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Red- Tony Stark
Blue- Stephen Strange, Peter Parker
Orange- Natasha
White-Steve Rogers
Grey- Bucky Barnes
Black- Aldrich Killian
Tan-Obadiah Stane
Cyan- Wanda Maximoff
Yellow- Clint Barton
Green- Bruce Banner
Pink- Maria hill
Purple- Maya Hansen
Brown-Fury
Lime- Betty Ross
Room 1- Orange, Yellow, Green
Room 2- lime, cyan, purple
Room 3- White, Grey, Tan
Room 4- Blue, Blue, Red
Room 5-Black, Pink, Brown
Tony leaned against the wall and stared at his new crew mates. He looked around and caught Killian’s eyes. He scowled. He hates that guy. Maybe this time he can push his murders on him and convince the crew to vote him out.
Obie looked at him and nodded. Tony shuddered. He couldn’t stand that guy either. They had gone on a mission a while ago and Obadiah tried to blame everything on him. Luckily he had an alibi, but still.
A kid in a blue suit came bounding over towards him. “It’s amazing, isn’t it.” He said. Tony nodded in agreement. “It is, kid. It is.” Tony hummed. “So, what’s a kid like you doing on a ship like this?”
The kid smiled. “Me and my dad are heading towards Alpha Six. He has some friends over there. We’re going to be staying with them for a few weeks. Oh! I never introduced myself! I’m Peter Parker.” Peter held out a hand and Tony accepted it. ‘Poor kid.’ He thinks, ‘Probably never going to make it there.’ Tony winces.
“I’m Tony.” Tony can tell the kid is smiling behind his visor. “Well it’s been nice to meet you Mr. Tony, but I have to get back to my dad.” The kid waves goodbye and walks back over to the person in the other blue suit.
The guy in the white suit calls everyone around. “Hello everybody, my name is Steve and I am the captain of this ship. We should be reaching our first destination, Alpha four, in around 10 days. I assume you're all tired, so I’ll show you to your quarters. There's three a room.” The captain leads the crew, and the three imposters, to a door. When he opened it there was a small common room with a few doors on the wall. Next to each door there was a holographic screen with names.
“The room with your name on it is yours.” The crew went around looking for their rooms. Tony spotted his room and hummed. Looks like he’s staying with the two blues, Peter and his dad, Stephen Strange. In the room there was a storage area for bags, three small beds, and a vent on the floor. ‘Perfect.’ Tony thought. ‘Time to get settled in.’
Nine days till Alpha four.
Peter was so excited. He had been on the ship for a day now and everything was so cool! He only has a few daily tasks, since he was so young. But that was okay. He was just glad to help. Peter hummed a little tune as he walked into admin and pulled out his swipe card. He quickly swiped the card and left the room, heading towards O2 so he could clear out the O2 filter. He passed Mr. Tony on his way down, and waved hello.
Peter got in the room and pushed the leaves out of the vent. He wondered how the leaves got in there in the first place. He shrugged and looked at his watch. It was time to meet his dad. He passed a few people on his way there. They all seemed friendly enough. He entered the cafeteria and found his father downloading documents. “Hey dad!”
“Hey Pete.” His dad mummers. Peter was confused. His dad has been acting really odd lately. Ever since he had done the download yesterday. Peter shrugged. It was probably nothing to worry about. Suddenly both of their comms beeped and flashed red. It said to meet everyone at the cafeteria table with the red button. His dad sighed and cancelled to download. They both walked over and sat at the table.
When Tony got the message he knew one of them had been busy. He quickly stood up from where he had been sitting in storage and walked towards the cafeteria. When he got there only Cyan, Yellow, Green, and Purple were missing. He pulled out the open seat next to Peter and sat down. Pretty soon Cyan, Yellow, and Green showed up.
The captain, white, took a deep breath. “Maya Hansen was found dead in Communications. We are unsure of who did it, but one thing we know now is that there is at least one imposter on this ship.” Tony felt Peter tense up next to him. Peter raised his hand. “Yes Peter?” White asked. “What is an imposter and what do you mean by at least one?” Tony heard his voice crack a bit and could see tears in the kids eyes. Probably the first murder he’s ever been in contact with. For some reason that made Tony’s stomach clench at the thought.
White sighed. “An imposter is an alien who looks human, but isn’t. They have tentacles, are super strong, and can see in the dark. Those are the only confirmed signs of an imposter. The reason I said at least one, is they like to travel in pairs or groups.” Steve ranked his eyes along everyone at the table. “S-so Ms. Maya’s murderer is sitting here with us at the table right now?” White nodded grimly. Tony felt Peter start to tremble besides him.
