The world was a battlefield, literally. The sky, cloaked in inky darkness, was assaulted by fiery blasts and avian attacks. The moon, once a slender white beacon, was now marred in a dark bloody red, while the air was shattered by a plethora of growls, screams, and battle cries. Buildings became abandoned, decorated houses ended up trashed, and the streetlamps were weakly flickering away.
Streets, fields, parks, and roads were plagued in various battles that never seemed to end no matter how well you kept track of them. Unusual beings, from the colourful to the horrifically scary, from the risqué to the nerdy kind, they were too busy either fighting each other or else, ganging up on intruders that stepped foot in their territories.
[Name] had to keep running, she just had to! Besides, what if she got blasted, stabbed, or bitten? Or punched, sliced, or ran over by a motorcycle or truck? As much as her feet hurt and her lungs felt like bursting from exhaustion, Sharp puffs of breaths were exhaled, her forehead was plastered in sweat, and her legs quivered from fear and pain. Her costume rustled in the wind, tickling her heated skin, while her fists trembled as they unfurled into hands. God, she's so tired..
Somewhere far away, a demonic howl shattered the silence, and [Name] had to dart away again, despite her body's protests not to.
How did this even came to be in the first place? The Avengers should've suited up and saved the world by now, right?
...
...
Or did they?
FLASHBACK:
"Hey, [Name]! Are you finished with your costume yet?" The accented voice of Pietro Maximoff called out from the bathroom door. [Name] was too busy attaching the final touches she needed, as well as applying one last stroke of colour on her face somewhere.
"Yeah, I'm just gonna come out!" She replied back as she gave one last glance at the mirror. "Ok, now it's perfect." She thought to herself with a satisfied grin. The female came out the door to find an impatient speedster pacing back and forth.
"Finally! I thought you'd-... wow." Pietro stopped his running to actually take you in. She was wearing what looked like one of those showgirl outfits from Steve's war bond performances, but gave it a lolita twist by extending the skirt a little longer and added a short-sleeved white blouse with puffy sleeves underneath. Her lips were painted in scarlet and a small blue hat was placed on her head. She even did her hair in flouncy curls with a hint of glitter and had a smaller version of the famous shield strapped onto her back.
He was entranced like that for a minute until she poked his forehead. "Hello~? Earth to Speedy?" Once the older Maximoff twin snapped out of it with a small blush on his cheeks, the first words that came out of his lips were,
"Y-You look nice..."
She smirked. "You're not so bad yourself, handsome." Pietro was dressed up as Kick-Ass, which somehow suited him well. "C'mon, Tony's probably waiting for us."
The two quickly made their way to the hotel where Tony was hosting a Halloween party. It should be in the top floor, somewhere... ah, there it was.
As soon as the elevator announced their destination with a soft 'ding', the party was in full swing already. The penthouse was pretty dark, save for the disco ball and the orange and purple lights. Most people were crowding the dance floor, while some either munched on some snacks and candy, or they would just lean against the wall and watched the partygoers. The star-spangled female swore she just saw Tony, who's dressed up in a mad scientist costume, being carried around with a bottle of beer on his hand, acting like the little shit he was.
Pietro already ran off to somewhere, either to relieve himself after the elevator wait, eat some party food, or to find Wanda. Because of that, [Name] was left standing in the middle of the room, trying to figure out what to do.
"Hey! Hey [Name]!"
[Name]'s head shot up to find out who just called her name. As it turned out, it's her friend, Cassy. [Name] was allowed to bring along one other person for the party, so she decided to bring the pink-haired girl since they haven't got the chance to hang out lately. Cassy was dressed up as Korra this year and [Name] had to admit it; she looked totally badass in that costume.
"Cassy?! Oh my god, it's been like, what? Ages?" [Name] laughed as she ran over to hug her friend.
"Yeah, I guess so; I was just so busy lately." Cassy let out an melodramatic sigh just thinking about it. But that was fixed with a smile. "Love your costume, by the way! It's lolita, right?" She tugged at the hem of the red and white-striped skirt.
[Name] nodded as she adjusted her hat. "Uh-huh, and I combined with one of those showgirl outfits from World War II. You know, the ones Captain America used to perform in."
