All right, here's the next big chapter when out hero leans that big lesson.
I don't own a thing.
Chapter 3, With Great Power…
Ron ran home, Rufus in his pocket. When he walked in, he found the lights off and himself alone.
"Mom, Dad?" Ron called; Ron slowly made his way to the kitchen and found a note sitting on the counter. Hey Michelangelo, thanks for help with the kitchen ceiling. Dinner's in the stove. "Shit." Ron swore. The arrival of his spider powers had completely blown his promise to help his dad paint the kitchen ceiling. Rufus crawl up Ron and patted him on the cheek. "Thanks buddy."
Ron slowly made his way up to his room, running his hand through his spiky blond hair. He pulled off his shirt and tossed it into a corner of his room. Ron froze when he caught sight of himself in the mirror. His muscles were a lot bigger, more toned and he had some how gotten a six pack.
"Whoa." Ron said, flexing slightly. "What the?" He looked over at Rufus who was staring at Ron in shock and aw. "Wade said that I would be as strong and fast as a spider right?" Rufus nodded dumbly. "Guess these are the muscles to back it up." Rufus nodded in understanding.
"Oh man, if KP could see this." Ron said, laughing. Then he was sent to a dream world, where he and Kim were lying in a bed, wrapped in one another's embrace, their lips pressed together. Ron shook his head, asking himself what the hell he was doing, thinking about Kim like that. And then it all hit him like a building being dropped on him. "Rufus, I think I've fallen for Kim." He and the naked mole rat looked at each other.
Ron was flipping through the newspaper absentmindedly, trying to find something that would earn him some extra spending money. Rufus was at his shoulder, scanning the paper with to his owner. Then, they heard a small beeping. Glancing over, he saw that it was coming from the PDA that Ron had given him.
"Hello." Ron said as Wade's face appeared on the screen. "What's going on Wade? Kim got a mission?"
"No, things have been kind of quiet on the mission front lately." Wade said. "I was just calling about you hanging up on me the other day."
"Oh, sorry about that." Ron said. "I wanted to test something out."
"Well?" Wade said. "Listen, if you want, I could work on a cure for your mutation."
"I don't know Wade, but put it on the back burner, just in case for the future, you know." Ron said. "And while you're at it, could you let me know if there are any places that are paying cash for people to do something ridicules and amazing?"
"Well," Wade said, typing at his computer, "there is a wrestling thing on here, go up against the champion, Rumbilin' Roland and survive for 3 minutes and win 100,000."
"Works for me." Ron said. "But I'm probably going to need a costume." Rubbing the back of his neck, he looked around his room until he came across a small spider web sticking in the upper corner of his room next to a small American flag he'd gotten from Kim's dad a when he was a kid. "Wade, I've got an idea."
While Ron waited for his package from Wade, he practiced with his new powers. So far, he figured out he could pick up his desk with his computer and everything else on it with one hand, and could pick up his bed with two. He found out that he could stick to just about any surface he stuck his hand on, but he couldn't climb on it unless it could handle his weight. His webs took the most of the time to master. Setting up cans, even the with the tricks that Wade had come up with, it took him nearly three days to finally got the hang of it all. He was now able to shoot out strands of webs that he could swing on and pull stuff towards him, create giant spider webs and even shoot out small balls of webs that were good for long range projectiles.
Finally, about a week after his first call, Wade's package finally arrived. Ron opened the box and found inside it a red and blue uniform with giant white eyes.
"Well, what do you think Ron?" Wade asked through the PDA. "The material is thick, but just thin enough so that you can stick to walls with no problem. The eyes allow you to see out but no one and nothing can see in."
"Wade, to quote KP, you rock." Ron said, smiling into the PDA.
"So, what are you going to go with for a name?" Wade asked as Ron laid the costume across his bed.
"What else?" Ron said with a smile. "Spiderman."
Ron stuffed his costume into his bag and made his way down the stairs.
"Heading to the library!" Ron called over his shoulder.
"Hang on there son, I'll take you." Ben Stoppable said, getting up and setting down his paper.
"No, it's ok dad." Ron said. "I can take the bus."
"No, I want to take you." Ben said sternly. Ron shrugged in defeat and got into the car. The ride to the library was a quiet and, in Ron's opinion, awkward one. When they finally made to the library, Ron started to get out when his dad stopped him.
"Hold on their Ron, I want to talk to you." He said. "You're changing; I know I went through the same thing when I was your age."
"Not exactly." Ron said, fighting a smile.
"But the point it you really need to stop son." Ben said. "Acting out, starting fights at school,"
"I didn't start that fight." Ron interjected.
"But you're sure as Hell finished it." Ben said. "Listen Ron, you need to remember, with great power, comes great responsibility."
"Yeah, thanks Dad!" Ron snapped, rolling his eyes. "Now quit trying to tell me how to live my life!" Ron and his dad were silent for a moment and then with a sad nod, unlocked the door.