“Now, where was everyone right now?” They went around in a circle telling everyone where they were and what they were doing until it got to Tony. “I was getting gasoline for the reactor.” Peter nodded. “It’s true, I saw him on my way to O2 to clean out the filter. Before that I went to admin to swipe my card. And after cleaning the filter I went to find my dad and help with downloads.” Tony was surprised. Why was this kid covering for him? He should be scared out of his wits.
Tony watched him out of the corner of his eye and noticed the kid was shaking. ‘Never mind, He’s definitely terrified.’ He thought to himself. White nodded at Peter, accepting his answer. After the rest had told where they were white decided they should vote for who they think did it. Everyone skipped, there was no solid proof. Well, except for the traces of blood on Killian's suit, but they couldn’t see or smell that.
After everyone voted, the meeting ended and Tony walked up to bigger blue, Stephen. “Hey, your name’s Stephen, right?” He asked. Stephen nodded warily. “Do you mind if I stay with you guys? I don’t feel safe traveling around on my own.” Stephen looked at Peter who was giving him a thumbs up. “Fine. You can stay with us.” Tony smiled beneath his visor. “Let’s get to work.”
Six days till Apha four.
Tony smiled as Peter rambled on about the wires he was working on. He had been with Peter and Stephen for around 2 days now, and they had reached an agreement. When Stephen wasn’t with them, Tony watched and protected Peter. It was a good thing too because Tony had seen Killian slinking around, trying to find another victim.
“Hey Tony?” Peter caught his attention. “Yeah kid?” Peter fiddled with the wires, thinking about what to say. “Do… Do you think whoever killed Ms. Maya is going to kill someone else? Do you think we’re safe?” Tony felt a weight settle at the bottom of his stomach. He was one of the imposters. He had killed people before. People like Peter and Stephen. Tony shook those thoughts off. “Kid, I honestly don’t know. But one thing I do know is that we’re safe if we stay together.” It was true. Tony has grown fond of Peter and his father. He wouldn’t let anyone hurt them. Peter smiled weakly from behind his visor. “I’m sure you’re right Tony.” He went back to working on the wires.
Tony took a deep breath and steeled his resolve. He had to kill someone soon. If he didn’t the others might be suspicious. He caught a glimpse of Cyan passing the door. He noticed no one was with her. He would get her tonight, while everyone was sleeping and no one, not Peter or Stephen would be any the wiser.
After everyone had gone to bed and all was still, Tony quietly got out of bed and creaked open the vent, slipping inside. It was a bigger vent and therefore easy to crawl through. He took a left and was now under a vent cover. He slowly pushed the cover and pulled himself up. Cyan and lime were sleeping soundly. Hansen was their other roommate, but she was dead.
Tony slipped the knife out of his suit and stood above cyan, posed to strike. As he was about to slash down and end the girl, he thought of Peters trusting eyes and Stephens happy smile as he made a joke. He lowered the knife. He would do it tomorrow he decided. He slipped back into the vent, back to his own room. Both Peter and Stephen were still asleep. He slowly closed the vent and slipped under his covers.
Five days till Alpha four.
Peter was slightly suspicious, but mostly he was just scared. Last night he woke up when he heard a bang. When he looked over, his dad was still asleep, but Tony was gone. He didn’t think anything of it. He probably had to use the bathroom, no big deal. As he was almost asleep, he heard another bang and saw someone exit the vent and crawl into the bed next to his dad’s. Peter had fallen back asleep before anything else had happened. But now he was scared. Was Tony one of the imposters? He… He couldn’t be. Tony would never hurt Peter. Then why did Peter see him exit the vents? Peter knew he should call an emergency meeting and tell everybody what he had seen, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Peter was broken out of his thoughts by a loud rumble. He realized it was his stomach. He blushed and Tony chuckled. “Hey kid, do you wanna go find your dad and get some lunch?” Peter nodded, still bright red. He shut the wire panel and followed Tony to communications, where his dad was. When they got just around the corner they saw Tan outside of the door, about to go in. Tony cleared his throat and the man spun around, shoving something metallic in his suit pocket.
