Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kenny McCormick has a few things going for him, even if anything he can think of seems to have a downside to it, he’s still got something, right?

He’s got friends at school, which is more than some of the kids at South Park elementary can say (cough cough- pip ((rip)) even if all three of them are shit eating bastards they’re still his friends.

He’s got a house, even if it is the shittyest crack shack in town it’s better than a card board box like some of the druggie hobos in town.

And he’s got a super power.

A pretty fucked one though, he’s gotta admit.

Kenny thinks about this as he’s lying flat on his back in the snow.

He’s to cold to get up and the glass shards imbedded in his forehead leek trails of blood down his face and into his eye and mouth, it tastes like copper and blurs his vision as he stares up at the night sky.

The snow was coming down thicker than before and Kenny was so cold that shivers racked his whole body.

Kenny raised a shaky arm and unzipped his parka, he knew about hypothermia, and he knew he was going to die if he didn’t get up and walk all the way back home to try to get warm again. But he wasn’t going to do that so he might as well speed up the process.

It’ll be just like one of Kyles video games, thought Kenny almost blissfully. I don’t want to go back home. So I’ll just die. then I’ll wake up back in bed, maybe then I’ll have stopped being so mad that I’m willing to basically kill myself out of spite. Kenny thought closing his eyes as more snowflakes peppered his face and soaked through his shirt without his parka for protection.

His teeth chattered under blue lips, huffs of frozen breath crystals where whipped away by the rising winds. If he had been watching tv at that moment he would have seen the news that a small snowstorm was currently passing over South Park.

The cold was numbing his skin and the pain from the remains of the beer bottle that had been cracked over his head, it was also numbing his thoughts. Things seemed almost funny now. maybe when I wake up I won’t even remember what happed…! Kenny tried to chuckle but it was getting hard to breath, and the action of forcing his chest to rise and fall was getting kind of painful, at least it will be warm in hell… ah ha ha… it wasn’t often that he was so complacent with his demise, usually his deaths where sudden and gruesome and traumatic. But this felt right, this felt good, this was better than staying in that shit show of a house.

~~~

“You fucking- *hic* rat bartered child… you come back here!”

Kenny’s dad swayed, beer in hand as he yelled after his youngest son as Kenny tried to dodge around him.

“I said you stay here dammit-!”

Kenny’s dad tried to grab him by the hood of his parka, ripping it down off Kenny’s head but loosing his grasp as his son squirmed and pulled away. he stumbled and as he put his hand out as to not fall, in his plastered confusion he slammed his drink holding hand down on Kenny’s head.

Kenny let out a yell as the bottle shattered over his forehead, he was sure he was going to black out, Maybe even die in his own kitchen from head trauma, but it wasn’t that severe. Luckily. Or unluckily.

Kenny ran for the bathroom and locked the door behind him. Panicked and not wanting his dad to follow and possibly accidentally finish him off. Kenny looked in the cracked mirror above their stained sink, seeing glass stuck in his head and blood flowing from his scalp he pulled the hood of his parka back over his head.

On any other day he probably would have stayed in the bathroom and plucked glass out of his face while his dad passed out drunk in the kitchen, leaving the Brocken glass and blood for someone else to clean up.

But not tonight, tonight Kenny was pissed off, and rightfully so, he’d had the worst week possible, he’d died every day for the last seven days, usually there was a break here or there but no! He’d been run over, stabbed, burnt alive, butchered, drowned, suffocated and blown up in that order from Monday to Sunday.

Kenny steadied himself tying not to shake as he went back to the bathroom door and listened through it. He couldn’t hear his dad yelling anymore so he’d probably gone back to his room, or maybe he’s already passed out somewhere, whatever s’not like he gives a shit anyway. He can drink himself to a poor man’s death, but he’s not going to kill his son doing it.

Kenny unlocked the door and walked with surprising conference out and down the corridor, his older brother Kevin’s door was shut, Kenny hadn't seen his brother all evening, actually he hadn’t seen much of his brother for the last couple weeks and he had the suspicion that maybe Kevin was drinking a bit too. It’s fine, it’s not like Kevin would be missing him, he never had before when Kenny had run away. Or died.

His mom was out again, maybe she was actually at work for once at the Olive Garden, maybe she was just out to get away from his dad, maybe she was just getting drunk some where else. She wouldn’t miss him either. Or she wouldn’t have time to anyway.

Kenny turned and went out the back door and back around out the front of the house and started walking up the street.

It was late, like almost midnight and there where no cars on the road to stop for a boy wandering around at night. Or to run said boy over in the dark.

He’d been crushed by enough cars to know that it was one of the more painful ways to go.

He didn’t know where he was going, he didn’t really have anywhere in mind, he couldn’t even remember what he was thinking about until he was so cold and the pain in his head was so bad that he clasped on his back into the snow on the side of the pavement.

Kenny wouldn’t remember where he was when he died that night, frozen blue and shivering but just over 60 feet in front of him was the sign post for the bus that would pick him up tomorrow.

Like nothing had ever happened.

Chapter Text

Kenny awoke feeling stiff and freezing cold but that was to be expected, he often carried the remnant of his death just for a few minutes after he woke up back from the afterlife, it was just a mental thing, he just needed to get warm to remind his body that he wasn’t dying of hypothermia anymore.

Kenny tried to get up but a splitting pain in his head made him cry out “Ahh what the fuck!?” Kenny startled at the sound of his own unobstructed voice bouncing back at him, he glanced down to see that his parka was still unzipped from when he was lying in the snow, zipping it up to try and keep the heat in and pulling the hood down to around his ears as he stumbled to the bathroom squinting against the pain as he looked in the mirror.

Glass and dried blood where still stuck to his face. He opened his mouth experimentally and the dried blood on his cheek cracked and pulled painfully.

It would take ages to pick all of it out of is scalp so he raked his fingers through his hair, nails grabbing at the glass imbedded there, tears springing to his eyes but not stopping till all he could feel was his bleeding skin, but no more glass. he plucked the shards he could see out of his face and held toilet paper to his hairline to stop the bleeding, last thing he needed was to spill blood everywhere and get the rats after him.

He lifted his hood back up over his head and pulled the cords tight to hide the marks on his face still not cleaned of blood, he hadn’t died from the head wound but from the cold instead so it made sense that it was still there, but still, he’d thought that he would wake up without any of this to worry about…

Wait no, this didn’t make sense at all, why did he still have glass in his face? wasn’t he supposed to have been reborn last night? He shouldn’t have any injuries at all! Let alone the same glass from the bottle that was still shattered in the kitchen.

Pondering this Kenny turned on the tap to wash the blood off his fingers but when the water that flowed out was the colour of piss he turned it back off again, wiping his hands on his pants instead. the piping in the houses around his house where all crap, and he should probably save it, he wasn’t sure if his parents had payed the water bill and he might need to rinse out his hair when he got back, depending on how much blood was crusted in there by the end of the day.

Leaving the bathroom Kenny saw his dad passed out on his bed through the open door of his parents bed room. There was blood smeared on the door frame, possibly from his dad if he had cut himself with the broken bottle last night. He didn’t know if his mom was home, Maybe she went to the early Church service if she was out late last night.

Grabbing a slightly damp box of half off, bulk cereal out of the cupboard Kenny made himself breakfast. The sour smell that greeted him when he opened the fridge told him it might be better to eat the cereal dry. Glancing out the window he saw that it was way early in the morning from the new rays of the sun, he contemplated staying home and maybe getting to school late for a bit before just deciding to get to the bus stop early so he wouldn’t have to just sit in his room and wait for his dad to wake up or his mum to get home, he finished up his cereal and left home for the bus stop.

Whoopee me, getting there early so I can greet all off my three friends and we can all go- “oh hay Kenny.” “ did’cha catch the snow storm last night Kenny?” “Kenny’s house is made of cardboard, he prolly caught half the snow in his bed room a ha ha ha ha ha!” Kenny played out a mock scenario of his friends Stan and Kyle in his head as he started walking, the last one being a some what rude but entirely accurate impression of cartman. Or fatass, as Kyle would call him.

He shouldn’t think like that, even if he was right to be cynical about it. He was just bitter about what happened last night. He should have just stayed home and waited for his dad to fall asleep instead of killing himself for fucks sake. Kenny didn’t even really mind that he’d died, it had been his choice that time after all and it happened so often that he liked to think he didn’t care anymore (a complete lie). It was more the having to get up and do it all over again bit that he hated, (don’t get him wrong the pain sucked balls, but having to do it over and over again sucked even more) having to go to school and be normal even thought he just died, and his friends not even remembering or caring made him feel awful most days. It wouldn’t matter if he killed himself in front of the whole town, or if he died cold and alone. He’d still have to go back and do it all over again the next day.

Kenny kicked a rock sticking out of the snow on the pavement and it bounced down the path till it hit the thing sticking out of the snow bank on the side of the road. Kenny stopped, frozen. A little funny actually now that he’d stopped and could see the all to familiar leg of his frozen corpse sticking out of a fresh layer of snow.

Sprinting over and kneeling down Kenny brushed the snow off his deceased blue face. His eyes where closed and his mouth was full of snow, the colour of his skin also left a lot to be desired.

Kenny grimaced under his hood and looked around.

this is new, and awful to look at. God is that really what I look like dead? Kenny thought. Why the hell was his body still here? he couldn’t remember ever coming across his corpse the next day before. Wasn’t there something that took it away?

The rats! Where where the rats when he needed them? Did they not want his body cause he froze to death? Usually they turned up right after he died, sometimes they didn’t even wait for that but then again usually he’d be splattered into convenient rat sized chunks by whatever killed him, but also that didn’t make sense cause this wasn’t the fist time he’d frozen to death, and his body had always been taken care of before.

Kenny looked around nervously. There where still no rats coming to eat his previous form. Standing up and looking up and down the road to make sure that no one was around to watch him do this, Kenny hiked his corpse under the armpits and dragged it out of the snow. He pulled the Body over the road and let it role into the ditch on the other side. Jumping down after it he avoided looking at his blue sunken face as he covered the body in snow to hide it.

This feels illegal. Kenny thought as he climbed back out of the ditch and surveyed the lump of snow.

The shallowest of graves possible, that’s all he deserved.

Walking back as casually as possible Kenny stood at the bus stop and waited for his friends. Whistling under his hood as he rocked up and down on his heels, trying to forget how fucking weird this morning was staring out to be.

Chapter Text

Kenny felt really good, yesterday had been great. He hadn’t died or even been in mortal peril at all. It had been a completely normal and average Monday at South Park elementary the day before and he was hoping that today would be the same.

(well it had been complete normal except for the whole having to bury himself thing, he was hoping that his remains had been dragged off by the rats now and weren’t still lying covered in snow on the other side of the road. Also this morning he had woken up to find that the cuts on his head had full closed up during the previous day as only faint scar lines lay on his skin where open wounds where previously, which was good if not still incredibly weird.)

The only other interesting thing that had happened yesterday was the confiscated property heist.

Eric had gotten his phone confected by their teacher Mr Garrison for playing on it in class, he’d been playing a dumb mobile game, the kind that made a bunch of obnoxious sound affects. the fat fuck haven’t even been trying to hide it.

Not being able to stand for it Cartman rallied Stan and and Kyle to help him brake into the desk that Mr Garrison kept the confiscated stuff in. Then cartman convinced Kenny to be the one to actually do the breaking in bit.