"I'll pick you up at 9:00." He said. Ron stepped out of the car and watched his dad drive off. He felt bad about snapping at his dad, but something couldn't be helped. With a sigh, he hoisted his bag onto his shoulder and made his way to the place where the wrestling contest was being held. Slipping into a bathroom to change into his costume, Rufus was staying with his bag as he spun it up into a web to keep it in place so that it wouldn't get stolen. Taking a deep breath, Ron walked into the building and went strait to the registration desk.
"I'm here to enter." He said.
"Sorry kid, but we don't have a lightweight division." The lady said. "Next!"
"I'm here to enter." Ron said firmly.
"All right." The lady said. "You do take into consideration that we are not responsible for any injuries you may and probably will receive." Ron nodded beneath the mask. "All right kid, good luck to you."
Rumbiln' Roland threw a wrestler out of the ring and he was sent crashing into a table.
"And that's it for the Flying Dutchman!" The announcer cried out into the mic. "And now ladies and gentlemen, I give you, the Spectacular, the Amazing, the Sensational, the Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman!" Spiderman stepped into the light and the choirs of boos and hisses.
"Just keep walking Stoppable." Spiderman muttered to himself as he made his way to the ring. "Nothing you've never heard before." He climbed into the ring and found himself face to face with a man who was about twice the size of Brick with a thick black beard.
"Lower the cage!" The announcer cried out, to the cheers of the fans.
"Say what?" Spiderman demanded as 4 steel barred walls began to lower down onto the ring. "Hey, whoa, this isn't what I signed up for." Spiderman cried out, banging against the bars of the cage. But then he heard the bell ring and that buzzing sensation went off in his head. He spun around but wasn't quick enough to prevent himself from being grabbed and thrown across the ring. Spiderman was slammed against the bars and slid to the floor. "Damn." He muttered, shaking his head fiercely. His Spider-Sense went off again and he looked up. This time he was able to leap up and stuck to the bars, hanging above them.
"You know, that is a really nice outfit." Spiderman said, looking down at Roland. "Did your husband make it for you?" Roland roared and charged at Spiderman, only to hit the bars head first. Looking around, he then found Spiderman hanging up on the ceiling of the cage.
"What do you think you're doing?" Roland demanded. "Get down here and fight!"
"Sorry big guy, but I'm really a lover, not a fighter." Spidy said, flipping down to the floor. "And you're not really my type." Roland roared again and lunged again. Spiderman leapt over him and webbed his feet, pulling him to the ground. Roland hit the floor hard and didn't get back up.
"The winner!" The announcer declared, getting into the ring as the walls were lifted. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you…Spiderman!" The crowd cheered enthusiastically as Spiderman raised his arms in triumph.
"Here you go kid." The fight manager said, throwing a couple of hundred dollar bills at Spiderman. Spidy looked down at the money and then back at the manager. "What?"
"The ad said for 100,000." Spiderman pointed out. "This is only 1,000."
"The ad also said for going 3 minutes in the ring." The manager shot back. "You took Roland down in a minute and a half, so be lucky you're getting that much."
"Look man, I need this cash." Spiderman snapped.
"Not my problem freak." The manager snapped back. "Now get out of here before I call security." Spiderman balled his hand into a fist and for a second, the manager though he was going to punch him, but then Spiderman turned on his heel and stormed out of the office, bumping into a man on the way out.
When the fight manager heard the door open he didn't even bother to look up from his money.
"What do you want now?" He demanded. But then a bag was thrown at him. "What the?" He looked up and found a gun in his face.
"Fill it up." The gunman ordered. "Now!"
Spiderman stood in front of the elevator, cracking his knuckles in annoyance.
"Stop him!" A shout came from down the hall. Spiderman turned to see the fight manager standing outside his office, a man running away from it with a black bag in his hands. The elevator door dinged and, instead of stopping the man or getting in the elevator, Spiderman stood off to the side and let the thief take it.
"Thanks man." The thief said as the elevator doors closed behind him.
"Why didn't you stop him?" The fight manager demanded when he caught up to Spiderman. "You could have torn that guy apart! Probably literally!"
"Not my problem." Spiderman said spite in his voice. "Dick." When the elevator door opened again Spiderman walked in, smiling beneath his mask.
Ron walked out of the ally he had hid his street cloths, bag, and Rufus in, mentally kicking himself for letting that guy go past. He was Ron Stoppable, Kim Possible's sidekick, although she preferred to call him her partner, and now that he had these spider-powers, he would have had no problem stopping that guy, he could have webbed him, hell he could have even just grabbed the guy and slammed him against the wall.
He was shaken from his thoughts by a commotion. Ron made his way though the crowd and froze when he saw what everything was about. Ben Stoppable was lying on the ground, blood spreading across his shirt.
