Kenny coughed as water came up through his nose and mouth. He gasped and gagged, sitting up as he looked in shock at what happened. He was laying in front of a flattened building that had now turned into a frozen lake of wastewater. He took a few deep breaths and coughed some more to make sure all the water was gone. He was lower in the building so he must have drowned.
He looked over to see a few other bodies lined up, recognizing Scott Malkinson, Jimmy Valmer, Token Black, and Bradley Biggle laying lifeless in a line. He groaned and heaved up more water, counting who else he knew that managed to escape the building collapse. He hated to admit it but he was happy Stan, Kyle, and Wendy were not in the line of the dead. Kenny looked around for a shovel or something to bury the fallen, before things got worse.
Human Kite, no, just simply Kyle was now trudging through the snow. He looked around for any help as he pulled Clyde and Stan behind him on a piece of wood with rope tied around it. He had gotten used to his super powers and hated how slow he was as he kept pulling his friends to safety.
Safety, what a joke. Home was safety and that had been destroyed. Kyle wracked his mind for somewhere he could go and where a car and medical supplies would be available. He looked back at Clyde, his distorted eyes staring up but still breathing. Stan's eyes were squeezed shut and he'd let out a little moan in his sleep once in a while. Stan was more worrisome since Kyle was sure he was in great pain that had caused him to pass out. Kyle wanted to hug him to make sure he was still okay, but dare not wake him. He trudged through the snow through his old neighborhood and across the train tracks to look for a friendly face.
There was a warm glow of a candle flickering in a window and Kyle recognized the house. When the world went to shit an old friend had opened up her home to the younger children of the town, taking care of them until they were old enough to take care of themselves. Even Kyle's little brother Ike had stayed there, when Kyle was too busy being a superhero. Former superhero. Kyle wiped his face, snot and tears starting to chap his cold face as he went to knock on the door.
The door opened, curly blonde hair brushed back into a ponytail, simple but form fitting clothes and wide blue eyes looking back in shock. "Human Kite? What happened? What's wrong?"
"Bebe…" Kyle rubbed his eyes again. "There was a horrible accident, we need help. You have medical supplies?" He gestures to Toolshed and Mosquito behind him.
"Yes! Of course. Oh god, Clyde, Stan, you too, Kyle!" Bebe opened her door wider to let Kyle in and help him drag in Clyde and Stan, shutting the door to the cold and locking it multiple times behind them.
Bebe got to work quickly. "Kyle, try and get them warm, you too. There's quilts and pillows in that chest over there. I'm going to get my supplies." She bolted upstairs.
Kyle opened up the chest, sadly seeing it was a faded pink with unicorns and stars painted on it. A relic from when Bebe was a little girl, but now used for survival supplies. He found plenty of faded blankets and pillows and grabbed a few. Jumping back when he pulled to see a few guns in there as well. Not everyone was as lucky as him to have super powers for defense.
Well maybe it was time for Kyle to figure out other ways to defend himself. Considering…
Kyle shook off his thoughts and threw a blanket over his shoulders. He picked up Clyde and laid him down on the longer couch, putting a pillow under his head and a few warm blankets on top of him. He poked him on the cheek and forehead but Clyde just stared blankly.
Now Kyle turned his attention to Stan, which made him feel worse for saving his dumbass friend. He picked him up on the smaller couch and propped pillows under his head and under his legs, he checked at the tender burns under where his knees ended. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry dude." Kyle said softly as he put blankets on top of him.
Stan moaned back in delirious pain, his hand still clutched around Call Girl's pink mask. Another thing Kyle had to break to Bebe.
"So what happened?" Bebe says from behind him, startling him.
"Someone bombed our apartment building. Lots of casualties. This is who I could pull from the wreckage." Kyle says softly, collapsing into a recliner and burying his face in his hands.
Bebe bit her lip but went to look at Clyde, tears slipping from her eyes. "Oh Clyde. He was my boyfriend when we were kids, like you were. Well…when we had normal lives." She laughed bitterly as she pulled some equipment from her bag. "He got hit in the head?"
"Yeah, I think so. Found him under a bunch of rubble. Well, Stan did." Kyle didn't move. "He's alive but I don't know if he'll snap out of it."
Bebe nods and starts to put some salve on the injury on the side of his head, wrapping it in bandages. "And Stan?"
