MARVEL & MULTIVERSE again

"You've been acting weird lately," Ned said, squinting at Peter like he was trying to solve a conspiracy theory.

Peter barely glanced up from his lunch. "What? Nah. Nothing weird about me."

Ned leaned in. "You're not secretly building a Lego Death Star behind my back, right?"

Peter snorted. "Dude, no. And even if I was, you'd be the first to know. We both know I can't do that without your expert guidance."

Ned still didn't look convinced. "Hmm."

Peter forced himself to stay casual, but in reality, his brain was working overtime.

Yeah, sure. Nothing weird about suddenly being able to stick to walls, lift a fridge without breaking a sweat, and somehow knowing when Flash was about to chuck a paper ball at his head before it even left his hand.

Nope. Totally normal.

That damn spider bite was the only explanation he could think of.

"Anyway, looks like Stephen's out again," Ned said, shaking him out of his thoughts.

Peter blinked. "Who?"

Ned gave him a look. "Stephen. You seriously haven't noticed? Dude's been gone for, like, three days."

"Oh. Right. Yeah." Peter nodded like he totally had noticed and just forgot. In reality, he barely registered anyone who wasn't actively throwing things at his head these days.

Ned sighed, clearly unimpressed, before pulling something out of his bag. "Here, I brought this for you."

Peter's eyes lit up. "Is that—?"

"Yup. Tokyo Ghoul, volume two." Ned handed it over like he was bestowing a sacred artifact.

Peter flipped it open, started reading, then stopped halfway through. Without a word, he handed it back.

Ned frowned. "What? You were just getting into it."

Peter shook his head. "Eh. Give it to me later."

Because now that his brain had started connecting the dots, he didn't want to read it. Not when his life was weirdly starting to resemble a protagonist's tragic backstory.

Was he about to go full Kaneki?

Would he wake up one day and realise he could only eat meat?

Would his taste buds change?

Would he grow extra limbs?

Eight legs?

Eight eyes?

Was he about to turn into some Lovecraftian nightmare?!

"PETER."

Peter jumped, snapping back to reality. "Huh.. what?"

Ned stared at him. "Dude… you're sweating."

Peter hesitated, then quickly wiped his forehead. Yep. Sweat. Actual, nervous sweat.

Ned raised an eyebrow. "You good, man?"

Peter forced a grin. "Yeah! Totally. Just, uh… thinking."

Ned didn't even try to hide his scepticism. "Thinking about what? Your secret second life as a crime-fighting ghoul?"

Peter let out the fakest laugh of his life. "Hah! What? No! That'd be ridiculous!"

Ned narrowed his eyes. "Uh-huh."

Peter shoved a fry in his mouth and said nothing.

Then—

Tingling.

Not the usual uh-oh, Flash is about to throw something tingling. Not even the duck now or you'll get hit with a dodgeball tingling.

This was different. Stronger.

And weirdly specific.

His whole body tensed before he even knew why, his head snapping up like a damn bloodhound on a scent. His eyes scanned the cafeteria, searching, locking onto

Nothing.

Just the usual chaos. Kids eating, talking, scrolling through their phones. Nobody out of place.

But the feeling was still there, crawling under his skin like static electricity.

"What the hell was that…" he muttered under his breath.

Ned, mid-sip of his soda, raised a brow. "Dude, you good? You look like you just remembered a really embarrassing text you sent last night."

Peter barely heard him. His heart was pounding, adrenaline kicking in like he'd just jumped off a building.

He felt something. Someone.

Like—

Like he'd just made some kind of connection.

A thread, pulling him toward… what? Who?

He scanned the room again, more carefully this time.

Nothing. No mystery figure. No obvious you've just met your soulmate moment. Just the same old cafeteria, the same old people, the same—

Another jolt of tingling.

Peter clenched his jaw.

Okay. That was definitely new.

Focus, focus, he muttered to himself, squeezing his eyes shut for a second before snapping them open again.

His gaze drifted toward the corner of the cafeteria, where a girl in a green hoodie was staring right back at him.

His spine stiffened.

"Who are you staring at?" Ned's voice cut through his thoughts.

Peter barely turned his head. "That girl. Green hoodie. Who is she?"

"Seriously?" Ned nearly choked on his drink. He sucked in a breath, then leaned in with a hushed whisper. "You? Staring at a girl?"

Peter shot him a look. "Ned."

"Alright, alright." Ned put his hands up in surrender. "That's Cindy Moon. Same year as us. One of the nerds. Ranks in the top ten for grades."

Peter frowned. "I need to meet her"

Ned's eyes widened. "Wait, are you actually thinking about someone other than MJ?"

Peter rolled his eyes. "Not like that, dude. I just need to talk to her."

Ned grinned, nudging him. "Sure, sure. Go for it. I support your character development."

....

Author's pov

Suit / costume ideas