"Dad!" Ron said, trying to get to him. A few police officers held him back. "That's my dad!" Ron shouted. The cops let him got and he ran to his dad, kneeling beside him. "Dad, Dad can you hear me?"
"R-Ron." Ben choked out. "Re-rem-mem-ber, with great power, comes great re-re-respon-pons-s-s-sibil-l-li-ty." And then, Ben Stoppable's head fell backwards, his eyes lost their focus, and he crossed over into the next world.
"No." Ron whispered, holding his father, tears beginning to form in his eyes. "No, no, no, no!" He yelled, sobbing onto his father's chest.
"I'm sorry Ron." Said a voice behind him. Ron looked up to see Captain George Stacy, Tara's father, behind him, and placed a hand on the young man's shoulder. "And don't worry, we've got men following the guy, he won't get too far."
You've got that right Ron thought. When Captain Stacy turned away from him, Ron slipped away and changed out of his street cloths and webbed them.
"You know I'd take you buddy, but I don't have any pockets in the suit." Ron said. Rufus nodded. And squeaked "kick ass" to his master. "You got it buddy." Ron pulled on the mask and leap up into the air, shooting off a strand of webbing and swinging towards the sounds of sirens. He continued swinging, going off of only sound and the spider-sense that was quietly buzzing in his head. When the flashing lights finally came into view, he sped up. Son of a bitch he though this guy's driving Dad's car. This increased the fire that was already burning inside Ron to the point where he was pretty sure he was on fire. He jumped off the web strand he was on and flew onto the top of his father's car. The killer must have heard Spiderman land on the roof because he started swerving around the road. Spiderman's spider-sense buzzed in his head on occasion and would look up to see that the car was about to hit someone and he would shoot a web at the innocent bystander and knock them out of harm's way. When the swerving didn't quite work, the murderer began to fire his gun up at the roof. But yet again, Spiderman's spider-sense warned him of the danger and he was able to avoid every bullet. His Spider-sense went off again and Spiderman looked up to see that the car was headed for a gate. Spidy jumped off the car and landed on the side of a building, keeping his eyes on the car as it crashed into the gate.
"Shit and that was going to be mine in a few months." Spiderman whispered under his breath. Then he saw the killer clamber out of the car, favoring one leg. "Serves you right." Spiderman whispered. He jumped into the warehouse that the murderer had taken refuge in and hid in the shadows, waiting. Then, after a few moments of waiting, a door opened and he heard the murderer walk in, panting. Spiderman crawled along the wall until he saw the man, or his frame at least, his face was still hidden in shadows.
"It takes a lot of balls to shoot a man." Spiderman called out into the darkness. The gun man spun around, trying to find the source of the voice. "Especially a defenseless old man."
"You're calling me a coward?" The gun man said, backing up towards a window. 'You're the one who won't show himself."
"You're right." Spiderman said and then dropped down in front of him. The gunman gave a yelp and before he could draw a bead on Spiderman, the gun was webbed to his hand and then nailed the guy with a strong right hook. The gunman's head crashed threw the window. When Spiderman pulled his face back in, it was bathed in light. Ron's eyes widened behind his mask: it was that guy, the one from the wrestling ring, the one he hadn't stopped, and now, because of it, Ron's dad was…
"No," Ron gasped, letting go of the killer and backed away, "no, not you." The thief pulled out a knife and raised it above his head.
"Sorry kid." The man said. Ron reacted reflexively: he shot up and nailed him with an uppercut that sent the man threw the window and down towards the ground. Once again, Spiderman ran to the window and shot down two strands of webbing and snagged the guy. Spiderman stood above him, if he let go, then his father would be avenged. But then, his dad's final words sounded in his head: with great power, comes great responsibility. Spiderman yanked up on the webbing and launched the criminal at a building, and then he caught him in a spider web and proceeded to cocoon him, making sure that he wasn't going anywhere. The police arrived and Captain Stacy looked up at the criminal and then looked across to see Spiderman standing there in the light. For a second, the police officer and the vigilante locked eyes. Then Spiderman broke away and jumped, swinging away into the night.
Ron sat up atop a building, his mother no doubt already knew what had happened to her husband but he wasn't ready to face her. His mask was off and he had gone back for Rufus, but he hadn't changed. He looked over Middleton, tears blurring his vision.
"I could have stopped that guy Rufus." He said. "I could have stopped him and then Dad would still be alive." Rufus patted Ron on the cheek. "I'm going to make up for it boy." Ron said, slowly standing. "I'm going to do what dad was trying to tell me. I have great power now, and with that comes great responsibility. I have to power to help the people of this city, so now I'm going to do that. It's my responsibility now."
And there you go. And just so you folks know, I'm starting a new policy with all my stories: I won't put up a new chapter until there it at least one review for the latest one. In other words, you want another chapter of this, comment on this chapter.
Read and review.