~~~

“Your poor Kenny. You know how to pick locks” said cartman matter-of-factly.

“Mmh? Mhmh wmmh?” (What? Since when?) Questioned Kenny as all four boys huddled around the slightly open door of Mr garrisons class room.

“Yeah, since when has Kenny been able to pick locks?” Said Stan raising an eyebrow at cartman. Something he’d recently found he could do.

“My god, he’s stolen stuff before right? Can’t he do it for a good cause” Cartman said pushing Kenny towards the door more.

“Stealing for you is hardly a good cause fatass” chimed in Kyle leaning against a locker.

“Mmh! anh m mmh mmher hmmn smh!” (Yeah! And I have never stolen shit!) Huffed Kenny trying to shove Cartman back a bit so he wasn’t pressing him into the door.

“You have too stolen shit, now get in there” cartman said shoving Kenny through the door then closing it to ajar again.

Cartman gave Kenny a thumbs up as Kenny looked back. Kyle rolled his eyes then moved away to keep watch for any teachers.

Kenny turned and walked over to the desk, the confiscation draw wasn’t even locked as it turned out so he opened it and started rifling through the junk and Nick-Nacks that had been taken off all the kids in their class.

Kenny saw Cartmans phone and reached for it but stopped as his gloved finger caught on something, forgetting that he was supposed to be in and out of here as fast as possible he gave it a look over.

It was a pen knife, Kenny had no idea who in their class had gotten a pen knife taken off them; but hay, he was here now and they hadn’t come to collect it sooo.

Kenny grabbed the phone and stuffed the pen knife in his pocket.

