{Hey! Yeah, you behind the screen. I see you reading. Don't just sit there, Go Check out my new fanfiction, "As Daredevil in TV shows" Or don't. But if you don't, I'm telling the TVA you're a variant... Ehehe}
You can read early chapters on my [P].[A].[T].[R].[E].[O].[N].
Link: [email protected]/Arson09
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Fatima, the one for whom the party had been organized to celebrate the anniversary of the day she found herself in Fromville, could be seen walking up to the first floor of the Colony House.
She looked around and noticed an unusual sight: Trudy, the extroverted girl, was sitting silently in the corner on the sofa.
If given the choice, Fatima would most probably choose not to start a conversation with the girl. As Trudy was used to taking other people's stuff without their permission, just the other day, the girl had excessively used Fatima's limited supply of perfume.
Fatima and Trudy had gotten into an altercation due to it, but deep down, Fatima knew Trudy was just a girl looking for a sense of normalcy in this hellhole they found themselves in.
When Fatima saw her sitting all by herself, so unlike her usual self, she quietly approached.
"You know, you should really work on your party face," Fatima remarked as she drew closer. "What are you doing sitting here all by yourself?"
Trudy looked up at her, then looked back down. "You don't have to... I know you don't like me," she answered.
"That's not true," Fatima replied, tilting her head and leaning in.
"I just... It's such a nice party," Trudy tried changing the topic.
"You'll get one too," Fatima reassured her.
"No, I don't think I will," Trudy answered. There was a certainty in her voice that made Fatima feel incredibly uncomfortable.
Just a few days ago, Eric had taken his own life.
"Take off your shirt," Fatima ordered.
"What?" Trudy stammered out.
"I am not gonna lie... You drive me crazy sometimes," Fatima spoke as she removed her own yellow outer shirt. "But we are in this together."
The shirt itself was one of Fatima's favorites. But if exchanging it with Trudy could cheer her up and pull her back from those dangerous thoughts, then it was worth it.
Fatima and Trudy exchanged their outerwear.
"You are not alone. Think of this as an early gift for your anniversary," Fatima said as Trudy slipped on the wool shirt. "You know what? As much as I hate to admit it... It looks a lot better on you."
That made Trudy laugh. "That's wildly untrue," she countered. "But thank you."
Trudy seemed to think for a minute, then she turned to look Fatima in the eye. "I am gonna find something to give you too," she declared as she stood up and made a beeline to her room, which was located right next to the bathroom.
She had decided what she would give Fatima: her favorite pillow. It was only fair. "You are gonna have a new home. I am gonna give you to Fatima. She is gonna take such good care of you," she mentally talked to her pillow.
For people of the outside world, amenities like a pillow or a shirt might not mean as much, but they are important to people of Fromville, where luxury items are in very short supply.
Trudy made for her room, but she saw her door was open. It wasn't that unusual; after all, everyone shared everything in Colony House. What was unusual, though, was the laughter coming from her room.
Trudy looked through the open door and saw the figure of a woman, her back turned to the door, Laughing vigrously. Her face wasn't visible, so she couldn't tell who she was.
"What are you laughing at?" Trudy asked as she made her way inside.
But instead of an answer, the door was slammed shut from behind her. She turned almost reflexively, and there she saw him: the Smiley Monster she had seen so many times from outside her window. Every day at midnight, he would wave at her at night, almost like a ritual. Now he was standing in her living room.
Trudy started hyperventilating as she turned. There was another, more muscular, but with that same smile… and the woman, of course.
The three monsters closed in on her, blocking her way to the exit.
"Hello, Trudy," the woman greeted, maintaining her smile.
"How do… how do you know my name?" Trudy asked shakingly.
"We know all your names," Jasmine replied.
Then the monster on the right gently removed the hair from her front and caressed her face. The smiley on the right was focused on her shoulder, and the woman came in from the front for her lips.
For a moment they were all gentle, until they were not.
"Ahhhh! Arghhh!" Trudy managed to bring out as her blood sprayed across her room and the monsters slowly skinned her alive.
Dale, another resident of the Colony House, could be seen sitting on the steps of the staircase.
"I could really help this place, you know. I have been here longer than most. I deserve some goddamn respect," Dale demanded, clearly inebriated by the potato alcohol.
Just then, a drop of blood landed on his left hand. "What the… is that blood?" he asked. Then another drop followed. "Jesus." He looked up.
