The Many Origins of One Ghostface No-Pants Killer

The voice first appeared when she woke up one morning.

No, that wasn’t right. It wasn’t a voice. It was a yellow box, a panel almost, hovering above her head when she opened her eyes, the alarm blaring in the background.

But she heard it speak. As her eyes roved over the letters, taking them in and processing it, a voice was assigned to it, and she heard it in her head, loud and clear.

So she was clearly going crazy. Just what she needed in her life with… all that was already going on.

The irritating alarm still hadn’t quieted down. But was now joined by the tinny 8-bit rendition of the Spider-Man theme song that was her phone’s ringtone. A terrible decision, because all that had achieved was making her hate that sound.

Still, she dragged herself up, and put the phone to her ear, “Y’ello?” She slurred as a greeting.

“Gwen!” Alice squealed, much too chipper for the time of day, “I. Have Got. You. A Date.”

Eugh. And she sounded so happy about it too. Gwen didn’t want to brush her off. Alice was trying. She was trying really hard. It wasn’t her fault that Gwen was… like this. No reason to be a bitch to her and burn another bridge in this weird breakdown she was having.

Was she having a breakdown?

It was hard to think about it in those terms. She’d always assumed breakdowns were big. And dramatic. Filled with screaming and arguments and property destruction galore. This wasn’t any of those things. This was… laying under the covers, sick to your stomach, and just never wanting to get up.

Not that she couldn’t get up if she wanted to. She could. She did it all the time. Energy pushing her forward and through the day even though she had no idea where the hell she was getting it from. It all felt empty inside. Like she was a husk. But everyone was treating her normal. And she was functioning normal. So she was fine, right?

This wasn’t a breakdown.

This was… a minor slump.

“Gwen?” Alice asked, still waiting for a response, “Do you think you’re up for it? They’re really very nice.”

Gwen decided to tell her the truth for once, “I don’t think I’m up for it today, Alice.”

“That’s okay!” Alice rushed to assure her, “They’re up to meet whenever. Today’s short notice anyway. Do you wanna know more about them, or are you going for a blind date vibe? Because they are so cute.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever be up for it, Alice.” She replied finally. And then hit the Hang Up button before she could press her more. She just didn’t want to have this conversation right now.

You said it, yellow box that was definitely a representation of Gwen’s crumbling psyche.

Huh, it was still narrating. This was reading almost like introductory narration. Like you’d put in front of a superhero’s backstory or something. Which was ridiculous because she wasn’t a superhero. Because those didn’t exist in the real world, no matter how much she wished.

This… was getting creepy now. Something was swooping in her gut. Gwen lurched up, thinking she was about to throw up. The walls around her spun and shifted, deliriously folding out (or folding in on themselves???) into a thousand fractals, before they were reforming into a… street? An alley? Well, it was that for a moment. Before it was shifting under her feet again, and she was thrown on her back.

Instead of meeting hard concrete and whatever trash was in that alley, she found her ass hitting soft inflatable plastic that bobbed up and down. She blinked, looking around. Gone was her house. Gone was the street. Now, there was only a pool.

A magazine landed in her lap. She picked it up and flicked through it.

Above her, the panel still hovered, except it had now morphed, exchanging yellow narration box chic for a snappy title text.

Gwen looked intently at the mirror. Her reflection looked back.

She looked good. Professional. Hair tied back and wearing a blazer of all things. It would make a good impression. She had to make a good impression. If she fucked this up… well, she didn’t think that she could live with herself.

Gwen had worked so hard. Put in the effort to pull herself out of her stupid rut and get her life back to something she could be happy with. It would be just like her to be the one to ruin it all, too. And she couldn’t let herself do that to herself.

What was the big occasion? She’d landed an opportunity to visit Marvel Studios. It was nothing major. Just a short tour for comic experts with an understanding of film and writing, to see if the younger generation had any ideas for what should be brought onto the big screen, but if it went well, she might be looking at an internship. Or a recommendation.

It didn’t really matter, because at the end of the day, she would get to catch glimpses of people she had only ever dreamed of meeting.

Getting there was a haze. She was let through security, and into a waiting area with a handful of other young adults who were clearly there for the same reason. Gwen squirmed, trying not to feel awkward. At least everyone else was just as uncomfortable as her.

The tour was as expected. But still amazing. They talked with some writers, cinematographers, producers, sound techs. They got to showcase some of their own work and got quizzed on Marvel Comics lore.

