Tarantula (Spider-Man)

Say It Now

  Oscorp is still as bustling as ever when Valerie walks in. She clutches a bag that contains her school sweatshirt, just in case.

“Hey, Valerie! Good to see you again.” Hayden greets, waiting for her at the entrance, “I heard about what happened at your apartment. You okay?”

She nods, “Yeah, I’m alright, nothing was stolen.”

“People on the news were describing someone with Spider-Man-like powers swooping in and beating the thugs. You know anything about that?”

She shrugs, “No clue. That individual just came out of no where, and was gone before anyone could get a good look at them. No security cameras either, so the police have no way of looking to see where they went.”

He puts a hand on her shoulder, “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

They take the elevator up to SapphireTech’s workshop, where the team has pushed all of their tables to the corners of the room, to create a central middle ground. In that center, is a heavy, metal prototype of a full body suit of armor.

“The project’s on schedule, what do you think?” he asks, holding his arm out to present the work.

“It’s nice.” she begins, but then she looks and next to the suit is a small aircraft, “But what’s with the miniature hang glider?”

He chuckles, “That’s not a hang glider, it’s a hoverboard, for outdoor travel. With the way the suit’s built, it’s going to be too heavy to transport with a traditional wheelchair.”

“Okay...but then what about indoor travel? That thing clearly isn’t meant to fit into a doorway.”

“Oh…” he pauses nervously, “Uhm...yeah, well, I mean, it’s a hoverboard! Can’t you just be happy that I built a hoverboard . And it works too. Wanna try it out?”

She examines the sleek design of the hoverboard, tempted by his offer, “It looks fun...but I don’t need another trip to the hospital. I’ll pass till it’s been properly tested.”

He sighs, “Fine...besides, I’m sure Mr. Osborn will let you have one with your free suit. Which we need your measurements for. How about we do that in your office?”

They go around the other engineers working on the suit and enter her office, which still hasn’t been set up beyond the essentials.

“I really need to hang my credentials here.” Valerie observes, facing a blank wall by her desk.

He smiles, before reaching into her desk and taking out a roll of measuring tape. Playfully, he rolls out some of it, and flicks the roll, causing a crackling noise, like a whip, “Ha!”

“Very funny Indiana Jones.” she smirks.

He looks up, hopeful, “You know Indiana Jones?”

“Just Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Saw it when I was about ten, don’t remember anything about it though.”

His face goes from hopeful to horrified, “...oh…”

“Now c’mon, what do you need in terms of measurements?”

“Well...it’s going to be a full body suit, but Mr. Osborn is having it modified so that you’ll still be able to move around in it. My question is, what are you gonna do with it?” he asks, examining his clipboard.

She pauses, as Hayden wraps the tape around her waist, “I have a feeling he wants to use it as a marketing ploy.”

“That makes sense.” he agrees, jotting down numbers on the clipboard, “In the alterations it says to make the suit practically skin-tight. That would mean removing most of the actual medical equipment. It’s practically a costume.”