They Say a Hero Can Save Us

by Animated Tokyo

AU. In which Kendall really is Spiderman. Three or more-shot.

They Say a Hero Can Save Us.

PART 1: KENDALL KNIGHT
For the past five months of my life, I've been Spiderman.

...What? You really think I'm lying?

Okay, you want me to prove it? I'll prove it. Have a little backstory, while I'm at it.

Five Months Ago
Diamond Industries, Scientific Research Laboratory
"Okay, everyone," Mrs. Strong smiled at us sweetly. "James's dad was nice enough to let us into his facilities today, so please, treat everything with respect."
James smirked at me. His dad didn't care what we did in here. James had been my best friend since the first day of first grade, when he asked me what was a riskier fashion choice: one strap unhooked on his overalls or his pants rolled up to his knees. A little while later, Logan Mitchell-Watson joined us, before he moved back to Texas and became unrecognizable.

Logan Mitchell-Watson...

Logan was the man of my dreams. I fell in love with him in the seventh grade and I haven't stopped since. His naturally spiky brown hair, his chocolate eyes, the way he smiles, hell, he was everything I wanted. Sadly, I didn't think he'd ever swing the way I did.

James elbowed me and shook me from my thoughts. We moved forward through the laboratory, and reached the small area where they performed genetic experiments on animals. It was sickening yet fascinating at the same time.
"Here we have our spiders," our guide motioned towards the glass cases that held the genetically enhanced creatures. "These spiders have been injected with genes that make them perform faster and harder than normal spiders. Some of them have been treated by radiation..."
"This is lame," James muttered in my ear.
"Do you really think so?" I muttered back, eyes on Logan. Logan was like a kid in a candy store, eyeing the experiments and taking notes.
"Dude, we've been through here hundreds of times," James rolled his eyes. "It was bound to get boring."
"Uh-huh," I said. Did Logan really have to bite his pen that way? God, he was so-
"You're not listening," James pouted.
"Yes I am," I jumped. I wasn't expecting him to break through my thoughts.
"No you were not," James huffed.
"You were saying how boring this place was," I smirked.
"...Okay, yes, but.." James yammered on as I continued watching Logan. There was something I adored about him, but I couldn't figure out what.I felt a small pinch on my forearm.
"Ow!" I hissed. "James, what was that for!"
"I didn't do anything," James looked at me like I was nuts.
"You pinched me!" I glared at him.
"I didn't pinch you!" James pouted.
"Then who did?" I motioned to the nothingness around us.
"I didn't even touch you!" James huffed and turned away from me. I tried to pay attention to out tour guide, but all I caught was 'spiders...radioactive...genetically enhanced...missing.' The throbbing in my forearm wouldn't go away. It was distracting and annoying.
"Kendall?" Logan's slightly southern accented speech broke through my thoughts. "We're moving on. Are you coming?"
"Uh, yeah," I mustered a small smile as I walked alongside him.
"Don't you just love this?" He sighed happily.
"I guess so," I shrugged sheepishly. "I've been through here lots of times."
"Oh, right," he laughed awkwardly. "You're best friends with James."
"You're friends with him, too," I countered, not wanting to make him feel awkward.
"But not on the level you are," he smiled softly. My knees shook a little. He could do the craziest things to me."Having a best friend would be nice."
"You don't have a-" I started, staring at him in shock.
"Oh, look! Enhanced birds!" He took off towards a cage holding several multicoloured birds.
How a person as sweet as Logan went without a best friend was beyond me. It was so unreal. He was so sweet and kind and his smile could light up the world. I tried to wrap my head around everything, but a fog blocked my thoughts.

Home was the sweetest place to be at the moment. The fog in my head turned into a headache, and nausea slowly crept up on me. Sweat lined my forehead. All I wanted was some sleep.
"Kendall," My mom smiled at me as I walked through the front door. "How was the trip?"
"Fine," I mumbled.
"Sweetie, are you alright?" Mom frowned at me and attempted to feel my forehead. I swatted her away.
"M'fine," I sighed. "Jus' need sleep."
"Let me know if you need anything else," She finally let me go upstairs to my room. I stumbled a few times, but I made it okay.I flopped down on my bed before I even took off my shoes and fell right to sleep.

My dreams were a murky, multicoloured fog of blues, reds, greens, and black. I couldn't figure out what my subconscious was telling me. A small itchy, burning feeling started up in my veins where I accused James of pinching me was. Before I could yell and call for my mom, a sticky feeling entered my arms. It felt like there was a weird buildup in them. My hands felt scratchy, like someone stuck Velcro to them. Muscles felt defined all of a sudden, and I opened my eyes to perfect vision.
I leapt (no, seriously.) out of my bed to look at myself. Nothing had really changed with my facial features, but my chest was now defined. Everything was well toned and sculpted to where I looked like James.
James!
I pulled a grey hoodie from my floor and ran out the door to where James was waiting for me.
"Took you long enough," James glared at me. A little known fact about James Diamond: He's the most impatient person on earth.
"Sorry," I grimaced. "Let's get going."
"You seem different," He raised and eyebrow at me.
"Never better," I smirked at him.
Today was bound to get interesting...

