Chapter 12

"Wherein Kendrick investigates teachers, and gets a date."

Thanks to Exile037 for reviewing. I'm glad you liked Peter's introduction, but his as a supporting character remains to be seen. And this is currently taking place after Spider-Verse, I'll tell what happened during that time in a flashback soon. And I read Uncanny Spider-Man and left a review on there for ya.

And thanks to Superherofan3245 for reviewing, and thanks for the input on whether Peter should stay or not. As far as teaching Kendrick, I don't know if he'd be able to since he might not even have powers in this dimension. Although that imposter Spider-Man could be anybody...

"This is a bad idea."

"It is not," Kendrick said, turning down another path.

"It is," Marshall said in Kendrick's cellphone. "You don't even have any proof."

"That's why I'm investigating." he said as he stopped in front of an AC vent. Using his super strength, he unscrewed the bolts holding the vent to the wall with his fingers and let it drop to the ground. He then jumped from the vent and landed in the classroom of one Peter Parker.

"Just because he was Spider-Man in those other worlds, doesn't mean he's the imposter of this one." Marshall said.

"I never said he was," Kendrick said as he walked over to Mr. Parker's desk. "But it's the only lead I have."

Kendrick walked to the desk of his newest teacher and picked the lock with a paper clip, a trick his brother Drake had taught him.

"We might as fulfill a few stereotypes," he had said. "Especially when this one could come in handy."

Although he didn't tell it to Marshall, Kendrick was 85% sure Mr. Parker was the imposter. It was just a matter of proof.

I mean, what are the odds that this imposter Spider-Man showed up on the same day as Peter freakin' Parker? Ken thought as he dug through the desk. All I have to prove is that he's this fake Spider-Man. Or real Spider-Man. Or whatever.

Kendrick dug through the desk, a little disappointed. All that he really found were documents about science. And not the radioactive spider type stuff, stuff about...particles. Jeez, what was with this guy and particles?

Kendrick dug around a little more, until he found a picture of Mr. Parker, standing with an older man with graying hair who was wearing a police captain uniform with the name tag that read: Stacy, an older woman that her arms wrapped around Peter in a hug, and a blond woman with a black headband that Kendrick almost instantly recognized.

"Gwen?" he asked out loud.

"Who?" Marshall asked in his ear.

"Just, uh, nothing. I'll tell you about it later." Ken said.

Ken put the picture down and remembered the blond girl he'd met during the whole inter-dimensional war that he was part of. The only girl there who understood how he felt.

"Hey, I know how you feel," she had said as she wiped the tears from Kendrick's face. "You're not alone."

"And how would you know how I feel?!" Ken had snapped at the woman in the white hood. She looked at him a moment before taking off her mask and hood.

"Because I'm Gwen Stacy," she said, her blue eyes staring directly at him. "And I'm Peter Parker's dead girlfriend."

"Ken, are you there?!" the voice of Marshall shook him out of his flashback.

"Y..yeah," he said. "What's wrong?"

"Mr. Parker is walking towards you now!" he said, causing Kendrick to put the picture down.

On pure instinct, he flipped in the air, attached two web-lines to the vent cover that was lying on the floor, and flew into the vent shaft feet first, taking the cover with him. He laid in the vent, looking out at the classroom as Mr. Parker walked in.

Okay, side note: powers are pretty freaking cool.

"Sorry Gwen," he said Mr. Parker said on the phone as he walked to his desk. "I just had to come to the school to get a few things. Yeah, I know it's late..."

What could be so important that he'd come to the school at eight at night? Ken thought. Maybe something incriminating...?

Mr. Parker took out a small metal band and put it on his finger. Kendrick would've face-palmed himself if his hands weren't holding the the vent cover in place.

His wedding ring, he thought. Duh.

"It was my uncle's wedding ring," Mr. Parker said as he started walking out of the classroom. "I'm not gonna leave it where these kids sleep. I'd never forgive myself if it were stolen."

Mr. Parker closed the door behind himself and locked it. Kendrick just now realized he'd been holding his breathe.

That was way too close.

He picked up the screws and put the vent cover where he had found it. Maybe Mr. Parker wasn't the imposter after all. He decided he'd think things over after he got Marshall.

Marshall wasn't a fan of this plan.

Oh snap I rhymed, he thought. Even when he ain't even trying, Skittles still kills the flow.

