The man in the red suit laughs, “What? Thought I was Daredevil...Carnage? Nope, it’s DEADPOOL.”
He reaches both hands behind him and draws out two long swords from the sheaths on his back. Spider-Man and Tarantula lean into fighting stances, preparing to attack. Deadpool launches himself several feet in the air, spinning around into a diving position as he plummets toward them,
“Obligatory fight scene, engage!”
The two heroes jump out of the way, and Deadpool lands on the concrete, swords out. He looks up just in time to see Spider-Man attack first, swinging in and kicking him straight in the face, knocking him to the ground.
Deadpool leaps back up instantly, seemingly unfazed by the blow, “Wow...that was fun, now how about we have a conversation her-” he’s cut off by Tarantula’s bio-energy blast, a stream of energy dragging him through the concrete.
“Hey, you have control of your...your beam-thingy.” Spider-Man realizes.
She smiles, “It’s a work in progress.”
Deadpool, still on the ground, lifts his head and rubs it, slightly dazed, “Wow...what a woman. Whew.”
“What do you want, Deadman?” Spider-Man asks, taunting him with the nickname.
“Hey, hey, it’s Deadpool, Deadpool, piscina de la muerta, ¿comprende? And, I need your guys’ help.”
“Then why did you just try to attack us?” Tarantula asks.
“Well...that’s kind of just how I communicate. Plus the rest of this is gonna be super talky, so I knew I had to throw something in for all the adrenaline addicts out there.”
Spider-Man leans over to Tarantula, “What is he talking about?”
“What I am talking about-” he rushes over to them and wraps his arms around their shoulders, pulling them in and speaking in a shouted whisper, “...is killing Norman Osborn.”
“What?!” Tarantula reacts, yanking away from their huddle.
“Oh, I forgot, Oscorp poster child and all that.” Deadpool throws Spider-Man out of his grasp, causing him to tumble to the ground, “You-” he points to Spider-Man, “got your powers from Oscorp technology, your girlfriend works for them, and Normie’s your BFF’s dad. And you-” he points to Tarantula, “both your powers and your suit, compliments of Oscorp. Plus you work there so, if anyone’s in Oscorp’s pocket, it’s you.”
“What?!” Spider-Man recoils, “You got both your suit and powers from Oscorp?! And you accuse me of being a thief.”
Deadpool shakes his hands, “No, no, no. Normie gave the suit to her (probably you know, so she wouldn’t sue the company for getting SHOT BY A LASER).”
“Well, we’re not helping you kill Norman Osborn. We don’t kill, end of story.” Spider-Man concludes.
“Awe, c’mon, please? The truth is...I’ve always wanted to team up with you guys. I mean...doesn’t it make sense? The three heros all in the same primary color, fighting crime. We could all be buddies, get into trouble, ensue love triangles (personally, I’m for Team Deadpool), and...uhm, also maybe just a tiny little because I need someone who can get me stuff from inside Oscorp.”
“And...why can’t you do that yourself?” Tarantula asks.
“Well, lets just say I have a distinctive face. So, what do you guys say?”
“Didn’t we already make it clear? We’re not agreeing to something like that.” she restates, “But...I personally wouldn’t mind working with you.”
Deadpool lights up, his body seemingly becoming light as air, “...really? Oh, thank you, thank you!” he runs over and nuggies Tarantula on the head, “We’re going to be best of friends, I know it!”
“What, are you crazy?! This guy is insane, he wants to kill Norman Osborn, he’s not a hero like us-”
She smiles, “Don’t worry, I have it under control.”
“Man, and you’re suppose to be the jovial, quippy one of the two. Why so serious?” Deadpool asks, “Anyway, gotta go, gotta kill Norman Osborn...on my own...alone. The invitation’s still open.” he jumps up an amazing height and jets down, disappearing behind a apartment building.
Spider-Man and Tarantula stand still for several moments, both of them processing what had just happened. Spider-Man holds his index finger up, “Okay...first question: why kill Norman Osborn?”
“My first question was actually: how did he know so much about us? But we can go with that too.” she replies, as they look out in the direction in which he’d disappeared.
The moment Valerie’s out of costume she calls Mr. Osborn,
“Valerie? I’m always here to help but, why are you calling so late at night?”
“Norman I have reason to believe that your life may be in danger. A...a man came up to me and, and asked for information about you. He said he wants to kill you.” she informs him.
He chuckles, “Valerie, please, calm down. People are trying to kill me everyday, this is hardly different. But...did this man try to hurt you?”
“No, I’m fine, it’s you I’m worried about. Are you sure you shouldn’t at least take some precautions?”
“Well, I guess there are a few little chinks in my armour I could fix up.” he yawns, “Excuse me but, I’m very tired. Goodnight Valerie.”
Valerie arrives at school to see Cletus waiting for her by the front entrance,
“Morning Val.” he mumbles, his dark sunglasses reflecting against the morning sunlight.
She gives a sleepy smile, “Morning.”
They’re not able to walk together for long before Eddie joins them, “Hey Val, can I talk to you alone for a second?”
“Sure, catch you later Cletus.” she waves to him, before heading off into another hallway with Eddie.
Eddie has his hands in his jacket pockets, he’s moving something around in his pockets, what could it be?
Valerie follows him to a relatively empty hallway, where only a few other students are standing by rows of lockers. Eddie stops in the middle of the hallway and turns around to face her. He pulls his hand out of his pocket to reveal a slightly crushed red rose,
“Valerie Polina, will you attend the Halloween Dance with me?” he asks timidly.
She smiles, her heart racing. Does this mean they’re dating? Or does he just want to go as friends? The rose is definitely an indicator that his feelings lean more towards the romantic side, but Valerie can’t be certain.
“What’s going on?” it’s Cletus, who must’ve followed them from the school’s entrance.
“Uhm...this is kind of a private thing Cletus.” Eddie confesses, shoving the rose back into his pocket.
“What? What’s going on?” he asks, and Valerie can’t figure out if he genuinely doesn’t understand or if his intervention was intentional. The sunglasses completely hide his facial expression.
“Hey, Baby Brockster is asking Val on a date. How cute!” Flash comments, who’s also inexplicably appeared out of no where.
“Oh...that’s what was happening...sorry guys…” Cletus apologizes, backing up away from Eddie and Valerie.
In his haste, Cletus accidentally backs into Flash and his group, and he turns around to face them with what Valerie can only imagine is a look of horror.
“Awe, the new kid has a crush on Valerie too!” Flash realizes, “Hey, hey new kid, you gonna fight Baby Brockster for Val?”
“No…”
“C’mon man.” he says, shoving Cletus, “Do it!”
Flash shoves him again, this time much harder, and causes his sunglasses to be knocked off of his head, landing on the school linoleum. Flash and his gang all gasp in surprise, but with his back turned to Valerie and Eddie, they have no idea what they’re reacting to. Finally, one of the jocks in Flash’s group reacts,
“Oh my god, it’s Harry Osborn!”