenny"
"Alright,love you buddy"
"Love you too."
She lets go of Kenny's hand and walks towards a group of kids(presumed to be her friends). There are two girls and one boy. One of the girls was was blackette with a ponytail held up with a pink scrungy. The other was brunette with hair that was cut down to a bob cut. The boy was also a brunette with big curly hair. They seemed to be around the same size and height as Karen and seemed to be in the same grade and class(Due to her size being bigger than the kindergarteners and smaller than the fourth graders,I'm going to assume that Karen is in the second grade). They looked and dressed financially well which made Kenny comfortable with who Karen has chosen to make friends with.
"Total sister complex braaa"Cartman said.
"O go fuck yourself you butter bleching pig" Kenny states.
The boys begin to walk to their lockers when Kyle interjects.
"Kenny, what's up with the new look?"
"New look? O ya. The back of my hoody was stained this morning. Didn't want to walk around with a stain on the back of my head and look like a fool. So I'm just gonna we're it down for a little while. Until I get it washed."
"Whenever that will be."Cartman states
Kenny shoots him a glare.
Kenny begins to think to himself. "New Look?"
"Do I look off putting?"
"I don't think Kyle is the only one that noticed?" Stan says
Kenny gives Stan a confused look and then begins to look around him. He sees his classsmates around him looking at him as they pass by looking somewhat bewildered. He also sees a few girls with a look of impression on thier faces. Kenny being Kenny takes this as a good thing.
"I need to where my hood down more often" Kenny remarks
"Okay,you K-Mart Harry styles knock off" Cartman states
"Your just mad because I'm gorgeous and your not fatty"
"Your just mad because I have a lunch"
Kenny just shrugged the remark off. He only really had problems with the poor jokes when Karen was around or if Cartman was on a roll and was annoying him.
The boys finally get to their lockers and grab the nesscaties for class. They then headed to class and took thier respective seats.
Class begins and their teacher enters.
"Good morning class,how are you doing today" states (I don't know her name so I'm calling her that,sorry)
The students give mixed responses,from a cheerful Great from Wendy testaburger to a lazy sigh from Craig tucker. Kenny always prefers a generic good.
"That's good to hear,today I'm going to be reseating you all." Stated
There is only two reasons the teacher ever does this. Either Cartman has done something to someone or she is getting ready to make setups for projects in groups or duos. It was practical for either reason. Kenny was just hoping it was with someone he liked or he could joke with. Surprisingly enough,that did in fact include Cartman.
Some of the students moaned while others seemed excited. It seems arbitrary but it did has its perks.
"Alright in the first row we have Leopold(butters),Tweek,token…."
Kenny was just looking at the other members of the main quartet. Hoping that he would be able to sit next to them. It would be a miracle as knows who they are and how they can act.
"Second row starts with Heidi,then Kenneth,then Craig…"
Kenny never liked hearing his proper name. It made him feel to conformed to the rules. Kenny was no goth but he didn't like being tied down to any rules that he didn't have to abide by. Especially if there wasn't any legal reasons.
Kenny grabbed his things and proceed to take his seat.
"Alright class now that you all have your seats,let's start today's lesson. Can anyone tell about how the 100 years war started?"
Within seconds of that question Kenny began to space out and think about more pressing matters. "Should I style my hair? Would chicks be into that? What I'm thinking? Of course they would be."this continues to badger his mind until he noticed something in his pariferal.
It was a girl with brown hair and a beanie with a little flower on it. Something seemed off...not just physically. She was just straying at her desk. Seeming very uninterested. It was a look he had seen in Stan when his parents got divorced. It also reminded Kenny of when his sister is down in the dumps. He hated seeing people like this as he feels that all people need is consol. But some people are so selfish they choose to avoid giving consol. It really bothered him that people weren't good enough to be there for others.
"What could be plaguing her?"he thinks. He knows she had a not so healthy relationship with a certain fatass. And that his friend Kyle tried to change the situation by forming some kind of friend/relationship thing with her. It was never clear if Kyle had actual made the move in on her.
It was obvious that something wasn't right. So like his superhero counterpart,Kenny lept into action(not physically of course).
Kenny pulled out his homework and looked for a blank space he could tear off. After finding a suitable space he ripped it off with the upmost perscion to avoid destroying his hard made math work. He the brought out a small pencil from his bag. He began to write something on it.
He then passed the piece of paper on to the girls desk.
"Are you okay Heidi?"
Welp folks that's the first chapter. At first I was gonna go for a slow build up into the plot I wanted tell but I got distracted with wanting to develop the relationships Kenny has with other charcters. I plan for the next chapter to be from another charcters perspective and pushing onward with the story from there. Hope you enjoyed and feel free to review.