𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿-𝗺𝗮𝗻: 𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝘆 [ 𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙞 𝙖𝙪 ]

superhero .37

ricky, tony, and stephen (dr. strange) all watched as richard finally woke up. the boy was trapped in dr. strange's lair, inside a magical cell. richard tried to run through the screen but was immediately taken back down. he got back up and slammed his hands on the wall, "HEY! what the fuck is this?!"

ricky glanced at tony and let out a sigh of relief. there was no way richard was getting out now. richard didn't even know the worst news -- his powers were gone. 

"i thought he would of been calm," ricky whispered to tony, "i thought you said it would cure him?"

"no amount of science can cure the boy's attitude," tony replied, earning a laugh from stephen and ricky.

"i feel weird," richard announced as he touched the side of his neck.

"get used to it," stephen told him. ricky watched as richard lightly studied his hands. he paced around the small room, getting a feel for his body.

"they're ... gone," richard announced, making eye contact with ricky.

"how does it feel...?" ricky quietly asked.

"i feel ... like my head is finally quiet," richard muttered, "it used to feel like... constant screaming... and ... horrifying noises but it's just... my own voice now."

tony nodded his head. he knew the spider that bit richard wasn't just "poisonous". it was "venomous". it took over his whole body, personality, and life -- different from ricky's bite.

"your powers are gone," tony finally revealed. richard's face fell. it wasn't an expression of anger but more of relief and sadness at the same time. tony continued, "i'm sorry, kid... i know it's going to be hard but trust me. it's for your own good."

"i get it," was all richard said. he looked down to the ground, playing with his fingers. ricky was trying to study him.

was this an act or was richard actually back to normal?

"can i talk to richard alone?" ricky asked, eyeing tony and stephen. they both nodded their heads and left the room. ricky stepped closer to the cell. 

"richard," ricky called out in a stern voice. richard looked up from his fingers and blankly stared at ricky. ricky continued, "...i'm.. i'm sorry your powers are gone."

richard didn't say anything. he went back to playing with his fingers. ricky waited a few minutes for the boy to respond but there was complete silence. the boy was about to walk out of the room until he heard richard call out his name.

"...ricky...?" richard called out. ricky walked back to richard and waited for him to continue. "i know... it won't mean anything but uh... i'm sorry."

ricky didn't know what to say. the boy just nodded his head and richard continued, "when i got bite. it was really cool at first... i was just doing the usual: swinging around and helping people... but then as time went on it's like i became the bite... if that makes sense? i started to feel angry all the time and that i couldn't suppress my emotions anymore. there started to be voices in my head telling me to do all these things... and just... one night i did something i knew i would never do. after that, it felt like i was just kinda stuck watching someone kill all the people i love and ruin everything i loved."

"...uncle ben?"

richard nodded his head, "we got into a really bad argument. i knew he was right. i didn't want to keep doing these bad things but i just couldn't help it. uncle ben was trying to help me... he said that...with great power--"

"--comes great responsibility," ricky replied, finishing richard's statement. the boy looked at ricky with confusion. ricky let out a chuckle, "uh yeah.. aunt may told me the same thing."