A/N: Welcome to another crossover set in my Punisher/The Boys universe! This time, I'm doing a retelling of the events of Resident Evil Village, but in the context of my series that started with Vengeance And Punishment. Given that the game takes place in February 2021, this is a prequel to my first story. No characters from any of the previous fics are going to appear, it's more or less a straightforward narrative focusing on how Thanos' snap has affected the main characters' lives.

Oh, and special thanks to author HellRaptor for inspiring me to write this with his own Resident Evil fanfics. Definitely check his work out, especially Peace Through Superior Firepower. That's the story that really influenced me to write this.

Anyway, that's all for this author's note. Enjoy, everyone!

Music: "Ripples In The Calm" from Resident Evil Village OST

As the black shroud of night overtook Castle Dimitrescu, a young woman, having pale skin and wearing a black hood over her blonde hair, seemingly glided down the halls, passing through corridors until she reached a rather large window at the end. Her eyes, burning a bright golden color, stared out through the glass, seeing a peaceful village in the distance. Oh, how she would love to venture forth in the world, to see things outside of the castle-

No. The young woman slightly shook her head, as she placed her black gloved hand against the window to feel the cool glass. The temperature didn't bother her in here, but it absolutely would out there. Still, just once, she wished she could go outside, the cold be damned, and go on some sort of adventure. After all, it had been three years since her sisters had crumbled to dust right in front of her and her mother's eyes. Three long, silent, lonely years-

"Bela!"

The young woman, Bela, inwardly sighed, before looking over her shoulder and speaking.

"Coming, Mother!"

Bela took one last hopeful look outside, before her body transformed into a swarm of flies and fled down the hall.

Chris Redfield tightened his black trench coat around his body, taking a long drag of his cigarette while looking at the individuals before him wearing tactical military gear. Their faces were covered in helmets outfitted with optics, but he didn't need to see their faces to know who they were. Rolando Elba and Emily Berkhoff. Also known as Umber Eyes and Tundra. The only other two surviving members of Hound Wolf Squad, after that mad god alien named Thanos snapped half of the Earth's entire population away. Despite it being three years, Chris looked down at the snow covered ground, still remembering the names of those close to him that vanished. Dion Wilson, aka Canine. Charlie Graham, aka Night Howl. John Perlman, aka Lobo. Even his sister Claire, and her partner Leon Kennedy, had been turned to dust that fateful day. It just didn't seem fair, how he got to live, but they all died.

"Captain?"

Chris looked up, seeing Tundra addressing him.

"We're ready."

Redfield nodded, as the three of them approached two black APC vehicles. Tundra and Umber Eyes would take one, while Chris would drive solo in the other.

"Where's the rest?" Chris suddenly asked.

"They'll meet us there." Umber Eyes answered for him.

"Good." Chris murmured, as Tundra entered the driver's side and took the wheel.

"Let's move out."

"Gifts we gave, but more you took' she snarled. 'So more in turn is due.' In a blink, the girl was trapped inside a mirror."

Ethan Winters looked up from his seat on the couch, gazing at his loving wife Mia. In her hands was a small black covered book, titled The Village Of Shadows. Resting on her lap was a baby with blonde hair, contrasting Mia's brunette locks. Ethan groaned, realizing that she was reading that horrifying tale to their daughter Rosemary- again.

"What is with that creepy book?" Ethan asked in alarm. "She's only six months old."

"It's a traditional tale." Mia said softly, handing her husband the book. "The woman at the store told me it was a local story. Besides, Rose doesn't seem to mind. She's already asleep."

Ethan scoffed at the notion, thinking back to his own childhood. According to his parents, he would always sneak downstairs and watch horror movies with them. He didn't remember it, but his father insisted it happened. Of course Rose wouldn't mind it.

"That's because she doesn't understand the meaning, thank God." Winters muttered. "We moved here so she wouldn't have to deal with that, remember-"

"There's nothing wrong with my memory!" Mia snapped, gazing at her husband angrily. Ethan jolted back, widening his eyes in surprise. In hindsight, he didn't think that simple question would have gotten her so riled up. However, as quick as it had come, her eyes softened, and her loving smile came back.

"You're just being paranoid."

"It's not that. I'm just being cautious." Ethan told her. "Half of the planet's population got wiped out just one year after Louisiana. Now it's been a little over a year since that 'Anti-Monitor Crisis' Central City."

"And yet, we're still here. Neither of us vanished." Mia smiled, before handing Ethan their baby. "But if you're so cautious, why don't you cautiously take Rose to bed while I finish dinner?"