Kyle let air escape his nose. "Fucking idiot got trapped, his legs crushed and water was rising. Wanted me to leave him for dead, but I couldn't do that." He pulls back the blankets to show Stan's amputated legs. "Split second decision."
"Oh god, we don't even have a hospital. Kyle…we need to keep him hydrated with burns that bad." Bebe takes a few deep breaths before she starts to peel back Stan's pants from his injuries to put some antibacterial cream on and getting bandages ready.
Stan kept his eyes closed, his face very pale as he let out another little cry as Bebe tried to tend to his wounds. "I don't even want to ask."
"What?" Kyle called from the small kitchen as he grabbed some salt to dissolve into water.
"They were the only survivors?" Bebe looked down as Stan, the pink mask still clutched in his hand. She already had her answer.
Tweek was blindfolded, his hands and legs tied up as he was tossed in the back of a waiting van. He yelled and struggled as he desperately tried to free himself. He ended up sliding a bit around the hard metal floor of the van as Professor Chaos and General Disarray were also tossed in the van.
As the three slid around the sound of a motor started up and the van took off.
"They're gonna be awful sore once they know they've tangled with Professor Chaos." Butters yelled as he kicked at the sliding ice. He moves his tied up hand to slap down on the ice as electricity comes up around him.
"Jesus Christ! No!" Tweek yells at him as a bolt of electricity shocks all three of them.
Dougie cringes in pain as Legos spill from his fingers. Now the three superheroes slid around the ice, dazed from the electric shock and the little red legos sliding with them, poking and hurting them.
Tweek braces himself as he slid, the van seemed to be going along a wide curving road. His head ached, his heart pounded, terrified out of his mind. The terror multipled more than normal due to knowing he lost Craig and had no comfort anymore. The lack of coffee was adding insult to injury.
He lets out a yell as the van bounces over a gravelly road and the dim country roads of South Park gave way to the brighter searchlights just outside Middle Park. Tweek started to shake even more as he peeked out the dirty windows of the van at the kids who occupied Middle Park these days.
The homes were in shambles, the kids scrawny and unkempt looking were marching along the roads. Large spotlights shined, showing a huge barbed wire fence and propaganda posters. A huge sign read: 'you are now entering a controlled zone.'
The van stopped as the driver talked to the guards at the gate. The side window opened as Tweek blinked in the overly bright light. He screamed at the image of a huge poster with Craig's face appearing at the gate. It was all the coon and friends, shown as wanted posters. The image of Craig appearing like a ghost. Tweek peeked at his own image as the guard looked at him.
"Mark them apprehended and take them to max security." The guard ordered. He pushed back on Tweek making him fall back as the van was let through the gates and into the suburb of Middle Park.
Kyle had a medical book open on the desk, trying to gauge if he would be doing this right. Bebe sat next to him, also studying. "So we tie off the arm and look for a vein…poke with needle and hang up the IV."
Bebe sat back, looking disturbed. "Yeah easy." She fiddled with the ancient IV bag she had in front of her. "You think you'd be okay with Stan even with his legs…"
"No… you do it. I can't hurt him anymore. I'll do Clyde." Kyle says, a slight tremor in his voice.
"Psh the easy one." Bebe nudged him with her shoulder. "I understand, the closest person to you. You poke my ex boyfriend and I'll poke your best friend. Need to learn sometime." She hands over gloves and supplies to Kyle.
Kyle keeps the book under his arm as he gets the supplies ready. "You sure this shit is sterile? Last thing we need is an infection in either of them."
Bebe shrugged. "As good as we're going to get. What other choice do we have?" She sat at Stan's side and got her IV and supplies ready. "I would've made a great doctor, of course I'd never even dream of it as a kid."
"Yeah well, shit happens." Kyle slips his gloves on and follows the directions in the book carefully as he ties off Clyde's arm.
"I mean, at least you get to do something cool with your life. Being a superhero. Most people would do anything to be in your position." Bebe says as she watches him carefully.
Kyle has the needle out, but hesitates, holding it over Clyde's arm. Should he tell her? He wasn't special anymore and didn't know why. "Shit happens. You're doing good for the world even without superpowers." He lets out a breath and pokes the vein, surprised he did it on the first try. Still creeped out that Clyde didn't even flinch. Bebe quickly helped him add the IV of saline solution and look over the drugs she had on hand.