Cassy then pointed over at the dancefloor, jumping up and down excitedly. "Ooh! I love that song! C'mon, let's dance!" She practically pulled the star-spangled girl into the crowd as the next song came into play.
Honestly, [Name] had no idea how long she and Cassy were dancing, but it's so much fun! Beneath the flashy spots of lights and the supernatural disguises that occupied the room, she could see still see of the Avengers every now and then. A shy Steve being urged by Natasha to dance with another girl, Clint scarfing down some food, and Thor watching some of the guests struggle with the hammer. Wanda and Vision were chatting amongst each other, Pietro flirting with some chick, and Bruce watching the scene from the doorway. Hell, she even saw Sam and Rhodey chilling at the nearby bar.
"Rawrhh~!" A little boy in a dinosaur costume pushed his way out of the dancing group and feebly clawed on your leg.
"U-Uh.. can you please stop attacking my leg?" [Name] winced a bit as the felt claws started to feel scratchy on her bare legs. Oddly enough, he looked sickly and mutated...
Eventually, the petite dinosaur replied with a grunt and stalked off somewhere, possibly to look for his mom or dad. [Name] moved away from the throng of people to take a break, maybe get a drink. But just moments before she could even make it into the bar, the atmosphere suddenly changed. The music stopped playing, the lights were still flashing frantically, and the conversations and games came to an alarming halt. The penthouse was still dark, but it felt quiet now. The female peered down as she heard a loud, mournful gurgle from the inconspicuous corner of the room. There was a man in his early thirties dressed up as Dracula, and his face was slightly green beneath the pasty make-up. Was he sick?
..She didn't realize how wrong she was.
The man then knelt down to the floor, twitching, writhing, and shaking in little spasms that became bigger and bigger. All of a sudden, his body lurched into an arch a few times and his costume started to morph into his skin. The cape grew longer and his velvet waistcoat stretched while his chest expanded. Fangs started to protrude from his gums, his skin colour a sickly white, and his wide-open eyes shifted from dark brown to molten gold with a red pupil. [Name] backed away in confusion and horror as the man stopped squirming in pain and narrowed his eyes in hunger and bloodlust, reacting with an inhuman hiss.
"D-D-Did he j-just..-" Too bad she wasn't able to finish that sentence, because other people started to react the similar way, whimpering in agony. At once, they all dropped down and their limbs twisted into odd positions, Even the people who wore regular clothes and not Halloween costumes ended up morphing somehow, their unexpected forms appearing at random.
Bodies... bodies everywhere...
It was too grotesque to even look, as she covered her eyes, but she swore she could see lumps of kneaded flesh, squirts of blood, and sickly green slime flickering in her vision. Cracked bones and torn fabric deafened the air, while pleads of help shifted into dreadful voices. When she did open them again, the female went pale at what she just discovered.
One moment [Name] saw an giant eight-eyed spider, or at the corner of her eye, she would find a Cinderella sharpening her glass slippers into deadly weapons. Gruesome flapper girls, demonic animals, psycho killers, terrifying Darth Vaders and Jedi Knights, malicious copies of the Avengers, and every other costumed counterpart she could name...
Mummies, werewolves, witches, cut-throat fairies, ruthless Sailor Scouts, frightfully devilish devils, deadly grim reapers, lethal ninjas.. you name it!
The Batmans! The Supermans! The Transformers and the Mad Hatters! A sinister Elsa and Anna duo was also there, and so were the Kardashians, the Sesame Street characters, and the wizards from Hogwarts in their ghastly glory. Beer cans and candy boxes have gone mouldy, while the objects were crumbled and ruined all over the place. Hell, even the sexiest, nerdiest, oddest, and the kid-friendly costumes somehow transformed people into frightening, nightmarish versions of themselves!
Insidious growls and intangible phrases filled the air as they all faced the female with bloodthirsty eyes (or lack of it). [Name] gulped nervously as she couldn't help but to stare helplessly at the sight that just transpired.
At one point, a zombie cheerleader cackled out of nowhere, taunting her with the following,
"rUn, BiTcH, gEt OuT tHe WaY! gEt OuT tHe WaY, bItCh, GeT oUt ThE wAyYyYyYhAhAhAhAhA!"
[Name] didn't have to be told twice, and that's what she did...
FLASHBACK ENDS
But the horror didn't stop here. In fact, it's only the beginning...