A/N: I fell asleep one night on my couch with South Park blaring on my television. I was out for, maybe, an hour or two? Anyway, I dreamed up something interesting that I might use in future plots. Something involving the Goths! Maybe. I need to think because it might also affect the plans I'd already developed.
It wasn't just a spark of electricity every now and then, not just something which worked up from somewhere deep within when he was suddenly overwhelmed. Leopold contained actual powers, bursting impossibility sizzled at his very fingertips and all he had to do was will it into focus. Throughout the course of time, Leopold discovered he could do extraordinary things with the power of thought and oh it felt incredible. He could summon a mighty hammer in which to crack open the ground, he wielded its massive shape as though feather light and could cause it to disappear in thin air if he so demanded. He could obliterate things to ash with the charge of an energy beam, though it left him exhausted to do so, but he had such fun practicing.
He stared through his bedroom window, eyes watching the soft fall of gentle snow towards the ground, so pretty and delicate. Leopold wondered where these sudden abilities had delved from, why they were given to him and what he was expected to do with them. Obviously, he had been chosen for something in which was greater than himself (and everyone else in this horrific place of living). Although, the message wasn't too clear as to what his purpose was or how to use his powers correctly.
All in good time, he supposed.
§
She hated when he drank.
A good for nothing step father sat before little Sunny in his beaten old rocking chair, although he treated it as though it were a throne. He was surrounded with his friends, guzzling down more and more bottles of the dreadfully tasting alcohol and gaining more volume with their laughter because of it. Sunny stared up from the floor, a stuffed white wolf pup clutched in her grasp while big blue eyes watched wonderingly towards her supposed idol. It would stick with her, watching the way he eased his troubles and exhaustion through a loss of his conscious thought. But for now, all she wanted was a man she trusted to carry her off to bed.
Cautiously, she tip toed towards the group of men as they burst into laughter once more, the obnoxion caused poor Sunny to cringe in dismay. Her mother would be working late in the office, otherwise Sunny would certainly prefer her gentle grace over the stink of liquor rising from the men. She reached out with tiny soft hands and gave the material of her father's pants three hard tugs, it distracted him from his good time and he acknowledged the little girl. He was looking at her as though for the first time realizing her existence, blinking slowly while his memory worked overtime to recognize her. "Daddy," she whispered, plump cheeks coloring shyly as the other group of older men hushed altogether and paid her mind. "Will you tuck me in please? I'm tired..." Following this statement, the poor child parted her lips in a wide yawn and rubbed a small fist against her eye.
This went unfinished, however, because before she could close her mouth again one of the strange men stuck his grubby thick finger in it. Sunny froze, going rigid all over at the foreign contact being made, the shock of fear rushing through her shone in her widened gaze. "Wow," the man chuckled warmly. "Look at how wide her mouth is. That's gonna work out well for you in the future sweetie, how deep is your throat?" He shoved the uninvited digit down further and she scuttled backwards, hacking and spluttering as a result to his invasion. Tears immediately formed at the corners of her eyes and she latched on to her step father's leg, burying her nose into him with a grip like a vice. He scooped her up off the ground and placed her gently against his knee, unfocused fingers combed through her pale curly hair.
"She's growing up everyday," he stated proudly to his smiling friends, a crawl of both uncertainty and discomfort made Sunny hunch into herself as much as possible. "Looks just like her mother, I know I'm gonna have to be fighting boys off of her everyday if she gets any prettier." He picked up a half empty brown bottle next to his foot and took a quick swig, Sunny was suddenly opting to take herself to bed rather than sit in the center of everyone's attention any longer. And the grueling taste of that one man's flesh was still bitter and warm on her tongue.
"Forget them other boys," another man grinned, one with thick assets and a head nearly bald. "Worry 'bout yourself! You know you like'em young."
