Tall Goth wasn't Stan Marsh's best friend. The kid wasn't even in the top five. Nonetheless, Stan still attended the funeral service.
Despite growing out of a Goth phase in fourth grade, Stan still managed to maintain some level of friendship with the other Goths over the years. Although he felt morally obligated to go to the funeral, he also regretted doing so. It was hard enough having to deal with Chef's death, but now this? No one should have to attend this many sad services in a lifetime, let alone the span of a few weeks.
Upon entering the church Stan noticed a large display of black roses. Clearly he was in the right place. He made his way past the grieving family members he'd never met and located the still-living Goths. Luckily, they were always dressed for a funeral.
"I'm sorry you guys." Stan said with a frown. "You must be really upset."
Red Goth flipped his hair. "Not really"
Stan blinked. "But...But your friend's dead."
Henrietta shrugged. "Whatever. Shit happens."
"Emotions are for conformists." Red Goth explained.
The casket was left open so the deceased could be viewed. One by one everybody got in line to pay their last respects. The parents were at the front of the line, and naturally took the longest time saying goodbye.
"Dude, I wonder where Damien is." Henrietta thought out loud as the line stood still.
"Damien?" Stan questioned. "Why would he be here?"
"He was one of us." Red Goth informed him. "But right when Tall Goth died, he just bailed. Conformist"
"Huh" Stan replied, not too shocked that the son of Satan would associate with these people. "I didn't even know he was back on earth."
"You wouldn't. You only hang out with the conformists."
It was finally their turn in line. The Goths placed a couple of razor blades inside the coffin.
"These were his favorite blades." Red Goth said emotionlessly.
"Later dude," Henrietta said simply. So much for needing comfort at a funeral.
Stan gave up talking to his black-clothed friends at that point. Who could blame him? His goodbye message to Tall Goth was short and sweet as well. Not to be cold, but he had more important friends on his mind. He needed to get back to his investigation of Chef's death. No one took Stan seriously when he said he'd figure out who killed his adult pal, but he was determined to do just that. Today's ceremony only acted as a painful reminder, helping to fuel the young man's motivation. He'd figure out who killed Chef no matter what.
If only he could figure it out before Damien killed again.