Chapter 29
Valerie arrives at school the day on its official reopening. The school itself hadn't been damaged much during the Lizard incident of a couple of days ago, but the school had to be closed to rebuild the part of the school that had been decimated when the Lizard attacked the school. She walks up to the new front lawn, with a great view of the newly rebuilt west wing of the school, with a circular structure and blue-tinted glass windows.
"Wow…" she looks next to her and sees Eddie in utter awe, his mouth a gap.
"Yeah, pretty cool, huh?" she admires, looking on with him.
"Hey guys!" it's Gwen, followed by Peter.
Valerie's heart drops when she sees Peter, several scars on his face, with a slight limp in his right leg, "'Sup guys."
"Peter, what happened to you?" Eddie asks.
He chuckles, "It's kind of a funny story-"
"He fell down a flight of stairs." Gwen excuses, smiling.
"Man, must've taken a real dive." Harry comments, entering the group.
"Yeah...pretty rough, but I'm okay."
Valerie remains quiet as guilt washes over her. Peter's fight with the Lizard must have been harsh, and she wasn't there to help him. Maybe she should've been, but maybe this is also proof that he doesn't need her.
"Hang on...weren't you two close friends as kids?" Gwen asks, pointing to Peter and Harry.
They both nod, and Harry responds, "Our fathers use to work together."
At the mention of "father" Peter's expression sours, his head bowing down slightly.
"So wait...Peter, did you know that was Harry in his disguise the whole time?" she presses.
Peter snaps out of his sudden mood change, "Oh...yeah...totally...I knew…"
Harry chuckles, "No you didn't. I would've told you if I'd known you go here, but, you've changed so much Petey…"
Gwen gasps, "Did he just call you Petey?! That's adorable!"
The bell rings and the gang all start walking toward their classes. Eddie accompanies Valerie to her class. They enter the new building, which is just as impressive as the outside, with completely new classrooms and lockers.
"How was your weekend?" he asks.
She pauses, "...okay. I hung out with Harry."
He squints suspectedly, "You two have gotten quite close, haven't you?"
"Yeah. We just, get along, I guess."
"More so than you and I?"
She shrugs, "Hard to say. I've only known him a little while."
He nods, "Fair enough."
"Why? Do you feel threatened?" she asks playfully.
"O...of course not."
They pass by a bronze plaque in the middle of the hallway. Engraved on the plaque are the words: Special Thanks to Student Donors Dr. Valerie Polina and Harry Osborn.
"Hey...you've got your name on the school!" Eddie points out, "That's awesome!"
"You pitched in too?" Harry asks, approaching them.
She smirks, "Yeah...I figure it's the least I can do since they agreed to put up with me."
Harry bumps her with the side of his hip, and she bumps back. Eddie rolls his eyes, "Oh bother."
Tarantula jumps up onto the roof where Spider-Man is waiting, "Where were you?"
"What do you mean, 'where was I?', you're the one who didn't want me around."
He jumps to his feet, scratching his head, "I know...I know I said that, it's just...it's not the same without you, you know? Having someone to cover you back, or just...talk to even. About all this. I mean, I try to talk about it with Gwen about it, but I don't think she really understands and-"
"Peter." she interrupts, her tone firm and clear.
He sighs, "You promised you wouldn't call me that."
She approaches him, "I know." she pulls off her mask, "But, I think the playing field's even now."
Spider-Man's eyes widen through his mask to the point where he pulls it off to get a better view. Peter's eyes meet with Valerie's, and Peter runs up to her, pulling her into a hug,
"So it was you this whole time?!" he realizes, squeezing her, "You should've just told me, I thought you were some stranger-"
"I just felt terrible keeping my identity a secret after finding out about yours." she explains.
He pulls her away, so that her head is no longer pressed into his chest, "Then why didn't you just tell me?!" he asks, his voice filled with anger but also joy.
She purses her lips, "I...I wanted to but…I...I was afraid."