Slipping back out of the class room he handed Cartman his phone, which he immediately unlocked and opened up the stupid game again. No wonder it had been taken off him, he was addicted.

~~~

It was Tuesday now and Kenny stood at the bus stop yet again hands in pockets feeling good and fidgeting with the pen knife still in his jacket.

“Wow that pot holes new” stated Kyle nodding towards the chunk of missing road down from them.

“Yeah that wasn’t there yesterday, was it? Wonder when that happened” said Stan gazing down the road.

“Pot holes just kind of come out of nowhere don’t they. Like, I’ve never seen one get made” continued Kyle, talking almost to no one.

“…Unless you count the whole street getting crushed, I’ve seen that multiple times”

“hey what’s up guys” said cartman walking up to them.

“Hey” chorused Stan Kyle and Kenny together.

Kyle and cartman started talking about something they had seen on tv the night before which quickly turned into an argument but Kenny wasn’t listening. He was looking down the road as a truck was coming. It was one of those trucks with the flat beds full of wood, all stacked in a homey comb pile and strapped down.

Kenny shuffled away from the road slightly, he’d been hit by a few trucks, they always strike when you think your not going to get hit. maybe if he tried to shy away from things that looked like they where gunna kill him he might start building up his ‘days without perishing’ streak.

As the truck came closer and closer up the road Kenny watched it intensely, debating wether, if, for some reason, the truck was to swerve of the road and into the bus stop, wether he would jump out of the way or push his friends out of the way. Selfishly he’d like to jump in that circumstance but the right thing to do would be to save his friends. They couldn’t come back like he could so he needed to protect them sometimes. Even if it seemed they never thanked him for it.

As the truck came past them the fount wheel hit the pot hole and the truck lurched up, and Kenny saw, almost in slow motion, as one of the stamps holding all the wood in pace clicked open from the jolt. Kenny had just enough time to think ‘well that’s not very secure’ and then swiftly ‘oh fuck me’ as the back tyre of the truck hit the hole and bumped the whole truck, causing one of the wooden poles from the top of the stack, now not strapped to the pile, to be pushed from where it sat and to fly off of the bed of the truck.

Straight through Kenny.

The pain was instantaneous. The pole punched its way through Kenny’s stomach and right through the other side.

Kenny swayed for a second before falling to the ground his head hitting the snow for the second time in two days. He would have screamed but blood was already flowing up into his completely destroyed lungs and coming up through his throat.

“Oh my god! They killed Kenny!” Yelled Stan his hands coming up to his face.

“You bastards!” Screamed Kyle after the truck.

Lotta good that’s gonna do thought Kenny, annoyed, as the agony of his spine having been broken jolted through him.

Kenny screwed his eyes shut wishing for himself to just go unconscious so he could bleed out and not feel it. Why couldn’t he be given the decency to die instantly?

Kenny hardly even noticed when knees hit the snow beside him, but his eyes flew open again when he felt hands grab him and shove into his abdomen.

Vision growing hazed form the pain and blood loss, Kenny could make out… Stan? Stan was grabbing his organs that had been carved out of him and was shoving them back in.

That nice of him thought Kenny he’s trying to keep me alive. They never usually do that.

Although he could still feel and hear his eyes had closed without his permission.

“Dammit! my phones dead!” Yelled someone, who must be Kyle
“Cartman! give me your phone we need to call an ambulance!”

There was a second where cartman must have been looking in his pocket before saying “I- I don’t have it- my, my mom must have got a call from the school and taken it without telling me” his voice sounded oddly distant even if the ringing in Kenny’s ears was messing with him it sounded like cartman was in shock. Weird.

Kenny felt the hands pressing on him leave his chest and the sound of Stan throwing up. please don’t have thrown up inside me Kenny thought as the tingling sensation of his nerves shutting down racked through him that’s gross.

“There’s nothing we can do, look at all the blood he’s- he’s dead you guys” Kenny wasn’t sure exactly who said that as he finally finished dying and his thoughts became clearer. Kenny felt himself drift out of his body and couldn’t resist looking down. It was gory to say the least no wonder Stan hadn’t been able to keep it in (luckily he had turned away to chuck his guts up and hadn’t filled Kenny’s chest with vomit)

It was nice of them to try. thought Kenny as he drifted away. that almost never happens. it felt good when they noticed he’d been killed, even if they wouldn’t remember. It made Kenny feel like they cared.

Chapter Text

Kenny had re-awoken on Wednesday morning with a dull ache in his core, sitting up in bed and flexing his fingers he got up and lifted his shirt. Thank god he had a mid section again.

But… was that a faint circular scar? He’d never had scars from his deaths before.

this is fucked Kenny thought tracing the undeniable line that ran in a circle just under his rib cage from the pole that had gone through him with his finger.

Going to the bathroom and turning around he took off his parka and lifted his shirt again. Turning his head to look at his back and squinting through the grime on the mirror his suspicions where confirmed. A similar faint white scar marked where the pole had exited his back yesterday.

What the hell is this? Do I gotta worry about getting scared up from all of this now!?… I wonder if I’ve got scars on my organs… that’s kinda badass... Thought kenny while pulling his parka back on.

He was back to 0 days on the ‘without death’ counter but whatever, Kenny was more pre-occupied with the weird shit that had been happening to him. Not the dying and being reborn bit, that was the norm for him, but the whole… his friends actually trying to save him yesterday thing?

He’d had some time to think about it on the way up to heaven and then subsequently down to hell and then just as quickly the trip back to his “new” body. Kenny probably knew the afterlife better than god himself, he wound up in hell most of the time but deep down Kenny hoped that, if, when he died for real he would get to stay in heaven. he’d been delt a pretty shit hand of cards with his life but he tried to be a good person for the most part- but anyways.

The last few days had been weird, from waking up with glass still in his head, to the rats not showing up for his body, to his friends noticing his demise and now waking up with scars from the event. Kenny kicked some snow as he waited at the bus stop yet again (luckily it seemed his bloody corpse from yesterday had been disposed of as there was no body lying at the bus stop with him) another weird thing was that the bus would be here any minute but not one of his friends where here yet.

Maybe something happened at school yesterday while I was dead and now they’re all sick or something Kenny thought looking up and down the road for the tenth time to try and spot them.

Kenny fidgeted with the fabric of his pants leg, he didn’t want to be the only one of his friends to be at school, that would suck, and what was the point of going to school at all if they weren’t there to get him killed Kenny thought sarcastically.

Just then Kenny saw the bus in the distance and making a split decision, he ran across the road and hid in the snowy ditch on the other side as it passed so that Ms. Crabtree wouldn’t see him and threaten him with an office referral.

The bus continued right past the stop as there where no kids waiting there. Kenny went to pull himself out of the ditch only for his foot to hit something making him look down.

It was a head. His head. But not the head of the body he had dumper here the other day, all frozen and blue. No this head was grey and covered in blood it’s mouth hinged open from rigour mortise where it had been dumped.

it was his body that had been impaled by the log yesterday morning.

~~~

Kyle held his phone, completely drained of battery limply in his hand as he stared at the broken body of his friend. His friend- Kenny, that… had just been killed, right in front of him.

Stan stood, shaking, from where he had been trying to stop Kenny from bleeding out, a fruitless effort as Kenny had literally had a hole punched through him.

Stan went to wipe his mouth from throwing up but stoped when his blood soaked gloves neared his face, Stan was covered in Kenny’s blood and Kyle had been sprayed with It too.

“Oh my god- oh my god, oh my god!” Yelled Stan his face getting even paler, if that was possible.

“What are we gunna do, he’s dead! who’s going to tell his parents- and, and the police!” Backing away and ripping his gloves off, the blood soaked material landed with a thud, staining the snow in front of him crimson.

Cartman jumped forward “no one is going to tell anyone anything!” He said trying to recover but Kyle could see he was just as pale and shocked as he and Stan where.

“Why not! What are you talking about!” Kyle found his voice but was disappointed when it came out cracked and strained.

“Because everyone in this town are fucking idiots and we are so going to get blamed for this” cartman shot back

“They- they couldn’t say we murdered him!” Said Stan “it- it was that truck!”

Kyle turned his head slightly, perhaps to see if the truck driver had noticed his early morning manslaughter and was coming to help, but strangely the truck was nowhere in sight down the road.

“Look at this” said cartman “who’s going to believe that a log came perfectly off a truck and through Kenny, when it looks a lot more like you pulled his insides out” said cartman gesturing at Stan’s blood soaked cloths

Stan looked down at himself “I- I think Im going to throw up again”

“No time for that” said cartman “we need to hide Kenny’s body”

“We can’t hide his body dumbass! that looks way more shifty than reporting it!” Kyle yelled again.

“The bus is going to be here soon and we cannot be standing here with Kenny’s body” said cartman “or we are going to be sent to jail”

Kyle tried to think of something, some other way they could do this but failed, his thoughts felt foggy, all that kept coming back to him was Kenny just died, Kenny just died, Kenny just died “ok… I guess we should… bury him then. right?”

“The grounds to solid for that, we just gotta cover it up with snow and hope for the best” said cartman

“What!? Even Ms. Crabtree would notice a body covered in snow right here!” Yelled Kyle. the ramifications of this where really starting to sink in and he felt as if his throat was closing.

“We can dump it on the other side of the road, Kenny wouldn’t want us to go to jail for his murder, would he? So help me move him into the ditch then we can all be very, very normal about this”

Cartmans voice was weedy his eyes wide, ‘no… he’s right (cartman was right??) Kenny wouldn’t want us to get blamed for this…’

Kyle’s thoughts were slow and delirious, his whole body felt numb but he couldn’t stop glancing at his friends desecrated body as cartman gestured at him to help.

Cartman and Kyle grabbed Kenny from ether end hauling him over the road and dropping him on the other side.

Kyle felt a knot in his throat as he watched Kenny’s limp form lid into the ditch. It was already ridged.

Stan came after them with the blood soaked pole.

“What about… all the blood?” Said Stan still looking misty eyed like he was spacing out.

“Well your gloves are a lost cause, but you can rub your selves in the snow until it’s washed out. And it’s supposed to snow a bit more today too so hopefully that will cover the blood on the road up, but if it doesn’t it will just look like a deer was hit by a car here. We should be fine.” Said Cartman as they all crossed back over the road.

“Why do you… like, have a plan for this?” Asked Kyle trying to ignore the blood stain on the snow next to him

“I just don’t want to have to go to jail over this” said Cartman avoiding his eye.

“This is fucked up right here” Kyle heard Stan say, almost to quietly to hear as he stared at the ground

They all stood in silence and waited as the bus started coming up the road.

Chapter Text

he was going to skip school then he had to find his friends, the most logical place to look for them would be at their houses, if they where sick that’s where they would be after all. The first house Kenny decided to go to was Kyles.

When he walked up the driveway the first thing he noticed was that Kyle’s parents car was missing. if he’s home alone maybe I can stay over. Thought Kenny as he knocked on the door and waited for a reply.

When no one answered Kenny banged on the door more. maybe his parents took him somewhere and no one’s home. Kenny thought, just about to walk away when he heard foot steps from inside the house coming to the door.

When Kyle opened the door he screamed.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Kyle’s scream was so high pitched that Kenny went to cover his ears but Kyle slammed the door in his face before he had a chance.

Kenny stood on Kyle’s doorstep of a second, shocked.