I made it through the first few hours of the day. I trudged along to my next class (biology, blech), when the 'incident' Zevon and Jett Stetson were the school asshats-I mean, bullies. Dak was opposite to James as I was to Jett. Dak and Jett enjoyed torturing students, and they got off with just a slap on the wrist on more than one occasion.
Today's victim was none other than Logan. I was lucky enough to be around, or Logan might have gotten seriously hurt. I picked up conversation from twenty feet away (don't ask how I knew that) and hid around a corner.
"You're a stupid faggot," Dak laughed at Logan.
"I'm stupid? Have you looked at yourself lately?" Logan stared blankly at Dak.
"Doesn't matter; you're still a no-good faggot," Jett sneered.
I shifted a little around my corner, ready to attack at any moment.
"Gays like you shouldn't exist," Dak threw a punch and hit Logan in the eye. I stepped in at that moment.
"That's enough," I growled.
"What are you going to do about it, Knight?" Jett laughed, almost tauntingly.
"I reccomend you back off before I show you," I took a few steps forward.
"Show me, then," Dak challenged. I threw a punch in his direction and hit him in the jaw.
"Get him," Dak ordered Jett. Jett threw a punch at me, which I dodged.
He tried to throw a left hook, which I dodged as well. I brought my
knee up to his stomach and slammed him into the wall.

"We'll finish this later, Knight," Dak grabbed Jett by his collar and they stalked off.
"Logan?" I turned around to see a shaken Logan standing against the lockers, a hand pressed up against his hurt eye, "You alright?"
"Just fine," he squeaked. "Uh, how about you?"
"They didn't hit me," I slowly approached Logan. "How's the eye?"He lowered his hand to reveal a nasty, swelling bruise under his eye.
"I'll be okay," he said weakly. I grabbed his arm and steered him out of the hall towards the nurse's office.
"Go get some ice," I commanded. "Keep it on there for-"
"I know what to do, Kendall," Logan shushed me. "How do you know this,
anyway?"

"Years in hockey," I smiled and pushed him towards the nurse's office.
"I'll talk to you later, okay?" Logan waved goodbye and set off towards the wanted destination. I smiled and sighed to myself. I saved Logan from Dak and Jett. It was a perfect moment of triumph, and I walked towards Mrs. Strong's room, fists pumping.

I made it through the rest of the day without incident. I opened my locker to find a note on the top shelf.
'We have business to settle.
Back ally, after the final bell rings.
-D&J'
I raised an eyebrow. This was going to be interesting.
Dak and Jett were already there when I arrived. Dak was sporting a large welt on his chin and Jett seemed still short of breath.
"Alright, what do you want?" I said, sheepish.
"We need to kick your ass," Dak started.
"You protected a fag," Jett joined in. "That's not cool."
"Fags aren't meant to be protected," Dak glowered. "They're disgusting."
"You're more gay than he is," I muttered under my breath.
"What was that?" Jett threw a punch. I dodged it like a pro. Every kick and punch they threw after that, I dodged and countered. Sure, I got struck a few times, but I had it under control.
Well, that is until my hand got stuck to the brick behind me when I tried to throw a finishing move.
"What-" I tugged on my hand. Dak whacked me in the back and I faltered forward. I threw out a kick, and it hit him pretty good, but not and Jett closed in on me, and I shut my eyes, bracing for the worst. My hand closed tightly, and the weirdest feeling ever happened.

Sticky white stuff shot out at them.
"The fuck?" Jett sputtered.
"Knight, you're a freak," Dak yelled.
I managed to get my hand unstuck and gave the final blow, leaving them in an unconscious heap. I couldn't be around when the police found them, so I panicked. I brought my hand to the wall again, and it stuck. I looked closely at my free hand, and little black specks dotted my palm. I stuck the other hand to the wall and began climbing.

I made it to the roof in a few minutes, out of breath and freaked out. I didn't know what was happening to me. White stuff, spiny black things, exceptional defense skills, and then it hit me.I was like a spider.
The pinch I felt yesterday was caused by a radioactive and genetically enhanced spider. It messed with my genes and now I was basically turning into a spider.
Well, not really. I still looked and felt human, I just had superpowers.
This was AWESOME.
I stuck my hand out in front of me and tried to shoot the white webbing out of my hand like earlier. Nothing happened. I tried it again. Still nothing. I started to stick it out in several different motions, none of them working.I finally tried the last one I could think of, which was my wrist bared, hand bent back into something that resembled the hand sign for 'I love you' or something.
The webbing shot out at once. I laughed and screamed. Today was the best day ever. I attempted it again and the web stuck to a lightpost. I jumped off the edge of the building and swung. I hit the lightpost in front of the one my web was attached to. I slid down, a headache starting to form.

