Chapter 2
In the three months since that day you, Michelle, and Ned stopped talking to Peter, you three had noticed how Peter’s personality did a complete 180. His once sweet and shy disposition that you’d fallen for turned into a brash, cocky, self-centered asshole. He quickly became one of the cool kids that always had a flock of people surrounding him… When he would show up. He rarely showed up, but when he did, everyone went insane. No one seemed to care that he was a menace to everyone, thinking he was entitled to whatever he wanted.
You three watched in awe as he seemed to be with half the school population in those two months. The fact that he was with both boys and girls didn’t surprise you and Ned; Peter had told you that he was bisexual back when you were in 7th grade, and all Michelle did when Peter first showed that he was with a guy, was raise her eyebrows and go back to her book. What did surprise you and Ned, was the fact that he was so blatant about it. Your mind often flashbacked to the rants Peter would get into about the disregard people had about Bisexuality- how he wasn’t greedy or promiscuous. Yet here he was, doing just that…
Peter never once texted you, Ned, or Michelle during those three months and it felt like your chest was an open wound, bleeding every time you saw him… Or looked at the texts you shared… Or even thought of him. In the beginning, you would stay up late, unable to sleep as you thought about Peter and tried not to give into the urge to text him, or call him.
Ned and Michelle, realizing his words hurt you differently than it did them, did their best to cheer you up and distract you, and it helped, but you still missed the boy you fell in love with. After a month of mourning, you slowly got back to your usual self. It didn’t hurt to look at him now, and it didn’t feel weird at lunch without him. You were healing. You all were.
In those three months, you, Michelle, and Ned became better friends. Before you guys were close, but after everything with Peter, you became inseparable. It was nice being able to talk to them about the crush you had on Peter, after holding it in for as long as you did. And after two and a half months of dealing with Peter the Asshole, you broached the subject of Peter’s odd behavior while you three where having one of your many sleepovers.
“So…” You start, waiting until both MJ and Ned were looking at you before continuing, “What do you think brought on Peter’s sudden change in personality?”
Ned and MJ exchange a look before looking back at you.
“I don’t know, Y/N, maybe he just decided to show his true self?” Ned said uncertainly, looking like he didn’t believe it.
“There’s no way. I’ve known him since we were both five. He’s always been super caring and compassionate.” You gulp, looking down at the ground, “That boy that goes by Peter Parker is not the one I know.”
You practically feel MJ roll her eyes and avoid eye contact, bracing yourself for what she’s about to say.
“Y/N… You’ve got to let him go. It doesn’t matter why he’s acting the way he is. He’s not our problem anymore.” She firmly explains.
You glance up, and seeing the looks on both Ned and MJ’s face, looks of pity and discomfort, you, try to defend yourself, “I know that! I know. I just… Want answers, alright? That’s all.”
You hear Ned sigh, “And maybe someday Peter will give you those answers. But for now, just let it go. There are other things that should worry you. Like homework, and friends. Not Peter.” You look down at your lap, frustrated, but choose to drop the subject, knowing you wouldn’t get anywhere with them at the moment.
You try to think of something else to talk about to get rid of the slightly awkward silence when Spider-Man’s black suit comes to mind, making your lips turn up into a smirk, “Hey, did you guys see Spider-Man’s new suit? A little emo, dontcha think?” Which causes Michelle to roll her eyes, knowing exactly what you were trying to do, but gives in and starts talking about it. You focus on her, completely missing Ned’s face of unease.
--
While you tried to move on and forget everything, Peter continued to fight the entity that took over his actions and shoved him into a tighter and tighter box in his head. It had taken over four months ago during one of his nights patrolling near a park. He had seen something unusual out of the corner of his eye and naturally, checked it out.
He was not at all prepared for what had happened next.
Peter had been making his way home when he noticed something strange. Curious, he swung closer, and saw that there was some type of hole in the ground with a weird black substance oozing from it. He landed and cautiously crept forward, quietly asking Karen to scan for anything unusual. He went into high alert when Karen said that she wasn’t able to detect anything, and stopped, looking for a better advantage point.
That was the moment everything changed. One second he was looking for a higher vantage point, and the next, the black substance was flying towards his face. He quickly slipped to the right to try and avoid it but was surprisingly too slow. It barely touches his hand before it starts crawling up his arm. He tried flinging it off by violently shaking his arm, and after a few minutes of fighting the weird blob, Peter successfully flings it off, making it hit the tree with a thud.