“What the fuck Kyle! Let me in!” Kenny recovered yelling at Kyle through the door and banging on it again

~~~

Kyle was lying on the couch with a wet cloth on his forehead and a glass of water on the floor next to him, his parents had had to leave to take Ike to a doctors appointment leaving their distraught son home alone after Kyle had refused to go to school.

He, Stan and the fatass who had got then sunk in all this trouble had got to go home early from school after Stan couldn’t stop throwing up and Kyle couldn’t stop bursting into tears at the notion that Kenny had just been donut-Ed by a pole and died!

Cartman had seemed more than alright, but had somehow managed to get out on the preface of walking his two disturbed friends home. When they had all gotten to Kyle’s house Cartman had spouted on about how they had to keep this a secret and just tell anyone who asked that Kenny had never shown up for school that day and they had no idea where he was till the police found his body in their own, to avoid being sent to jail.

When Stan and cartman had gone home Kyle had still not been feeling well and so he told his parents that he thought he was sick and it would be the responsible thing to do to stay home. This probably would have fooled them as he was always contracting something and his face was still pale hours after the… event.

His mother was inclined to believe him as Kyle’s little brother had recently gotten ill too from a flu that was going around his kindergarten class, and Sheila didn’t want to be responsible for all of Kyle’s grade getting sick too.

So when Kyle heard the knock at the door he assumed that it was probably a salesman or something so he didn’t move. When the knocking came again this time more forceful he reasoned that it might be Stan and Eric, maybe they had thought to something and they where going to report Kenny’s death after all.

It was weird Kyle thought, as he placed the damp cloth on the arm of the couch and went to answer the door. he had been trying to distract himself with the tv but the more he thought about it, Kenny’s death gave him a strange almost tangible sense of… of…? Day-ja Vu? Kyle couldn’t quite Place the feeling. Maybe it was just the shock, last night he had tried to go to sleep like nothing had happened like Eric had said to but he’d had waking night long nightmares about kenny dying in different ways that when he woke up in the morning he was so sweaty that his mom thought he definitely had a cold.

When Kyle opened the door he screamed instantly.

“AHHHHHHHHHH!” Kyle yelled slamming the door in the face of his friend that he was all too sure should be covered in snow with a large hole through him right now. Not standing at his door looking fine as ever.

“Mmh mmh fmmh Khnn! Mmh me hmm!” Kyle heard Kenny’s shouts muffled as usual but even
more obscured through the door as Kyle held it closed with his body. Kenny banged and pushed on the door trying to get in.

“Please don’t haunt me forever! We didn’t mean to cover up your death- it was all Fatass’s idea! I didn’t know what to do!” Kyle shouted through the door in a rush.

The pushing on the door stopped and Kyle hear Kenny say “wmnh?” There was a pause before Kenny spoke again.

“Mh mnt m mhmt mnhm!” (I’m not a ghost Kyle) Kenny shouted through the door.

“Your not?” Kyle asked as he opened the door again almost getting punched as Kenny went to bang on it again.

Kyle turned as Kenny pushed past him into his house and he shut the door.

“But- but I saw you get killed! By the wooded pole of the truck, it went right through you! How could you not be a ghost”

Kyle stood baffled as Kenny’s eyes grew wide and he ripped off the hood of his jacket, exposing his face and blond hair (hair that was partially crusted with blood Kyle noticed, not helping his confusion or concern at all)

“You remember that!?” Kenny screamed, grabbing a very overwhelmed Kyle by the shoulders and shaking him.

~~~

Kenny and Kyle sat on the couch in Kyle’s house while Kyle rambled trying to explain.

“I think Stan and me where in shock, cause like, you know.” Kyle gestured at Kenny’s middle for a second before stopping and grimacing a bit. “All the blood and you where just lying there- Stan kept mumbling about how it looked like you where trying to talk but more blood just kept coming out of your mouth, and- well he kept vomiting every time he thought about it and I just couldn’t keep it together, I was sure we where gunna get found out and Eric would be right and we’d get sent to jail and I- I just. I was trying to think of what to do but-”

Kenny stood up from the couch and started pacing as Kyle kept winding himself up. “but now your here, how are you here? Oh god did you get turned into a zombie again! You don’t look very undead how do you look so fine? You died!” Kyle’s voice was getting higher as he continued “I helped bury you on the other side of the road for fucks sake!” Kyle through his arms up, exasperated.

“I know!” Kenny snapped. “I saw it while, I was hiding from the bus”

“You saw it! Oh no that means other people are going to see it- but oh this is good this means we can’t get framed for your murder, if your alive I mean. Unless I’m hallucinating this.” Kyle reached out to pinch Kenny to make sure he was real but kenny swatted him off.

“Im real dip shit- don’t pinch yourself your not imagining this”

Kyle took his fingers off his own arm still looking unsure.

“I need answers Kenny” said Kyle jumping off the couch too.

“Im trying to think of some” Kenny said annoyed “what I need answers too is why you remember this time”

“This time?” Kyle questioned “what do you mean this time?”

“Oh my god is this like the movie ground hog day?” Kyle said cutting Kenny off as he opened his mouth.

“Have you been getting killed by that truck every day in, like, a time loop?”

“No” Kenny answered “well yes- but not like a time loop”

“What are you on about! what do you mean yes but no??” Kyle was on the verge of yelling again so Kenny grabbed him by the shoulders for the second time.

“Ok Kyle this is going to sound weird but you’ve gotta hear me out” Kenny said shaking Kyle slightly to make sure he was listening.

“Weirder than what’s happening right now?”

“Same vain of weird but you might want to sit down for this” kenny said releasing Kyle. Kyle sat down on the couch again obligingly.

“Ok so Kyle, follow me cause I’ve never really been able to explain this to someone before.” Kenny started walking up and down the length of the couch forcing Kyle to track him with his eyes like a tennis game “dude your freaking me out just tell me” Kyle said “ok ok fine so-“

“You and me have hung out almost every day for years right?” “Yes” Kyle followed

“Well almost every day of my life since as far back as I can remember I have died in some way and then woken up completely fine the next” Kenny tried.

“Your joking” Kyle said a bit distant “do you think I would be joking right now!” Kenny shot back

“This- this HAS to be a prank” said Kyle standing up off the couch and walking out of the door Kenny running after him “dude I’m not joking! please listen to me! no one has ever remembered before-“

“Did fatass put you up to it? I knew he seemed too ok for it to be real- was it all some elaborate scheme to get something out of me and Stan? Well you’ve go to far this time Kenny, I know your Eric’s friend but this is sick even for him.

“Where are you going Kyle? please stop!” Kenny was jogging now as Kyle marched with a purpose down the road.

“I’m going to beat the shit out of Eric for this, and maybe out of you too! it’s not funny I thought you actually died! Did he say he’d pay you? is that why you helped him? I don’t know how you faked that it but that was fucked up man”

“I-I Kyle stop! It not a prank I actually did get hit by that pole!”

Just as Kyle turned around to yell at Kenny for trying to keep such a sick joke going Kenny yelled out in pain.

Kyle looked down, his face creased with anger evaporated as, out of the drain on the road and out of his neighbours bins came rats. Just a few at first but they went straight for Kenny. Bitting down on his clothes and trying to wriggle up his pants leg.

Kenny yelled out again as they bit him trying to shake them off but being unsuccessful as one rat was replaced with three more.

Kyle was rooted to the spot unable to move to help his friend or to run for some kind of help as Kenny was eaten alive. It was one of the most gruesome and painful things he’d ever seen and he’d seen a lot of fucked up shit. Within a matter of minute’s all that was left of Kenny was bones and his tattered clothes.

Finding his feet suddenly like he’d been dropped out of the sky Kyle ran right back into his house and to the sink to throw up, Kyle ran back shaky to the door to bolt and lock it and then up to his room to hide “what the fuck was that, what the fuck was that, what the fuck was that!!”.

Chapter Text

Well he’d been wondering where the rats had been. Waiting for the most inconvenient time to eat him alive, apparently!

Kenny had been eaten before, and it was horrible, actually the worst. At least when he got impaled the pain was centred in one place, or if he got burned alive all his nerves got roasted to shut off the pain. But when he gets eaten he has to feel everything, and if he’s getting eaten by a bunch of animals, he can try to fight them off but ultimately he just has to take it while they bite chunks out of him till they literally naw through his brain stem and end it.