Everyone barked with ugly laughter again and Sunny finally realized she no longer wished to remain here. She lowered her vision towards her beloved stuffed wolf and willed him to give her strength, but her imagination worked against her. Her favorite companion was looking back and reflecting her own terror, clearly wanting to get away just as she was, so the two of them made quiet agreement that it was time to go. Sunny moved to slide from her step father's knee, but his hold around her waist tightened drastically and she froze up a second time. "Where you going sweetheart?" He smiled down at her with a perfectly white row of teeth, a huge difference to the rancid breath burning her nostrils each time he exhaled. "The guys think you're pretty, they just wanna see you is all. You don't gotta be nervous." He nuzzled his nose into the center of her hair and she took comfort in his affections, being with him among all these strangers gave her a small feeling of safety (if not complete).
However, this was ruined when the man sitting beside her father, rail thin with a shaggy brown beared and casually messy hair, outstretched his arms towards her. "Lemme hold her a bit," he offered. Sunny's father didn't give any reluctance in handing her off, she inhaled sharply and hugged her stuffed wolf to her chest with all the might she possessed. If she couldn't protect herself, she would certainly do everything in her power to save him. The man propped her up in his lap and pet her like a dog, she held obediently still and looked on with pleading eyes back to her guardian. This was strict, unknown territory and she didn't like it at all. "She's soft," the man grinned, Sunny shuddered when his fingertips traced up and down her spine. "What a sweet little thing."
He reached around to her front and tried to tickle her under her chin, but Sunny had reached the boiling point of her patience. Her head ducked down and she sank her growing teeth into his finger, biting down as hard as she could until the copper taste of blood exploded within her mouth. The man shoved her from his lap with a loud "AH FUCK!" and she collapsed on her hands and knees, her wolf slid far away from her hold. She scrambled to stand and tried to run off and pick him back up, but her father's giant hands grabbed her suddenly and yanked her back from her stance, causing her to land with a clumsy thud on her rear.
"Sunny!" He scolded in a roaring tone. "You do not behave that way! What is wrong with you?!" He wrenched her stubby arm around her back in a way that hurt so much, she released a wail that split through the night and touched the rolling clouds outside. Then something shot through the window like a bullet and struck the tableside lamp, causing the entire living room to be enveloped in total darkness. Sunny's father let her go in his surprise, the little girl scurried from his reach and picked up her wolf once more. She buried her face in his soft white fur and sobbed, huddling them both into a corner as the trio of men and her father all stood simultaneously, their eyes flicking quickly for the source of intrusion.
"What the hell?!" Sunny observed as her father approached the shattered lamp, kneeling down to examine the pieces. His brows pulled together in thought when he lifted up a tiny black knife, a green question mark was inscribed on the handle. He was too hazy to note the way a dark figure suddenly dropped from the ceiling as though weightless and land silently behind him. A burst of true happiness exploded in Sunny's chest, overwhelmed by the view; Peter Pan's shadow had stumbled into her home by mistake! She straightened, ready to be whisked off to the beautiful reality of Neverland. Instead, Peter Pan's shadow used the edge of his hand to whack precisely at the back of her father's neck and down he fell like flicker of a flame.
The other three men blundered blindly in a panic, swiping quickly in the darkness in clumsy attempts to hurt whatever had threatened them. The shadow spun on his heel and stepped forward, throwing his arm out and using the strength of his knuckles to strike down one of the men. His head careened to the side and he spit blood, he was out just like that without a fight. Another man reached out and grabbed his shoulder, pulling the figure forward against his chest and locking him in a tight hold. Another drunken man came to stand before the shadow, grinning lazily while popping the joints in his hands, the hideous cracks brought a whimper falling from Sunny's lips.
The shadow struggled while the man before him pulled back a fist. Sunny perked up, inhaling sharply at the idea of her mysterious savior being obliterated by the hands of these terrible people. "No!" She cried and rushed forward, deserting her stuffed wolf in the safety of their corner as she made the sacrifice. She rushed to the man about to hit her hero, then sank her teeth into his hairy leg with the strong clench of her jaw. The taste was putrid, but it certainly did the trick. The man screamed out and crumpled from his readiness, his gaze was dagger sharp when it layed on the betraying child and he kicked her hard in the chest. She fell back and slid across the floor, her eyes instantly filled with fat salty tears which fell from her eyes in harmony her painful sobs. The shadow took advantage of the distraction and flipped his captor over his shoulder. The man landed on his spine and groaned, the shadow lifted a leg towards him and let it fall hard on his opponent's ribcage, the splinter of bones sounded through the air and the man cried out in blurring agony. He wouldn't be up a second time.
