Spider-Man: Home Sick

31 - Take on the World

Peter's P.O.V

I reacted just in time, grabbing MJ's fisted hands in mine and holding them in place, hovering centimetres above my heart, the knife pointing towards it. I had no doubt in my head that, no matter MJ's intentions, if I hadn't stopped the knife then it would be piercing my heart by now, and I would be dead.
"Peter - Peter, I can't stop!" MJ cried, her voice paced with distress, as she struggled against me to press the knife against my chest "It's like someone's controlling my limbs - Peter, run!" MJ tried to pull away but her body wouldn't let her.
"Pippa, Lucas - help, - " I called out to them and they started moving towards me, but hesitantly, like they were just learning to walk.
I tried to run - there was no way I could fight my friends - but before I could blink, they had each grabbed one of my arms and pinned me against the wall.
"Peter - Peter, please run." MJ begged as the knife edged closer towards me.
"I - I can't."
It was like the knife had a mind of its own - it dragged itself and MJ's hands closer to me, and she tried her best to stop it but her hands, her whole body, weren't in her control.
Tidal Wave was being strangely silent and I got a strange urge to check on her. She was still stuck on the floor, now given up with trying to break her hand free, but her face was screwed up in concentration and beads of sweat were making their way down her face, her dark eyes were glaring straight at me.
"What are you doing to her? How - how are you controlling her?" But she didn't respond. She didn't even acknowledge that I'd spoken.
When I turned back to MJ, her face had gone slack and blank, all previous emotion gone. There was no longer any hesitation at all as she pressed against my grip, sending the dagger closer to my heart, digging into my skin.
"MJ - MJ, stop." I pleaded - there was no way I could hold her back for long - but her face remained impassive. I swivelled my head left and right to Pippa and Lucas, who still looked like themselves but their hold on my arms hadn't lessened. If it was just them, I could break free, without hurting them, but all my strength was going into stopping MJ, and I just didn't have the energy or time to escape their iron grip.
"MJ - MJ." I held her hands - but this time out of compassion not as a way to stop her - and looked levelly into her eyes. They were tinged with an unnatural golden glow. "MJ. Just stop. Stop and think about what you're doing. You can resist this." Whatever 'this' is I added in my head "You can resist this." I repeated "You're strong MJ. You don't listen to anyone. So do what you do best; ignore anyone else and follow your own path."
MJ came back to herself, just for a second "I - I'm also very good at making fun of you." And then her golden eyes returned, stronger than ever before. "I can't fail again, I can't fail again, I can't fail again." This only solidified my suspicion that Tidal Wave was controlling MJ somehow.
"MJ." I stifled a sob. I couldn't fight her. I just couldn't.
Out of nowhere, a pair of hands grabbed MJ, holding her arms behind her back and pulling her away from me.
Zephyr was standing there, his face sickly pale but he was standing, and managing to hold MJ back. Anya edged forwards behind him and gently eased the knife out of MJ's hands.
Tidal Wave groaned in frustration and concentrated on Z, but nothing happened. "That - that's never happened before. Why can't I control you?"
Zephyr hesitated "I - I don't know." But he wasn't really convincing anyone. He was holding something back.
I pulled myself free from Pippa and Lucas and went towards MJ.
Myra had pulled out a penknife from somewhere and was sawing away at the web (probably should have tied both her hands down). "This wasn't the plan." She muttered repeatedly, more to herself than to us.
I stepped forwards - whether to help her, or stop her, or ask her about the plan, I don't know - but then I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Lucas. I turned to face him when he punched me in the face. I reeled backwards, but managed to stay on my feet, only to have Pippa clasp the back of my head and smash it against the wall. I heard my head crack and felt the trickle of blood down the side of me head. I grabbed her wrist, yanked it away from my head (pulling some of my hair with it) and flipped her over my shoulder and onto her back on the floor. Lucas swung at me. I stopped his fist midair, twisting his arm around behind his back, but he kicked backwards into my stomach forcing me to let go. I raised my fists in a defensive position, but when I looked at his face, I just couldn't do it. I couldn't fight him - he was my friend. He had always been there for me, and he didn't even know what he was doing right now; Tidal Wave was controlling him, however she did it.
