Just a quick little K2 one-shot for my friend's birthday. I guess you could call this a result of a lack of inspiration mixed with seeing the Amazing Spiderman. It kinda turned into a study about their relationship and how it would be in the sense of Kenny's role as Mysterion and his power. I hope you all like it and please review!

Great Responsibility

A South Park one-shot

Tap, tap, tap…

Kyle Broflovski sat at the small desk in his bedroom, pouring over his Calculus homework for the night with his pencil tapping methodically against his textbook. He liked the rhythmic tapping of wood against thick paper, especially while he was working. Now, it wasn't because he had issues with his schoolwork; he was the smartest kid in his class after all. It helped him focus on what needed to be done instead of things that would distract him or cause him to stress out such as that damn McCormick…

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap…

The end of Kyle's pencil sped up the instant Kenny crossed his mind. He couldn't think of him right now, he had work to do! If he let his thoughts linger on Kenny, all he would do for the rest of the night would consist of worrying and possibly flunking the assignment due tomorrow. He worried every night about Kenny; he never knew exactly what kind of trouble his ill-fated friend would get himself into. Kenny was one of his closest friends, aside from Stan of course, and Kyle knew he wouldn't be able to bear it if something happened to him. But he couldn't worry now, he had work to do.

As Kyle went to touch the tip of his pencil lead to the paper, there was a soft rapping at his window. The red-headed teen froze at the noise, his fingers tightening their grip on his pencil. What the hell was that? Was it a burglar, a bird? Maybe, for all he knew, it was a tree branch rapping against the glass. He brushed it off as being a non-animated tree branch and went back to his work focusing on the next problem…

"Kyle!"

He froze again. That was definitely not a tree branch…

"Pssst! Kyle! Open up!" the voice called again. "Come on, I need your help!"

"Oh God…!" Kyle hissed, jumping up once he recognized the voice. He raced over to the window and threw it open, his green eyes meeting sky blue ones.

"There you are…" the masked figure on his windowsill said, smiling weakly. "I was afraid you weren't home or, at least, not upstairs…"

"What happened?" Kyle gasped as Mysterion, South Park's own masked vigilante, started to climb through the window, clutching his side. "Why on earth are you here?"

"I told you, I need your help," Mysterion lifted a gloved hand away from his side, revealed a large red stain. "Things kinda got out of hand tonight."

"Oh my god! Did… W-were you shot?"

"Just a bit," Mysterion groaned as Kyle started to look at the wound.

"Stay there. I'll go get my first aid kit," Kyle told the vigilante and sprung up, rushing to his desk.

"So that's where you keep all the good stuff…" the vigilante chuckled dryly from the floor.

"I have to," Kyle responded as he rifled through the drawers for the kit. "You get injured so often. It's better to keep it all in here since you visit whenever you're hurt. I won't draw attention to myself that way."

"Yeah, don't want that bitch of a mother yelling at you for secretly giving refuge to a dirty little boy like me," Mysterion chuckled, his blue eyes sparkling despite the amount of pain he was in.

Kyle turned and fixed him with a firm glare, his arms folded across his chest. "Kenneth McCormick, I don't give a damn how injured you are. You will not talk about my mother that way, understand?"

Mysterion, more commonly known as Kenny, scowled deeply at Kyle and pulled off his hood, revealing a head of messy blond hair. "Fine! Just… just hurry up, okay?"

Kyle gave him one last glare and then bent down next to him, first aid kit in hand. His nimble fingers reached up to part Kenny's collar, opening up the gray front to reveal the bloodied wound. It was inches below the hero's pectoral muscle, blood spilling out of the hole the bullet had made.

"How did this happen?" Kyle asked as he started to clean the wound with a clean rag.

"Bank robbery," Kenny groaned, flinching as the blood was sopped up. "Seriously, don't you watch the news?"

"I was studying, remember?" Kyle answered, pressing the rag against the wound to stop the bleeding. "Besides, if I was downstairs I wouldn't be much help to you…"

"Hm… Can't really argue with that…"

"So one of the robbers shot you?" the red-headed boy asked, a concerned look on his face.

