HALLOWEEN WEEK
TW❗️❗️ ABUSE.
HOWARD STARK MAKES AN ENTRANCE
Also ✨it's Tony angst time✨
*3RD POV*
A shrill alarm rang through the tower, startling the avengers.
"FRI, what's going on?" Tony shouted, bringing up a hologram and pressing a few things to stop the deafening noise. Once it quieted, he hissed and rubbed his temples. "Christ, that's loud. Since when was that installed?"
"Director Fury installed it recently sir. He wanted to make sure you all would answer his alerts." "Yeah- ok, we're getting rid of that." He dragged his finger along the hologram, bringing the audio to a trash bin. "How did he do that anyway? Who even let him do that?" "He has his ways sir."
"What'd he need?" Steve asked, unplugging his fingers from his ears.
"Fury has a mission in Queens. I have sent the location."
Peter whined, "But It's a holiday!" "Kid, it's not a holiday." "Yeah it is, it's Halloween week." "Pete that's not a thing." "Totally is."
"Whatever- what's going on there? The location says it's at a... warehouse? FRI that thing's been abandoned since I was like 20." "It's a supernatural being that does not belong here. Shield was going to take care of it themselves but it hid in there and they don't feel like trying anymore." Tony huffed and rolled his eyes, "Yeah that seems to happen a lot- so we've been downgraded to the ghostbusters now? No, no, I got it. The kids from Scooby doo-" "You guys are way too old for that, you'd like- have a heart attack or something if that was your job-"
Tony pointed a finger at him teasingly, "Watch it kid."
"Fury urges you to 'hurry the bleep up.'" "Did you actually just say 'bleep'?" "You installed the 'Don't anger the Captain' protocol when Mr. Parker started to stay over more." "I- oh yeah I did do that."
Steve glared at the man. Tony shrugged and threw him a grin.
"Ok, let's go before Fury has our asses," Clint muttered, throwing his crossbow over his shoulder and walking sluggishly towards the elevator. "God, I always say I'm going to retire but I always end up back here with you assholes fighting something weird."
Sam groaned,
"Why couldn't we just have a movie night or something relaxing.."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Woah."
"Well this isn't sketchy at all," Natasha muttered, putting her hands on her hips.
"What do you think is in there?"
"You scared bird brain?" Sam narrowed his eyes at Bucky," In your dreams Robocop."
A bright green light flashed through the crack of the metal doors.
Tony clenched onto the handle and yanked it open with a grunt, revealing chaos. It looked like a circus but... creepier? Green fog flowed up to their thighs and a shitty speaker in the background played cliché circus music and clowns laughing maniacally.
"Oh shit, this is... weird." "Looks like a crappy fun-house," Tony said. "Sounds like they got the speaker from the dollar store. Wait isn't this thing supernatural? What's it doing with a speaker-"
Peter nodded, "Yeah, like those houses in your neighborhood that go full out for Halloween. Like with the- the big lights and blow ups and just overall crazy amount of decorations." "Totally," Sam said.
Peter gasped, "Mr. Stark we should do that with the compound next year!"
"Pete you live in an apartment how do you know about those houses." "I usually go to Ned's neighborhood for Halloween. His neighbors love us so they give us the good candy-"
A loud screech then pierced through the air.
"Duck," Steve hissed. The rest of the avengers followed, crouched in the thick, green fog.
Clint scowled. "This stuff stinks."
"Better than being torn apart by whatever's out there."
"The hell was that?" Tony said, his arm held protectively in front of Peter. Natasha, who was kneeled next to the duo sighed.
"Fury just sent in some info." "You don't sound too happy." "Well... this thing apparently feeds off your fears. It reads them, and the more you believe it, the stronger it gets." "Well fuck." "What if you just... don't think about it?" "Your fear is still there though. Think about what happened with Wanda: you weren't thinking about your fears then. She just lured them out into a hallucination. This is... kind of like that."
"What do you mean kind of..?" "It projects your fear onto the real world," she winced. "Why do we always have to deal with something like this that scientifically, shouldn't exist?" "Our lives are just crazy man."
Tony looked up to Peter, eyes widening slightly as he watched a relatively big spider crawl up his arm.
Welp, here we go.
For a moment, he was oblivious but the second Peter's eyes made contact with the arachnid, he immediately screeched a string of curses and slapped it away.
"No, kid-"
The boy scrambled up to his feet and waved his hands around obnoxiously, patting around for any sign of any other spider. "Gross!" He spat.
The avengers stared up at him in silent shock and fear of what could happen next with this thing just across the room.
"Oh... shit." A rawr and loud, booming steps ran towards where they hid.
Tony was the first to jump into action, the first to meet the eyes of the being. It stopped in front of him and Peter, who stared up at it slack jawed. Tony glared at it, his arm pushing Peter behind him and the other extended out, ready to blast.