"Afraid I'd still be mad?" he places his hand on her shoulder, "Val, we're friends, and that comes beforethe superhero stuff, okay?"
She smiles, placing her hand on his shoulder, "Okay."
The golden sunset behind them, they put their masks back on, and smile at each other.
"Oh...oh...bravo, you two, bravo, BRAVO!" Deadpool applauds from the other side of the roof, leaning on the chimney.
The two whip around, the both of them springing into fighting stances. Deadpool remains in place, making a heart with his hands, "Honestly, I totally ship it."
"What?" Tarantula reacts.
Spider-Man rolls his eyes, "What do you want Deadpool?"
"My employer is getting antsy for Harry, or rather, Harry's blood." he explains, "And...they've finally given me clearance to do this." he reaches behind him and reveals a simple red button. He presses it, and the earpiece in Tarantula's ear suddenly comes to life, blaring out a loud, high-pitched tone that's almost too high to hear, but the screech is just low enough to be intolerable. She falls to the ground, trying to rip the earpiece out of her ear.
"Sorry sister, if you couldn't pull that thing off when I first gave it to you, you certainly can't get it off now." Deadpool quips, releasing the button for a mere second before pushing on it again repeatedly.
Even Spider-Man steps back, being able to hear it next to her, covering his ears, "What did you do to her?!"
"Geezus , calm down, it's just a nearly irremovable earpiece, and I'm playing a high frequency pitch directly into her ear, which, if given prolonged exposure, can cause permanent hearing loss. Although, considering her super powers, that probably isn't the case for her...which means I can really play it all I like!" Deadpool fist pumps the air with both hands.
Spider-Man jumps at him, reaching for the switch, but Deadpool dodges him, pressing down on the button once more. Tarantula screams as the excruciating noise comes back, seemingly even louder this time.
"Sorry, nothing personal, it's just a bargaining tool really. You two help me get the blood of Harry Osborn, and I'll get rid of the earpiece. Deal?"
Spider-Man looks over at Tarantula, who's rubbing her ear from the impact of the deafening sound, "Fine, we have a deal. We'll get you his blood, but we're not killing him, and we're not letting you kill him either."
"Awe...I can't kill pretty boy? But he's the manifestation of everything I hate about teenaged eye candy. Harry Christian Osborn Grey anyone?" Deadpool sighs, "Well, fine. But little missy here can't try to remove the earpiece in the meantime, or else I play Disney pop songs into that thing!"
Police sirens sound off in the distance, and Spider-Man and Tarantula start running toward that direction. Deadpool waves to them,
"I'll see you both tomorrow night! Same Spider-time, same Spider-channel!"
The two dive off of the apartment building, Tarantula unfurling her webbed wings and Spider-Man throwing up a web to sling with.
"Awe, and I like some Disney pop songs." Spider-Man jokes.
Author's Note: Hey, one hundred reviews! *throws confetti* I couldn't think of anything special I could give to you guys in celebration of this milestone (we're also about to hit fifteen thousand hits as well, and I feel you guys deserve something for your dedication) so if any of you guys have suggestions, please fire them off in the reviews or in a PM.
highlander348: No, he didn't, I tried to fit it in but there was already a lot to cover in this chapter, and I still had to move the plot forward too. And finally, I don't think he has a crush on her yet, he sees pretty girls all the time, and the media's already playing her off as Spider-Man's girl.
CharitinaX: Yeah, sorry, technical error on my end. It happens everytime I post, and sometimes I forget to fix it. Thanks for pointing that out.
Guest: While I thank you for your suggestions (I'm assuming you're also the person who posted the Harley x Dimentio suggestion on The Doctor Is In), and I've been wanting to write Harley Quinn for a while now, at this time I do not feel comfortable writing lemon content. I would instead encourage that you take a crack at writing these stories yourself, as they're both interesting ideas and you clearly have a lot of creativity.
WinterRain36: I wouldn't say she's more popular than Spider-Man, but rather she's creating a different image for herself than the one Spider-Man has.
Thanks! :)
