SilverShadow5947: Kudos to my first ever reviewer! Thanks for the encouragement; I'll work on getting these chapters out quickly. Oh yes, and about the mints- there was that episode where Kenny eats a bowlful of what seems to be mints in Kyle's dad's parlor, but they turned out to be pills of some sort. Bye-bye Kenny.
Venus-gurl: Thanks much! I hope this chapter is good too. I'm getting a few more ideas, but feel that they might have to be touched up a tad. Well, that writing for you, eh?
Jester-chan: I'm so flattered! Much love for the support. Enjoy chapter two!
Well, here's chapter two. Stan and Kenny get a little time to bond. We also get Kenny's transformation underway. I hope enjoy!
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Chapter Two
Stan counted eight alligators before the haggard-looking old door before him was haphazardly swung open. Instantaneously, he plastered a wide, peppy grin on his face. "Hi Mrs. McCormick!"
The tall red-haired woman looming over him squinted tiredly. "Oh, hello. You're Kenny's little friend, aren't you. Wait…" Her eyes focused on the dark, coarse bag Stan had hefted over his shoulder. "Dang it, did you lot get my son killed again? Now, I told you boys to be careful with him; Kenny's really down on his luck these days-"
"No, no, Kenny's fine…I think." Stan inclined his head curiously. "Isn't he home right now?"
Mrs. McCormick blinked. "Oh. Well, he might be. You wanna check?"
"Sure." Stan knew his way around Kenny's house; he and the others had been here plenty of times before. He was pretty sure that Kenny's room was just down the hall and to the right. Cautiously, Stan picked his way through the smatterings of beer cans, taking care not to wake Stuart McCormick, who was dozing on the ragged couch. He could hear the shrill, out-of-tune squawks of a harmonica blasting from Kevin's room and somewhere in the near distance Kenny's younger sister let out a happy shriek.
Stan kicked Kenny's door open, shifting the weight of the bag on his shoulder in hopes that it would cease its insistent chafing. "Hey Kenny, I brought you some of my old clothes. Cartman said that I…" Stan peeked inside, mortified to find that Kenny was asleep. "Oh…" Kenny was wrapped snugly in a mound of sheets, head buried into his arms. His trademark orange hood, though still up over his head, was not pulled so tight as usual, allowing several strands of hair to peek out coyly. Upon hearing Stan speak, Kenny had groaned and rolled over in bed, scrunching himself into a loose ball.
Stan hesitated, suddenly unsure of what to do with himself. He took a moment to glance around his friend's room. There was a stained closet with one of its sliding doors broken and crooked in its frame. Next to it was an aged and fading racecar poster that had probably belonged to Kenny's father at one point. Kenny's name was scribbled messily on random places on the walls in red crayon, a factor that Stan was quite familiar with. Stan remembered that he, Kyle, and Cartman had once spent an entire afternoon helping Kenny mark the room as his own when they had been in preschool.
Preschool.
Stan shuddered and reached for Kenny's shoulder, shaking it urgently. "Kenny. Kenny, wake up man."
Kenny shifted, eyes blinking open slowly. "Cartman made me do it," he insisted sleepily as he attempted to turn away. Stan sighed and caught his friend's arm.
"C'mon Kenny. I've got some stuff for you. You want five dollars Kenny?"
"Haha, genius." The blond rubbed at his eyes and sat up, his hood sliding off and hanging limply at his back. "What are you doing here Stan?"
"I just said. Cartman's over at Kyle's' getting their new looks figured out. Meanwhile, we're supposed to be helping each other. Maybe if weren't having nappy time, you'd have heard too."
Kenny stuck his tongue out. "Screw you Stan." He smoothed his hair back and replaced his fallen hood, pulling the strings until only his eyes and the bridge of his nose were visible. "Mmph rmeem mrm mprh pmrrm?"