Waking up in his bed the next day, once again all he could do was lay there, why am I still in agony? He thought, trying to curl his fingers in but spasming as it still felt like his veins where being bitten through by rat teeth. why is it getting- harder to die??

Once he’d fully recovered after what felt like an hour of lying on his stained mattress starring up at the cracked plaster of his bedroom ceiling trying not to cry, Kenny walked back though to the kitchen to see Kevin staring into the all but empty fridge.

“mmnh knhn” Kenny said “morning Kenny” Kevin responded

“mmh mn mmnh mum n dmh?” (have you seen mom and dad?)
Kenny questioned from under his hood, trying to shake out the dull pain in his legs totally casually. “mom and dad are out, I don’t know where” was all Kevin said before grabbing one of the beers out of the fridge and heading to his room.

Kenny thought about taking one too, it wasn’t like his dad would notice, and he’d drunk before. Maybe it would even help with the pain. He decided against it since having alcohol on his breath when he went to confront Kyle again might not help him out.

It was Thursday today and Kenny cringed slightly hoping he hadn’t missed anything that would get him in trouble at school but to be quite honest this was bigger than school. Kyle had remembered.

Kenny had been desperate for anyone to remember his death for so so long and admittedly it hadn’t gone that great. Kyle had thought he had been joking and Kenny had died again before being able to give an explanation.

Kenny was half way down the street on the way to Kyle’s house when he stopped, a thought crossing his mind. If Kyle had remembered then it stood to reason that Stan and Eric would have remembered too. this is good, they can finally know and not think I’m crazy, maybe they can even help me. he thought as he neared Kyle’s house.

But as he thought about it more, ramifications of others knowing about his “power” started creeping in.

He had wanted for so long to be able to talk about it with the others but maybe they wouldn’t want to be friends with him anymore if the whole “everyone else getting a weird memory blasé effect after witnessing him die thing” was- going away? Breaking down? Kenny still didn’t know why things where suddenly changing from the states quote of “die, get revived, no one remember.”

If his friends knew that he could, and would be dying all the time, they might think that they where more at risk of being harmed by being around him, now that they seemed to be registering the things that happened to him instead of just moving on after witnessing him being killed.

Maybe they would even factor it into the messes they go into, offering him up as kill fodder with the knowledge that he would be “fine” if he died. (Not that someone hadn’t done that before on more than one occasion when shit hit the fan)

Kyle wouldn’t do that though, Kenny hoped not at least, since he was sort of locking in Kyle as the one he was actually telling. (Out of his other friends he had to admit Kyle had at least a moderate moral compass and he could also keep the contents of his stomach inside him) Kenny wondered if Stan was taking today off too. He wondered weather him and cartman where also having a hard time with it like Kyle had been yesterday.

Knocking on Kyle’s door for the second time in as many days Kenny looked over and saw that next to Kyle’s door was a poison rat trap cartridge that had been placed under a piece of wood. Kenny smirked for a second. he probably told his parents that there where rats around and he was scared. Kenny thought before banging on the door again.

When Kyle’s mother Miss Broflovski answered the door she spoke first.

“Oh it’s you” she tutted “Kyle one of your little friends is here to see you!” She shouted back inside.

Kenny heard the sound of foot steps pounding down the stairs as Mrs Broflovski stepped aside Kyle ran forwards and grabbed Kenny.

“You boys have fun, you make sure you don’t make your friend sick Kyle!” She called after them as Kyle led Kenny by the arm up to his room wordlessly.

“Dude!” Kyle whisper shouted, shutting the door behind them once they where in Kyle’s room “I haven’t been able to sleep all night after what happened! What the fuck was that!” Kyle said practically ripping the flaps off his hat from stress.

Kyle stopped before Kenny could answer, taking a step back “dude your face…” he said squinting at Kenny. “is that from the rats..?” Kenny put his hands up to his face, gripping the hood of his parka “mnhs mnn mnmh m mnhn?”(What’s wrong with my face?) He said, a bit panicked. He hadn’t looked in the mirror before leaving the house this morning.

Kyle took him to the bathroom and let him look in the mirror. Still rambling about how disgusting it was watching him get mauled alive “trust me it hurt just as bad as it looked” kenny said trying to lighten the mood as he took a look at his unhooded face in Kyle’s mirror.

“Oh shit, why is this happening to me!” Kenny said pulling at his face, which was adorned with faint marks from where his skin had been bitten off.

He unzipping his parka and dropped it to the floor of the bathroom as he inspected his arms. They where also covered in faint white scars, as was every other part of him as it turned out. As he inspected them more closely he found that they weren’t like normal scars. They didn’t sit in groves on his skin, like a scar from that kind of damage would, they where more like they had been layered over his skin, like the faintest of ghosts from injury’s that shouldn’t be visible.

“Kenny, I need you to tell me exactly what is going on, I promise I won’t think your joking this time but I am really freaked out dude”

“Ok, I’ll tell you” said Kenny as Kyle handed him back his parka “I’ve wanted to for a long time actually”

~~~

“Wait wait wait” Kyle said his face scrunched hard. Both him and Kenny where back in his room and Kenny had just re-explained his life long predicament. Now that Kenny had seen the “scars” on himself he kept scratching at his face absently.

“That first day after you where killed by the pole off that truck I kept having hallucination nightmares when I tried to go to sleep about you dying in a bunch of ways, I couldn’t get to sleep properly and thought it was from the shock but now I’m thinking I might have been remembering the times I’ve seen you die before!”

“Maybe… I don’t know. You’ve never remembered before now-“ Kenny was cut off as Kyle started up again.

“Where you shot by Mr Garrison that time he was trying to kill Kathie Lee Gifford?” Said Kyle in a rush like he was trying to grasp the memory.

“Oh yeah I remember that one, I got impaled through the head on the flag pole right after so the bullet wound was less of a problem-“

“And, and did Mis Ellen- that substitute from awhile back, did she pin you to the wall with a Samurai sword through your head before she got taken back to Iran?!”

“It was a scimitar actually, and yeah that kinda killed my boner for her not gunna lie-“

“And oh god dude, you where the original zombie in the zombie outbreak on Halloween” Kyle grabbed Kenny again and shook him by the shoulders looking sufficiently freaked. “I- I chainsawed you in half dude!”

“Don’t feel too bad about it, I don’t remember much from being a zombie, probably cause my brain was decaying. But that dose explain all the pain I remember…” Kenny trailed off as Kyle let go of him looking like he was about to cry. Ok so this isn’t what I expected to go down when I finally got to tell someone Kenny thought, cringing a bit as he patting Kyle on the back.

“Wait.” Said Kyle again “do Stan and Cartman remember too?”

“I don’t know.” Said Kenny honestly “I went to go see you first when no one showed up for the bus, and haven’t had a chance to talk to them after what happened yesterday”

“We should go and see them.” Said Kyle walking back over to his door Kenny in tow “if they remember like I do then they are probably going crazy right now” “good point” said Kenny as they left the house “I’ve never had to do damage control after I’ve died before” he laughed pulling his hood back up as they started walking.

Chapter Text

They went to Stan’s house first. Maybe because they would both rather talk to him than Fat boy, but when they knocked on the door they where greeted by Stan’s mother.

“We’re here to see Stan” said Kyle, Kenny standing behind him on the Marsh’s door step.

“I’m sure he’d be happy to see you, but he’s at school right now. Like you boys should be.” she said giving them a slight glare.

“Oh” said Kyle looking a bit confused “of course, sorry” Stan’s mom shut the door on them.

“That’s so weird, I would have thought for sure he would have been as freaked as me, especially after what fatass said about keeping quite” said Kyle as they started walking away.

As they walked away and started towards Cartmans house Kenny started thinking “I mean maybe he tried to act sick but his mom called his bluff, in that case then fatass is definitely still at home-“

“Hey Kyle?” Said Kenny cutting Kyle off

“Yeah?” Kyle replied, they both kept walking as Kenny continued.

“If it turns out that Stan- and especially if Cartman don’t remember, don’t try and fill them In. ok?”

“What? Why!” Shouted Kyle “but you-“ “yes I know it’s all very sad BUT. I’d rather us just ask the weird question of ‘hey do you remember I died on Tuesday or nah?’ And then drop it if they don’t rather then it look like I got you drugged on something while we skipped school”

“What are you talking about??” Said Kyle “I’m saying that I don’t want you to look crazy, cause let’s face it, it sounds fucking crazy when you have to explain it.” Said Kenny plainly.

“But wouldn’t you want them to remember?” Asked Kyle ad they continued down the street.

“I mean… I wouldn’t mind if Stan remembered. But Cartman is more likely to turn me into an infinite money organ selling machine than he is to offer sympathy.” Said Kenny shoving his hands in his pockets as they neared Cartmans house.

“That dose sound like something he’d do…” Kyle trailed off and looked at the pavement maybe wondering why he’d wanted to tell Eric in the first place, the guy was a psychopath.

“I’d rather die than have something gross and horrific like that happen to me” said Kenny grinning, though it was lost on Kyle as it was under his hood.

“you’ve got a morbid sense of humour now that I’m thinking about it” Kyle said cringing slightly. “well hindsight’s’s a bitch I guess- but hey, trust me, I’ve had nightmares about stuff like that, that’s why I figured you where a pretty safe bet. Even if you do do some pretty fucked up shit sometimes.”

Kyle went to refute that statement but stopped as Kenny punched him playfully on the arm.