Not even taking a breath of air, peter shoots a web up pulls himself onto a nearby building keeping an eye on the black thing as it rolled around the ground for a minute before it sunk into the ground, disappearing from sight. Peter sucked in a breath, still a little frightened from the whole ordeal. Shaking it off, he heads home, looking over his shoulder every now and then, feeling like something was following him but unable to see anything.
A couple hours later, Peter is in his bed, unable to get the image of the black matter crawling up his arm. He nervously scratched at where it had gotten him and looked out the window. Wanting to text Y/N to ease his paranoia but knowing they wouldn’t be awake at this hour, he rolled over to face his window, and saw something that made his heart stop.
The black goo was seeping into his room from his closed window, making Peter scramble for his suit hoping there was something he could do to stop it. As he reached out for his suit he felt something latch to the back of his neck. Then the weirdest thing happened. Peter felt his like he was being shoved into a corner of his mind, and could feel every part of his body, but was unable to control his movements, as he felt this slimy matter invade his mind and body. Peter watched as the thing lifted his arm, turning it over a couple of times to get a feel of his body.
Peter tried his hardest to gain control of his body, but it was no use. The thing had complete control over his body. The last thing Peter was aware of that night before blacking out was the hissing sound of the thing speaking in his head. “Hello, Peter Parker. Let’s have some fun, shall we?”
--
The minute it possessed him, it kept up a constant string of sinister thoughts and feelings, forcing Peter to endure every one. And until Peter figured out a way to temporarily block those thoughts out, he had to deal with them all, some making him scream in agonizing fear and pain, trying to break free from the evil thing that took over his body.
It broke Peter’s heart when he was forced to say those words. He knew how much they would hurt Ned, MJ, and Y/N, and he knew that’s exactly why the thing said them. It had delved into each and every memory and thought Peter had. He fought as hard as he could to take control and take those words back, take everything back, but it was too late. He was too weak.
As the next few months passed, Peter kept trying to break free. The behavior of the entity was appalling; the entity continued to hurt the ones he loved in effort to hurt him on top of everything it forced him to go through mentally. The image of May’s face every time the thing spoke to her was seared into his mind, and he knew he’d never forget that. And at school he could see the hurt looks he’d get from his best friends when he’d walk past them in the halls. Well, ex-best friends. He knew they wouldn’t trust him again after everything he unwillingly did.
Another two months of him being possessed had passed, and Peter stirred from his couple hours of much needed relief, he found himself strutting down a semi-busy street. After taking a second to get used to being aware again, Peter took in what he could see, and realized that it was on a mission. And that mission was following you. Peter tried to pull his thoughts in and closed his mind, so the thing wouldn’t catch drift of his lowkey panicking while he tried to think of what it wanted with you.
All Peter could do was watch it kept stalking you like prey, keeping a bit of distance for a while, and watched as you happened to glance behind you only to see your ex-best friend marching towards you with a sinister look upon his face. Your eyes narrow in confusion, something feeling off about him, but you speed up, deciding you didn’t want to deal with him.
After a few minutes of speedwalking, trying to get to library as fast as possible, you glance behind you again, hoping you’ve lost him, but no. Peter is still trailing you, gaze intense, and closer than he was when you first noticed, so you look around for a place you can hide to see if he’s actually following you, and spot this large crowd of people in front of a store up ahead. Bingo. You start jogging and quickly blend in with them, slipping into the store and hiding behind a clothing rack as you watched Peter make his way past the store.
You let out a sigh of relief, the tight ball of anxiety easing a bit. You wait a little while longer, ignoring the looks from the employees and other customers as you fidgeted behind the clothes. You whipped your phone out and sent a text to the group chat you had with Ned and Michelle.
Y/N: Hey, where are you guys at? I could use a friendly face right now. Peter followed me for like ten minutes on my way to the library until I was able to sneak into a store without him noticing. I’m feeling pretty weird right now.
You waited for ten minutes with no answer before deciding that it was safe enough to continue on your way. Before walking out of the store, you send a text to the chat.
Y/N: Nevermind guys, I’m probably being ridiculous. You don’t need to come meet up with me. We’ll talk later, ya?
Putting your phone back in your pocket, you get out from behind the clothing rack, that ball of anxiety making a comeback, as you make your way out of the store. Once outside, you look at your surroundings, trying to see if Peter is still around.
After careful examination, you release a breath you didn’t know you were holding when you didn’t see any sign of Peter, and happily started making your way to the library.
--
The second Peter felt his body stop in the alley; he knew he had to find a way to get the thing out of him. And fast. He knew that whatever was going to happen, whatever the monster was planning, it was going to be bad.
--
You only got two blocks before that happy mood was knocked out of you by a hand suddenly covering your mouth and yanking you back into the alley you had just passed.