The final man had seemingly recovered from his random attack and charged forward with the sloth of his drunken state, the shadow didn't even have to turn around. He threw his elbow out and it broke the man's nose. He stumbled backwards, grabbing his nostrils and roaring through gritted teeth. The shadow turned and kicked him square in his sternum, he flew back from the force and collided his back against the wall. He moaned his defeat, the fell face first into the floor, completely down for the count. Sunny scrubbed at her eyes, both rimmed with faint crimson, and sniffled as the unfamiliar figure turned to face her. He had a gaze the light color of the sky, they stared darkly from the cover of a shadowy mask and a black cloak concealed any distinct assets. He came towards her and knelt upon one knee, his gloved hand closed around her chin and he lifted her face up towards his. He used his thumb to gently brush aside a stray tear, Sunny was frozen in dumb wonderment and just a slight dash of fear.
"You're going to be okay," he murmured in a voice like rough sandalwood. Sunny breathed in lightly and parted her lips to offer a response, but the screech of a police siren cut her off. The figure backed away and spun with a graceful flourish of his cape, he rushed towards the broken window and dived through it. Sunny rose up to her feet and ran off to quickly peer through it, straight into the darkness, but the masked boy was gone. Disappeared with only the wind left as evidence.
§
The Coon scowled from the rooftop he stood upon, cape billowing in the wind from behind him. Police cars had quickly arrived at the little girl's house, and now they were dragging the broken men from the interior in the unforgiving nature of handcuffs. The child sat on the hood of the Sheriff's automobile, her arms waved to accentuate the heroic tale of her nameless savior. Dressed all in black with a glowing green 'M' inscribed on his chest, he had moved swiftly in battle and taken out each individual character who had threatened her. A new hero had entered the scene, already making headway despite his brand new status, and Cartman could not have been more outraged by such a display.
Stan was at his side tonight, wearing the costume of his superhero alter ego; Toolshed. He looked to Cartman through the goggles over his eyes and offered a curious tilt of his head. "Who was that guy?" He asked, Cartman spared him a severe glare before rising to his natural height and moving on from their position. They would discover this masked vigilante soon enough, whoever dared to take the streets from Cartman would sooner learn he had stepped foot into the wrong town. His stormy eyes glared at the glittering length of his claws and his jaw twitched with his annoyance. It was probably Kyle, the idiot Jew rat had witnessed him in action several nights ago and, as a result, thought he could take the cake as a copy cat.
"We're going to find out," he answered gruffly and beckoned Stan to follow after him.
§
Kyle had been seeing Rebecca for a few days now. Well, he hadn't exactly been seeing her, but certainly he liked to think that such a fact would be made certain to reality. They spoke of everything, mostly books they had both found enjoyment within. She was so wise, beyond her years and on, and Kyle imagined he would never come across anyone he could adore more. It was the first time he had ever felt this way, and he was riding the high as though it might fade at some point. Everything fascinated her, everything was a puzzle she longed to crack open no matter how long she would have to investigate, and Kyle could listen to her theorize forever.
He had revealed to her his dislike of romance during one of their conversations and she had laughed in a way that made Kyle ache. In response, she had dared him to read A Tale of Two Cities and see it through til the end. If he managed to succeed, he would get to pick any book in the library he liked and she would have no choice but to finish it all the way through, no skipping chapters either. So far, he had discovered the story not to be as insufferable as he had imagined, the writing was impressive and the characters were well developed. And although the main idea to the plot was the difficulty and harsh reality of love, Kyle found he enjoyed the prospect.
There was a gentle ting emitted from the laptop on his desk, Kyle looked up from the pages of his book and acknowledged this. His laptop was opened on the feed of his Facebook, someone was trying to communicate through his messages. Shutting his novel, Kyle climbed from off of his bed and went to see who was contacting him, a smile lifted his mouth when he recognized the name at once.