The next high pitched screech it made had the avengers tumbling away in opposite directions from the wind it created.
Tony, after being thrown back, was met with white hot pain as his head slammed against the concrete. Yep, 100% a concussion. God, he always forgot how much those things hurt.
He groaned, lifting himself up slowly. The movement made him dizzy. He could totally go for a nap right now.
"Pete? You ok kid?" He then noticed how everything around him went pitch black. No lights, no music, not even the cold, ominous fog that had hovered over the floor just seconds ago. The creepiness of it and the chill around him sent a spark of anxiety up his spine.
"Guys? Anyone there..?" His heartbeat sped up when he looked up and saw bright, blinding eyes staring back at him.
A low grumble echoed around him and a silhouette formed just a few feet in front of him.
For a moment, he thought it was one of his teammates and he was about to shout at them to get out of the way but then, it spoke.
"Anthony."
Wait... was that..?
"...Dad?"
The man stepped into the light that the monster's eyes created, his posture stiff and his hands behind his back. Howard Stark stared at him coldly.
Maria Stark stood next to him, clutching his arm and looking at Tony with a face of fear, as if he were a wild animal that could jump at her any second. He'd never seen that expression on her when she was alive, and god, he was thankful for that. Her wide eyes made his insides twist with guilt.
Why did he feel guilty?
"What are you.. you're supposed to be..."
"Dead? Yeah, I know," he had a amused grin plastered on his face. "Huh...maybe it's a Stark thing." He started circling Tony, the two never breaking eye contact. Each step was slow and taunting. Tap. Tap. Tap.
Tony didn't let his eyes leave Howard's. He still couldn't see clearly and his head pounded painfully at each footstep. The monster's eye-lights were fucking blinding. Is this how Peter felt in his sensory overloads? He'd have to help the kid out with that, maybe make him some special sunglasses. How had he managed to deal with this all the time?
"You're supposedly dead, and yet you're the only one who comes out without so much as a scratch. Sound familiar?"
Tony's throat went dry but he kept his posture and cold stare. Huh, he must've got that one from dad too.
"Quite frankly, it's selfish."
Stark stared at his father with a look of resentment. He tried not to listen but how could he ignore something he already told himself?
"I'm not..." Hating that he couldn't find words to finish his sentence, the man lost the strength to fake confidence and looked to the ground. Fuck, he hadn't felt like this since he was a kid. He hated this feeling.
"Can't talk now? Pathetic," he spat. "I thought I raised you better." He got close to Tony's face.
"I taught you for years to do simple things: look at me when I'm speaking. To talk with confidence. To never let anyone see you vulnerable. And here you are, letting everyone around you down."
"He has got a point Tony." Tony's heart leapt in his throat at the familiar voice, the soft tone that he only remembered as comforting, now turned to a taunting one.
"Jarvis..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peter was never really a runner. When he had a problem, he'd usually take it hands on. There was always something scientific he could do, and he was good at science.
But right now, with his fears right in front of him, taunting him, he literally ran.
With every bit of strength he had in him, he ran.
"Stop running Peter," Ben bellowed. It was like a nightmare, no matter how fast he ran, he didn't move. He was still in the same spot and Ben was slowly walking but he got closer and closer by the second.
"God Peter, it's disappointing... I raised you. I took you into my home and this is how you turn out?"
Peter turned around to face him but scrambled backwards with a yelp, seeing Ben now in his face. His face was dark, he couldn't see his eyes, his mouth, his expression because oh god, he was forgetting how he looked. He couldn't remember his own Uncle-
"Look how much your aunt has done for you. Now she's worked half to death and has to stay up hours on end just to make sure you aren't dead in some alleyway. Then even after that, she has to patch you up! Look what you did to her! Look what you did to me-"
He staggered too the side and panted, lifting up his arm to show the gory wound on his stomach.
"You did this to me, you-"
'You did everything right kid. It isn't your fault.'
Mr. Stark gently shook Peter's shoulders to emphasize his point. His eyes had a soft expression in them as they stared down at him.
Mr. Stark didn't think it was his fault. He's been telling Peter for months he's been doing good. He's finally been doing good.
"I didn't!"
The void went silent. The man he used to know stared at him, looking like he didn't know what to say, like he didn't see this coming.
'Repeat after me kiddie. This isn't my fault.'
'T-this isn't.. my fault..' 'Uh huh. You're saying it 'till you believe it,' he winked, a small smile on his lips. He gestured for the boy to repeat. 'I promise I'm not just saying this for fun Pete. Say it again.'
'I-It's not...'
"It's... it's not my fault."
"...You don't really believe that, do you?" "N-no.. but I'm trying to. Mr. Stark helps..." Peter hugged his midsection, looking to the ground.
"Hm." The man nodded and the scene around him slowly faded away and the black void disappeared, returning to what he had first walked into. In his state of surprise, he stumbled backward and darted his eyes around. The avengers were gone- where is everyone?! He's alone, he's-
He inhaled sharply at what was playing out in front of him.