~~~

When they got to Cartmans house Kyle knocked again.

As the two boys waited at the front door Kenny turned and saw that Ms Cartmans car was not in the driveway. He turned back as Kyle banged on the door a bit harder “Cartman! Cartmans Mom!” He called through the door before crossing his arms and tapping his foot, huffing a bit.

“She’s probably upstairs fucking the mailman” Kenny heard Kyle say under his breath as he passed him to peek through the window of the house. Pushing himself up onto his tippy toes to get his face up to the window he held his hands on either side to block the glare and scanned the empty living room from the outside.

“Can you see anyone?” Kyle called. Kenny dropped down from is tip toed peeking and shook his head.

“He must be at school then too… dammit, I should have brought my phone so I could text them.” Kyle fretted patting his pockets for the forgotten devise as they left the Cartmans front yard.

Kenny noted how Kyle walked on the side closest to the road next to him and how he eyed the cars that drove past them warily as they walked. Kenny slipped a slight smiled under his hood. Maybe I’m just seeing things. He was freaked out at first, but he knows now that it wouldn’t matter if I did die again today Kenny thought as they continued up the street.

Chapter Text

Kyle had thought it best that they didn’t try to go to school that day and instead wait till tomorrow. He told Kenny that he planned to make a full recovery from his ‘slight cold’ by tomorrow and convince his mom to let him go to school.

And sure enough Kenny saw Stan, Cartman and Kyle at the bus stop the next day.

“Where the hell where you two fags yesterday” said cartman to Kyle and Kenny once they where all there.

“Yeah dude where you sick again or something?” Stan asked Kyle.

“Umm yeah… Ike got me sick… -but weren’t you and fatass sick from Tuesday too?” Said Kyle glancing at Kenny before facing back to Stan and cartman.

“From Tuesday ?” Said Stan “no, or maybe… I think I was a bit sick, or something, I can’t remember. I think I took some of Shelly’s new sleeping pills cause I was nauseous and couldn’t sleep… or something.”

“Your sister has sleeping pills?” Said cartman

“my mom got them for her cause she wouldn’t shut up about how she can’t sleep cause her braces got tightened” Stan sighed “The pills are so strong that she doesn’t even have dreams at night now, and you can’t wake her up; Which is great cause she was beating me up for making the slightest noise at night before.”

Kyle cut in “so you don’t remember anything about Tuesday then? Nothing happed Tuesday morning?”

“No not really, why? Tuesday was like two days ago anyway” said Stan kicking snow.

“But didn’t we go home early on Tuesday..?” Said Kyle, he was beginning to look freaked out again.

“Huh? Why would we have gone home early?” Said Stan “I don’t even remember what happened ” said cartman “we mighta skipped school”

“No I didn’t mean that we ditched-“

Kyle was cut off as cartman talked over him “yeah cause Mr straight A Jew boy doesn’t skip school” cartman mocked.

“Shut Up dick bag! You only make fun of me for getting good grades cause your a retard that should have been held back a year!”

“Jesus Kyle don’t get your balls in a knot, your the one being all weird, interrogating us about Tuesday, was it some kind of retard Jew Holliday or something” huffed cartman as the school bus arrived.

“Whatever” said Kyle hopping on the bus after Stan.