Back to reality however, Skittles, er Marshall, hated this entire situation. He was sitting in the security room of the school, looking at the security camera footage that was being streamed to the monitors in front of him. The school had installed all this fancy security software ever since the shooting. They had been caught sitting on their ass when it happened and a lot of people died. Parents had demanded they installed and hired better security for the future. Which was how he knew Mr. Parker was approaching the classroom while Ken was still in it. It was a good plan actually, but Marshall didn't like it.

Mostly because every time he heard the unconscious security guard stir, Marshall was ready to jump out of his skin.

Ken had knocked out the guard by attaching a web to his ankle and pulling, causing the man to fall and hit his head, Gary Coleman style. Okay, that was mean.

Marshall was pulled out of his thoughts as Kendrick opened the door to the security room.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"Hell yeah," Marshall said as he all but ran out of the room.

"Geez dude," Ken said as he closed the door, locking it behind him. "Does the guard fart in his sleep or something?"

"Okay," Marshall said. "So what's the plan?"

They were now sitting back in their dorm room, on some beanbag chairs Marshall had gotten on his last birthday from Jen.

"Uh, I actually have no idea," Kendrick said as he rubbed the back of his head. "Operation: Find Something In His Desk, was about all my mind could fathom."

"Maybe if it had a batter code name it would've worked better."

"Oh my God, are you still going on about that?" Ken said rolling his eyes.

"Operation: Skittles And Spider-Man Find The Mole is a much better sounding plan."

"Okay, for one thing, a Mole would propose that we had a traitor in our midst or something like that," Ken said. "And I just love how you say Skittles like you're a superhero too."

"Rappers can be heroes too."

"And besides, the plan was doomed to fail from the start. Why would he keep anything even relating to his identity in a desk at his job? I mean, what did we expect to find, a mask?"

"It was your plan."

"Oh, now it is." Ken said as he pondered the matter. "I don't know, maybe I could check his house?"

"We don't know where he lives."

"We could find out."

"How?"

"We could hack the school records..."

"Except for the fact that neither of us know how to do that. Jen's the computer whiz remember? Unless you want to tell her your secret identity..."

"Ugh, I think I'll pass." Ken said. "I'm sure we can think of something on our own."

"Well, if you wanna be a superhero, I guess you'll have to be able to think up plans."

"I guess it's a good thing I got my trusty sidekick by my side," Kendrick said smiling.

"Always man," Marshall said. "Although don't call me your sidekick. I'm your partner."

"But then everyone will think we're gay."

"Then we'll stick with brothers for now."

"Deal."

"You are my master," Dr. Lance said slowly and carefully.

"You are my master," the scorpion-like creature said repeating him.

They were standing in Dr. Lance's secret lab, hidden in the basement of Farroway Enterprises. The Scorpion was locked in a cage, to make sure that he wouldn't try to escape. Dr. Lance was talking into a microphone that tuned his voice to a frequency that caused pain to him, so that he would do or say anything to make the pain stop. He had to make sure The Scorpion was under his full control before he sent him out again. He had almost alerted Kendrick Durham to his plans before. Although that had worked to his advantage, getting Kendrick off focus, he didn't want to try his luck twice.

"I will listen to every word you say and obey it," Dr. Lance said.

"I will listen to every word you say and obey it," the creature repeated.

"You are my God."

"You are my God."

"And I will bring Spider-Man to you."

"And I...I will bring the Spider-Man to you."

Dr. Lance smiled and looked at the poster in his hands. It was for the Semester Dance happening at Kendrick's school in a few days.

That was when he would strike.

"I can not believe you right now," she said.

Nicki Ross was standing in her and her brother's living room of their apartment. She was wearing a yellow t-shirt that stopped right above her belly button, and some jeans. Her white hair that went a little past her shoulders was tied up in a ponytail and she was wearing some black Reebok shoes that she got from Foot Locker.

Her brother was wearing a gray hoodie and some jeans, along with some gray and black Nikes . His messy white hair that matched his sisters was just that...messy. He didn't really do the whole brushing thing. Took too much time. He could use that time to help other people. Or play Call Of Duty online. Whichever he felt like doing.

[I added this character description because I realized I didn't do it when they first appeared.]

"Okay, I just forgot," Nathan said in defense of himself. "People forget, sis. It's what we do."

"How do you forget to pay the Netflix subscription, Nate?!" she yelled.

"I have other things to do!"

"Like play Call Of Duty?!"

"Yes!" he yelled. "I mean, uh, no! That's not all I do."

"What else do you do Nate?" Nicki said rolling her eyes. "Our plan to help other mutant is pretty much non-existent at this point, since we can't find any other ones, and we still haven't found out where our parents are!"

"Like that's my fault! Can't you use your telepathy to find other mutants? Or our parents?!"