Ethan and Mia both stood up, and the Winters matriarch slowly walked over to the kitchen. Ethan hugged his daughter close to her chest, absently staring at his wife rummaging through the counter drawers.

"It's okay, Rose. She doesn't want to remember. And the truth is… I can't blame her."

Ethan wasn't wrong with his concerns, not really. Three years ago, when an alien tyrant snapped his fingers, the world shook. Winters watched, with his own two eyes, many people he called friends suddenly turn to dust in front of him. The only consolation was the fact that Mia wasn't among the Vanished, as they had been called. Worse still was the fact that a few weeks later, the powerful superhero named Homelander publicly announced on live television that the same tyrant, now known as Thanos, had murdered the Avengers. It was like a beacon of hope had been snuffed out since then, despite heroes such as the Flash and his allies helping to defeat another would be tyrant called the Anti-Monitor. Whatever hope that was still intact had been destroyed, as in the weeks that followed that particular Crisis, the heroes Superman, his cousin Supergirl, Batwoman, and Black Lightning had died by means of unexplainable accidents. Now, it seemed that there weren't many heroes these days. Sure, there were superheroes working for Vought, including Homelander himself, but it didn't take a genius to see that there were way more casualties than survivors whenever they tried to help. Another reason Ethan and Mia left the States.

Ethan sighed, tiredly shaking his head, as he slowly approached the stairs and walked up to Rosemary's room, opening the door to reveal a crib with a mobile of animals hanging over it. Very gently, he placed the baby in the center, pausing to tickle her stomach.

"Don't worry, Rose." Ethan smiled, hearing her laugh. "I'll be right downstairs. Daddy won't let the monsters get you."

Ethan quietly left Rosemary's room, walking back down stairs and entering the kitchen, just as Mia grabbed a large pot full of stew and carried it over to the table.

"Is she okay?" the wife asked softly.

"Yeah, she's… she's sleeping like a baby." Ethan smiled, the humor not lost on him. The blonde looked down at the pot, seeing an orange colored broth, and reached out. Already he could feel his mouth salivating from the delicious smell.

"Mm, that smells good. What is it?"

Just before he dipped his finger in, Mia playfully smacked his hand with a ladle, causing his to yelp in surprise.

"Hands off, Mister." Mia scolded. "It's Ciorba De Legume. Local recipe."

"Wow. You've gone full native, haven't you." Ethan murmured, as Mia grabbed a bottle of wine.

"Local wine too." Mia grinned, while pouring the bottle into two glasses. "But if you're going to sulk all evening… maybe you shouldn't have any. Really though, you should stop worrying."

Ethan sighed, as they moved to the dining room table.

"I know, it's just…" Ethan paused, wiping flecks of spittle from his mouth. "Finding you in Louisiana, the pregnancy, Chris moving us here, the military training he gave us… running tests to find out I still had the mold in me… not to mention the Blip... it all happened so fast, you know?"

After an incident in Dulvey, Louisiana involving a genetically engineered bioweapon that nearly killed the Winters, Chris and his team quickly had the family quarantined and tested for days. Mia, luckily, was fine, but Ethan… it turned out that Ethan was still infected from the same mold found in the Baker house. Looking back, he shouldn't have been surprised, since he had been able to reattach limbs moments after they were cut off. Maybe that's why Chris agreed to have them move here, when the BSAA, short for the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance, would have marked him down as a bioweapon.

"Well, at least we're all together." Mia told him gently. "And I love you. The mold doesn't change that. You, me, Rose, everything's going to be fine-"

"Do you really think we can forget about Louisiana?" Ethan blurted out. The moment the words exited his mouth, he wished he could take them back. Mia looked down at the table, gripping the edges firmly in anger. Ethan widened his eyes, seeing her face twist into frustration. Was it a trick of light, or did her eyes just flicker a pale yellow?

Just outside of the Winters' home, Chris looked through a pair of binoculars, seeing Mia grab the edges of the dining room table. His eyes narrowed, seeing her facial expression morph to that of anger, before quickly calming down. Ethan had no idea who- what- was with him in that room.

"Alpha, I have a shot."

Chris briefly lowered his binoculars, activating his earpiece to respond to Umber Eyes.

"Take it. There's no telling what she'll do to Ethan right now."

"It's been so long ago." Mia murmured- almost growled, really. "I don't know what you're so-"

Ethan suddenly heard a suppressed gunshot ring out, followed by a bloody hole forming on Mia's shoulder.

"What the-"

Ethan's wife looked down at her shoulder, almost in confusion, before slowly turning to look out the window. A second later, the lights all flickered out, much to the Winters' alarm. Most likely, someone had cut the power.