When Tony had seen him there his heart had almost leapt out of his chest. He cleared his throat and Obadiah spun around, shoving a knife in his pocket. Tony gave him a teeth filled grin. “Hey, Obie! What are you doing here?” He said with false cheer. He heard Stephen get up and walk out of the room. He looked at Obadiah in confusion. “Hey Stephen, we were just looking for you! Peter was getting hungry.” Stephen glanced at Obie out of the corner of his eye. “Let’s get going.” He said. As they were walking away, Tony felt Obie’s sharp glare on his back. He put his arm around Peter, shielding him from the hateful glare.
After they ate lunch they stayed together for their tasks. Tony Insisted on it. He didn’t want either of the other imposters to get any ideas. That night when both Peter and Stephen were asleep, Tony heard someone clanking in the vents. Tony reaches over to a pile of his stuff and pulls out a gun. He put his finger on the trigger and held down enough for it to emit a slight whirring sound. The person in the vents went the other way. Tony didn’t sleep that night and the next morning Green was found dead in his room by his roommates Yellow and Orange.
Four days till Alpha four.
Peter sat close to his Father and Tony during the meeting. Mr Bruce had died last night. Anyone could have done it. Peter knew for a fact that Tony hadn’t slept last night due to the dark circles under his eyes. Peter had also spotted a gun almost fully hidden under some clothes in their room. But that was crazy. Tony couldn’t have killed Mr. Bruce. Peter knew that he had been found with his neck snapped, not with a gun wound. ‘Importers are strong. Tony still could have done it.’ A traitorous voice whispers to him. The sound of Ms. Betty’s sobs break him out of his thoughts. Peter knew Mr. Bruce and Ms. Betty were dating. He felt bad for her.
Ms. Wanda was comforting Ms. Betty. Everybody but Ms. Wanda and Ms. Betty skipped voting. Peter didn’t know who they voted for, but it wasn’t enough to get anyone thrown out of the ship. It took everyone longer to do their tasks because no one wanted to be alone. Peter caught Tony watching Mr. Killian and Mr Stane. Peter didn’t trust those two anymore, not since he had seen an almost invisible stain on Mr. Killian’s suit and the knife Mr. Obadiah had tried to hide from him and Tony. If they hadn’t gotten there, who knows what would have happened to his dad.
Later that day, when Tony had left Peter and Stephen to use the bathroom, he was cornered. He heard the door slam shut and someone grabbed him from behind with black tentacles. Killian. Tony grabbed his knife and slashed downwards, spilling black blood. The tentacles released him and he was forced to dodge as a power blast went right by him. He grabbed his gun and shot at Killian. He knew he got a good shot in due to the inhuman shriek that he released. Killian went down the vent and Tony was left shaking. Oh god. Killian had almost killed him. He holstered his gun and picked back up the black stained knife. He wasn’t safe anymore. He had to get rid of Killian. He made a dash towards the cafeteria and hit the emergency meeting button.
When everyone arrived he got straight to the point. “I was going to the bathroom when I saw Killian vent.” Silence. “When he saw me he attacked and I was forced to fight back. I grabbed his gun and shot him before he retreated.” They looked at the black blood on his suit and the badly hidden hole on Killian’s suit. “I believe him.” Peter said. “The day after Ms. Maya was killed, I saw something on Killian’s suit. I think it was blood, but I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want people to think I was suspicious.” There were Nods in agreement, while Killian sat there simmering in rage. After everyone had voted, white took out his dart gun and shot Killian. There was a horrible shriek and Killian released his tentacles, trying to kill one of them. Tony shoved Peter and Stephen behind him, trying to shield them, when Killian went down for the count, unconscious. White holstered his gun. “military grade sleep darts.” He said.
Tony looked around. Peter was shaking in fright and being comforted by his dad, some of Pink’s suit had been torn away, and Yellow’s visor had been cracked. Tony watched as White and Grey dragged Killian to the airlock before turning back to Peter. “Are you okay?” The kid asked him. Tony gave a small smile. “Yeah I’m fine kid. Why don’t you go see if you can help yellow with his visor.” Peter shakily nodded and went to help yellow. Tony caught Stephen side eyeing him, before turning around to go help Peter.
Peter pursed his lips as he put glue in the cracks of the visor. Peter was glad Tony was able to fight the imposter and report him, but that didn’t answer how. According to what Peter had heard, imposters were extremely fast and strong. So how did Tony manage to hurt then escape Killian? Peter was starting to think his guess that Tony was an importer was correct. He sighed and kept putting on glue. What would he do if Tony was an imposter? Could he bring himself to report the older man? Peter was brought out of his thoughts by a hand on his shoulder. It was Grey, Mr. Bucky.