"His blood pressure was low, so he'd need this and this to keep him stable." Bebe grabbed two vials out of a pink box meant to hold makeup or hair accessories. "Be careful, supplies are limited."
Kyle's eyes widened. "So what do we do once everything runs out?"
"Try and find more. South Park is wiped out so we'd have to search surrounding areas for medical supplies. I mean, that won't be a problem for you superheros. Right?" Bebe smiled at him, but Kyle couldn't look at her.
"You're awfully optimistic for what's happening." Kyle said as he brought the supplies over to the couch Stan was laying on now.
"I'm used to loss I guess. Wendy…damn." Bebe bites her lip as she puts gloves on. "I'm heartbroken but I'm glad you came here for help. I guess…anything I can do to help you makes me feel better about all this." She sniffed as a tear rolls down her cheek. She puts a hand on Stan's forehead. He shifts and moans in his passed out state.
"I'm sorry I don't mean to be like that." Kyle wipes Bebe's tears so her hands can remain sterile. "I'm sorry about Wendy and everyone. Stan and I tried but she was far gone."
Bebe lets out a long breath and tries to get it together. "Let me concentrate and then we can figure this out." She ties off Stan's arm and cleans off the area. She finds a vein and goes in to poke.
As the needle enters Stan's arm his eyes fly open and he looks around, terrified. "Wendy? Wendy! Wendy!" He starts to scream and yell.
Kyle jumps up and grabs Stan's shoulders and holds down his arm so Bebe can finish off with the IV. "Stan, Stan calm down. Just we're trying to help you."
"Don't!" Stan snaps. "Don't, let me die. Let me fucking die! Wendy!"
Bebe manages to get the IV in and grabs a few drugs from her kit. She immediately injects medicine to make Stan fall back asleep. "Shhh, here. This will help the pain. Go back to sleep." Her face is wet with tears as Stan's eyes close and he slumps back. She takes a minute to get her bearings, finishing off the saline IV before losing it completely and grabbing a cloth to sob into.
"Here, come here." Kyle carefully puts Stan back down to go hug her but Bebe pushes him away.
"No, finish with antibiotics and fluids for Stan. Then after. Fuck feelings when this is happening, right?" She shoves the kit at him before taking off upstairs to her bedroom.
Kyle stares in shock, but gives her a few minutes to herself. He pulls open the pink caboodle and looks over the various vials of medication before he finds the penicillin. He grabs a syringe and injects it into the IV of homemade saline solution and hangs it from the lamp. He hopes he got the dosage right and neither Stan or Clyde would succumb in the night.
He walked up the stairs of the house, old faded photos of Bebe as a little girl and her parents lining the dark hallway. He could hear soft crying in the master bedroom and Kyle knocked. "Umm Bebe, can I come in?"
"Yes, please come in." Bebe's voice thick with tears called through.
Kyle entered to find Bebe sitting cross legged on her bed looking over an old iPad at pictures of her and Wendy. She swiped through as tears dotted the screen. Ones of when they were in preschool, throughout elementary school. She holds up the iPad to show Wendy and Stan in front of the club house with her and Kyle. Stan and Wendy are holding hands and smiling and Bebe is trying to hold Kyle's hand but he has a frown on his face, looking away from the camera.
"Yeah I was a little bratty kid. Sorry about that. Look at you two." Kyle puts an arm around her shoulder as Bebe keeps swiping through.
Bebe and Wendy dressed up at nine. Them at the mall at ten. Them at Wendy's eleventh birthday party. Bebe continues to cry but let's out a little laugh. She swipes to a photo of Wendy after she acquired her Call Girl powers. Bebe standing next to her, beaming supportively. "She was humanity's last hope." Bebe murmurs.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry you lost her. You lost so many." Kyle rubs Bebe's back as she cries. "It's okay, just let it out." He wipes his own eyes.
Bebe puts the iPad aside and looks at Kyle. Before he can think she puts her arms around his neck and goes in for a kiss. He pulls back quickly.
"Bebe? What are you doing?" Kyle says scooting to get away from her.
Bebe looks down, her face bright red. "I'm sorry! I guess I wanted some comfort. I misread. I'm…" she starts to cry now. "I worry that Wendy was the only female superhero left and if she's gone. I always assumed she and Stan would have kids and those kids would have powers to keep the world safe. Now that she's gone and he's hurt…this might help." She looks at him, her big blue eyes filled with tears.