"Mia, get down-"

A hailstorm of bullets suddenly tore through Mia's body, coating the table and floor with her blood. Her body flailed around, before another wave of gunfire ripped through her and forced her onto the floor, forcing Ethan to hide behind the table. Behind them, the small coaster with wine broke, and the chandelier above the dining room table was knocked down.

"Mia… oh God…"

Ethan suddenly heard footsteps, and upon looking under the table, saw a pair of black boots walking towards him. Odd… why did they sound so familiar-

A black gloved hand grabbed the edge of the table and tossed it aside, revealing a tall man wearing all black body armor under a long trench coat. His face sported dark brown hair with a full beard to match, and in his hands was a silenced pistol. Ethan's eyes widened, his mind catching up to his sight, as he realized who was standing before him.

"Chris? What the Hell?"

Redfield looked at the other man grimly, before staring down at Mia's body. Ethan followed his gaze, widening his eyes when he noticed that his wife was still somehow moving, albeit briefly.

"Sorry, Ethan." Chris murmured, raising his pistol.

"No-"

Chris fired five consecutive shots into Mia's head, causing her body to go still. Ethan stared at his wife's corpse in horror, before staring up at Chris with rage.

"You son of a bitch!" Winters roared, leaping up and wrapping his hands around the soldier's throat.

"How could you-"

Chris slammed the butt of his gun against Ethan's temple, knocking him to the ground. At the same time, three men wearing black ski masks walked in, looking down at the mangled body on the floor.

"Damn. Didn't think she'd take that much." one of the men muttered, looking over at Mia's bullet ridden corpse.

"Search the place." Chris ordered, as the three men began dragging Mia's body away. "Make sure Rose is still here."

At the mention of Rose, Ethan scrambled to stand up, as a be of the masked men walked up the stairs- towards Rose's bedroom.

"No!" Winters shouted, as the other masked men grabbed him by the shoulders. "Don't you touch her!"

Moments later, the first soldier walked downstairs, carrying Rose in his arms.

"Package secured."

Ethan followed the man's movement, seeing him walk over to Chris and place the baby in his arms.

"Hey!" Ethan shouted, running forward. "You get your fucking hands off my daughter-"

"Ethan, stop." Chris ordered, placing his hand on Winters' shoulder and holding him back. Ethan grunted in surprise, realizing Redfield had some kind of enhanced strength, since he was pushing him back with one hand.

"Dammit Chris, let go of my daughter!" Ethan demanded. "You've already taken my wife, I'll be fucked if you take her too-"

"That's not her!" Chris suddenly shouted. "That wasn't Mia."

Ethan paused for a moment, feeling his grip on Redfield slacken, as he stared at Chris in confusion.

"Wha… what?"

"That wasn't Mia." Chris repeated, as two of the masked men carried the dead woman's body away. No one noticed the corpse suddenly open one eye. Meanwhile, Ethan finally found his voice, and he shot a new glare at Chris.

"Bullshit! I just saw you-"

"Ethan, it was Miranda!" Chris shouted. Again, Ethan shook his head in confusion, as he glanced over Chris' shoulder.

"Who- who's Miranda-"

Music: "The Killing Starts" from Freaky 2020 OST

The body that looked like Mia suddenly sprang to life, grabbing one of the masked soldiers' neck and brutally tearing out his throat. The man screamed, Choking on his own blood, and the previously dead woman proceeded to rip out the other man's heart, right in front of Chris.

"Shit!" Redfield growled, passing the baby back into the arms of the third soldier. "Get them out of here!"

The fake Mia lunged towards the third soldier, or more accurately, toward Rose, but Chris charged into her, slamming her against the wall. While the masked man grabbed Ethan, attempting to run out, Chris drew his fist back and thrust forward, right at "Mia's" face. The supposed dead woman suddenly exploded into a murder of crows, flying right past Redfield's hand and surging right towards the soldier, with two of the birds pecking out the man's eyes. The murder took the form of Mia again, this time seemingly phasing her hand through the soldier's chest and out his back without any blood spilling out. The man screamed in pain, nearly dropping the baby, but two more birds erupted from the imposter's back, grabbing the child by her blanket, and began to carry her out of the house.

"Rose!" Ethan shouted, trying to bat away the crows. All he got for his trouble was the fake Mia dispersing into the murder again, with half of the flock swarming him, pecking at his skin, while the other half flew out of the house and high up into the sky, carrying the baby with them. Chris looked out the door, seeing the murder get smaller and smaller against the horizon, until they weren't seen at all.

