Valen: A Collector's Item

Wizard ... Aliens

Peter stopped at the same gas station where he picked up Ned. Valen, oblivious to everything around her except the glove box, didn't even notice he was getting out of the car.

"Valen?" Ned asked as he stood beside his open door.

Peter turned in his seat to wave a hand in front of her face. Valen's trance broke as she looked back and forth at the two guys. When she noticed what was going on, she hopped into the next seat beside her and opened the door to get out.

Ned was taken aback when Valen threw her arms around his neck. His hands hovered over her back before he embraced her while looking at Peter confused. He just shrugged.

"This isn't the last time you'll see me, you know?"

Valen pulled back. "I know. I know where you live."

"And where are you living exactly?" Peter asked with the top half of his body leaned over into the passenger side.

Valen spun around with her lips pressed together and shook her head no. "Top secret information there. You're not classified to know."

"I have clearance to call Mr. Stark right now and tell him where you're at."

"Like he'd answer you."

Peter nodded his head in agreement and sat back in his seat. Valen took over the passenger seat but cranked the window down to lean her torso out to wave dramatically goodbye. "Bye Ned!"

Ned waved his hand, slightly laughing at her. When they exited the lot, Valen returned to her seat and pointed to the crate of radio equipment in the back. "So what are you going to do with that?"

"It's just a ham radio. It shouldn't be too hard to fix."

"Ham, as in the food?"

Peter didn't respond right away. He just looked at her with squinted eyes. "Yes, but it's not actually food."

Valen's face turned sarcastic. "Thank you for the clarification. How did you learn how to fix things like this?" She turned in her seat to fiddle with the broken system.

"I've always had an interest in building, fixing things."

Valen grabbed the radio microphone and twisted back in her seat as she pressed the sides of the device. "This is Valen Stark coming live from Peter Parker's janky car."

Peter laughed as he swiped at her hand. "Hey."

Valen scooted closer to her door window to get away. "Also known as ... drumroll please ... Spider-Man! The one, the only man in red and black spandex. You won't see him coming until he swoops down from the sky on top of you and uses his butt to twist you into one of his webs."

Still laughing, Peter relents on getting the microphone. "That's gross."

"He is one with the spiders. But he only comes out at night. His other alias is Bug Boy by yours truly."

In one quick grab, Peter takes the speaker from Valen's hands. As if announcing a baseball game, he continues in her antics. "In today's lineup, we have Valen Stark, aka Obscurity. Once a Hydra solider, once an Avenger, twice dead, twice returned, and now a hunted woman."

Valen snickered. Her whole body faced Peter with her back against the window. When he could, without getting into a wreck, he glanced at her during his announcement. One hand held the mic sideways against his lips and the other squeezed the wheel.

"You don't see her but she sees you. She can put ice in your water, blow a breeze in your hair, or give you a quick rinse. She's short like an ant." Peter dropped the mic with a permanent smile on his face. "I'm running out of things."