Tarantula (Spider-Man)

Catalysts

   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.