"Dammit!" Redfield growled, smashing his fist into the wall next to him and creating a dent. Ethan's eyes widened, seeing the man had effortlessly put a deep hole into the plaster, and barely reacted. What the Hell?

Chris himself paid no attention to the hole he just created, and looked down at the three bodies of masked men. Sure, they were just mercenaries, and not actually part of his squad, but they were still men. Three more men that he'd lost. Three more families he failed. Ironically, the sight reminded him of three years ago, when three of Chris' own men were murdered by Lucas Baker in Louisiana, when he was tasked by the BSAA to hunt him down and acquire information regarding the Connections.

Redfield sighed in frustration, as he activated his earpiece.

"Captain, what the fuck happened? I saw a bunch of crows leave the house, and they were carrying something with them! Was that the kid?" Umber Eyes' voic rattled

"Affirmative." Chris formed his mouth into a grim line. "Not only is Miranda still alive, she also took Rose. We failed."

"Holy shit. What's the objective?"

"Stand down for now." Chris murmured, seeing Ethan glaring at him out of the corner of his eye. "I'm going after Miranda myself."

"Boss, you'll need us-"

"What I need is for you to do recon, Tundra." Chris snapped. "If Miranda could shrug off five shots to the head, then we'll need to re evaluate our approach. Copy?"

There were several seconds of static, before Tundra's feminine voice returned.

"I copy, Captain."

The communications suddenly went dead, and Chris checked the ammo on his pistol. Thankfully, he had plenty of rounds left. Small miracles, he guessed. Redfield looked over to Ethan, seeing him scowling, but his eyes showed he was terrified at what he just witnessed.

"Ethan, stay here. I'm going to get your daughter back-"

"Fuck that!" Ethan blurted out, stomping over to the BSAA captain. "Tell me what the Hell is going on!"

Chris looked at Winters in stunned silence, impressed at his outburst. He finally let out an audible exhale, looking out the door.

"Okay, Ethan. You deserve to know." Redfield took a deep breath. "Right after we found you and Mia in Louisiana, I discovered that Lucas Baker was in contact with the Connections. During some of their reports, there were mentions of a woman named Miranda, who had originally experimented with the mold."

"The mold… like Louisiana." Ethan widened his eyes in realization. "Oh God, it's happening again."

"That woman I shot, it wasn't Mia." Chris continued. "It was Miranda. She changed her appearance to look like your wife."

Ethan suddenly looked back at Chris, narrowing his eyes in annoyance.

"If you knew about this, why didn't you fucking tell me right away?!"

"Because I didn't want you to get involved!" Chris shouted. "We only recently found out Miranda was pretending to be Mia, but we couldn't tell you. I didn't want to risk her growing suspicious and killing you."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Ethan scoffed. "What the Hell is that supposed to mean-"

"Think, Ethan." Chris told him. "Do you remember Mia ever acting unusual? Not herself?"

Ethan stepped back in shock, as he suddenly remembered many times when Mia would snap at him for the littlest of thing, not just about trying to talk about Louisiana. And how she basically growled at him moments before she got shot…

"So… where's Mia?" Ethan asked timidly. "Where is my wife?"

"I don't know." Chris said solemnly. "You should never assume if you never see the body, but…"

"No. That can't be true." Ethan shouted, realizing what he was implying. "It can't be true!"

"Ethan! You need to prepare yourself for that if it is." Redfield told him. Ethan slowly calmed down, as he looked back at the house, towards the destroyed dining room in particular.

"Why us, Chris?" Winters inquired. "What does she want with my daughter?"

"I don't know that either." Redfield admitted. "But I swear to you, I will get her back-"

"No." Ethan said firmly. "We're both going to get her. I'm coming with you."

"Like Hell you are." Chris shook his head. "This job is already hard enough without civilians getting in the way."

"She has my daughter!" Ethan protested. "And you personally trained me after Louisiana!"

"Ethan, I can't put you in danger-"

"She's my daughter, I'm going!" Ethan snarled. "Or I'll just go by myself and rescue Rose on my own."

At that, Chris nearly laughed to himself at the man's foolhardiness.

"You don't get it, Ethan." Redfield told him. "You don't stand a chance against Miranda by yourself."

"Neither do you." Ethan challenged. "I was here too. I saw what happened."

Chris took a deep inhale, glancing at the three bodies on the floor. Unfortunately, he had a point. Dammit.

"Okay, Ethan. Alright." Redfield sighed, as he checked his weapons. "We will get your daughter back- together."

"Damn straight we will." Ethan declared, clenching his fists. "And when I find Miranda… she's a dead woman."

