Chapter 21
Tarantula finds Spider-Man balancing himself on the tip of a small radio tower.
"Hey, didn't expect to see you out so early." she greets, swinging in, as Spidey continues to stare forward.
"Well…now that you know my identity, I guess you know why." he mumbles.
"True." she realizes, sitting down at the base of the radio tower, "And don't worry about your secret identity Peter, it's safe with me."
"You say that, but how am I suppose to trust you if I don't even know who you are?"
She pauses, he has a point, "Well, who do you think I am?"
"Uhm...gosh, who could you be? ...Gwen?"
"No, no, no, you'd know if I was Gwen. Besides, I'm not blond."
"Yeah, but how do I know that? For all I know, you could be wearing a wig, and live in an orphanage with a cat named Streaky."
She chuckles, "I don't think orphanages exist anymore."
"Whatever, just...don't call me Peter, okay?"
"Fair enough."
He sighs, "I mean, it's not that I don't like you but...this is a sensitive thing for me, okay?"
She places her hands on his shoulders, "I get it Spidey, of course it is."
Red and blue lights reflect against the walls of a nearby building, followed by police sirens and sounds of gunfire. Tarantula slaps him on the back as she jumps down from the radio tower, "C'mon, duty calls."
Valerie notices the first posters advertising the Halloween dance as she enters the partially repaired school building. School had been out for a couple of days so that some hasty repairs could be made, guess there wasn't anywhere else the students could be sent while the building's being repaired.
She makes her way out to the courtyard to eat when she sees someone in a black fleece jacket and dark sunglasses sitting at a table by himself. She's never seen him before, and she's been around long enough to be familiar with the student body. She looks over at Peter and Gwen's table, and while they both wave to her, her gut sinks when she sees Peter, and Eddie's busy in the science lab. Maybe that new guy might like some company.
"Hi." she greets, approaching his table.
He looks up, "Oh...hi."
She slowly sits down across from him, "What's your name?"
"...Cletus."
"Nice to meet you Cletus, my name's Valerie. Are you new here?"
He nods, "It's my first day."
"That's cool. I just transferred her about a month ago, so I'm kind of new here too." she explains.
"Where are you from?" he asks.
"San Francisco, you?"
He keeps his head down and his hands in his pockets, "...Europe."
Valerie looks up to see Flash and Liz have approached their table,
"Val, what're you doing with the new guy? I thought you were with Baby Brockster." Flash asks, taking a bite of his sandwich.
"Not every interaction with the opposite sex has to be romantic." Valerie counters.
"Who is this loser anyway?" Liz asks, leaning over the table and poking Ben on the head.
"Leave us alone." Cletus barks.
"Is that a challenge, kid?" Flash spits, raising his fist.
Liz holds him back, "C'mon Flash, you don't need another fight before the game, and besides, this guy isn't worth it." she says before leading him away.
Cletus arches his eyebrow, whose color matches his brown hair, "Another?"
"Yeah, my friend Eddie or Baby Brocksteras Flash refers to him as got into a skirmish with them a while ago."
He nods, "Well, they certainly sound like simply wonderful people."
She chuckles at his sarcasm, "Yes, they certainly are."
"I wouldn't think someone like you would be able to hold themselves in a fight though. Did you get hurt?" he asks, his voice mild mannered and a little throaty.
She shakes her head, "I'm not much of a fighter, but I got pretty lucky that time."
He pauses, "You're being totally modest. I bet you beat them to a pulp, and now they're scared of you."
She laughs, "Oh my gosh, no!"
"What's so funny?" it's Eddie, still in his lab coat from the science lab.
"Oh hey Eddie, this is Ben, he's new here." Valerie introduces.
Cletus waves to him, "Hey."
Eddie slowly brings his hand up to wave back, "...hi."
The bell rings, signalling the end of lunch, and Valerie and Eddie part ways with Cletus as he heads to a different part of the building.
"Call it a snap judgement, but I don't like that guy." Eddie admits to her as they walk to class.
"Why not? He seems nice."
"First of all, it's a cloudy day, and he's wearing dark-tinted sunglasses." he points out.
Valerie nods, "True, that is a bit odd. Do you think he might have been high or something?"
"It's the first thing that comes to mind."
"Well I say lets give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe there's a plausible reason behind him wearing those sunglasses."
Eddie rolls his eyes, "Still don't like him."
Tarantula is tying up some common criminals in a dark alleyway when Spider-Man jumps into view,
"Hey, check this out."
"Just a second." she tells him, adding the final touches as she wraps the ski-capped robbers in a thick layer of webbing, "...what's up?"
Spider-Man takes out his phone and shows her a set of somewhat blurry pictures of a red figure on various rooftops and alleyways, "Word has it this guy has been causing trouble around the city."
"...looks kind of like you." she examines.
"I swear, it's not me! My costume is far more colorful, see?" he stretches his arms to display his red and blue ensemble.
"Alright, so what do you want me to do about it?"
"Well, I was thinking you could take this case and I could handle the Lizard problem."
"What, why? Don't we usually work as a team?" she asks.
"Uhm...to be honest, we work as a team when you're around. I'm around crime-fighting way more often than you are, and the Lizard is a big threat to the city. This guy...doesn't look like as much trouble."
She puts her hands on her hips, "So you're shoving me off to the B-mission?"
"Look, I don't feel comfortable working with you anymore. It's too much, what with you knowing my identity and everything-"
"She knows your identity?" one of the thugs asks, before Tarantula shoots a web sealing his mouth shut.
"Look, I just want us to spend some time away from each other, okay? At least until I can piece everything together." he finishes.
She slowly nods, "...fine. I'll go after the red blob here. Although I have no idea where I'll start, this guy could be anywhere in the city-"
Spider-Man and Tarantula whip around when a man in red jumps down from the apartment roof above, "No need, I'm right here."
Author's Note:
The-Right-Girl: Thanks, and yeah, Spider-Woman's design sort of reminds me of Iron Man with the projectile blasts (her bio-energy blasts are sometimes green instead of white, but I chose to go with white), and the similar color scheme as well. And when I was writing Valerie's story, I did realize she's kind of like Iron Man, so that similarity is my fault.
MF 22: I agree, and Peter/Spider-Man doesn't trust her, good for you catching that plot-point before I even revealed it. As for the argument that Spider-Man's too weak, looking back I probably subconsciously made Spider-Man weaker to highlight Tarantula (it's much easier to sell a character that everyone knows rather than a new character). He does work on his own, but because the story's mostly from Valerie/Tarantula's view you only really see him when he's working with her.
fluttershypegasus1: Hmm...I think everyone hates Felicia now, and not for the reasons I thought they would (the Felicia of the comics and cartoons is radically different from the Felicia I'm writing).
highlander348: I feel that Spider-Man and Tarantula have a sort of workplace relationship, but a rivalry kind of makes sense (personally though I see Felicia as Valerie's rival but she has room for one more).
kindleflame5: True. Maybe if she ever reveals her identity to the world I could see that happening. And I didn't realize Spider-Man had stingers at one point, the faults of having to catch up on years and years of a comic book character's history. Also, finally gonna see Guardians tomorrow.
LITTLE RED FOXX: THANK YOU!
WinterRain36: I agree, but Valerie, while she can stand up to people in most situations (like Flash and Liz or earlier with Hayden), she didn't do the same because personally, I think a part of her is jealous of Felicia while another is seeking her approval. Interpret/criticize it as you like, that's just my take on it.