"I'm not strong enough yet!" Nicki said. "You know...Kendrick is here."

"What?"

"Okay," Spider-Man said as he crawled in through the window. "Real talk. I did not mean to interrupt your conversation."

"It was...nothing," Nicki said.

Spider-Man's exoskeleton pulled itself back in and revealed Kendrick Durham.

"Uh, what's up?" he asked, fully aware he was in an awkward situation.

"Y'know, just because we saved you once," Nathan said crossing his arms. "Doesn't mean you can just show up whenever you like. We do have lives, you know."

"I get that, and I am so incredibly sorry about that." he said. "I just came to, uh, ask..."

"You want to ask me to your school dance," Nicki said with a little surprise.

"What?" Nathan asked incredulous.

"Okay, quick side note," Kendrick said, sticking his hands in the pockets of his black jacket. "Don't read my mind without permission."

"Sorry," Nicki said. "I'm trying to work on that."

"Wait wait wait," Nathan said. "You're asking my sister out?"

"Why is that so hard to believe?" Nicki said with an accusing look. "Are you saying I'm ugly?"

"No, it's hard to believe because we just met him a few days ago," Nathan said. "And only once."

"It's not like we'll go steady or anything," she said rolling his eyes. "He's only asking me to make his friend Jen jealous, because he thinks I'm hot."

"Mind reading! Permission!" Kendrick said.

"Again sorry."

"So you're just using my sister?" Nathan said with an accusing look as his hands burst into flame.

"I wouldn't say using," Ken said defensively.

"He was gonna ask Jen but she's mad at him, and she has a boy toy," Nicki said, then looked at Ken who was giving her a look. "I already had that information, I didn't read your mind again."

"Which brings me to another question," Kendrick said. "Exactly how much of my mind did you go through when you helped me with my PTSD?"

"Your name is Kendrick Rachael Durham, you're sixteen years old, your dad is the mayor of New York City, your favorite singer is Elle Varner, your favorite band is MisterWives, and your favorite rapper is Childish Gambino. Your first wet dream was in your grandma's house, your favorite color is red, and you still play with Legos with your best friend Marshall when nobody is around. Your favorite superhero is Batman, and your favorite comic book is Red Hood & The Outlaws, but since it's being canceled, your favorite comic is Hexed by BOOM! Studios. Your brother is the shooter of your school, and you blame yourself for the death of the students who you didn't react fast enough to save. You were in a huge war with other Spider-Men, Women, and Pigs to stop the Inheritors from killing you all, and while there, you learned that in other dimensions, you were the..."

"Okay you proved your point," Ken said interrupting her.

"Ha...aha ha ha ha!" Nathan started laughing.

"What is so funny?" Kendrick asked.

"Your middle name is Rachael?" he said mid-laugh.

"It was after my grandma dude," Ken said. "It's not like I had any say in it."

"Oh, you mean the grandma who's bed you busted one in." Nathan said, falling over in laughter.

"At least I don't like C-Men," Kendrick said, making Nathan stop laughing.

"Well played," Nathan said, walking into the kitchen. "Asshole."

"So...is that a no on the dance?" Ken asked Nicki.

"Sure," she said. "It'll be fun."

Tyler Farroway was confused.

He was checking the logs of his greatest inventions, The Neogenic Recombinator. Whenever an employee uses it, they're supposed to log in and report to him. However, he found the machine had been turned on, and it wasn't reported to him. Whenever it's used, the Recombinator automatically logs it in. But the Recombinator log didn't match up with the employee logs. That means someone wasn't following the rules.

Tyler went to his personal computer and looked at the security camera footage. Nobody else except for him had access to the footage, nor knew of their existence. Not even his right-hand man, Dr. Lance.

Speaking of the man himself, Tyler saw footage of Dr. Lance using the Neogenic Recombinator at the time of the unregistered log in. But why would Dr. Lance use the Recombinator without logging it in? It's not like he didn't have the clearance for it.

Maybe Tyler had to investigate Dr. Lance's activities.

Yes! My word counter says that this chapter had exactly 3,000 words! Well, technically it has more if you count this author's notes thing.

And what?! Kendrick met Spider-Gwen during Spider-Verse?! Yes, he did. I will tell you what happened, after this arc. Swear. Or will I?

NEXT: The dance! Groovy baby! The Scorpion returns! Jen vs Nicki! Ken vs Obie! Tyler confronts Dr. Lance! Someone dies! [Yes, really!] All this, and the identity of the impostor Spider-Man is revealed! You don't wanna miss this! Next week!