As Stan and Kyle took their usual seats next to each other in the back, Kyle glanced over at Kenny, sitting a few rows ahead of him on the other side of the aisle. Kenny didn’t bother looking back at him, it was obvious Stan and cartman didn’t remember like Kyle did and he and Kenny couldn’t talk about it now anyways.

~~~

This sucks ass thought Kenny as they all sat in Mr Garrisons class. Kenny didn’t usually listen during class and he got pretty shit grades as a result, he wasn’t stupid or illiterate, he just didn’t try or rather he just didn’t care most of the time.

Kenny couldn’t stop noticing Kyle fidgeting and scribbling on his paper, something he didn’t usually do. We’re not really even good friends, he’s way closer with Stan than he is with me, Kenny thought starring at Kyle, watching as his face screwed up again he’s just worked up cause it’s so weird, and he probably still doesn’t really understand. Though I figured he’d stop caring once he saw that Stan and Cartman didn’t remember..

Kenny wanted to let his head hit the desk and go back to sleep. He’d pulled the cords of his parka closed more than usual so that the faint marks on his face would be less noticeable, but it was making it harder to breath under it, which was making him even more tired.

Kenny unzipped his hood a bit to breath and put his arms on the desk, laying his head down to sleep, he wasn’t at the front of the class so Mr garrisons shouldn’t notice- “Kenneth McCormick you sit up and you pay attention!” Shouted Mr Garrisons from the front of the class.

Kenny groaned internally sitting back up and tightening his hood again, picturing incredibly horrific things happening to Mr Garrisons in his mind as his class mates giggled around him. Kenny glared straight ahead into the black board Mr Garrisons was writing on till the bell rang for lunch.

As the class all filed out into the hallway Mr Garrisons tried to say something to him but Kenny pretended he didn’t notice and quickly followed the other boys out of class and to the cafeteria.

Once Kenny and his friends where all seated for lunch he saw Kyle shift again. don’t try and bring it up again dipshit! Kenny thought, trying to will Kyle to keep his big mouth shut with his mind (sadly his power set isn’t so widely ranged) remember what we talked about, we agreed it would be bad.

Kyle looked down at his lunch tray “you alright dude?” Asked Stan. Kenny glared at Kyle from under his hood as Stan putting a hand on Kyle’s shoulder “uhh..” Kyle looked up and glanced at Kenny again “yeah I’m fine, I’m uhh still not feeling well…”

“Alright” said cartman putting his food down “sometin’ is definitely up with you two” he continued gesturing at Kyle and Kenny “did you two shag while you where off school?”

“WHAT-“ said Kyle his hand hitting the lunch table “ew cartman, gross! Don’t say shit like that!”

“Yep that would be four strikes for you buddy.” Said cartman matter of factly “a gay, ginger, Jew from jersey, a sad story for sure” cartman said with mock sympathy.

“Shut up fatass, me and Kenny did not fuck!” Said Kyle going red in the face.

Kenny groaned letting his head roll back. oh god he thought, sinking further into his hood fat boy better drop this for fucks sake, if only Kyle could quit being so shifty. Kenny sunk down lower into the bench, hands on his head. Kids from other tables where looking their way from the shouting, not that that was anything new from their group. Bunch-a nosy fucks Kenny thought giving one kid looking their way the side glare.

“Probably for the best you keep it on the down low” continued cartman, ignoring Kyle’s rebuttal “Kenny’s got chlamydia anyway”

“I don’t have chlamydia! Heidi’s the one who’s got fucking chlamydia!” Shouted Kenny through his
parka snapping back up on the bench.

“Hahaha good one Kenny” said Stan picking at his food, unfazed by Kyle and Eric’s fight.

“I’m not gay cartman! And nether is Kenny, so shove it up your fat ass dammit” said Kyle, at least he was getting less red after Kenny chimed in.

“Ok, ok I’ll let it go,” said cartman returning to his food “IF- you can tell us what you where doing on Tuesday”

“Besides being home, Sick” said Kyle flatly

“Oh really you where home sick where you” said cartman petering off “well then how come I saw you and Kenny walking together.”

“Oh- we, um me and Kenny- when did you even see us-” said Kyle. Not being able to think of an excuse wow this has really thrown him off his game Kenny thought watching Kyle struggle.

“Rats!” Kenny burst out suddenly, the only thing he could think of from Tuesday.

“Oh uhh yeah- rats…” said Kyle, he’d gone from red to green this time, looking back down at his food again and grimacing.

“The rat problem got worse at my house so I- uhhh stayed with Kyle Tuesday night, even though he was sick” said Kenny thinking fast god this is so suspicious, but at least they don’t know why it’s suspicious. Didn’t mean to make Kyle remember seeing me get eaten again, especially while he’s eating lunch Kenny thought as Stan and cartman stared at him.

“Yeah your place in infested year round huh” said Stan going back to his lunch.

“Yeah, rats the size of cartmans cat. Thought it would be better not to sleep there just for the night so my dad could kill some of them” said Kenny spouting lies as fast as they came to him since Kyle was being no help.

“Bells gunna ring soon” said Stan looking around and seeing kids grabbing their bags “we should finish eating fast”

“Maybe if your house wasn’t full-a so much garbage the rats wouldn’t want to eat there” said cartman “but I guess that’s what you get for being so poor”

Kenny was about to kick cartman under the table when Kyle turned and dry reached before throwing up a bit on the bench beside him.

“Gross dude!” Said Stan scooting away from him.

“Loosing your lunch over people talking bout rats? Jesus Kyle maybe you are still sick” said cartman.

Kyle held his breath still looking green “do you need to go to the nurse?” Said Stan “no, I’ll… I’ll be fine” said Kyle.

Kenny cringed, watching Kyle sit back up. When Kyle made eye contact with Kenny he turned and retched almost throwing up again. Kenny pulled the cords of his hood closed further again.

Stan pat Kyle on the back as he sat up again, Cartman laughing in the background.

Kenny watched as Kyle and Stan said some more things to each other. he can’t do it. Thought Kenny. he can’t keep it to himself, he’s gunna spill to someone, I know it.

Kenny walked with the three boys back to class as the bell rang for the end of lunch, watching as Kyle pulled his water bottle out of his bag as they walked and washed his mouth out. They got back to Mr garrisons class room as the last kids where all filing back in.

And I can already tell it’s gunna be bad.

Chapter Text

Stan and Kyle where hanging out at Stan’s house after school, Kyle sat on Stan’s couch watching Stan sort through game disks trying to find something they’d want to play.

“Hey Stan” Said Kyle.

“Yeah” said Stan pulling a disk case out of the box that didn’t look like I belonged to a game at all and putting it on the floor.

“I want to, umm.. ask you something a bit weird but you got to be chill about it, ok?” Continued Kyle fidgeting with his hand a bit. Kenny had told him to pretty much let it go if they didn’t remember, but Kyle just couldn’t, in fact he couldn’t stop thinking about it!

He’d been noticing things all through the day that he hadn’t noticed before, it was incredible how often Kenny was in danger, like, an astronomical amount of things seemed to be out to get him, but Kenny didn’t seem half as worried as he should be! Then again if everything Kenny said was true, and the things Kyle had remembered where accurate, then this was how Kenny saw the world every day and for some reason Kyle was only just noticing it now.

“Sure” said Stan pulling out another disk, he squinted at the sharpie writing on it before sticking his tongue out in disgust and adding it to his little pile of ‘not games’.

“It’s got to do with Kenny” said Kyle. He wasn’t sure how to approach this, should he just explain it like Kenny had to him? But Stan wouldn’t believe him cause he didn’t remember. Hell, Kyle had remembered fully but even he had thought Kenny was joking the first time.

“Yeah… what was up with you and him today?” Said Stan still riffing through the box, looking more frustrated.

“Nothings up with us- but… you know how Kenny like, dose that, thing..?”

“What thing? He doesn’t really do a lot of anything” said Stan.

“You know the… the uhh… dying- thing?” Kyle squeaked out, blinking at Stan as he finally turned around on his knees to look at Kyle.

“Yeah? Kenny dies all the time.”

…

What the fuck thought Kyle staring at Stan, who stared right back at him, although Stan had a lot less existential horror in his eyes.

Stan had said it so flatly Kyle could hardly believe he had heard right. How could someone say something like that like it was normal?? Like that was just an every day trait that anyone could have.

“Oh! Yeah of course” said Kyle laughing a bit in an almost manic fashion to himself and rubbing his neck as Stan turned back around to the box. Kyle could feel himself sweating even though the house was cool. This was freaking him out, it was probably his imagination but hearing Stan say that in such a nonchalant tone made him feel like his friend had been brainwashed. (not the first time that’s happened)

“But that doesn’t strike you as weird? At all?” Kyle continued as though Stan would suddenly snap out of it and realise, like Kyle had, how fucked up that was.

“No, they kill him all the time” said Stan.

“Yeah…” said Kyle watching Stan flick through the last of the disks.

Kyle was trying to think back. Who had “they” been exactly? It had seemed so obvious before and so normal and ok too, but now everything about this was just confusing. Why had it been so normal for Kenny to die all the time before, but healthy horrific to think about it now!

As Kyle tried to think about it all his brain could produce was a blank void, he knew the answer had been there before but was missing now, with nothing there to replace it. It was actually starting to make him irrationally annoyed, it was like trying to remember what colour grass is but for some reason the answer wasn’t there.

Stan stood up “sorry dude. I thought there would be something to play in uncle jimbo’s disks but these are all just those lady sexual exploration films” said Stan.

“Hey I know, we’ve got lots of time till diner, I’ll go grab some money and we can go down to that new game shop and find a cool game in the discount bins to play latter.” Stan continued as Kyle hoped off his couch.

“Umm sure let’s do that” said Kyle as he followed Stan, trying to be not at all fazed by the conversation they just had.

~~~

At the same time Stan and Kyle where hanging out, Kenny was walking home from school.

As much as he didn’t like to admit it, Cartmans statements that he lived in “the ghetto”
where true.

As Kenny walked over the train tracks that ran through town, separating his neighbourhood from the one his friends lived in, he stopped.

Kenny waited, staring down the tracks for a few minutes.

There would be no train coming at this time and Kenny often stoped on the track just for a second on his way home. For the fun of it.

He stepped back off the track and into the poor side of town. Stray animals, trash and shit box cars on every other lawn of the houses in this area didn’t save much for the appeal.

Kenny knocked on the door of his house. “It’s unlocked!” Shouted his dad from the living room.

Kenny opened the door and headed for his room to dump his school bag. “Hold on” said Kenny’s dad from his place on the couch. “I need you to go on a beer run so don’t get cozy” Stuart jammed a hand in his pants pocket and came up empty “go grab some cash form your moms stash in the dresser draw”

“Mnky” said kenny dropping his bag in his room as he went to go raid his moms savings.

Returning to his dad who was still sitting on their dirty brown sofa Kenny saw the many empty beer bottles scattered around the foot of the couch, presumably the last of his dads reserves.

“Just get a case, oh and I want it from the shop in town not the guy at the end of the street”

“Bmh nt mnher thmnr” (but it’s cheeper there) said Kenny holding the dollar bills in his gloved hand.

“I know it’s cheeper, but last time we got stuff from him it had freezer coolant in it and it tasted like piss- so just go to the shop ok.”

“Mnky” said Kenny going to leaving the house again.

Just as he was nearing the train tracks again the light began flashing and the boom gate started to close. I’m not waiting for that long ass train thought Kenny, speeding up his pace.

He could hear the train as he reached the now closed gate. It’s horn blared twice as he ducked under it. Stepping over the tracks he turned his head to see the train coming full speed for him.

Jumping over the last track he ducked under the second gate, stoped and turned as the speeding hunk of metal powered through the crossing. Wind whipped through Kenny with its speed, the noise was deafening standing inches from the gate.

