With Season 23 only months away, I've been inspired to write a new story, this one focusing on the events of Season 21. The story takes place shortly after "Splatty Tomato".

Be warned; this story won't be as comedic as my previous ones.

My Super Best Friend

"Can I talk to Kyle?"

Stanley "Stan" Marsh sighed heavily as he stood at the doorsteps of the Broflovski residence. His hands were clenched inside his coat pockets and his head was lowered, unwilling to look his best friend's mother in the face.

"Kyle is in his room, sweetie," Mrs. Broflovski replied, her voice heavy. "But I don't think he wants to see anyone right now."

He never does, Stan thought mentally.

"Please, can I just talk to him?" He said, fidgeting in his spot. "It's important."

Mrs. Broflovski sighed, and Stan felt relieved when the door creaked open fully. "Alright, Stan," She said. "Come in."

Still not looking her in the face, Stan slowly stepped inside. He didn't even acknowledge Kyle's father as he wandered into the living room and up the stairs to see his best friend. If they still were, at least.

He didn't know why he was so nervous. He'd been at Kyle's house more times than he could count. What made this any different?

Oh, yeah, Stan thought when he finally reached Kyle's room and gazed through the open door. That's why.

Inside his room, Kyle sat with his head on his desk, turned away from him. His face was concealed under his green ushanka, but Stan could tell from the way his body was slumped that he wasn't in good condition. His room itself didn't look any better; his belongings were disarranged and scattered across his room, as if Kyle had forgotten the concept of tidiness.

Not knowing if Kyle was aware of his presence, Stan hesitantly stepped inside. "Kyle?" He said, his voice heavy.

He got no response.

"Kyle, are you alright?" Stan continued, even though he knew the answer.

"No," Was the reply he got. Kyle didn't move at all, still keeping his head down.

Sighing, Stan went on. "So, uh, me and the boys were gonna play basketball by the park today," He said, trying to keep his voice from wobbling. "You've always been a good offensive, so I wondering if-"

"No."

Silence filled the room. "Look, our friends are worried about you," Stan said, his voice cutting through the air. "You barely leave your house now. Can you at least talk to us?"

"I don't want to," Kyle muttered, a defeated tone in his voice.

"Well when will you?" Stan asked, beginning to get frustrated.

"I don't know!" Kyle responded sharply, his voice rising for the first time since the conversation had started.

Another awkward silence passed. Eventually, Stan moved forward, lightly placing his hand upon Kyle's shoulder, in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. The moment he made contact, however, Kyle violently jerked away from his touch, causing Stan to recoil sharply.

"G-Get out," Kyle whispered, and Stan could tell from the way his voice cracked that he was on the verge of tears. He wished so badly that he could stay and comfort him, somehow, but he knew he would only make things worse.

So, sadly, he complied.

As he left the room, he wondered to himself how things had gotten to this point, the point to where he could barely even talk to his best friend. Then, he remembered why.

Heidi.

Her breakup with Cartman was still fresh in his mind, ever since they'd gone out to find Kyle's brother and capture the President. They'd only succeeded in one of those objectives, but nevertheless, the experience had finally convinced her to abandon her victimhood mindset and leave Cartman to return to her girl friends. From what he knew, she'd been accepted back, but clearly not all the wounds had healed.

Especially regarding Kyle.

Back when Heidi and Cartman were still a thing, Kyle had gone out of his way to end their toxic relationship. Stan hadn't understood why, and he couldn't bring himself to get involved; anything that happened between Cartman and Heidi wasn't his business, and he'd hoped Kyle would understand this, too. Clearly, he'd underestimated how important Heidi had been to Kyle.

Then the bullying started.

Mrs. Broflovski, the taunts echoed in his mind. If he'd known how much this would've affected his best friend, he probably would've tried to put an end to it, somehow. But he thought it was just a joke, like everyone else, so he laughed along with all the rest, blind to the betrayed expression Kyle had given him when his tormentors' insults were validated. He didn't think it would turn into such a big deal.

However, for all that they'd mocked him for "sounding like his mom", it was obvious they didn't actually think that. Because none of them, not even Cartman and Heidi, could've anticipated what Kyle had done next.

He still remembered feeling like he'd been hit with a freight train when he saw his best friend on the TV, leading an embargo on The Terrance & Phillip Show under the banner of Millennials Against Canada. The fact that Kyle technically wasn't a millennial didn't escape him, but that didn't stop him from trying to talk some sense into him.

"Okay dude, I didn't want to have to say this, but you're really starting to sound like your mom," He'd told him over the phone. In hindsight, that definitely wasn't the correct choice of words, because all that did was guarantee that Kyle wasn't going to take anything he had to say seriously.

What happened next was a blur. First there was a military alert, then the evacuation. . .

And then the bomb dropped.