Stan guessed that Kenny had asked something to the extent of "you really think this will work?" "Hey, I don't trust Cartman's wacky plans anymore than you do, Kenny, but you've gotta admit that it's the best shot we've got." Kenny seemed skeptical. "Really. You wanna hear what his Plan B was? He wanted us to order a Phonics monkey, get a bucketful of cow crap from that farm down the street, mix it with 50 wads of chewed bubble-gum, get the monkey to dress up as Elvis, take it over to-"
Kenny emitted a muffled sound of awed disgust and Stan grinned. "I thought so. That's why I figured, 'aw, what the heck' and brought this." He swung a dark brown duffel bag onto the bed beside Kenny. "Check out the stuff inside. Who knows; you might like it."
The orange hood was thrown back. "Okay, I'll look at it. Is it your stuff?" Stan nodded and Kenny dug through the bag curiously. "This stuff is almost new. You sure this is okay?"
"Don't worry about it. It's all too small for me now anyway. Oh, and that…" Kenny had lifted out a dark green track jacket that had caught his eye. "Cartman told me specifically not to give you anything with a hood. You might get tempted, y'know?" Kenny rolled his eyes and smiled.
"Guess I'll have to admit he's right on that one." Kenny pulled his parka from his head, exposing his painfully thin torso for a moment before pulling on a white T-shirt with a bright red collar line. He inhaled deeply. "This smells good."
Stan blushed. "Oh, I wore that to my mom's friend's wedding and got my cologne on it. I guess the smell didn't wash off…sorry."
"No, I like it." Kenny closed his eyes and smiled. "What kind is it?"
"Uh…I think it's called 'Old Spice'." Stan watched Kenny as he smoothed down the shirt and began shrugging into the jacket. "My mom just bought me a new bottle, but my old one is still pretty full. Do you want it?"
Kenny's face lit up. "Really? But are you sure? Cologne is expensive…"
"Nah, I told you, I have two now. It's no big deal," Stan assured him. Slightly embarrassed, Kenny ducked his head and mouthed a 'thanks'.
Stan waited, feeling a little embarrassed as well. He felt a profane sense of pride in making Kenny happy, but at the same time it felt a little funny. Not a bad funny, but it was weird nonetheless. "I brought a pair of my jeans too. You can put them on now, I won't look."
"Oh…thanks." Kenny reached into the duffel bag right when the phone began to ring. "Um, that must be the other guys?"
Stan followed the sound of the cordless to a corner of the room. "Yeah, probably. I'll get it." He flipped the phone open, making sure to keep his eyes averted away from the blond. "Hello?"
"Stan, is that you?"
"Hey Kyle. How's it going with you and Cartman?" Stan picked at a loose thread hanging from the side of his brown jacket.
"Stan, you and Kenny had better get over to the hospital."
Stan plucked the thread off and shook it from his hand nonchalantly. "What, is that where you're calling from? Listen, if Cartman still thinks that dropping rocks on his head is gonna help…"
There was a heavy pause. Stan could hear Kyle breathing quickly. "Kyle? It is Cartman, isn't it?"
"No. It's Butters, Stan. Trent Boyett got him."
Stan froze. "Trent? Butters?" He took a breath to steady himself. "He got him good, didn't he?"
"He got him good. He got him real good. Just come over here, it's safe at Hell's Pass. Cartman wants to have a meeting, I think."
"Right. We'll be right there." Stan snapped the phone shut and turned to face Kenny, who was watching curiously. "Kenny, come on. We're going to the hospital."
Kenny tilted his head. He seemed hardly recognizable, dressed in casual attire, with face and golden hair in full view. "Wait, what happened to Butters? Why were you talking about Trent, Stan?"
Stan could only shake his head in dismay. "Trent Boyett is on to us, Kenny. He's probably already coming for us right now."
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Well, there you have it. I hope you don't think I'm being too mean to poor Butters…it really did happen after all! Anyways, go ahead and drop a review please. I love hearing what you guys think! Constructive criticism is welcomed.