And looking down at him was the Smiley Monster, His smile bloody from a fresh prey.
"Ah!" "Ahhhhh!" High-pitched screams of men and women alike followed.
"They are in the house! They are inside!" Dale shouted.
Back at the sheriff station:
"Cursed Energy? Cursed spirits? We can't see them without these glasses?" Boyd asked, picking up the glasses after listening to Stark's summary on the topic. "You're believing all this?" he asked Khatri, who was unusually silent.
"I mean… it does make a lot of sense," Khatri answered.
"What about these monsters outside? We can see them without any special glasses. By your own definition, they are not cursed spirits. What are they, then?" Boyd asked, turning to Stark.
"This is just a guess… but I think they are something similar to a Cursed Corpse," Stark answered, seeing the doubts on Boyd and Khatri's faces. "A Cursed Corpse is a non-living object, like a doll or mannequin, that has been infused with cursed energy and a core. I need to cut one open to know for sure, but it is possible for a Cursed Corpse to maintain a level of Sentience."
"How do you know all of this?" Father Khatri asked, looking at the newest member of Fromville.
"I am Tony Stark," Tony simply shrugged.
"Haha… makes sense," Khatri answered, a genuine smile breaking across his face. "Boyd, don't you see? We have found answers… crucial answers of what this place really is. There is a reason why you were brought here, Mr. Stark. I believe that… with everything that I am," Khatri declared, looking at Tony. Then he turned towards Boyd.
"There is something else I need to tell you, Boyd. But this, this is why I was told to get back in the car," Khatri added. "So we… can find a way to bring these people home."
"You are a fucking madman, you know that, right?" Boyd answered, a genuine smile breaking through his face. For the first time, they knew what they were fighting against… and there was a semblance of hope.
"The Bible is full of them," Khatri jested back.
Boyd then turned towards Stark, who could be seen scribbling something in his suit's computer system, which still ran through the arc reactor.
He wanted to ask for more explanation, but the sound of a horn blazing broke through the silence of the night.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beeeeeep!
Boyd didn't waste a single moment; he made for the front door and walked out near the drive-through, Father Khatri and Stark following closely behind him.
"What the fuck?" Boyd muttered as he approached the incoming van.
"I thought… people were not supposed to be outside after dark," Stark muttered as he eyed his surroundings.
"They are not… something must have happened," Khatri replied hurriedly.
"What happened?" Boyd asked as Donna, the leader of Colony House, exited the driver's seat. "What happened?" he repeated.
"They got in… they got in," Donna responded as she moved to open the back door of the van.
"Where is Ellis?" Boyd asked about his son, as he unknowlingly pushed Donna against the hood of the car.
He couldn't lose Ellis. Not after what he had done. Not after all the sacrifices. Not after shooting his wife… his Abby.
"I don't know… I don't know," Donna answered frantically. "I'm sorry."
"Everybody inside! Everybody get inside!" Stark opened the back door of the van, and the occupants rushed inside the sheriff station.
Seeing Tony, residents of Colony House started to murmur as they got inside.
"Is that Tony Stark?"
"It is, isn't it?"
"That's his car."
"Go, let's go, inside," Boyd broke through his panic as he, Tony, and the last of the residents made their way inside. "Hurry, hurry, hurry… inside."
Father Khatri followed closely behind.
"You guys okay over there?" a voice called out from a distance.
Khatri looked to his left. There, a herd of monsters could be seen approaching, and as usual, they were walking, not running.
"Father…" a voice called from just behind Khatri.
'Another passenger?' Khatri thought as he turned around.
Slash!
It wasn't a passenger… it was that same woman with a black bandana that was with the cowboy monster.
Deep cuts appeared on Father Khatri's face and neck, and he began to fall.
"No… no, come here!" Boyd came in just in time to break that fall. He aimed his pistol at the creature and…
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Boyd fired multiple shots at the creature, just to slow down the already walking monster.
He carried Khatri into the sheriff station's main room.
"Keep him elevated," Donna said, closing the door behind them.
"Get me something to stop the bleeding!" Boyd ordered, looking around. "Stark!" Boyd shouted. "Get me something!"
Tony immediately removed his outer Shirt and kneeled beside Boyd and a dying Khatri.
"This shouldn't have happened," Tony muttered, almost to himself. "What is this? You said everyone would be safe." Tony looked towards Boyd with guilt on his face.
