Unstoppable Spiderlings

Episode 2: Nitro Spider

"Maybe if I... no." Inside a small-ish house on the edge of Queens, New York sits a hard working college student hunched over his never ending notebook. He- "OH, COME ON! I tried that already and I proved it works!" Well, it's getting hard to narrate with him yelling all the time. Why don't I just show you what's going on?

Ethan rips a page out of his notebook and shreds it into many strips. He looks over at his stingers that rest on a pile of paint cans by his desk, sighing heavily while putting his face in his hands. "I can't do anything right..."

"Hey, bro?" Ethan's bedroom door opens to reveal Maria cautiously poking her head into the room. She waits until he turns around before giving him a weak smile. "All of us kids are going to get ice cream. It's a present before we start classes again."

"Count me out. I'm working on something, and if I stop then my train of thought will be floosh." He makes a wind sound with his mouth and swipes the side of his head to signify his brain leaving.

"You don't want to overthink anything either. Taking a break is good for you, Ethan." Maria pushes the subject, trying to help out and get him to come along.

"Maybe next time. It's only the first of August, so I have time to get a back to school present before classes start." Ethan waves her off once again, turning back to his desk.

"I really think-"

"Just take everyone else and leave me alone! I said no!" Ethan snaps, finally. Maria flinches just a bit, not expecting the sudden raise of voice. She nods without saying anything else, closing the door softly. "Thank you," Ethan mumbles sarcastically.

The four other siblings all pile together as they begin their walk to the ice cream store that just opened this year. Ethan watches them leave through his window, feeling a bit of regret. However, he takes a deep breath and turns back to what he was doing, knowing he needs to do this for the greater good of New York.

After about thirty minutes, the college student stands up and starts pacing around his room. "This makes no sense at all. They worked just fine a week ago when we fought that crazy group of robbers. What did they call themselves again?" Ethan takes a glance at the newspaper on his wall. "Yeah, the Superior Foes of the Spiderlings. That's a mouthful. Anyway, why have my stingers lost their punch? I've never had to replace them before."

He blows some strands of hair out of his eyes and walks back to his stingers. Lifting one up, he presses the tip of his finger into the sharp edge, drawing a bit of blood. However, there is no feeling at all of dizziness or nausea. What happened to make his stingers lose their powers? The chemicals are still there and are active, so what component is he missing?

Theme song!

Time becomes irrelevant as the days connect to the nights. Ethan has no concept of it anymore since he's determined to stay awake until he finds the problem of his stingers and fixes them. Most of the time he can be found in the bunker where his chemistry lab is located. It's not much, but it's all he has to work with.

Maria hasn't spoken to him much since he snapped at her a few days ago, and she thinks it's best to give him some space. However, she wouldn't be truthful if she said it wasn't hurting her on the inside. The only time she ever sees him is when he comes upstairs to get more coffee. John knows to keep his distance from Ethan when he's in the zone, but he misses the wit he brought to the table whenever they would go on Spiderling missions together. Granted, Ethan's only been indisposed for four days now, but that's still a long time to be absent from Nitro Spider's presence! Julia thinks it's fine as long as he remembers to eat, and hopes beyond everything that he is able to figure this out. She understands that being the only Spiderling without extra powers to back him up is what is driving this. To Ethan, he needs these stingers to be special and to stand out. He doesn't want to be a liability just because he can't walk on water or bend his webs with his mind. Andrew is the one annoying him the most, as always, but this time it's really getting on his nerves. He won't stop checking on him every day while he's in the bunker, constantly asking him if they can play video games or swing around the city together. Every time Ethan responds with, "Go do it with John," but Andrew keeps his persistence. He, for some reason, holds a special connection with Ethan and always wants to do things with him just as they did as kids. It's not until the weekend starts that the older spider can't take it anymore and raises his voice against his brother, "Andrew, for the love of God, you're the reason why I can't think of anything! This entire time I've been so close to fixing my stingers and your obnoxious mouth has been annoying me for days on end! Use what little common sense you have and leave me alone!"