Tarantula (Spider-Man)

The Cat

   Valerie takes the full force of the feral animal as it slams into her, throwing her to the ground. The large cat-like creature on top of her, she slides under it to escape, but not before one of the animal’s paws snags her dress, but she slides through anyway, tearing the dresses bottom half off. She gets up, her long dress now ripped up to her knees,

“Damnit, I liked that dress!”

The cat swivels around, and prepares to pounce again, but Spider-Man leaps onto it from behind,

“Giddy up!” he shoots a web around the animal’s neck and pulls it back.

The wild creature starts running around the gym, with Spider-Man in tow. As the cat reaches a wall, Spidey pulls the web leash and slams the animal into the wall. The animal thrusts up, throwing Spider-Man off of him, launching him into the air and causing him to crash into the bleachers. Valerie prepares to fight the beast, but it struggles to lift itself up, and collapses onto the floor.

The creature’s wild brown hair begins to shrink and shed, its enhanced muscles and elongated claws retracting into a human form. The man, completely naked except for a pair of ripped shorts, looks up at the two, “...help...help me…” before passing out completely.

   Spider-Man brings the man up to a nearby rooftop, laying him down on his back. The night is still active, with only the many lights of New York City to illuminate them. A newly dressed Tarantula jumps up on top of the roof.

“So, you have any idea what’s wrong with this guy?” Spider-Man asks.

“No, but I’ve got some hair and skin samples I’ll take over to the Oscorp lab though, maybe I can find something out there.” she figures.

The man begins to stir, “Ugh...wha...what happened?”

Spidey scratches his head, “Uhm...well, you were at a rager party, and you had one too many-”

Tarantula smacks Spidey on the head, “What’s your name, sir?”

“T-Thomas. Thomas Fireheart.”

“Thomas, this may be hard to hear, but you attacked Midtown High. Do you know anything about that?”

“I...I did? But...I...I live around there. And, where are we? Spi-Spider-Man, and Tarantula...how…?” Thomas starts jerking and twitching violently, and the two back off as he stands, his eyes turning from a brown to pitch black. There’s several cracking sounds of bone and cartilage as his muscles expand, and the hair and claws return to his body. He bars his teeth, his canines sharp and extending past normal limits,

“Stay away from me!” he growls in a low, grizzly tone.

Spider-Man waves his arms in front of him, “Woah, woah, slow down Animal Man, we’re here to help you, you just gotta...relax…”

The beast lunges at Spider-Man, but Tarantula grabs him and pulls him out of the way just in time. They roll across the concrete roof, tangled in each others’ arms, coming to a stop at the edge of the roof, with Spider-Man on top,

“Hehe...well, this is awkward-”
“Look out!” Tarantula cries, pointing behind him.

He turns around to see Thomas bounding at them. Stretching out her hand, she shoots a burst of webbing that latches to his face, obscuring his vision. He starts to slow down, and Spider-Man and Tarantula scurry past him. Tearing off the webbing, Thomas grabs a nearby satellite dish and rips it off of its support.

“We can’t hurt him, he’s innocent, and I don’t think he can control his powers.” Spidey exclaims.

“Clearly, but if not that, what do we do?” Tarantula replies.