Posted: 5/20/11.
Dual Identity Chapter 11: Second Revelation
Summary: The Story According to Mary Jane
When I saw the news report of Spidey's fight with that Hobgoblin guy at Oscorp, I knew something bad would happen soon. I could feel it in my gut.
But I didn't expect Spidey to disappear. While there had never been any pictures of him, there were sightings each night ever since his debut. But after Hobgoblin, there was suddenly nothing. There was no sign of him for two nights.
Peter still came to school in the daytime, but he didn't look good. I quickly realized that he wasn't letting himself sleep at night, which explained the lack of Spidey.
That was bad news in SO many ways...
And if I had any doubts, I followed him into the school library. I saw him check out the one book they had on Dissociative Identity Disorder (It was a book so old it was written back when they called it Multiple Personality Disorder. I only recognized it because I checked it out myself earlier). There was no denying it: Peter learned about him and Spidey. And apparently, he didn't like it.
I'm not sure how he found out. The plan was - or at least MY plan was - for me to explain it to him once I had Spidey's permission. I wasn't prepared to deal with him like this. Still, seeing him half-dead with sleep deprivation, I couldn't well do nothing.
Struggling to find a gentle way to break it to him, I eventually walked up and asked, "Does that book have anything to do with Spider-Man...?" Peter just stared at me - wide-eyed with dark bags that made his eyes look even wider - for a solid fifteen seconds, before finally saying - at the very top of his lungs - "YOU KNEW?"
We were kicked out of the library.
Outside, Peter really tore into me, going on about how mad he was and how dare I keep this a secret and I had no right. Quiet, reserved Peter Parker could get angry; who knew? I tried to explain that I promised Spidey I would wait 'till he was ready, but that only made Peter angrier. He didn't like hearing me talk about Spidey like he was a real person.
I can kind of understand how Peter was feeling. I mean, it must be terrifying to find out that your body is doing all this stuff without your awareness when your asleep. It was only natural for Peter to want a "cure," and yet it bugged me that he didn't care about Spidey, who really WAS another person as far as I was concerned. I didn't think it was fair for Spidey to sacrifice his existence just so Peter could have a normal life.
It was strange. Even though Peter was by best friend's boyfriend, I felt closer to Spidey than I did to him. That's probably because I was the only one on Spidey's side.
And Peter realized that I really was on Spidey's side, so he gave up on me and walked away. I couldn't agree with what he wanted. He wanted Spidey to disappear... but deep down he already knew that wasn't likely to happen, with or without my support.
There was a new Spider-Man sighting that night. And I knew it wasn't because Peter accepted Spidey; it was only because he couldn't stay awake any longer.
Author's Notes: I may have mentioned this before, but the "Revelation" in the title refers to when somebody learns the truth about Peter and Spidey. The first time was when Mary Jane found out, and this one was for Peter himself.