Hope you're reading, bookworm, Rebecca had sent to him. She didn't have a cellular due to a lack of permission from two strict parents, but she did have a PC for research and study purposes. Although it was a large feat, Kyle had managed to convince her in joining the booming social media website despite the forbidden nature given from her household. The very first message she had sent him was an excited little sentence telling him it was the first most reckless thing she had ever done. Of course, she never bothered interacting with anyone who was not the redhead so it wasn't as though she were too much of a wildcard. But Kyle had made it his personal goal to break her from the protective shell she had built around her, those crotchety parents of hers rarely allowed her access to the real world and even saw to homeschooling to ensure she and her older brother were protected. Grinning, he quickly typed out a response.
I am reading, he assured her. You might be devastated to know I'm actually enjoying the book too.
Oh dear heavens, she answered at once. Please be merciful while picking out my next book to read, anything bearable.
I was thinking more along the lines of Beautiful Creatures, he teased. You know, the cliche hot but weird girl is new to the school and has scary superpowers.
I've made a horrible mistake in knowing you. Goodnight Kyle.
Sleep well Rebecca.
There was a pleasant warmth spreading throughout Kyle's chest as he happily shut off his laptop, the screen turned black and reflected the space of his bedroom. This included the uninvited boy crouched silently on his bed, where his book sat as well. Kyle spun around immediately with a loud yelp of surprise, staring in wide eyed wonderment at an unfamiliar boy dressed in a long dark cloak with the symbol of a green 'M' printed on his shirt. He appeared far too casual perched on Kyle's comforter, as though they were friends of some sort. "Dude!" Kyle reached back towards his desk and felt for anything he could use as a weapon, only to feel his fingers close pitifully around his pencil. "Who the fuck are you?! What are you doing in here?!"
"Oh calm down Kyle," the boy waved a gloved hand towards him as though warding off his rational reaction. "I just came to visit you is all. That, and tell you about how fucking awesome it is to be a vigilante."
Kyle blinked his bulbous eyes, this kid knew his name. But how was the true question. He ripped the pencil out of hiding and chucked it towards the other boy, it flew through the air in a spin that he effortlessly knocked aside with a laugh. Useless, just as Kyle had easily predicted, but it was still worth the attempt. "I don't know who you the hell you are," Kyle took a slow and cautious step towards his bed, his muscles taut in the likely event of a fight. "But vigilante asshole or not, you can't just waltz into whatever home you like and think everyone is just going to gladly welcome you. Now get out of here, I'm tired of this stupid shit."
"Kyle, dude, relax. Look." The boy lifted his hands towards his hood and pushed it back, revealing a messy mop of golden hair he shook out and let fall over his eyes in tousled waves. He pulled away his mask and blinked his thick yellow lashes, a smirk turned up his mouth and Kyle realized, with a jolt of shock, he really did know who this kid was. Well, only sort've, they had spoken just once with one another but Kyle doubted that meant they were in good cahoots together.
"K-Kenny?" Spluttered the green eyed boy.
Kenny leaned back against the wall and spread his legs out over Kyle's comforter, relaxed and eased. "Yea," he chuckled. "It's me. Except, when I'm wearing this sexy as hell costume, I go by Mysterion. Hey! What's that look for?" Kenny clicked his tongue at the disbelieving narrow of Kyle's strangely bright eyes and bent one leg up towards himself. "It's better than Chipmunk or whatever fat boy came up with for his persona. Anyway, I literally just came back from saving this little girl from these drunk assholes in her home, the rush was incredible! And I was actually someone's hero for the night, I don't think there's anything more satisfying. Except, maybe, two lovely breasts from an even lovlier girl squeezed against my-"
"Okay that's enough!" Kyle clapped his hands together before Kenny could finish his vulgar comparison, he furiously approached the edge of his bed and reached across to grab the blonde's broad shoulders. He dragged Kenny from the mattress despite his obnoxious objections, forcing the supposed hero up on his own two feet and exhaling his frustrations. "Get. Out. Now."