"Bebe I don't like you that way." Kyle says angrily. "You can't just do that without giving warning first."
"Maybe if we had kids, there's a half chance they would have super powers. I mean, who's left? We're the oldest now. We have to keep making kids. We're barely eighteen. I'm sorry I misread your signals. Maybe you can find another nice girl…" Bebe trails off.
"Bebe I don't like any girl like that." Kyle is angry now. "I'm sorry. Please…I'll go sleep in the recliner downstairs. We'll be gone in the morning."
A moment later Kyle is out of Bebe's bedroom, neither wanting to look at each other. Kyle stomps down the stairs and goes to settle in the old beat up recliner in Bebe's living room. The nerve of her. He looks over at Clyde and Stan both passed out. He didn't want to admit he didn't have superpowers at the moment, but he also didn't want to reveal he had another secret he was trying to figure out.
The van rolled through the city as Tweek, Butters, and Dougie peeked out in their frazzled states. The once upper middle class suburb did look drab and had fallen into disrepair. More propaganda littered the walls. 'The secret to guarantee superpowers is closer than you think.' 'Warning, superpowers are dangerous. Approach any person experiencing symptoms with caution.' Wanted posters of the Coon and Friends lined the walls of the streets as news traveled around that the superhero's home had been destroyed. Those not dead were apprehended. Heads turned curiously as the truck pulled up to the gates of a large maximum security prison.
The little slits of light from the windows in the back of the van suddenly opened, blinding Tweek. Masked guards grabbed Tweek roughly, making him thrash and scream as they pulled him forward. "Don't fight or we'll have to subdue you." The guard yelled at him.
"What are you going to do to me? Oh Jesus." Tweek struggled against the handcuffs as he was dragged down a hall for booking.
"Careful with this one. He's a special guest." The guard behind the desk stated as they took Tweek to a tiny room.
Tweek tried to move away as hands grabbed at him to search him for weapons, which he didn't have. The hands over him overloading his senses and making him even more uncomfortable. Tweek hated to be touched, especially by strangers. "Goddammit leave me alone, gah!" A burst of electricity erupted from his hands and sent the guards flying back. All briefly dazed as sparks crackled in the air making their hair stand on end.
Tweek looked up at the chaos. At least no one was touching him or getting into his personal space. He got up, slowly and shakily with his back pressed against the cold bars of the prison cell. "Don't come any closer…I-I'll do it again." He held one hand out, the other touching the bars for extra conduction. Making sure no one came near as he looked for his escape.
He didn't see the guard that hit him in the back of the head, until it was too late.
Kenny coughed as he trudged through the quickly pouring snow. It felt hard to breathe in the cold air and he shivered as he looked at the houses lining the street. Most of the houses were dark and abandoned. Maybe he could sneak into one for some kind of warmth. Or let himself freeze to death out here and not deal with recovering from whatever this tight feeling in his lungs was. Maybe from being left out in the cold too long?
Recovering, yeah right. If only a quick death could erase the memory of burying half his friends and seeing his home destroyed. He racked his brain for where possibly Stan, Kyle, and Wendy could have gone to hide. He trudged through the snow and tried to think, noticing a light in a window still up at this hour. Bebe. She would definitely take Wendy in.
Kenny wrapped his frayed cape around him and continued up to Bebe's door to knock.
Kyle woke up startled on the recliner. No idea who could be knocking now. He got up slowly and peeked out the peephole. "Oh thank god." He undid the locks up and opened the door up to Kenny, grabbing him into a hug. "Fuck man, glad to see you."
"Knew you would be here. What's going on? Where are the others? Well, that survived." Kenny hugged him back and patted him on the cheek a few times.
Kyle's face fell before he put a finger to his lips. "Shhh, I pissed off Bebe. Things are bad." He leads Kenny over to the living room where Clyde and Stan are. "Clyde has a bad head injury, won't wake up. Stan…well." Kyle pulls back the blanket to show his bandaged stumps now. "I had to, he was trapped and going to die."
"Shit man." Kenny says. "Tough break, I don't know what else to say. Wish they had some of my powers."
Kyle looks at him. "Well, I'm glad you're here. I want to leave before sunrise."
"Why? Cozy house, medical supplies, hot lady to help us out." Kenny gave a tiny grin before going back to his stoic Mysterion expression. "Everything is gone, even walking here I saw people fled their houses. Not sure where they went but they're scared."