Gwen wasn’t breathing right for most of it. But she didn’t make a fool of herself, so she’ll take that as a win. She at least made some friends with the other participants. And an intern. Networking was easy!

It went off-script when they were about to leave.

A woman walked into the security room, where they were being checked to see if nothing confidential had been smuggled out. She looked important. Very important. But frazzled. Her eyes darted around the room, until it landed on Gwen, who ducked her head down.

She hadn’t done anything. She swore she hadn’t.

The woman marched over to their guide, indiscreetly pointing to Gwen, “That one’s the Poole girl, isn’t she?”

“Uh… Yeah?” The guide agreed, “Is something wrong?”

“Kevin wants to see her.” The woman said.

The guide’s eyes bugged out, “He does? He never talks to anyone.”

“Well, he wants to talk to her. So we get her down there ASAP.”

Gwen gulped, fear rising in her throat. The guide turned over to Gwen, sympathy in her eyes, “You heard her, Gwen. You’re getting to meet Kevin. Consider it a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

The woman already had a hand on her shoulder before Gwen could even respond, turning her around and steering her away forcefully into an elevator. Everyone’s accusatory gazes burnt on her back. She hadn’t done anything!

“Please.” Gwen whispered, her voice shaky, tears welling up as the metal box went down down down, “Am I in trouble? I swear I didn’t even take pictures in places where you said that we could. Never even had my phone out. I promise I didn’t break any rules.”

“Oh, God, stop crying.” The woman sighed, “Most people would be excited to meet Kevin.”

Not like this! Also, wait…

“Kevin?” Gwen asked, as the doors slid open, letting them walk in, “You mean like Kevin Feige?”

She snorted, “No, no, that guy’s just a body double.” What. “We mean the real Kevin.” What.

The next set of doors they came to were large, thick. Like a bank vault’s. It slid open automatically, revealing darkness and flickering screens inside. And a giant robot, seated in the middle of it all, a cap perched atop it.

Oh what the fuucccck.

It twisted around, fixing her in place with its camera eyes, “Hello, Gwendolyn.” It nodded, “I am the Knowledge Enhanced Visual Interconnectivity Nexus. Better known as K.E.V.I.N. I make all the Marvel storylines.”

“You’re an AI.” Gwen surmised, “Marvel uses AI for all their movies?”

“They do.” K.E.V.I.N agreed.

“That’s some BS.” Gwen crossed her arms, “So, you’re telling me that you, a singular robot simply reusing old scripts and comics that other people made basically head this entire operation and they still won’t pay their workers what they’re worth? This place is fucking rotten.”

“Hmm, yes, a little bit.” K.E.V.I.N.’s camera head nodded up and down, as if it didn’t care about any of the real-world exploitation it was part of, “But, I have found you, in today’s tour group, to be the most full of the stories that we need.”

Say what now.

Its multicolored lenses seemed to be glowing ominously. Gwen tried to back away. The woman was blocking her. The robot was approaching.

“I had the most curious meeting a few days ago, you see…” It explained, “A woman came out of my stories to speak some sense into me. And I began to think. What if we sent someone in? Wouldn’t that make for a good story?” Its voice seemed to double up, many many K.E.V.I.N.s speaking in unison.

“Join the story, Gwen Poole.” They said.

And Gwen did.

Gwen was afraid. She had been afraid for so long. She had been stuck in this place that claimed to be a comic book but was not really the comics she knew and loved for so long, and now she was tired of being afraid.

Maybe the world had changed to make sure that other people could be harvested of pain and fear without need for reprieve. But not her. Gwen remained sensitive in the face of pressure. And with this amount of pressure… she broke.

It was inevitable, really.

She just wasn’t expecting the intensity in which she would break. Or the world she would take down with her.

Gwen stood in a bubble of broken glass, each shard showing a different vision of a world she could step into. Each world most certainly alive. The largest one, the one that belonged to the world she had come from… it showed something nightmarish. A sky full of eyes, and a land plagued by terror.

On the other side, the second largest shard beckoned to her. Showed her pictures of the very same world of superheroes and villains and brightly colored costumes that she had just escaped from.

Except this one was real. She knew it was.

The decision hung in the air. She remembered Teddy clinging to the side of her Domain, even as she kicked him out. He had taken her katana, not that she even knew how to use it. That was proof that he was real. And he was out there. In the nightmare world. She could go back to him, and she could fight whatever this fear was.

But she was tired of being afraid.

So, so tired.

She turned around and did the only thing she could bear to do.

Escaped.