"Mr. Stark."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You let in all these people, let your guard down. Really Tony, when has that ever worked out for you? You let your guard down, and either you, or the people you care about get hurt... how many times does it have to happen for you to learn that that's just the way you are?"
Trying to make himself breath- c'mon Stark, focus on something else, anything. In, and out, in, and out- he caught silhouettes behind Howard, Maria and Jarvis.
Steve was in the corner, staring at Tony judgingly. His posture was stiff and his arms were crossed and his outfit was no longer what Steve's is now. It's bright blue again and his new brown, leather gloves have reverted back to the red ones that he wore all those years ago.
Pepper (when did Pepper get here?? She should be home safe and out of danger and oh god she could get hurt again and it'll be your fault-) stood on the other side of Jarvis, looking disgusted, disturbed at the sight in front of her.
"Pep." He took a few steps forward and gently took her hand in his shaking one. He wanted her to stop looking at him like that and hug him, at least hold his hand. "Pepper please."
She ripped her hand away like he had burned her and gave him another disgusted look.
"Everyone will leave you eventually Stark," Howard said, a sickening smile on his face. "They'll either leave or die. You knew that from the beginning but you opened up to people anyway. How long did you really think they'd stick around? The problem is yo-"
"Shut up!"
Tony looked up to the voice. It was Peter, who had launched himself towards the creature.
He webbed it's head and swung around and under it, making it stumble. It screeched and struggled when Peter swung around it's legs.
It fell over but didn't reel back it's projections.
"Stop!" Howard shouted, glitching slightly. "There's no use trying to get rid of me. Besides, I'm only repeating what you tell yourself, right?"
"Mr. Stark! You have to tell him he's wrong! It'll stop- woah!" The creature slapped him away like a fly. It was enough to finally snap Tony back to reality. "Hey!" He blasted it, though stumbled back when he barely received a reaction.
Pepper and Steve began to fade, never loosing that look on their faces. He knows this stuff isn't real, he knows it. But something about watching them leave was terrifying him. "Wait-"
"Mr. Stark it's not them! They aren't leaving you! They'd never!"
"They would!" Howard stood in front of him again.
The way the anger on his face was so- so exact to when Howard was alive was making Tony wonder if this was real. It wouldn't be out of character for him to act like this, to put him down. (Though this was worse than it used to be) Maybe he faked his death, maybe-
Peter launched himself through Howard's projection, waving his hands around. It caused his form to glitch out. "See? It's not real! He's lying to you!"
"You know what's true Tony," he grinned. "Choose."
Tony looked between the two. He didn't know what was more terrifying, Howard's crazed expression, or Peter fighting a monster that was growing by the second.
Wait, he was causing it to grow. He was feeding into it, and he was just standing there paralyzed.
"You know me Mr. Stark, I would never leave. You know Pep and you know the avengers."
"Choose Tony. You believe us, don't you?"
Tony took a calming breath, finally fighting off the panic that had been creeping up his chest.
"No." Howard's shoulders dropped and an expression of horror showed on his face.
"I don't."
"A lie!" "I mean.. maybe," Tony said, smirking and running a tired hand through his hair. Pull it together Stark.
Both Peter and the creature stared at him, their jaws slack. "But Pepper and I's marriage certificate? I burnt it last time Dum-E put some weird shit in my coffee. I was totally out of it but you know, there's no returning me without the receipt." He shrugged, a smile pulling at his lips as he listen to Peter's loud laugh coming from across the room.
The projections dissipated almost immediately and the creature screeched as it shrunk down to the size of a squirrel.
"Aww! Mr. Stark, can we keep it?" Peter webbed it up and shoved it into a box that had been lying around. "Kid, I can barely stand right now. We're going home, getting this concussion taken care of, and watching a Christmas movie."
"Christmas movie? But Halloween's in a week- Wait- concussion?!" Peter was quick to throw Tony's arm around his shoulder to give him some support.
"Yes, Christmas movie. Halloween can fuck off."
The two walked out of the warehouse, only to be bombarded by the avengers.
"Peter! Tony!" They all threw themselves at the duo, resulting in them all on the ground.
"We got locked out somehow! We've been trying to get in for over 20 minutes. Are you guys ok?"
"I'm concussed. Let's go home." "What?" "Tony wants to watch a Christmas movie." "What??"
Did they talk about what happened in that warehouse again? No.
Did they end up watching The Nightmare before Christmas though? Yes.
Of course, it came along with an argument on whether it was a Christmas movie or a Halloween movie ("Dude, it came out on October 13th! It's a Halloween movie." "Peter, the entire movie is literally revolving around Christmas." "I mean it could be both-" "Shut up Steve!")
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Words- 2945
fjgfkjgkdj Welp y'all just experienced my brain not being able decide whether I wanted to write crack or angst