Stan still wasn't sure precisely what had occurred between Kyle and the President during their phone call, but whatever it was, it was obviously that Canada being nuked definitely hadn't been Kyle's agenda, as immediately afterwards, he'd given up, ended the embargo, and returned home to wallow in despair over the deaths he'd inadvertently caused.

Stan had felt he should've been angrier at him for what he'd done. But for some reason, he hadn't been. Maybe it was the knowledge that the bombing clearly hadn't been Kyle's intentions, or perhaps even a feeling of responsibility for helping set those events in motion by just being a bystander to it all, but whatever the reason, Stan and the others had taken pity on him. And thus, he decided to do what he felt he should've done from the beginning; become an active player and try to set things right.

Jury was still out on whether he and the others had succeeded. They'd failed to capture the President and relations were still rocky between the US and Canada, but they had managed to get Kyle's brother back, and Heidi had seen the light and ended her toxic relationship with Cartman. A part of him had expected that things would've gone back to normal now that Heidi was no longer tormenting Kyle, especially since Kyle had seemed so glad to finally have Stan and the others' support again.

But once the situation calmed down, it was like Kyle had. . . shut down. He'd shut himself off from his friends and spent most of his time locked up in his room, not talking to anyone. And when he went to school, he didn't socialize with his friends anymore, just doing his schoolwork and then leaving.

Stan had hoped all would've been forgiven now that he'd made the effort to patch things up.

But it seemed, however, that he'd been hoping for too much.

Kyle sat in his room, his head throbbing violently from the splitting migraine that had been tormenting him for days. The migraine that appeared to have gotten worse when Stan had shown up.

He didn't understand, truly. Things should've been fine now. He'd gotten what he'd wanted. He'd gotten his brother back, his friends had stopped teasing him, and most importantly, Heidi had left Cartman.

But did these positives outweigh the negatives?

Even though the bullying had, for the most part, ceased, he could still hear the constant stream of insults barraging his mind, punishing him for what? For trying to help people?

"Shut up, Kyle, you sound like your mom!"

He'd just wanted to help everyone with their problems. Didn't the other kids want Cartman and Heidi to stop picking on everyone? But when he'd tried, they'd just turned on him instead.

"Fight's over. Kyle ruined it."

It was like every attempt to make a positive impact was thrown back in his face. As if, for some reason, not being an asshole was unacceptable. That he should've just shut up and joined the crowd in their cruelty.

"Shouldn't you be at temple, Mrs. Broflovski?"

Of course, despite all his attempts to be the better person, ultimately the taunting and jeers had gotten to him, and he'd turned into the very thing he'd tried to prevent. And it ended with over a million people dead. All because of him.

All because he had to join the crowd in being a victim.

Ironically, only then was he shown even a smidgen of sympathy and some of his friends had tried to help him. And ultimately, he'd gotten what he'd striven for all along; Heidi had left Cartman. He could no longer hurt her.

He should've been happier. But instead, he just felt utterly defeated. Heidi may have been recovering, but only after so much damage had been caused, to the point that it didn't even seem worth it.

For what it was worth, Heidi was obviously going back to normal, and her girl friends had accepted her back into her clique. But, and he knew it was a selfish thought, what about him?

He'd been the one who'd gone through so much just to help her. None of Heidi's "friends" had put in even a fraction the effort he had, and instead, they'd simply considered her a lost cause, to the point that they'd begun preferring Cartman over her. And when he tried to improve things, not only did they blow him off, but they'd taken part in ganging up on him, too, for even considering that there was still hope in her.

And after all that, they'd just accepted her back, because she'd changed. He had to wonder if any of them were even grateful to him for helping set her change in motion, even though he'd given up on her by then. Were they even sorry for having considered her a lost cause?

He had so many questions, and they'd all gone unanswered. But by far the biggest was simply was it worth it?

Was creating Millennials Against Canada worth it? Was getting over a million Canadians killed worth it? Was losing his little brother's respect worth it? Was tanking the constant barrage of insults, jeers, and abuse, and from his closest friends no less, for simply trying to make things right worth it?

Heidi and her friends were currently benefiting from his actions, but what did he have to show for any of it? He'd gotten people killed, Ike, his little brother, his treasure, was angry at him and may never forgive him, and he'd been made a pariah by the rest of the school, a status that likely hadn't been improved after the stunt he'd pulled.

"You sound like your mom."

"-Like your mom."

"-Your mom."

"AUGH!"

Kyle felt his fists smash into the front of the desk, and heard a crunching sound. Removing his hands, he saw a pair of fist-shaped dents that had been in the desk.

Slowly, he stared down at his hands, before burying his face into them, feeling the tears streaming from his cheeks.

"What the Hell is wrong with me?" He whispered.

First chapter done. Read and review!