Kenny appeared sincerely bewildered by Kyle's lack of excitement, his azure light eyes rounded in surprise at the venomous poise to his tone. "Why?" He asked, crossing two arms over the squiggly green 'M' on his chest, the narrow in his eyes sent Kyle's blood boiling. "I came here for good reason, you should know that Cartman was right about this shit! Being a superhero freaking rocks you should really try it. I was thinking I help you come up with something epic and cool like me, then we go ask Cartman to show us the ropes to this whole vigilante thing."
"No!" Kyle immediately rejected, he stepped around Kenny and grabbed the black mask from off of his bed, offering it abrasively towards the darkly clad boy. "I don't want a superhero identity. I don't want to put on a stupid costume and run around town thinking I'm some kind of hero when, in reality, I'd just be a douchebag in tights." He sent a suggestive glance up and down Kenny's odd apparel, the blonde followed his line of vision and frowned as though offended. "You guys really think you're making some kind of a difference, you actually seem to believe that life can function like a comic book if you decide it can but this is real life Kenny. You should wake up and take a look at it before you fall on your ass."
Kenny appeared unfazed by Kyle's harsh blow to his ego, he scoffed as though something of a joke had presented itself and the green eyed boy fumed drastically from his place. "Alright," Kenny sank back down against the mattress, blatantly ignoring the way Kyle offered him a dark gaze full of murderous intentions. "Let's take a look at your precious reality Kyle. In this so called reality, I die almost everyday yet nobody seems to recall it even if they were there. Except, of course, for you and those other guys for some reason. Stan can make a wrench dance through the air without touching it, and you have a fucking kite growing out of your back. Sounds like a pretty modern reality right?"
Kyle stared, aggravated, as the cocky blonde raised a slim brow in challenge towards him. He was right, nothing about the poor boy's life was to be considered as ordinary no matter how desperate he was for it, perhaps living in a fantasy of normality was instead causing things to be much more difficult than what was supposedly necessary. But what was he to do? Kiss such dreams goodbye and put on spandex? Go about the town challenging the horrors which threatened it and insist upon himself that his intentions were not selfish, that if he were a perfectly plain little boy he might go out and save other lives all the same? It wasn't true, the only reason any of them had a motive for saving the day was because they needed a reason to feel comfortable about themselves. Stan never met his eyes in the mirror, the strange vibrancy of them was unnatural indeed and only existed due to the effects of that blasted machine (promising a full charge if he wished to use the random gift of firing lasers from his pupils) and though they were often admired, Kyle hated them savagely. Blinking out of his thoughts, Kyle realized that Kenny was straddling the window sill, mask covered back over his face and hood pulled down over his hair. He offered the dazed redhead a slight dip of his head, then fell from grace as though nothing was more natural.
Kyle forced himself to remain still, unwilling to attack the billowing curtains and see whether or not Kenny had made it to safety. He knew already, he was gone without a trace. It seemed to simply be the way of the superheroes, each one of them disappearing into the night as though a shadow themselves. And, when Kyle thought about it, the simile was depressingly fitting. The quartet of boys were each silhouettes of what they longed to be, dust particles mindlessly being carried by the wind. Kyle was treating his own like his enemy, the pull of something greater than himself threatened to teeter him over the edge. He thought of Rebecca, ever so wonderful and containing all the qualities of a girl the boy would dream up in the end. She was his hope of normality, and perhaps she was all he needed. If Kyle floated to the sky in dangerous dreams and an impossible world not meant to be lived by anyone, she was strong enough to anchor him back to the ground and reassure him there was nothing left to fear. I can't, a soft, sensitive side to him moaned with unhappiness.
Yet he had to.
A/N: I'm struggling with something. Like, I was considering incorporating Tweek and Craig into the future plots I'm still beginning to develop but, at the same time, I made a promise not to do anything romantic between two characters unless there was at least a one sided display of feelings. The episode Craig X Tweek had them getting together but it was sort of played out against their will (they agreed to date for the sake of the town) so it's really a struggle. I feel like having a homosexual pair in the stories might be important as well as diverse but, I don't know it might be breaking my own rules. Of course this is all very far into the future, I still like to get things worked out beforehand so that I don't suffer from writer's block. We'll see I suppose.