Lucas had no such qualms. He punched me in the stomach, the chest, the jaw, the nose. There was an explosion of blood where my nose was but I didn't even have time to think about that before Lucas elbowed my face, and kneed me in the kidneys. I got my senses together enough to grapple the shoulders of Lucas' shirt, pull him off his feet, and slam him down to the floor. By now, Pippa had got back up and snuck up behind me but I sensed her before she tried to attack me from behind, and grabbed her wrist as it was flying through the air towards me. I wrapped a strand of my web around her wrist, tying it to her other wrist behind her back, then tied them to Lucas' wrists, and wrapped their torsos together for good measure, all in one fluid motion. They struggled and pulled at their bindings, but it held fast.
Anya crept closer to them, and kneeled by Pippa, reaching out to hold her hand.
I tried to warn her not to - the possessed state Pippa was in right now mixed with her usual violence could lead to Anya losing a hand - but the warning died in my mouth. Pippa calmed down, her fingers moving deliberately (as opposed to possessedly) to wrap around Anya's hand.
Tidal Wave looked like she was about to pass out, the effort of doing whatever it took to control 3 people taking its toll on her.
"Peter!" Zephyr warned.
MJ came hurtling towards me, pummeling me with her fists but hesitantly, her eyes still golden. I grabbed both of her wrists and held them in place, stopping her in her tracks. She struggled and tried to twist away but it was no use.
"MJ - MJ look at me."
As if her body wasn't allowing her to do it, her head slowly turned to look at me, her eyes locking onto mine.
"MJ, this is not you. Just focus. Just think. You can fight this. Think about - think about what makes you you. Think about - about when you found out I was Spider-Man, or Nick Fury was your dad. Remember your life, come back to yourself. Come back to me. Please."
I wasn't sure it was working, but the golden glow in her eyes faded, just for a second.
"Remember - do you remember that day when we were meant to be doing homework, but you were reading and I kept trying to talk to you, so eventually you threw the book at me, and then got mad at me because you had lost your place?" I grinned fondly at the memory.
A small smile appeared on MJ's face.
"Or the day when I just broke down in school, and you didn't know what it was about - because I couldn't tell you about Tony without also telling you I was Spider-Man - but you sat with me, and you didn't make fun of me for once, and you helped me feel better, and - "
I was cut off when MJ kissed me "Or that day when you told me you hadn't watched The Hunger Games movies, so then we stayed up all night binging them and fell asleep on your sofa, and then Aunt May walked in on us and stole all your popcorn." She whispered quietly to me, chuckling at the memory.
"Tony!" Lucas interrupted, nodding in the direction of Tidal Wave.
She was free now, with a sour expression on her face. "We planned for everything. How did you screw up the plan so badly?"
"Well, you..." I looked at Zephyr, who was still wearing my Spider-Man suit, a knife sticking out of his side, then at Anya who was cutting Pippa and Lucas free, then at MJ who had reached out to hold my hand again "You didn't plan for my friends. Because as long as we're together, you will never be able to beat us. We will try the last and never give up." With them by my side, I felt brave, strong, invincible even. Together, we could do anything. I could take on the entire world if I had them with me.
"This is merely a temporary setback. We'll be back. You may have won this battle, but you'll never win the war." Smoke began to coalesce around Tidal Wave, thickening until it obscured her from sight, and when it dissipated, she was gone.
I knew I should go after her, wherever she'd gone to, but that was a problem for another day. Right now I was so exhausted I could barely stand.
Zephyr collapsed to the ground (in an exaggeratedly exhausted way, not in a literal way), and we all followed his example.
I knew many adventures waited for us in out future, where we'd have to face Lauren and Beast and Tidal Wave again, but for now I was content to just lie there side-by-side with my friends, and just breathe. We were beat up, bleeding, probably had a dozen broken bones, but we were alive.
We stayed like that for maybe 5 minutes until Zephyr sat up impatiently and asked "Anyone want to go out for pizza?"