"They definitely got a shot in before the cops did…" Kenny grunted, wincing as Kyle lifted the rag to apply some sterilizing alcohol. "Fuck, Kyle! That hurts!"

"I have to sterilize it somehow," the red-head sighed and tossed the bloodied rag aside, grabbing a fresh one from the kit. "I'm assuming they got away then?"

"No, I got them," the blond said. "I just had to get out of there before the cops did… otherwise, I'd be in worse shape."

"Good thing you did or else I'd have more to patch up. This one's hard enough…" Kyle frowned at the bloodied bullet hole. "Is it still stuck in there or do you have an exit wound?"

"I-I'm not sure, really…" Kenny tried to push himself up but stopped once a bolt of pain ran through his chest. "Fuck…! I don't know about this one, Ky."

Kyle frowned, suddenly worried. "Don't say things like that! You're going to be fine…" He threw the now-bloodied rag onto the floor with its predecessor. "Damn, it won't stop bleeding…"

"Kyle," Kenny grabbed the other boy's hand, holding it close to his chest. "I've had this feeling before, I know what this means. I'm not-I'm not going to make it…"

"No, don't say that! I can take care of this! Trust me, I-!"

"Kyle!" the red-head stopped at the sound of Kenny's voice, looking at him with tearful jade eyes. "It's okay. I'll come back. I told you how these things work."

"I just don't want to forget you…" Kyle sniffled, wiping at his eyes. "I've never remembered a single moment of you dying, never. How do I know it's all true?"

"You just have to trust me," Kenny whispered, his face now ashen. "Besides, you'll just think I'm sleeping or something…" Kyle didn't respond, the gravity of the situation keeping him from saying anything. The blond reached up and caressed his cheek. "Hey, it's okay. Everything will be fine. This is my power, my curse. As long as I live, I'll never truly leave you."

Kyle took a shuddering breath and touched Kenny's hand. "You promise?"

The blond flashed him a killer smile. "I promise. I'm just sorry I have to put you through this…"

"Hey, I won't be able to recall any of it, remember?" Kyle chuckled, his eyes full of tears. "You won't be gone for long, will you?"

"I'll be back in the morning, I promise," the blond laid some kisses on Kyle's blood-stained fingers.

Kyle pressed his forehead to his lover's, letting some tears flow freely. "I'll be waiting." He opened his jade eyes to lock gazes with the fading blue orbs beneath him. "You have no idea how much I love you…"

Kenny threw a half-hearted smirk at him. "I'm sure I do, actually." He placed a hand on the back of Kyle's neck and melted his lips against his lover's, soft and smooth yet salty from Kyle's tears. Despite his curse and his overall shitty life, these moments with Kyle were what Kenny McCormick lived for even if he was on the brink of destruction. Kyle was the center of his very universe, the one thing that kept him going. Even though he was destined to die, he sure as hell had something wonderful to live for.

With that in mind, he ran his fingers through Kyle's wild scarlet hair one last time and let go, the familiar feeling of death washing over him. Kyle felt Kenny go limp, his hand sliding away from his neck and his lips turning cold. He slowly pulled away from his lover's still body, tears still flowing down his cheeks. He touched Kenny's cold cheek; he looked so peaceful, almost like he was sleeping. But he knew that Kenny was well beyond his reach now.

Kyle let out a shuddering sigh and placed his face in the crook of Kenny's neck, stifling his sobs against the Mysterion costume. He believed Kenny, he believed every single word about the blond's mysterious curse even if he couldn't remember a single detail of one of Kenny's deaths. He trusted his friend, his lover, and believed he would be back in the morning, smiling and laughing at him. But even though he knew all of that to be true, it didn't stop Kyle from being torn up every time Kenny died in his arms. It killed him to know that no matter what happened in their lives, Kenny would always be fated to die and Kyle would suffer the worst of it.

"Just come back," Kyle sobbed into the gray and black fabric. "You made a promise, you idiot, so please… come back…"