Tortured Genius (A Marvel Fanfiction: Reader Insert)

Chapter 14: Oh, the Devil's Gonna Make Me A Free Man

He knows when you're awake.

He knows if you been bad or good-

So be good...

For goodness sakes.

You growled and snapped off the radio. "That's it!" You burst out, pulling over to the side of the road and shutting of the engine. "Freaking Christmas more than a month early!"

Somehow, the radio flickered back on and the words rang through your head.

You better watch out.

You better not cry.

Santa Clause is--

"No." You turned off the car completely and covered your face. "Just no."

Life had been mad and crazy until two weeks ago. You'd been used to it all, more or less. And now it'd all gone away, like the snap of two fingers or a faucet being closed off. There was no explanation and no villain; only absolute emptiness and ignorance. With Christmas inching slowly closer, you could only wonder if it was Converse's idea of a joke or an early gift.

But once again, none of it fit the status quo. Not one of your thoughts actually made sense, in fact. This wasn't in his character. As far as you knew, death in his mind was a swift and quiet wave of doom. Not some childish game.

"(Yooooouuuurrrrr nammmmmeeee)....." Whispered a voice.

Your eyes snapped open abruptly.

Had you fallen asleep? Was the whole ordeal finally getting to you? Narrowing your now open eyes, you reached up and pressed the button above to click on the overhead light. You even checked the backseat to make sure Caster hadn't made any sudden appearances.

"No, no, no, kid."

Kid? "Garett?" You hissed. No, couldn't be. But you really weren't so sure. So many things were unpredictable, honestly. Him showing up would be one of them.

"Listen." The voice said.

They had your full attention. Listen. That dreamy showdown that had taken place bit into the side of your skull like an unpleasant stabbing. Not...not that a stabbing was ever pleasant...but...you digress. "Listen?" You echoed. "I'm listening, you D-bag. But it depends if you can get me to shut my cake-hole, 'cause I don't feel like doing so."

Laughter. "Oh that's cute. You think you're tough."

"I am tough. Don't test me."

"Likewise, kid. Until then, I suggest you take a look around."

Confused by their simple yet threatening and promising statement, you followed their suggestion. Your gaze drifted from watching the air to your surroundings. "Grey..." you muttered, half frustrated half so-done. "Grey? Why is the car suddenly grey? Why is everything grey?"

"In time, kid. You've gone through quite a bit but I'm not finished with you yet. Our last encounter was only a scratch of the surface of what I can do. Figure it out yet? Or are you getting unreliability rusty?"

Well, geez. Time to start going through the list of recent, annoying, villainous encounters, you thought.

"What was that?" Asked the taunting voice. "I couldn't hear your stupidness over the sound of burning city and my sarcasm."

"Shut up," you said. "So maybe I don't know who you are currently. Llama's with Hats, though? Really? You think that's even appropriate?"