At home, I pulled out a sketchbook and began to make designs of my costume-oufit-thingie. Every superhero needed one, why was I different? I practiced grabbing things with my webs, ultimately failing at one point by slamming a hockey stick into my window. My mom yelled at me after that.
She handed me a job finder sheet after that, a hint for me to find one and pay for what I just broke. I took it as a hint to use this to create my alter ego. I surfed through the pages until one ad stuck out at me.
'HELP WANTED:
Small Record Label looking for talent.
You could be the next hit superstar!
Gustavo Roque, Roque Records.
Call 333-123-**** for more inform.'
I could see it now. Kendall Knight, indie singer by day, superhero-no, Spiderman- by night.
Everything changed that next day.

PART 2: JAMES DIAMOND
My father is a monster.

Since I've been 4 years old, I've been terrified of him.

For the past five months, I've been his pawn. I've had to obey his every command.

I am James Diamond, and my mission in life is to kill my best friend.

It started the night after the field trip to his research laboratory. Kendall, my best friend, didn't look so good afterwards."You okay, buddy?" I shook his shoulder on our way back to our high school.
"M'okay," He mumbled, pressing his head to the cool glass window of the bus.
"No you're not," I gave him a look.
"I'll be fine," he sighed quietly. "Just catching a cold, s'all."
"Is he...alright?" Logan Mitchell-Watson looked at me, concerned, from the seat across from ours.
"I'm okay," Kendall shifted towards Logan, and I got a good look at his face. He was pale, and a sheen of sweat covered him.
"Kendall," I gasped.
"What did you get into?" Logan's eyes widened in astonishment.
"Nothing," Kendall leaned against my shoulder. "Jus' catching a cold..."

I arrived home, and began my usual routine of working out, working on homework, and eating. The gym in our house was amazing. It took up most of the fourth floor. My father's offices were somewhere on the third floor and the bedrooms and other things were on the second and first floors.
I liked to walk more than I liked to ride the elevator most of the time. Going past my father's office was nothing new to me, until I heard not-so-low murmurs coming from his door, clearly ajar.
"Stark, sir, I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do to revive the spider," a familiar sounding scientist said to my father.
"You have to try something," he growled at the poor woman.
"We tried everything," the sound of begging took over her voice.
"Everything?" father yelled.
"Yes," the girl sounded close to tears.
"We were supposed to use that spider for the destruction of the world," he spat.
Wait, destruction?
"The doomsday project will have to wait," she sighed.
"Who was the one that got bit?" father sounded hopeless. "or do you not know?"
"We did a DNA scan as soon as we found it crumpled on the floor," she
said. "The boy's name is Kendall Knight, I believe your son and him are acquainted?"
"That's James's best friend," father said quietly. "It's settled. We must kill Kendall Knight, the spider man."
I stumbled off, not clear with what I just heard. They were going to kill my best friend. I couldn't let that happen.

The next day, I was purely irritable. Kendall smiled and laughed, and I don't think he really had any idea about what was going on within him at this moment. I almost envied him, the weight of the world nowhere near his shoulders. My father was planning to kill him. It was painful to watch.

I returned home from school, wanting nothing more to lay down and sleep away my problems, when the scientist (Muffy! That was her name) knocked on my door, startling me slightly.
"James?" She hesitantly took a step forward.
"Yes?" I sat up from the position I was in.
"Your father wants to see you," she led me in the direction of my father's laboratory on the fourth floor. This couldn't mean anything good.
"James," my father smiled, a slight coolness to his tone.
"Dad," I looked around. A table with belts to hold someone down and several carts filled with various items were scattered around the room. "What is this all about?"
"James, I need you to do me a favour," he approached me casually and
sat me down on the table. "James, you are going to receive a gift no one else except for one other person in the world has. Your mission with this gift is to kill the other person because they are bad, and shouldn't have these powers in the first place."
They wanted me to kill Kendall.
They wanted me to kill my best friend.
"Dad, what?" I shook my head confusedly at him.
"Jamie," he looked at me, fake pleading in his eyes. "You have to do this. You're going to be a superhero, okay?"
"I'm not sure if I'm-" I was cut off.
"Lay him down," he shouted to some lab officials. They forcefully pushed me down and lay me on my back, peeling my shirt off and strapping me in. One held a syringe filled with a black, shiny goo- looking substance.
"It's for the good of the world, Jamie," my father shouted at me as they shot the goo through my veins. There was really only one word I could use to describe the sticky substance as it tangled with my genes.

Venom.

And then that next day, everything changed.

A/N: Hello there! :D After a small hiatus, I have returned. 'I Caught Myself' is still in the process of being written, but for now, I'm focusing on this. This will be at least a three-shot, I'm not sure how long it will go. But I hope you stay along for the ride! xoxo