Chris smirked at Winters' bravado, but nevertheless nodded, as he led the blonde man outside, towards a black military APC.

"Get in." Redfield ordered, yanking open the passenger door, before climbing nto the driver's side and taking the wheel.

"Do you know where they're going?" Ethan asked anxiously. "Where they're taking my daughter?"

"Yes." Chris said grimly, stepping on the gas pedal. "There's a village, several miles from here. It's where she conducts her experiments on the mold. Everything you see there, that's her life's work…"

In the entrance hall of Castle Dimitrescu, the swarm of buzzing flies took Bela's form, as she stared up at an incredibly tall woman. The woman in question was even paler than her, wearing a white as snow dress and black sun bonnet, and her smile was caked in a bright red lipstick- almost as if it was blood.

"You called, Mother?" Bela asked. The tall woman looked down at her daughter, quickly replacing her usual smile with a frown.

"Mother Miranda has called. She's told me she's finally found what she has been looking for all these years."

"She has?" Bela widened her eyes in surprise. For years, she and her mother Alcina knew of Mother Miranda's goals. She wanted to bring back her own child, who had died over a hundred years ago, but she required a host. "That's… that's good, isn't it?"

"Yes and no." the mother told her daughter. "Miranda told me that she will take the child- tonight. And since the host is within reach, we have no need for the villagers... or our servants."

Bela frowned at that, trying to comprehend what her mother meant.

"What do you mean? We won't need the servants anymore-"

"Miranda wants us to kill them." Alcina stated bluntly. "She has already ordered the lycans to take care of the villagers for a culling."

Bela raised her eyebrows in surprise, trying to rationalize what Miranda was asking them to do. Kill all their servants?

"But… why?"

"That was the only reason she gave me. And we must follow her instructions." Alcina told her. "Now, I know that these last three years have been hard, with your sisters…"

Bela turned away from her mother, squeezing her eyes in sadness. Even now, she could still hear Cassandra and Daniela's screams, as they turned to ash before hers and Mother's eyes, in this very room. Daniela's face was plastered with fear, seeing her hands and arms disintegrate first, then the rest of her body.

"I don't… I don't want to die…" her redheaded sister whimpered, before she was completely gone. Cassandra, ever the fighter and hunter, had attempted to stop whatever was happening by changing into her swarm. At first, only half of all her flies crumbled away, but when she tried to reassemble her human form, the rest followed. Only the blonde and Alcina remained, as they held each other out of fear and grief.

It was only a day later when an emergency meeting was called, where it was revealed that what happened at Castle Dimitrescu also happened to the entire village. Half of all the villagers had died, as Miranda had seen when spying on the pitiful humans. Donna Beneviento and Salvatore Moreau were also among the ones who vanished, with Donna leaving behind a lifeless Angie, her favorite doll and only link of communicating to the rest of the lords. Miranda had claimed that it was a plague that swept throughout the village, but Bela often wondered how true that was…

"Bela? Bela!"

The blonde bug girl suddenly blinked, looking back up at her mother.

"You were thinking about them again, weren't you, daughter?"

Bela sighed, looking down at the floor.

"Yes Mother."

Alcina wore a pained expression on her face, as she softly grabbed Bela's chin and tilted her head up.

"I just… I miss them." Bela whispered.

"I do too." Alcina murmured in agreement. "But we have to be strong. I need you to be strong. Can you do that, daughter?"

Fighting back tears, Bela locked eyes with her mother and nodded.

"Good." Alcina smiled sweetly. "Now, let's fulfill Miranda's wishes."

Bela nodded again, before dispersing into a swarm of flies and making her way out of the hall, intent on killing all of their servants.

A/N: Alright, there's the first chapter/prologue to this story! I'm only planning on this being about 5-6 chapters, since I've basically given away that only half the story will be told, given Moreau and Beneviento were among the vanished.

I think it made more sense that Chris told Ethan about Miranda right away, but at the cost of the three soldiers, because even in the Village game, one of the members of his team calls him out for keeping Ethan in the dark for so long. So now they're teaming up from the start, so the remaining lords better watch out.

Placing in soundtrack from 2020's Freaky was intentional as being Miranda's cue, by the way. That will make sense later on, if I haven't already made it obvious. Oh, and Bela will be a main character, that's why I wrote in two small scenes from her perspective.

One more thing: even though this is listed as a Resident Evil/The Boys crossover, I repeat, none of the characters from either the tv show or in my crossover series are showing up for this. The Boys bit is just to establish that this story takes place in the same continuity I made up.

Not sure when I'll post the next chapter, since I'm still writing Penance And Redemption, but until then, have a great day/night!