“Are you okay kid? I know it can be a lot to deal with, especially for a young teen like you.” Peter sighed and nodded. “I feel overwhelmed. I mean, what was supposed to be a peaceful journey has turned into a horror show. And to think that there are more imposters like him on the ship…” Peter shuddered at the thought. Mr. Bucky squeezed his shoulder comfortingly. “I’m sure everything will turn out alright kid, just, try to stay safe.” Peter nodded and Mr. Bucky left.
After Peter finished patching the cracked visor he went back over to his dad and Tony. When he got over there his dad put his arm over his shoulder. “Everything will be okay Peter.” He said. Peter noticed Tony twitch and the way his eyes shifted guiltily. “C-Can we go back to our rooms?” Peter asked. His dad sighed. “We still have to do some mandatory tasks before we can. Let’s all stick together.” Peter nodded and hugged himself. “I have card swipe next.” Tony announced. “Let's head that way.” Peter’s dad nodded and Tony squeezed Peter's shoulder as he passed.
After completing all of their tasks, the trio started heading back to the dorms. As they turned the corner Peter caught sight of something brown and red in front of them before Tony covered his eyes and spun him around. Peter heard his dad gag. Tony’s hands had moved from the front of his visor to the side of his helmet. “W-What is it?” Peter asked desperately and tried to turn around. Tony kept his head stuck in place. He could hear Tony lick his lips and his dad gag again. “Trust me kid, you don’t want to see it…”
Peter felt his dad put a trembling hand on his shoulder as he led him down the hall. Peter walked back into the other hallway near the end where they had come from. He turned around to make sure his dad and Tony were alright. As he saw they were okay, his attention shifted to the two sets of bloody footprints leading to them. Peter felt his eyes widen in horror. His dad removed his hand from his shoulder and helped him sit down against the wall. Tony sat down next to him and put his arm around him. Peter leaned into him and choked out a sob before burying his helmet in Tony’s strong shoulder.
He vaguely heard his dad pull out his comm and report brown’s body. He felt numb. Mr. Fury was dead and Tony hadn’t done it. Mr. Fury had been at the meeting and since then Tony had been with them the whole time. That meant there was another imposter besides Tony. He let out another sob at that thought. Tony wouldn’t hurt him or his dad, but someone else wouldn’t hesitate. He heard people coming down the hallway as Tony pulled Peter into his lap and hugged him as he sobbed into the older man's chest. Oh god. It was just like with his mother. So much blood…
Peter hadn’t known his mother very well, as her and his dad were divorced with his dad retaining custody, but every once in a while, his mother would take him out for the day and they would do something fun together. Whether it would be going to a street fair, a festival, the zoo, it was always something fun. The last memory he had of his mother was her bleeding out in his arms from a bullet. They had been going to a small shop when someone had robbed the store and shot his mother on their way out.
Peter was pulled out of the memory when someone pulled him up. After he stood up he lay his head on Tony's shoulder. He felt his dad’s comforting hand on his shoulder as the group walked down to the cafeteria and through the meeting. After the meeting they went back to their rooms another way. Peter was helped out of his suit and fell asleep cuddled up to his dad.
Tony jumped as Stephen sighed and stood up from his bed. He sat down next to Tony. “Peter’s mother, my ex, was shot and killed in front of him.” Stephen said quietly. “They had gone out for the day. Peter was so excited to be able to spend time with her.” He sighed. “Me and Mary broke it off after it came out that she had been drinking and doing drugs for some time after Peter was born, so I got full custody of him. Peter never knew any of this, and I didn’t have the heart to tell him, so he grew up with a grand idea of his mother. He’s only recently started recovering from seeing her die.” He chuckled humorlessly. “That’s why I planned the trip to some of my friends. To try to take away the bad memories for a while. Look at how that turned out.” He waved a hand towards Peter. “Now he’s even worse than before.”
Tony was speechless. “Why… Why are you telling me all this?” He asked. Stephen sighed again. “I know you're an imposter.” Tony stiffened. “But I also know you care about Peter and wouldn’t hurt him. But- I know whoever the other imposter doesn’t care about that.” Tony looked at Stephen with narrowed red eyes. “What do you want from me?” Stephen sighed again. “I just want you to promise me that you’ll do your best to take care of Peter.” Tony nodded and Stephen stood up. He ruffled Tony’s hair making the man- imposter- squawk indignantly. Stephen chucked and went over to his own bed, carefully lifting up Peter and bringing him to his own bed. After he got Peter settled he quickly fell asleep.