Turning again Kenny continued down the street. with your luck you could have been exploded like a water balloon just now Kenny thought as he walked, he’d been hit by a train before, ruptured and burst like a plastic bag of organs, slurry and blood on impact.

Luckily that had been before all this weird shit started happening, the scars from something like that would suck, he should really try and be as careful as possible now to avoid that.

Shaking that particular death memory from his mind Kenny crunched the cash in his fist, he couldn’t loose that, no, no, no. Now that would be tragic.

Chapter Text

Kenny walked all the way into town and down to the beer and spirits shop. He would have just gone to the grocery shop but they wouldn’t let a 4th grader buy alcohol, nether would this store but Kenny knew how to get around that.

Two stores up from the beer shop where a pair of girls, a blond and a brunette loitering outside a vacant newsagent. They where dressed like sluts and probably where kenny thought as he approached. They might not have been over 21 (as one has to be to purchase alcohol in the glorious states of the USA) but they very likely had at least one fake ID between them, the blond one was smoking at least, so they would probably pass.

“Hny mnhy, hf hmn Mnh a bnnr cmnh hmn me hmn hmn mmn a tnm” (Hay lady, if you get a beer case for me I’ll give you a tip) said Kenny holding out the money.

The brunet looked him up and down for a second. “Eh, sure kid” she said and Kenny handed her two of the notes from his pocket.

As the brow haired girl made her way into the liquor store the blond continued to take long drags from her cigarette. She was tall enough that she wasn’t blowing smoke in his face so Kenny didn’t mind, her eyes looked a bit glazed over and Kenny wondered briefly if she was high before her partner re-appeared with Kenny’s case of beer.

“Fmhn hnm” (thank you!) said Kenny giving her the promised change before leaving. The bimbos around here could be surprisingly nice if you didn’t ask for much.

Kenny walked back through town caring the case of beer under one arm, he looked around every once and a wile to make sure officer Barbradys car wasn’t idling near by. The soul police officer of South Park was dumb as dog shit but even he surly knew that it was less than legal for 10 year olds to be in possession of alcohol.

Just as Kenny looked back at the street ahead of him two familiar boys turned the corner in front of him and continued towards the games store up the street, Kenny jogged a bit to catch up to them.

“Oh hay Kenny” said Stan as Kenny strode up beside him and Kyle.

~~~

“Is that beer..?” Said Stan raising an eyebrow at the case of green bottles held by the boy now walking beside him.

“Ynmh” said Kenny switching the case to his other hand as the Handel was digging into his
fingers from holding it.

Kyle looked over to Kenny. Him and Kyle had never really talked one on one all that much, Stan was Kyle’s best friend after all and Kenny guessed that that was all he really needed, but after learning of Kenny’s… whole deal, it seemed that Kyle couldn’t ignore him anymore.

“Hi Kenny” was all Kyle said, Kenny had no way of knowing what he was thinking, or if he was still hung up on his death thing, but from that look, he probably was. Not like they would talk about it right now though.

Kenny followed Stan and Kyle into the games store, he could take his time getting back home, maybe the boys would even invite him to come back to their house with them. Unlikely, but he could dream.

Stan and Kyle continued whatever conversation they had been having before kenny joined them as they started riffling through two baskets full of discounted and mostly boot legged games. Kenny wasn’t listening to them he was two busy taking a look around the rest or the store.

It was a relatively new shop, as was normal for the streets of South Park due to the towns unfortunate habitat of being partially or completely destroyed every so often. Kenny had never been inside this store, the place it’s self was alright he guessed, he didn’t visit game stores on account of not really owning a game console of any kind.

The man behind the counter wasn’t some bored teenager and the store seemed to be a new local business, from the name seeming not to be a large company, not one that he could recognise at least. The man was eyeing Stan and Kyle as they sorted though games, he looked like he was ready to jump the counter and give chase if one of the boys tried to make a run with any unpaid for merchandise. Kenny made sure to stay out of his line of site behind the shelves, if this guy was suspicious of kids then he might ask questions about what Kenny was doing with a full case of beer. On the other hand, he might be chill and just not a fan of thieves Kenny mused. Especially if he is the owner of the store.

“Dude, all of these suck ass” said Kyle pulling out a game disk with just the words ‘fun game’ written in sharpie on the cartridge.

“Yeah” said Stan looking up from the box he’d been looking through. “Hmm well, if all these are trash we could play one of the arcade machines they have down the back” he said pointing to the back of the store where several arcade machines where lined up behind a half wall, obscuring them slightly from the rest of the shop.

“Oh sweet yeah let’s play one of those” said Kyle. Both him and Stan made their way to the back Of the store, Kenny joining them behind the half wall to see all five arcade machines back there.

After surveying the selection Stan put one of his coins into one of the machines, when nothing happened Kyle mashed the start buttoned a few times experimentally, still the game didn’t budge from its advertisement menu screen.

“Maybe it needs more” said Kyle “I guess so” said Stan apprehensively putting another coin in the slot.

When the action proved still infective Stan kicked the machine a few times “ damned thing” He huffed, annoyed he strode to the next machine “eating all my coins” he muttered “here let’s try this one instead”

Kyle was already next to Stan as Stan knelt down to feed the next machine over. Kenny took two steps to join them again but heard the wrenching sound of the arcade machine Stan had kicked as it wobbled and tilted forwards, pulling its own cable out of the wall.

Kenny turned his head to look up as the arcade machine came down to meet him.

He didn’t even have time to scream.

***

The crunch was sickening.

Stan shot up from his place on the floor, backing up into Kyle as blood pooled out from under the fallen game cabinet.

“Oh my god! That just thing crushed kenny!” Stan yelled pushing Kyle further back behind him.

“You bastard, now he’s going to have to do that, stuff or whatever, all over again! He really wasn’t kidding this shit happens like every day!” Said Kyle pushing past Stan to try and get around the steadily growing dark red stain soaking into the carpet of the store.

Kyle tried to avert his eyes not wanting to see Kenny’s body again. He didn’t remember seeing Kenny’s corpse as being so traumatising before he had “remembered” as they where calling it.

Kyle’s shoe crunched on a shard of glass on the floor and he looked down. Some of the bottles Kenny had been carrying had smashed when he’d been flattened. The stench of cheep alcohol mixed with the sharp scent of copper.

“What are you kids doing back there! You better not have broken one of my-!” The store owner from the counter stormed out form behind the till but stopped dead when he saw the events that had transpired.

Stan and Kyle where ushered out form the arcade machines nook, the game store man talking the whole time.

“If anyone finds out a kid was- oh god… I’ll be shut down and run out of town for sure! I sunk all my savings for this shop- this can’t be what’s happening right now!” He said his hand firm around Kyle’s wrist, though he might not have realised.

“We umm, we didn’t see anything sir!” Said Kyle pulling his wrist away and thinking fast.
“We don’t- didn’t even know that kid, he’s not- he wasn’t with us!”

The shop owner stoped and looked down on the two boys, he appeared to be thinking quite hard for a second. And Stan and Kyle looked up at him, Stan appeared to have gone into that same glassy eyed state that he had after Kenny was killed by the pole, although Stan didn’t seem to have any memory of that as they had found.

“You boys didn’t see anything right?” Said the man a weird half smile that definitely didn’t creep Kyle out was crossing his face “that boy back there is totally fine”

Kyle looked past him to the obscured but very obviously-not-very-fine-and-likely-already-deceased form of Kenny beneath the arcade cabinet.

“Yep! Totally! But we have to go now” said Kyle grabbing Stan’s arm and pulling him towards the exit.

“There’s no need to mention this to anyone! Haha-” Called the games store owner as Kyle grabbed the Handel of the door to leave.

“I’ll get that boy an ambulance… don’t worry!” he called out after them.

Kyle didn’t look back as he pushed the door open, dragging Stan with him.
“Not worried!” He called back in his most totally normal and not ‘freaking the fuck out’ voice, shoving the door closed.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck” muttered Kyle as he continued to lead Stan away form the store.

“Kenny he-“ said Stan “yes I know- He’ll be fine I’m pretty sure at least” snapped Kyle “just hang on a sec, I’m trying to think”

Kenny better come back again, or so help me thought Kyle gritting his teeth. Already forming a plan.