"They should be. Bebe was scared but I pissed her off." Kyle blinks. "I'm scared but trying not to let it get me. I need to rest but I'm not comfortable here. We need to hide out. Go far."
"Where do you suggest, Kite?" Kenny asks.
Kyle held up a hand. "Please don't call me that. Not right now. But I think we might have a chance if we go somewhere with food and security."
Kenny cocked an eyebrow. "Where? What don't you want to talk about? Nothing can be worse than this." He gestures to Clyde and Stan passed out.
"Just, Bebe is pissed off at me and some weird shit is going on. Weirder than Cartman." Kyle sighs. "I think we should go to Tegrity Farms. Hopefully it's safe and has supplies to keep us afloat until we figure this out."
"Food yeah, but that explosion started all this shit. Who's out there?" Kenny asked. He froze as he heard movement from upstairs.
Kyle shook his head and put his finger to his lips. His eyes went to the pink caboodle with medical supplies. He knew Bebe was already pissed off at him. "If she comes down, distract her. I'm gonna grab some supplies."
"Kyle? We can't walk with two injured all the way to Tegrity. What do you want to do? Fly?" Kenny asks again. The movement from upstairs goes quiet and Kenny peeks up the stairs.
"I-I don't know." Kyle takes Kenny's sleeve and drags him into the kitchen. "But I want to leave here soon." He sees a bag on a hook, sparkly with black sequins. He grabs it and turns it upside down, dumping the contents all over the floor. He opens up the cabinet of the downstairs bathroom to start looting medical supplies that might help take care of his injured friends.
Kenny rolls his eyes and leans against the door to the bathroom and crosses his arms. "Really, dude? Stealing? I thought Bebe was our friend."
"Yeah well, I thought a lot of things before tonight." Kyle stops, ace bandages and bottles of Tylenol in his hands. "I-I'll make it up to her. We just need to leave. Please." Kyle slings the bag over his shoulder and grabs Bebe's car keys off the hook. "Grab Clyde and I'll grab Stan. Let's try and leave before dawn."
Kenny looks up the stairs again. "This…isn't like you. This isn't what superheroes do."
"Well maybe I don't want to be a superhero anymore. Just puts a target on your back. We've been fighting for years to try and help people, for what? To be betrayed? Killed? Maimed?" Kyle picks Stan up gently, careful not to touch his legs. "Come on, let's go. Before this place gets destroyed because we're here."
Kenny hesitates, but lifts Clyde up to help Kyle carry them out to Bebe's car.
Tweek woke up with a start, his head pounding. He put his hands up to his ears. This headache was monstrous. A constant buzzing in his head that sent his nerves on edge and made him grind his teeth. He knew just a sip of coffee and maybe this pain would go away. Just that pain, not the other pain in the pit of his stomach.
Craig…
He looked around the room he had been put into. A small cot but dressed up to be somewhat comfortable, an assortment of pillows and blankets. A desk shoved into a corner with a chair, and a shelf in the corner. Empty for now. At least give him something to write or draw with or even some fidget toy.
Tweek sat up on the cot. He could see a mirror taking up one wall of the prison.
He stared back at his reflection. Hallowed eyed and pale. His hand shook as he touched the side of his head, feeling dried blood on his scalp. He shakily got up and lifted his shirt to see bruising along his ribs. He climbed back into bed and grabbed the thin blanket on top to wrap himself in as he shivered. Not cold but the shock of the last twenty four hours wreaking havoc on his nervous system.
He looked around the room. "Fuck, at least give me a window or soemthing." He felt sick to his stomach at the lack of coffee and getting his ass kicked. He put a hand up to try and let his electric shocks out but found them stunted. Nothing more than a small burst of static electricity, making his hair stand up.
Tweek rubbed his head and went up to the mirror. He concentrated to bring forth his ice powers. Fine little sheets of frost came from his fingers making ice patterns on the mirror in his room. But nothing big and substantial. Then he saw it as the mirror froze over. A gap in the mirror. It was two-way, something he picked up from TV. A show Craig would enjoy.
Who the fuck was watching him?
Tweek concentrated again to frost over the mirror to make it harder for him to see, but whatever was making his powers subdued was zapping the last of his strength.
With the mirror about half covered, Tweek threw the blanket completely over his head and climbed back into bed. His back facing the mirror.