Three days till Alpha Four
Tony twitched as he felt Stephen brush against him. He still couldn’t believe he found out he was an imposter. However, Tony was less worried about that as he was about Peter. The kid had been nearly catatonic when he woke up, none of his normal bright cheer. By lunch he had cracked a small smile, but Tony was worried. He knew what kind of trauma Peter had gone through could do to a person.
Peter yawned and both adults looked at him concernedly. “You okay kid?” Stephen asked. Peter nodded, but he seemed kinda out of it. “How about Tony takes you back to the rooms and when I finish tasks I’ll come join you.” Peter nodded and drowsily started walking away. When Tony turned to look at Stephen, the man’s eyes held a single sentiment. Keep him safe. Tony nodded and trailed after Peter.
Peter and Tony had reached the room when Tony heard a metal bang from outside the room. Tony’s eyes narrowed. He turned to Peter. “Stay here.” He told the teenager. Peter just nodded and Tony exited the room. He walked down the hallway and suddenly heard Peter shriek.
Tony sprinted back to the room and saw something that made his heart stop. Peter was pushed against the wall by Obidiah who was holding a knife against where his helmet met the suit. His throat.
When Obie saw him, he smiled cruelly. “Tony! I’m glad you can join me. You should’ve let me take care of the brat and his father sooner. If you did, it wouldn’t have come to this.”
Tony’s senses slowed. He registered the knife that was pressing down on the fabric of Peter’s suit. He saw the gun that he had hidden under some clothes. Not enough time to grab it. That left one choice. Tony sprinted at Obadiah and Peter. Obidiah’s surprise lasted only a second but Tony intended to make it count.
The first thing he did was yank Peter out of his grasp and throw him behind him. Tony vaguely registered Peter scrambling behind the bed, but he was more focused on Obie. He grabbed him and flung him into a light switch, breaking it and turning off the power in the room. Obidiah flung Tony into a wall, and Tony managed to grab his gun. He was about to shoot when he saw Peter. He couldn’t do that to the kid.
Obie noticed his hesitation and charged at him, grabbing the gun and hitting it into Tony’s helmet, cracking it. Tony felt anger over taking him. He flung out his leg and kicked the imposter in the stomach. While he was down, Tony grabbed the knife from the floor and sank it into Obie’s chest in one smooth motion.
Tony stumbled away from the body and slid down the wall. He saw Peter looking at him from his spot near the bed. Peter looked ready to lunge at him, and Tony wouldn’t fight back if he did. Peter did lunge at him, but instead of doing what Tony thought he would do, I.e. trying to strangle him or claw his eyes out, Peter simply wrapped his arms around Tony and began to sob. Tony hesitantly wrapped his arms around the crying teen. “Hey it’s okay Peter, you’re safe now.” Peter just held onto him and continued to cry.
The pair stayed like that until Stephen came in the room. “Peter? Tony?” He asked. Tony sighed. “We’re here. Ignore the dead body on the floor.”
“Tan tried to kill me.” Peter says, still clinging to Tony. “Tony protected me.”
“I’ll call a meeting.” Stephen tells Tony. Tony smiled at him from the gloom and stood up, Peter still clinging to him. He walks over to Stephen. “Thanks.” He tells the man. Stephen leans forward and kisses Tony on the cheek. “Thanks for protecting him.” Stephen says before exiting the room, leaving Tony blushing.
Steve sighed. “So you’re saying Obidiah lured Tony away and attacked Peter?” The trio nodded. “Tony then ran back to the room when he heard Peter yell and then after a short fight was able to grab Obadiah’s knife and stab him. Is that correct?” They all nodded again.
Steve sighed. “I’m glad everyone is okay. Who knows what would have happened had Tony not killed him.” Everyone around the table shuddered.
After the meeting, Tony, Peter, and Stephen had gone to their new room, as the old one had been blood splattered and no one wanted to put Peter back there after the traumatic events that had happened.
“So… It’s only a week until we arrive at your destination..” Tony began. Stephen nodded. “I’m sure my friends will be able to make enough room for another person in that time.”
Tony looked at Stephen in shock. “You- you want me to stay with you guys? After everything that happened?” Both Peter and Stephen nodded. “If you want to, that is.” Stephen said. Tony smiled and gave Stephen a hug. “I would love to.” Tony told them.
It seems as if everything had turned out fine for the trio. Peter got a new father figure, Stephen possibly found a new significant other, and Tony found a family. Sure, multiple people died in the end, but what’s a good story without some drama?