Tarantula (Spider-Man)

Intervention

   Valerie walks around the bend to the front of the school where the rest of the students have congregated as the police break into the school building. She easily slips into the large crowd of students and spots Eddie, who towers above most everybody else.

“Hey Val, there you are!” he shouts, running over to greet her, “I was looking for you. Where were you?”

“Before all of this? At my locker.” she tells him, adjusting her backpack so it’s on both shoulders.

He looks over at the school building, where several windows have been smashed and a part of the courtyard has been ripped up, “Crazy how something like that happened.”

“What was that anyway? Do you know?” she asks, feigning ignorance.

“I caught a glimpse of it when it leaped into the building. It’s very reptilian in appearance. But the strangest thing is, I think it was sporting an Oscorp lab coat.”

Oscorp? How could they be involved in this? But then Valerie remembers Oscorp specializes in genetic science, if anyone, they’d be involved in this.

“No way, seriously? How could you be sure?”

“Just a couple of days ago, I was doing an interview for an internship at Oscorp.” he explains, “Speaking of Oscorp, I saw your interview on the Betty Brant show, I had no idea you’re the CEO of SapphireTech. That’s amazing!”

She chuckles, “Thanks, but what about you? Getting an internship at Oscorp is a pretty big step as well.”

“Gwen hooked me up, she was the mastermind behind it, and I might not look like it, but I’m a science kind of guy. Hopefully, if I get the job, I’ll be able to see you at work.”

She smiles, “If you get the job? More like when.” she reaches up and places her hand on Eddie’s shoulder, “I believe in you Eddie.”

   School realizes early due to the Lizard incident. Valerie’s unable to find Peter or Gwen among the throngs of students as they leave the campus. Probably for the best, she doesn’t know if she can bring herself to face Peter now that she knows he’s Spider-Man. Is Gwen in on this as well? They’re two peas in a pod, it’s almost a little weird, so she must know.

Also, what Eddie said, that the Lizard was wearing an Oscorp lab coat. When she and Spidey faced him, he wasn’t wearing any visible clothing. Maybe this article came off when he was running through the hallways? And maybe she can find this article, it might contain some information.

Back as Tarantula, she cautiously climbs up the back courtyard wall and into the building, where police officers are searching through the rubble of the wreaked hallways. While the damage the Lizard did puts her bioenergy blast into perspective, she still can’t help but take some responsibility for contributing to this. There has to be a way of controlling her powers, maybe some practice? But where?

Keeping to the ceilings to avoid detection, she follows the carnage left by the Lizard. At one point, she passes over three police officers and unintentionally eavesdrops on their conversation,

“So apparently this was caused by some kind of green creature.” one of the officers reports, pointing to the hole between the hallway and the library that the Lizard pushed Spidey through.

“Witnesses say the thing escaped into the sewers, you think we should investigate further?” another one asks.

The third one shakes his head, “We tried that when a similar incident happened over at the Williamsburg Bridge. The team got stopped by some Oscorp officials who said they were using the sewers for research.”