"What?!" Boyd struck out, his hands bloody from Khatri's blood.
"No… please, no," Khatri gurgled out, choking on his blood.
"You are okay… you are okay," Boyd reassured the dying man. Stark moved back up as Boyd took his shirt and he moved towards the wooden box in the sheriff station.
"It doesn't end like this…" Khatri muttered out. "My path…"
"Stay with me… stay with me," Boyd said as he glanced up. There, he saw Tony holding a knife? No… a glowing knife.
"I should have done this as soon as I got here," Tony spoke, looking at Boyd. "Don't worry, your friend is going to be alright," he said as he threw the knife on the bloodied floor.
Thud!
The kunai's glow diminished as it struck the floor… Everyone in the room looked at the knife. After a few seconds passed, they looked back at Tony, who himself seemed confused.
"Why isn't he coming?" Tony muttered out loud.
"Was something supposed to happen… when you threw that knife?" a voice asked from the back of the room where light didn't properly reach.
And from the darkness stepped the Cowboy Monster. He had snuck in through the back door during the chaos and waited until everyone felt safe because of the closed door.
"It's one of them!" Donna shouted, and the room collapsed into chaos. The residents made to run outside from the front door, but the woman monster with the black bandana that had sliced Khatri's neck could be seen smiling through the glass window just outside.
A few reckless ones made a break through the back door. But they didn't go very far; the Granny Monster was waiting for them.
"We are surrounded," Boyd spoke as more than a dozen of the monsters surrounded the sheriff station, besieging it.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk… poor Khatri," Cowboy spoke, making his way towards the dying man. He used his foot to turn Khatri's face so he was looking at him as he died.
"I liked him. He always believed he was sent here by his Lord to guide you all out of here. I guess not, right?" Cowboy mocked, as he maintained his ever-present smug smile.
"Peekaboo," Tony spoke, causing the monster to look in his direction.
While the Cowboy was distracted with Khatri, Stark had slid on a gauntlet.
He already had it pointed in his direction. The gauntlet glowed with white light, and the next moment, it blasted the Cowboy against the opposite wall of the room with a heavy thud.
Tony slammed the silver briefcase onto the asphalt, his fingers already punching the release mechanism.
With a thrum, the box exploded outward. The casing rose, wrapping around his chest and shoulders; the abs and abdominal plates dropped into position with a satisfying thud.
He stepped into the leg housings, the complex sub-assemblies wrapping tightly around his calves and thighs.
The central piece sealed itself shut as the triangular arc reactor flared to life, casting a blue hue in the darkened room.
And finally, the Iron Man faceplate folded over Tony's face.
Stark didn't waste time. Firing his repulsor, he quickly reached the Cowboy, who was still standing after that previous blast.
Tony gripped the monster's face in his hands, sandwiching it between his hand repulsors.
"What? Not smiling anymore?" Tony mockingly asked. The ever-present smile on the Cowboy waned as he felt the heat from the repulsor charge up.
BANG!
And the monster's face exploded in gore and it's body went limp.
"He killed him," Donna muttered; however, Tony's focus was elsewhere.
"Do you have any doctor here, in the town?" he kneeled beside Khatri as he asked Boyd.
"He has lost too much blood," Donna examined with a sob.
"No..No, Pray with me… pray with me," Khatri muttered as he held the Iron Man's gauntlet.
"Okay, okay," Stark answered as his faceplate slid open.
"Our Father, who art in heaven," Khatri gurgled out. Stark and Boyd followed.
"Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Father Khatri, using his other hand, gripped the back of Tony's neck, grasping for his life.
"Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Amen," Stark said the prayer as Father Khatri's grip loosened from his neck, and He died.
Tony stood up and looked back at the front door. From the windows, monsters could be seen still standing around the sheriff station.
"Open that door," Tony said, referring to the front door where the woman monster could still be seen, his voice coming from the internal speaker of his suit as his faceplate slid back on.
And from the smile on the monsters' faces, they had not realized what kind of danger they were in yet.
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A/N: So how was the chapter?
THE First chapter of NEW FANFIC IS OUT, " As Daredevil in TV shows ", Check it out.
As for this Story, I have a storyline in place till Averagers: Age of Ultron, Everything that happening in this and next Arc is important, as it will work as basis for whats to come; Keep reading to find out 😁
(P.S. Ethan not arriving immediately has a reason behind it; Keep reading to find out )